Protocol

Program Notes

When I started discussing the aims for this piece, a set of songs for Cantus that dig into how we learn and unlearn toxic masculinity, the two thoughts that kept ringing in my head were (a) "there are so, so many ways to approach this subject" and (b) "this is going to be hard as hell." It became immediately clear that we would not be able to encompass this thing, a whole planet of hurt, in three songs and ten minutes: we needed to find a specific route in. That route came immediately into focus once I started discussing the cycle with three incredible poets — all of whom we wrote entirely new texts for this.

The route: certainty and uncertainty. We discussed how men int his country are so rarely taught to say, "I don't know" or "you're right, I never thought of it that way." We model ourselves on the men that we see, in our lives and in the media, portrayed as strong when they are uncompromising and weak when they take their foot off the pedal. As such, we're constantly hurtling forward. Without my guidance, the texts all formed an arc: Aiden exploring how we learn this behavior, Kaveh guiding us through an almost allegorical image of certainty making us blind instad of reliable, and Hieu painting a way forward that doesn't require us to always know the answers. As much as this concept frightened me at the outset, it's been fruitful; and I'm forever thankful to Cantus for the opportunity to dig into this subject, and for their willingness to explore this rich space together. 

xx — Griffin