Gateway Men's Chorus: We Will Rise

The Gateway Men's Chorus takes a stand for the civil rights of minorities with its spring concert, We Will Rise. The heart of the show is Joel Thompson's sobering composition, Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Using the structure of Joseph Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, the piece takes the final words or communiques of seven black men (Michael Brown, Amadou Diallo, Kenneth Chamberlain, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, John Crawford and Eric Garner) killed by armed authorities and weaves them throughout the music, which incorporates the old French tune "L'homme Armé" (the Armed Man). It is both a protest song and a cry of outrage. We Will Rise is performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (March 16 and 17) at Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Euclid Avenue; www.gmcstl.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.