05/25/2026
Today at Carnegie Hall, our conductor and some of our members are performing this and other works in a concert dedicated to our dear collaborator, Cris Derksen. We wish them well as they honour her legacy!
Cris Derksen, Mass for Nîpîy: A Prayer for Water
III: Prayer for the Rivers
May 9, 2026
Amadeus Choir
Kathleen Allan, conductor
Sherryl Sewepagaham, drum
Laura Chambers, flute
Paolo Rosselli, horn
Dhaivat Jani, drums
Joy Lee, piano
Bijan Sepanji and Aysel Taghi-Zada, violin
Brenna McLane, viola
Cris Derksen, cello
Shannon Paterson, bass
Video by Ryan Harper
Audio by Guillermo Subauste
Full text by Cris Derksen:
III. Prayer for the Rivers
(Prayer for the Disappearing Water)
There is a stone buried in a river
it says
if you read this, then weep.
Hunger stone, famine, severe drought, drying up
the Rhine, the Danube, Mississippi, Rio Grande,
Yangzhe, Lake Mead, Colorado, the Po
Mighty, thirsty, disappearing
Rivers
Mighty, thirsty, vanishing
Nîpîy
Indus, Teesta, Arkansas, the Loire,
The Greats shrinking
Oh, how the mighty fall.
The Greats shrinking
Oh, how the mighty fall.
