A powerful declaration for freedom and equality, Rich Campbell’s “Border” is angular, emotional, and desperate. The text draws from (and paraphrases) several sources: contemporary media, Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” the Bible’s Matthew 25:31-40, curr...  moreA powerful declaration for freedom and equality, Rich Campbell’s “Border” is angular, emotional, and desperate. The text draws from (and paraphrases) several sources: contemporary media, Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” the Bible’s Matthew 25:31-40, currency, and others. The changing meters of “Border” fill the work with an up-tempo, rhythmic energy that propels it forward. Campbell’s piece hardly relents, even as the pace slows this work presses forward with a colorful and often modal harmonic language. “Border” is a call for justice, empathy and compassion, a summons to our collective conscience.  less

Named after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburg, Kansas (population approx. 20,000) was settled in 1876 near the Border of Missouri.  The city’s primary employer was Pittsburg & Midway Company, a coal mining company created in 18...