Program Note:

I imagined Give Us The Night as a short film. We come upon the exterior of an abandoned space where faint remnants of disco patterns begin to filter through. Muddy kicks and corroded bells covered in webs eventually come into focus, and it is revealed that this supposedly abandoned space is teeming with revellers. The inspiration for the piece comes from exploring abandoned nightclub spaces on a U.S. road-trip. I was fascinated by the atmosphere of these spaces. They go beyond existing as a physical space; their walls have stories to tell. The piece particularly explores patterns, timbres, and harmonies from early house music, a style that has its origins in Chicago and Detroit. What interests me most about these now defunct spaces, is that they were some of the most inclusive, non-segregated, LGBTQ+-friendly spaces in the U.S. We are losing this in our current night-spaces or losing these space altogether—losing ways of listening and moving, losing a feeling of community in order for these spaces to be replaced by coffee chains, unaffordable apartments, and luxury hotels.