Posted March 12, 2025
Music has always been a language of hope and transformation for Joel Thompson. Growing up in a household filled with diverse sounds—from reggae to Mahalia Jackson, from Nat King Cole to Tchaikovsky—Thompson’s musical world knew no boundaries from the very beginning. At eight years old, he experienced a transcendent moment listening to Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers,” an experience that would plant the seeds of his musical journey. As a teenager, he was already playing music for his church—a formative experience that taught him the powerful symbiosis between music and community.
Yet Thompson’s path to composition wasn’t straightforward. A pivotal moment came during a summer music festival when a fellow composer publicly ridiculed his work. Discouraged and seeing few composers who looked like him, Thompson shifted his focus to conducting, believing composition was beyond his reach. But everything changed after the grand jury’s decision in the Eric Garner case. In a moment that left him feeling a profound sense of worthlessness, Thompson created “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.”
Inspired by the “Liturgy of the Seven Last Words of Christ,” Thompson crafted this powerful musical narrative that gives voice to unarmed Black individuals whose lives were cut short by police violence. The piece emerged from a moment of personal pain—a response to the lack of accountability in cases of police-involved deaths. “I wanted to document the grief that I was feeling and the anger,” Thompson explains. By paralleling the last words of Christ with the final moments of victims like Eric Garner and Amadou Diallo, he created a haunting musical experience that demands listeners confront uncomfortable truths about race, justice, and humanity. Thompson sees it as a modern spiritual, connecting to a rich tradition of Black musical expression that transforms pain into art. “It allows us to see each other more clearly,” he says, “recognizing our shared humanity rather than our differences.”
Truthfully, Thompson never intended for the world to hear it. After a chance performance at his alma mater, the piece caught the attention of the University of Michigan’s Men’s Glee Club, launching Thompson into a professional compositional career he never anticipated. What began as a deeply personal journal entry born from grief, anger, and a deep sense of injustice has become a transformative musical work that continues to resonate across the nation. Audiences have responded with profound emotion. Some have been moved to tears, others to action. Thompson recalls a particularly powerful moment when a man approached him after a performance, asking, “What do we do?” It’s this potential for dialogue and understanding that makes the piece so remarkable.
For Thompson, the ultimate hope is not to deliver a message, but to create a space for vulnerability and empathy. “I want the piece to light a fire,” he explains, “to recognize that change happens on the ground—in our workplaces, schools, and interactions with neighbors.” The piece continues to be devastatingly relevant. Thompson admits it’s the one composition he hopes will someday become unnecessary—yet it continues to speak to ongoing struggles for justice and recognition.
As our upcoming Masterworks concert approaches, we invite our community to experience this extraordinary musical journey. “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” is more than a performance—it’s an opportunity for collective reflection, understanding, and hope.
Join us March 14 and 15 at the Schuster Center to witness this transformative musical experience. And after the music ends, the audience is invited to stay for a panel discussion meant to deepen your connection to the pieces on the program. The panel will be moderated by Reverend Joshua Ward of Omega Baptist Church and featuring distinct members of the community.