Omaha Chorus Takes on One of Choral Music’s Most Powerful Works

April 24th, 2026

There are concerts, and then there are events that stay with you. This Saturday, the River City Mixed Chorus is aiming for the second kind.

The Omaha-based choir, now in its 42nd season, will perform “Considering Matthew Shepard” at the Orpheum Theater. The piece, composed by Craig Hella Johnson, tells the story of Matthew Shepard: a 21, year, old gay student from Wyoming who was beaten and left to die in 1998. His murder shocked the country and eventually led to the passage of the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act.

Matthew Shepard would have turned 50 this year.

More than a memorial

Artistic Director Barron Breland has been leading the River City Mixed Chorus since 2010, growing it from 39 singers and a $31,000 budget to a half-million-dollar nonprofit with nearly 170 members. He is careful about how he frames Saturday’s concert.

“It’s not necessarily a sad piece,” he said. “It is a celebration of who Matthew was. More importantly, it’s, what should we do about that? Let’s realize what brings us together.”

The work draws on the tradition of Bach’s great choral passions: music that tells a story, reflects on it, and reaches for something larger. There are movements that quote Bach directly. There’s a section Breland describes as disturbing, a crowd screaming “crucify him” , that puts the violence of what happened to Matthew in sharp historical relief. And there are moments of quiet beauty rooted in Wyoming’s landscapes, which Shepard loved.

A community effort

The performance features a chamber orchestra, strings, clarinet, electric guitar, and a full percussion setup, alongside projected visuals and a custom lighting design by Bill Van Deese.

What makes Saturday unusual, Breland says, is who is singing it. The River City Mixed Chorus is not a professional ensemble. Its singers range from trained music educators to people who cannot read a note of music.

“This is hard music,” he said. “But that this ensemble, music educators all the way to rank amateurs, is collectively tackling this challenging piece. It’s kind of a beautiful project.”

The performance runs 110 minutes with no intermission. It does not require you to know anything about Matthew Shepard going in. It will make sure you know his story by the time you leave.