then one for Mary. It goes back and forth
in a non-linear way, where you see how
they’re changing throughout the course
of their lives and how that culminates to
her work as an activist.”
The piece delves into how Mary coped
with and grappled with her son’s suicide.
“‘Prayers for Bobby’ is really about his
mother’s transformation in the aftermath
of his suicide because she had to come
to terms with why he would have done this
and it forced her to challenge herself to
look more deeply into her beliefs and to
look more deeply into what her Bible said
about homosexuality,” Eggleston said.
Mary eventually became an activist and
a public figure for gay youth, traveling
around the country to talk about the issue
of suicide witthin the gay community.
She also contributed to the movement
of educating children about this issue in
school throughout the mid ‘90s.
“I am thrilled that this concert is happening
because it’s great to be participating
22 MAY 2 0 1 9
in the World Pride festival and bringing
that into our neighborhood,” MacNeil
said. “It is significant for me personally
because the world of concert music, like
so many other fields, is still predominantly
white, male, cisgender and heterosexual,
and as a living composer and a
queer woman I am proud to be part of an
organization that has dedicated an entire
concert to LGBT+ issues.”
Joining the Astoria Choir for this concert
will be two vocal soloists, Elizabeth
van Os and Eugene Vargas. Van Os will
be singing Mary’s part (soprano) and
Vargas will play Bobby (tenor). The narrator,
Jana Mestecky, will represent Mary’s
voice. Along with the soloists and narrator,
the concert will include a chamber orchestra
and the entire choir, totaling 100
performers.
“When the ‘Prayers for Bobby’ piece
was written about 25 years ago there
was a statistic that one in three suicides
among young people were attributable
to issues of sexual identity, and that
hasn’t changed much,” Eggleston said.
“That’s the entire point of Mary’s activism.
She got to the point where she realized
her own faults in what happened to her
son and also came to realize there must
be so many others who are out there and
feel like they have nobody to turn to and
are contemplating ending it all. Her personal
mission became, ‘How can I reach
those people?’ and try to tell them they
are worthy of love.”
All audience members, regardless of
sexual orientation or background, can take
away the valuable and pertinent message
in “Prayers for Bobby.” The concert will
be held from 8 to 9 p.m. on June 8 at the
Trinity Lutheran Church on 37th Street and
31st Avenue.
“The piece in the end has a very hopeful
and uplifting message which is that
you are loved; you are valued; you are a
part of something bigger than you understand,”
Eggleston said.
Photos courtesy of Astoria Choir
Narrator Jana Mestecky Soprano Elizabeth van Os
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