Ready, Bright

Ready, Bright by Derrick Skye
Grant Gershon and Jenny Wong, conductors
Choreography by Yeko Ladzekpo-Cole
Video by Emily Bloom and Therapy Studios
Sound by Ian Smith
Ready, Bright is a piece about the desire to be released from restraint and the work that it takes for us to be unrestrained. The piece sonically and visually interprets multiple perspectives on the process of gaining release from restraint using the mind, body, soul, and voice.
In Ready, Bright there are elements of call and response (found in many cultures, including many cultures in West Africa) between soloist and choir, as well as between sections of the choir.
The piece also includes polyrhythmic layering of 3 against 2 found in traditional Eʋe music from the Volta region of Ghana. Sections of Ready, Bright often start with a single repeated phrase. As the phrase cycles, additional phrases are added, and the phrases intertwine, with new meanings and rhythmic patterns emerging.
Stylistically, Ready, Bright layers jazz, gospel, and pop vocal traditions with vocal approaches commonly found in Western classical music. Ready, Bright also incorporates body percussion, inspired by the call and response and repeated tension (silence) and release (collective sound) found in Black work songs.