SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Once every year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a local nonprofit group get together with grieving families to honor their loved ones in song. It's called Notes for Peace, and the goal is to keep alive the memory of people whose lives have been cut short by gun violence. Reporter Courtney Kueppers from member station WBEZ in Chicago followed the process of creating one song from start to finish.
COURTNEY KUEPPERS, BYLINE: It was 2021 when Justin Perry died in a shooting in a suburb just outside Chicago. He was 28 years old, a writer, a rapper, the parent of a young daughter and his mother's only son. A newspaper story about local gun violence noted his death in a single paragraph. Now his mother, Racquel Perry, says music is the way to share the vibrancy of her son's life.
(CROSSTALK)
KUEPPERS: The process begins on a fall afternoon. Perry arrives in the basement of Chicago's St. Sabina's church and takes a seat in a circle of folding chairs.
RACQUEL PERRY: So my name is Racquel Perry. I also brought two pictures of Justin. My son is Justin Perry, Justin Jeremiah (ph). He loves to write, or he loved to write.
KUEPPERS: Perry is one of eight mothers here - all have lost a child to gun violence. On this day, they share stories of their children with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's training program. It's the beginning of Notes for Peace, an effort meant to provide healing and also to put names and faces to the victims of the shootings that are reported routinely in a Chicago news cycle. Here's Perry.
PERRY: I want to add to Justin's legacy, and I want to have something that will live on. And so this, to me, is a way to help him live on.
KUEPPERS: More than 100 original songs have been created since Notes for Peace began in 2018, like this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISS YOU, TERRELL")
PAMELA BOSLEY AND SARAH PONDER: (Singing) Every minute, every day, I miss you, Terrell. Miss your laughter. Miss your voice. I miss you. I miss you.
KUEPPERS: That's the song created in honor of Pam Bosley's son, Terrell, who was killed in 2006 outside of Chicago church. Bosley is the co-founder of Purpose Over Pain, the group that collaborates with the CSO. She says the nonprofit's goal is to provide support to bereaved parents and guardians whose children have been the victims of gun violence.
PAMELA BOSLEY: We try to allow parents an opportunity to tell their stories. If it's through music, if it's through press conferences - whichever way you can tell your story, you need to tell the story of your child, and don't silence yourself.
KUEPPERS: The compositions vary in style and tone. Each is different, just like the people they are about. But it always starts with a conversation between the mothers and the musicians they are paired with. In the church basement, Perry sits with Sava Velkoff and Hamed Barbarji, and she plays them some of Justin's music on her phone.
PERRY: So he is telling a story, and I can let you listen to it. It's only a verse. I'll play it low.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PERRY: Now, listen to this beat flow. I love it. It's a dope beat.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PERRY: It's the piano that gets me.
KUEPPERS: She's quick to laugh when she tells the musicians about the inside jokes she had with her son and other details about him that will inform the lyrics. Here's Velkoff and Barbarji afterwards.
SAVA VELKOFF: We've got a lot of good material to go off of, and I think we're going to do justice to Justin.
HAMED BARBARJI: I think we learned a lot about a really wonderful person. So I'm looking forward to getting the process started.
KUEPPERS: The musicians spend the next two weeks writing lyrics, harmony and orchestration for the mothers' songs. Then they are professionally recorded and mixed at a studio. Singer-songwriter Meagan McNeal lends her voice to Perry's song and several others. She's worked with Notes for Peace for years.
MEAGAN MCNEAL: It breaks my heart every year, but it is a real issue in our city, and these are real people who are dealing with real loss. And if these songs help them feel better in any way, it's my honor to contribute.
(CROSSTALK)
KUEPPERS: Finally, the mothers gather one last time at a local music venue. They're all dressed in white. Perry has Justin's photo on a chain around her neck. About a hundred people have gathered for the live concert of all the completed songs. Perry's tribute to her son, "A King Lives On," will close the show. She and McNeal make their way to the stage. The strings and trumpet begin.
MCNEAL: (Rapping) Dear Mama, you deserve all the credit. I'm your biggest fan. Please don't ever forget it. I'm a king. And I learned it from you. I love you more than life. You're my best friend, too. Peace is a virtue. It keeps us on track. You gave me my wisdom, and I gave it right back.
KUEPPERS: As McNeal sings, Perry looks skyward and wipes a tear from her eye. Then it's her turn to perform.
PERRY: (Rapping) Life of the party. You were always a leader. Kept a book nearby 'cause you were always a reader. As I say these words, I can hear you say, OG, you're not supposed to talk over this track that way.
(LAUGHTER)
PERRY: (Rapping) Hey, I'm keeping your memory alive through this song to let the entire world know that a king lives on.
MCNEAL: (Vocalizing).
PERRY: (Rapping) A king lives on.
MCNEAL: (Vocalizing).
PERRY: (Rapping) A king lives on.
MCNEAL: (Vocalizing).
PERRY: (Rapping) A king lives on.
KUEPPERS: A king lives on both in Perry's heart and now forever in song.
For NPR News, I'm Courtney Kueppers in Chicago.
MCNEAL: (Singing) Low moments are not the whole story. I grab your hands, OG, don't worry. Memories get lost, but words live strong, my peace, my son, a king lives on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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