Roger Reynolds Sanctuary

Sanctuary as refuge, as asylum, as shelter from violence or the penalties of law has deep roots in many cultures. In classical Greece, all temples offered sanctuary, and the Temple of Apollo at Delphi with its oracle was known throughout the Mediterranean world. Sanctuary continued as a right through the Western tradition in the Roman Empire and into the Christian era. It is occasionally invoked today around the globe, with recent examples in areas of sectarian strife and immigration law challenges. However, there is another powerful dimension of sanctuary beyond protection: sanctuary as a place of tolerance and privilege. In this sense, sanctuary is a place safe for expression, for experimentation, for revelation. Privilege also involves license: license to define boundaries, to test them. This is the powerful dimension explored in The Sanctuary Project. In todays fractured world, sanctuary is elusive. My project intends to create a place of refuge for the quartet, technicians and audience, and to invite them to act on the privilege and the license so created - to reveal themselves and, in turn, be revealed, perhaps transformed. Roger Reynolds with David Curry October 2007