SHREVEPORT – When Kermit Poling received an email that he was this year’s winner of The American Prize in Composition for Choral Music, “surprise” is a word that barely touched Poling’s thoughts and feelings.
It’s not because his Symphony No. 2, “The Angels Gathered” wasn’t worthy of consideration – Poling calls the work his best in five-decade career of composing, writing and conducting music.
But the work debuted in 2023 as part of Shreveport’s commemoration of the Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1873 that killed one-quarter of the river town’s population.
To receive what would seem to be a random email three years later?
“I actually had to write back because I needed clarity,” said Poling, who earned the recognition from The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts. “It really was a surprise.
“This is the work I’m most proud of for a number of reasons, but to be able to compose something about these priests that are heroes as well as martyrs – I’m very grateful.”
The choral symphony centered around the heroism of five Catholic priests who ministered to the sick and dying in Shreveport.
Each time a priest fell ill, he called on his colleague to replace him. Each time, that colleague answered the call, providing last rites to the previous priest while expecting his own days to be numbered.
Five priests died before the epidemic, which claimed approximately 1,200 people, abated enough with earlier-than-expected cold temperatures and eventually an early frost. Shreveport’s yellow fever epidemic is the third-worst of its kind in U.S. history.
The priests, in order of death, were Father Isidore Quemerais, Father Jean Pierre, Father Jean-Marie Biler, Father Louis Gergaud and Father Francois Le Vezouet. The first three were stationed in Shreveport (two at Holy Trinity Church), the fourth from Monroe and the fifth from Natchitoches.
“The piece is inspired by the words and actions of those five priests and the letter by (Bishop Auguste Marie Martin), which essentially eulogizes all five,” said Poling, who conducts the symphonies in Shreveport, Marshall and South Arkansas. “I was in tears myself conducting it for the first time (at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Shreveport) because the whole concept of the concert, the whole concept of the piece, comes from words that were written and spoken either by the priests or the bishop at that time.”
The symphony consists of choral voices and an orchestra as Poling incorporates letters from the priests and from Bishop Martin, who was the head of the Natchitoches diocese (which included Shreveport and North Louisiana).
The 40-minute piece is broken down into eight sections, inspired by various Gospels, the daily reporting from the upstart The Daily Times newspaper in Shreveport and from the priests’ words and actions.
The piece was commissioned by the Shreveport Summer Music Festival and a committee that included Father Peter Mangum and LSUS history professor Dr. Cheryl White, two of the co-authors of the book, “The Shreveport Martyrs of 1873: The Surest Path to Heaven.”
Phrases like “the angels gathered him (Father Quermerais) for heaven” and “tell him (Bishop Martin) that I am going to my death, that it is my duty” are gathered from Bishop Martin’s letter. The latter speaker was Father Gergaud of Monroe informing Martin of his decision to go to Shreveport at the height of the epidemic.
In the piece’s debut, Poling directed the Shreveport Festival Orchestra along with a trio of choirs – the Cathedral Choir of St. John Berchmans, St. Cecilia Society and Prisma, along with four opera soloists from Shreveport Opera Express.
The symphony airs regularly on the EWTN Global Catholic Network and can still be found on demand through EWTN.
Poling still receives feedback from music patrons who’ve absorbed a live performance of the symphony.
“(The epidemic) was a significant event for Shreveport from the very difficult historic side of things but also from the people who wanted to help,” Poling said. “And now, 150-plus years into the future, it’s something we can look to as a cornerstone in another restart for the city.
“Because of the efforts of all these people who influenced this piece, Shreveport and the northwest Louisiana community is getting noticed in a broader sense. People have told me that this piece made a difference in their lives, and it’s reassuring to know that in the age of AI, that art is still capable of making a difference.”
The national honor is the second on such a stage after taking the silver medal in the 2019 International Global Music Awards for his composition of “Concierto de Chairo.”
When Poling isn’t managing Red River Radio, the second-largest public radio territory in the country, he remains active in the musical realm.
Poling transformed his piano quartet musical score for the 1922 silent film Nosferatu and will be conducting the Stockton Symphony in a full symphonic arrangement Sunday in California.
The audience will listen to the live musical score while the film is projected in the hall.
Poling also debuted his piece this summer titled “To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond” inspired by America’s space program and the enduring drive to discover new frontiers.
