The Sphinx Symphony Orchestra is the unique all-Black and Latinx orchestra composed of top professionals from around the US, with members serving as mentors to Competition finalists and promoting works by Black and Latinx composers. Sphinx’s vocal ensemble, EXIGENCE, joins the ensemble for several pieces, including Joel Thompson’s Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, a powerful multi-movement choral work that was premiered by the U-M Glee Club in 2016 and memorializes the last words spoken by seven African-American men killed by police or other authority figures.