'River of Blood' presentation by composer Justin Merritt

Justin Merritt, assistant professor of music and composer in residence at St. Olaf College, will give a presentation about his composition River of Blood, April 16 at 7 p.m. in Regents Hall 150 at St. Olaf College.

River of Blood uses music to tell the story of a massacre of Salvadoran peasants at Rio Sumpul by right-wing military forces in 1980. At least 600 people, including women and children, were killed at the hands of the Honduran and Salvadoran armies. The operation was kept secret from the world, and it has only been through tedious work by investigative journalists that the truth has emerged.

The Minnesota Orchestra premiered Merritt's "River of Blood" in November.