--- description: Audience members sang "Which side are you on, friend, which side are you on?" title: Ferguson: Michael Brown Supporters Interrupt St. Louis Symphony image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d5bdd065fce3af4/6986a72d1eebf70e5a37311e/michael-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Demonstrators Interrupt a St. Louis Symphony to Sing a 'Requiem for Mike Brown'  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Oct 6, 2014 3:06 PM CUT  The casket of Michael Brown sits inside Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church awaiting the start of his funeral on Aug. 25, 2014 in St. Louis. The casket of Michael Brown sits inside Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church awaiting the start of his funeral on Aug. 25, 2014 in St. Louis.Robert Cohen—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Oct 6, 2014 3:06 PM CUT About 50 audience members [interrupted](http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local%5Fnews/article%5Fd3d4e0b0-4c48-11e4-bc55-275aa0a96f33.html "undefined") the St. Louis Symphony’s performance Saturday night to sing a requiem for Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager whose killing sparked weeks of often protests in Ferguson, Mo. As the orchestra was about to play the second act of _German Requiem_ following intermission, a man stood up in the audience and sang, “What side are you on, friend, what side are you on?” according to the [St. Louis _American_](http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local%5Fnews/article%5Fd3d4e0b0-4c48-11e4-bc55-275aa0a96f33.html "undefined"). He was soon joined by dozens of the audience members for the second refrain, “justice for Mike Brown is justices for us all.” The demonstrators repeated the verses over and over again, you can watch the video (shot by St. Louis American reporter Rebecca Rivas) above. Demonstrators in the balconies hung banners that said “‘Requiem for Mike Brown, 1996-2014” and “Racism lives here.” After a few minutes of singing, they started chanting “black lives matter” as they left the theater. The demonstration was organized by Sarah Griesbach, a 42-year old white woman who has been protesting against racial inequalities in the St. Louis area since Brown’s death in early August. \[[_St. Louis American_](http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local%5Fnews/article%5Fd3d4e0b0-4c48-11e4-bc55-275aa0a96f33.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3474885/ferguson-michael-brown-symphony/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3474885/ferguson-michael-brown-symphony/"},"headline":"Watch Demonstrators Interrupt a St. Louis Symphony to Sing a 'Requiem for Mike Brown'","datePublished":"2014-10-06T15:06:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:36:20.868Z","description":"Audience members sang \"Which side are you on, friend, which side are you on?\"","url":"https://time.com/3474885/ferguson-michael-brown-symphony/","keywords":["Crime","police","Race","protests","St Louis","Ferguson topic","darren wilson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d5bdd065fce3af4/6986a72d1eebf70e5a37311e/michael-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d5bdd065fce3af4/6986a72d1eebf70e5a37311e/michael-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Funeral Held For Teen Shot To Death By Police In Ferguson, MO","caption":"Funeral Held For Teen Shot To Death By Police In Ferguson, MO","creditText":"Robert Cohen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3474885/ferguson-michael-brown-symphony/","name":"Watch Demonstrators Interrupt a St. Louis Symphony to Sing a 'Requiem for Mike Brown'"}}]}] ```