Music of Praise, Glory, Fate, and Hope

2023-2024 Season:  Music of Praise, Glory, Fate, and Hope

Building on our first season together, Artistic Director Michael Driscoll continues programming compelling and diverse music.

November’s concert features Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Francis Poulenc’s Gloria. Premiered in the 1960s, both were influenced by jazz and popular music, and both exemplify the power of ancient sacred texts to express timeless desires for peace and spiritual transcendence.

In March, 2024, we explore fate and faith through the richly expressive music of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Lobgesang, Johannes Brahms’s Schicksalslied, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42.

We conclude our season in May, giving voice to “the dream unfinished” through Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, William Grant Still's Plain-Chant for America, other works by Price, as well as works by Margaret Bonds, Randall Thompson, André Thomas, Irving Berlin, and Dorothy Rudd Moore.

Tickets
To save money buy a subscription ticket for all three concerts.

Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 8pm

“Glory and Praise”

A Commonwealth Composer Concert

Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms

Francis Poulenc: Gloria

Salomon Sulzer: Psalm 111

César Franck: Psalm 150

Sonja DuToit Tengblad, soprano; Leo Balkovetz, tenor; Susan DeSelms, organist.

with organ, harp, percussion, and bass

Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 3pm

“Fate and Faith”

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Lobgesang

Johannes Brahms: Schicksalslied

Felix Mendelssohn: Psalm 42

Dana Lynne Varga, soprano

With professional orchestra

Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 8pm

“The Dream Unfinished”

Florence Price: Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight

William Grant Still: Plain-Chant for America with piano

Philip Lima, baritone; Valerie Becker, pianist