Hope On, by Polish-American composer Martin Sedek, is the inspiration for our June concert series. Drawing upon wildly varying text sources (including improvised contributions from the singers), Sedek challenges us to maintain hope in today’s social, economic, environmental, and political climates. Similarly, Jake Runestad’s Into the Light uses varied texts by history’s great reformers and was commissioned to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (1517–2017). Balancing the work of these young composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music offers a lush and familiar balm complemented by Robert Kyr’s Bach-influenced Songs of the Soul.
Our edgy and playful addition to the mix comes from Saunder Choi, a Filipino graduate student at the University of South California who is seeking U.S. citizenship. He has composed an inspired setting of The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus (1849–1887). This fresh setting of the Statue of Liberty’s hopeful inscription -- Give me your tired, your poor -- is ample reason to join us!
SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 7 P.M.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, I77 NORTH MAIN STREET, CONCORD, NH
SUNDAY JUNE 16, 4 P.M.
PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 4 POST OFFICE SQUARE, PLYMOUTH, NH
TICKETS: $30 ADULTS, $25 SENIOR,
FREE ADMISSION FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES K-UNDERGRADUATE