It’s a new year and there is some spectacular music on the horizon:
A Far Cry, January 10, 8pm at Jordan Hall. Soprano Sonja Tengblad and baritone Dashon Burton solo in Shostakovich’s epic song cycle/symphony. The symphony is one of the composer’s darkest and most penetrating, with all of its poetry tied to the theme of death. The Shostakovich is framed by Takemitsu’s austere “Requiem” and Mahler’s iconic “Adagietto,” a hopeful-yet-vulnerable work, written in the wake of a near-death experience. www.afarcry.org
Newton Community Chorus, January 18, 8:00 pm at First Baptist Church, Newton Centre. Gabriel Fauré: Requiem and G.F. Händel: Dettingen Te Deum. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors. www.newtoncommunitychorus.org
Halalisa Singers, January 18, 8:00 pm and 19, 3:00 pm at First Parish in Arlington and UU Church of Reading. Artistic Director Mary Cunningham leads the Halalisa Singers in Up to the Mountain, a concert to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Up to the Mountain features music embracing Martin Luther King Jr.’s themes of equality and inclusion, including uplifting gospel numbers and spirituals. Joining the chorus for the Saturday concert will be high school vocalists of the Boston City Singers. Admission for each concert is $20. For information and tickets call 781-648-5579 or visit http://www.halalisa.org/concerts.
Cantata Singers, January 24, 8:00 pm at Jordan Hall http://www.cantatasingers.org/January-2020/ Join us as Cantata Singers presents a program of beloved American composers. The program begins with two works by Charles Ives, General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Psalm 79, “God be merciful unto us.” Cantata Singers then makes its return to Yehudi Wyner’s Give Thanks to All Things since its world premiere in 2010. Wyner’s work was inspired by a selection of poetry, including Walt Whitman’s “Dirge for Two Veterans,” poetry by Cato, and selections of Psalms from the Bible. Aaron Copland’s cherished ballet, Appalachian Spring, embodies the sounds of 19th century rural America, featuring the beloved Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts.” Concluding the program is Boston composer Irving Fine’s The Choral New Yorker, based on an anthology of poetry that appeared in the magazine between 1925 and 1935. A pre-concert talk, free to all ticketholders, will be given at 7pm in Williams Hall by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Yehudi Wyner.
Nashoba Valley Chorale, January 26, 3:00 pm at Littleton High School, Littleton, MA. Anne Watson Born, conductor. Sacred Journeys is a program featuring music by Morten Lauridsen, Shawn Kirchner, Ola Gjeilo, and Franz Joseph Haydn. The Chorale will perform with members of the Orchestra at Indian Hill, and, in Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis, four professional vocal soloists: Deborah Selig, Britt Brown, Matthew Anderson and Jorgeandres Camargo. Read about it here: https://nashobachorale.org/sacred-journeys-program-notes/ -Anne Watson Born