WHEN: Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 7:30 - 9:30 PM
WHERE: Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005
COST: $33 General Admission - bit.ly/CCLaughingLoving
This innovative, two-hour, multidisciplinary performance will be Congressional Chorus’ fourth annual fall collaborative concert. This year, Living, Laughing, & Lovingwill bring our full family of choruses together, ages 8 to 95, in collaboration with local dance companies, and a live orchestra, consisting of a string quartet, four hand piano, percussion, woodwind, and brass instruments. This 19 song intergenerational concert will truly bring the senses and humanities together in celebration of the circle of life through presentations from the 85member Congressional Chorus singers, alongside 22 dancers, 6 poets and 10 instrumentalists, that builds upon our past successes and will be our largest collaborative concert to date!
Previous fall collaborative concerts include Choral Rhythms in 2012, Shakespeare Sings in 2013 and American Folksongs & Spirituals in 2014, with the two most recent concerts SELLING OUT completely with raving reviews! “Unlike the previous collaboration concerts, this performance will provide audiences with a unique, multisensory glimpse at the seasons and cycles of life, complete with a broad range of emotions, both musically and artistically,” said Congressional Chorus’ Artistic Director and Conductor David Simmons. “There’s something in this concert for everybody!”
The 85-member Congressional Chorus will present a range of musical genres and stylings for this celebration concert, including: “We Are” and “Wanting Memories” written by Ysaye Barnwell and performed famously by acclaimed a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, “The Promise of Living”composed by “Dean” of American composers Aaron Copland; “In My Life” written and composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney; the 2014 hit “I Lived” by OneRepublic, and much more! There will be several vocal solos, duets and quartets presented in the songs “I Lived,” “We Are,” “The Glory of Love” by Billy Hill; and “We Sing” by Brian Tate. Additionally, three of the songs, “The Laughing Song” by Norman Luboff; “Love Psalm” by jazz composer Darmon Meader; and Billy Joel’s 1983 hit “And So it Goes,” will be performed by the 24member Congressional Chorus Chamber Ensemble, a part of the main 85-member choir that focuses on a capella arrangements, outreach and cultural ambassadorship.
In the spirit of the humanities, SIX American poems, curated by retired Library of Congress music department staffer Jim Hardin, will be read by spoken word artists from Congressional Chorus, American Youth Chorus (AYC) and NorthEast Senior Singers (NESS) that will dynamically connect the music to the audience in this heartfelt concert! The collaborating dance companies, Afromoda Dance Theater, Capitol Movement, and Joy of Motion Dance Center, will be presenting EIGHT WORLD PREMIERE dance works directly inspired by the Chorus’ unique sound and music! Afromoda Dance Theater will introduce the audience to choreography, jembe, and bongo percussion that will inspire crowd participation during the Chorus’ performance of West African folk song “Take Time in Life” arranged by Will Schmid. Capitol Movement Dance Company members, with choreography created by Artistic Director Nicole Klett, will perform with passionate mixed choreographic stylings to embody the sweet, love song “Set Me As A Seal Upon Your Heart” with text from the Song of Solomon and music composed by David N. Childs. Joy of Motion’s Youth Dance Ensemble will be presenting a dynamic array of movement reflecting the complex singing and rap arrangements present in the “The Song I Sing” written by Ragtime creators Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, while their Director Helen Hayes will embody the passion of love in “I Loved You” written by A. S. Pushkin and Jay Rouse. The concert’s riveting finale “Circle Of Our Lives,” with text from American poet Wendell Berry’s poem of the same name, followed by “I Lived,” with words and music by Ryan Tedder and Noel Zancanella, will bring all the performers together with choreography developed collaboratively between Congressional Chorus Lead Choreographer Joshua Chambers and Joy of Motion’s YDE Director Helen Hayes.
The Congressional Chorus was founded in 1987, and has been promoting American music for every age for 29 seasons. The choir’s mission “is to foster and communicate the spirit, diversity and transformative power of music while advancing choral excellence, community outreach and affordable music education for all ages in the nation’s capital,” and has done so through a commitment to artistic excellence, innovative educational programming, and dynamic, multidisciplinary performances.
Opera Singer & George Washington University Assistant Professor of Music & Director of Performance Study Robert Baker proudly commented that “The audience [of the fall collaborative concerts] is diverse in every way; age (there are lots of 2030 year olds!), economic background, cultural background, and perhaps most important for me, concert-going experience. The audience is full of people who have not experienced this type of ensemble before.” Baker also mentioned, “As I sing in D.C. and work with the boards and leaders in the arts community, we are all striving for what the Congressional Chorus is well on the way to achieving.”
Come experience the energy and the power of an eclectic mix of music and dance in the stunning acoustics of the beautiful and historic The Church of the Epiphany.
Come celebrate life!
