Nova Singers will open their 40th anniversary season this weekend with a concert called “In Our Voices.” It’s a celebration of the many voices that have defined the professional vocal ensemble for four decades.
The concert begins with “Plaudite, Psallite,” a piece by Chicago composer Kestutis Daugirdas.
“This piece is so full of joy and happiness. The text is in Latin and it says, ‘Clap hands, sing, hallelujah.’ So it’s very praiseful and joyful about this moment that we’re in — that we’re here singing together,” said Laura Lane, founder and conductor of Nova Singers. “I thought it would be a great opener for this program for that reason.”
Lane said the 40th season opener brings together everything she loves about choral music — the voices, the meaning, and the emotion behind every note. The concert is divided into three parts: Voices of Praise, Voices of Nature, and Voices of Creation.
“The concept came from my desire to do music by Nathaniel Dett and Moses Hogan. Nathaniel Dett was one of the most important composers in American history — an early 20th-century Black composer, the first Black American composer who wrote significant classical music and incorporated traditional Black music,” Lane said. “Spirituals, folk hymns, all kinds of things.”
After “Plaudite, Psallite,” the Voices of Praise section features Dett’s rarely heard classical work alongside spirituals by Moses Hogan. Lane said featuring the work for this concert grew out of Nova Singers’ history — and a connection to Hogan.
“Moses Hogan himself came to Galesburg and worked with Nova Singers. There’s so much personal connection there, I feel like I’m channeling him when I’m doing it,” she said.
Nova Singers will perform “Abide with Me” and “My Soul’s Been Anchored” by Hogan. After that, under Voices of Nature, past members of Nova Singers will join the current group for “Shenandoah.”
“I’m so looking forward to alumni of Nova Singers coming up to sing ‘Shenandoah’ with us,” Lane said. “There may not be a dry eye in the house.”
That will be followed by the world premiere of “A Lullaby,” a piece by Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds that was commissioned by Nova Singers. The piece was written just after the composer became a grandfather and features soloist Anna Winn.
“It’s more than a lullaby. The mother is singing to her baby and is making up this song. But in one of the verses you find out toward the end that she had another baby, and that baby is in the grave over there — that she sang this same exact song to the other baby,” Lane said.
Winn is one of several soloists performing in the concert. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Lounsberry solos in “Fern Hill,” closing out the Voices of Nature section. Under Voices of Creation, the concert ends with “Make Me a World” by Ruth Watson Henderson, which is based on text by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson and will feature a solo by bass-baritone Ian Smith.
That piece was commissioned by Nova Singers in 2001, but Lane said the ensemble hasn’t performed it since then.
“I love every single piece, and I'm really, really excited about how the group is singing them,” Lane said.
“In Our Voices” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at First Lutheran Church in Galesburg, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport.
Tickets are available at the door. They are $20 for adults and $17 for seniors. Students are admitted free of charge.
For information about tickets, recordings, or other Nova Singers’ events visit www.novasingers.com.
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