3 choral groups, 3 concerts, to power city's 'Choral Weekend' May 13-15

WORCESTER — You could call it "Choral Weekend."

The Worcester Chorus, Salisbury Singers and Master Singers of Worcester will all be presenting concerts next weekend on May 13, 14 and 15 around the city at different dates, times and venues and with a variety of concert themes.

"I believe this weekend shows the vibrancy of the arts culture here in Worcester and especially of our choral culture," said Bradford T. Dumont, music director of Salisbury Singers.

It will be the Worcester Chorus, under the auspices of Music Worcester, getting the weekend off to a harmonious start with a concert titled "Celebrating Composers of Color" at 7 p.m. May 13 in Trinity Lutheran Church, 73 Lancaster St. (Free general admission; reservations required; musicworcester.org)

The Salisbury Singers present a program at 7 p.m. May 14 including "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight," with music composed by Florence Price from unpublished works discovered after her death, and "Reflections of the ‘Great War.'" The performance will be in the Curtis Performance Hall at Tsotsis Family Academic Center, Assumption University, 500 Salisbury St. (Tickets $25; seniors, $20; students, $12; salisburysingers.org)

At 4 p.m. May 15, the Master Singers of Worcester present "Music of the 21st Century" featuring selections from "Considering Matthew Shepard" — A Choral Suite by Craig Hella Johnson. The performance is in Salem Covenant Church, 215 East Mountain St. (Tickets in advance: $25; $20 senior/student. Tickets at the door: $30; adult, $25 senior/student; mswma.org)

"None of us were necessarily aware of each other's concerts right away, though we had shared some dates over time," Dumont said. Because of the pandemic, "long-term planning was always in flux this past year, all organizations were working with shifting dates and plans," he said

"I know that one of the choirs had not originally planned to be on this weekend and they had to move because of some COVID complications earlier on. When they moved, it went into conflict with another group's dates and times. To support this, Salisbury Singers actually moved our original concert date and time so that we are now on Saturday."

Dumont said "It's important to to me that we find ways for us to balance with each other, even if it means some shuffling like this occasionally so that we can support our community. Each group has unique audiences, but there is still quite a bit of overlap and it would be a shame to pull focus from each other."

'Unique opportunities'

By the same token, "It's such a great problem to work through, having to balance a weekend of choral singing. Between these three groups, as well as the incredibly robust singing programs at local colleges and church choirs … there are so many unique opportunities to sing and attend performances," Dumont said.

"Choral singing can be a powerful space for community development and support, and ensembles like Salisbury Singers are looking for ways to continue connecting with our community by creating performances that audiences can really connect with and choosing repertoire that more and more singers will want to join and sing."

The Worcester Chorus, led by director Chris Shepard, ends its 2021-2022 concert season with "Celebrating Composers of Color" showcasing works from some of choral music’s finest composers past and present.

The program includes "I Choose Love" and "Roll Down, Justice!" by Mark Miller; "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by J. Rosamond Johnson; "No Man Has Seen His Face" and "Touch the Hem of His Garment" by Margaret Bonds; and "Praise His Holy Name" by Keith Hampton.

Led by Worcester Chorus assistant director and accompanist Mark Mummert, the Worcester Chorus Women’s Ensemble will also perform works by Margaret Bonds, Ysaye Barnwell and Rosephanye Powell.

Margaret Bonds

The works of Margaret Bonds (1913–1972) on this program are newly published in 2022. In this presentation, Bonds’ piece “Sleep Song” (text by Joyce Kilmer) will be performed for the first time since the composer’s death 50 years ago.

This work is being performed with special permission from Hildegard Publishing. “Touch the Hem of His Garment” by Bonds was first performed in January 2022 by Concora, directed by Chris Shepard. The Worcester Chorus is among the first concert choruses to present “Touch the Hem of His Garment” on a program.

"Considering Matthew Shepard" concerns University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was kidnapped, beaten, and left to die, in what became an infamous act of brutality, and one of America’s most notorious anti-gay hate crimes. Composer Craig Hella Johnson's musical response (2016) has been called evocative, compassionate and transformative. The Master Singers of Worcester are led by artistic director Edward Tyler.

In 2009 a series of unpublished works by the late composer Florence Price, the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, were discovered in an abandoned house in Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln

Salisbury Singers brings to life one of these works, "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight," set to a poem of the same name by Vachel Lindsay. The text describes the restless ghost of Abraham Lincoln pacing the streets and reflecting on the state of America in the leadup to World War I.

"It's rather incredible," Dumont said of the discovery of works by Price (1887-1953) in 2009. "Up to this point I believe the work was never performed, never published. Lindsay's "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" was published in 1914, "so we know the work (composition) had to be written after 1914," Dumont said. But not much else is known.

But musically, "It's beautiful. It's got some really stunning writing throughout," Dumont said.

To complement the work, the program will also include "Reflections of the 'Great War,' " a series of texts and musical reflections from and about the period around World War I with poetry by Langston Hughes, Christina Rossetti, Vachel Lindsay, William Henry Davies and others, set to music by Rosephanye Powell, Nathaniel Dett, Marques Garrett, Ralph Vaughan Williams and more.

Dumont is the concert's conductor, with William Goliger, assistant conductor, and William Ness, piano.

After a long period of online practices during the height of the pandemic, the Salisbury Singers have been rehearsing in-person all year, Dumont said. "For this concert we finally removed our masks for rehearsals at the comfort level of each choir member. We have been able to rehearse and perform three different concert cycles already this year as we continued to adapt to shifting guidelines."

"It's been a journey," he said. The May 14 concert is a "a real culmination. Finally this year we're almost back to a sense of normal. We're starting to see some growth again as an ensemble."

The upcoming Choral Weekend features three separate concerts. In 2017, five local choruses came together for the same program. A performance of Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" saw the Worcester Chorus, the Master Singers of Worcester, the Salisbury Singers, the Sounds of Stow, and the Worcester Children's Chorus joined voices for a memorable performance.

Asked if something similar could happen again, particularly as performance restrictions have eased, Dumont said, "Yes, I think the thought is something any of us would be open to and I know we are already looking ahead together to plans for next year. Many of us are diving into programs we have been putting off the last two years, and I would personally love to see a large-scale collaboration again."

The Salisbury Singers are also already contemplating celebrating 50 years in 2023-24.

"We're absolutely looking for big collaborations to celebrate together," Dumont said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Three choral groups, three concerts, make May 13-15 Worcester's "Choral Weekend"