“See the light, let it grow”

The Asheville Choral Society continues its 35th season with “Stars and Moon: Themes of Light and Darkness” — an apt subject for the seasonal cusp between late winter and spring. Performances are Saturday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church, 27 Church St., downtown.

The program includes Mozart’s hallelujah-heavy “Regina Coeli,” or Queen of Heaven, an Easter-season hymn for the Virgin Mary. The remaining selections leap from the classical era to three contemporary works from British and American composers, including Samuel Barber’s “Reincarnations” from 1940; John Rutter’s “Mass of the Children,” first performed in 2003 and described in an ACS release as “a sung dialogue between the children and the adults that is both joyful and heart-melting”; and John Robert Brown’s “Coming Together,” which the New York-born composer wrote immediately after 9/11 when he was in his early 30s.

ACS Music Director Melodie Galloway, who’ll conduct the concerts, describes the program as “music that fills the imagination and illuminates the soul. We’ll be exalting the Queen of Heaven with Mozart, plumbing the depths of passion with Barber, then “back to the ”Stars and the Moon” with … Brown’s spine-tingling ballad.”

In addition to the ACS chorus, three guest soloists will perform, including sopranos Susan Belcher (from Cullowhee) and Gillian Bell, from New York. Tony Lance, an Asheville native now working in NYC, adds his tenor to the mix. All three soloists will perform together, with the chorus, for Brown’s “Coming Together.”

Galloway describes the evening in abstract terms that you’ll have to (and want to) experience to understand: “Stars and moon, light and darkness, joy and passion … all in one performance!”

Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.ashevillechoralsociety.org, or by calling 232-2060. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Visit http://www.ashevillechoralsociety.org for more information.

 

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