We are inviting the community to a special indoor concert that will capture your sense of awe and wonder with beautiful, celestial choral music underneath the stars, with a pre-concert virtual discussion to expand our understanding of who can see the stars.
Consonare Choral Community is pleased to present an in-person, collaborative celestial choral concert “Stars are for all who look up” on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 7:00pm at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford with a pre-concert virtual panel discussion “Are stars for all who look up?” on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 6:30pm over Zoom. This in-person live concert will feature performances by Connecticut's versatile vocal chamber ensemble, Voices of Concinnity, and Boston’s newest vocal group, Unitus Ensemble, with accompanying celestial projections. The safety of our singers and audience is our top priority; thus, masks will be worn.
“There is an intrinsic human connection to the night sky, yet current behavior is limiting access to viewing the stars,” said Sarah Kaufold, artistic director of Consonare Choral Community. “The concert will feature celestial projections paired with beautiful a cappella choral music about the stars to explore access to experiencing the night sky. The facilitated pre-concert virtual panel discussion will set the stage by asking whether stars really are for all who look up.”
This concert will feature a collaboration between two accomplished New England vocal chamber ensembles. Described as “silky smooth butter in musical form”, Voices of Concinnity, directed by Sarah Kaufold, seeks to connect with the community through exquisitely crafted and innovative choral programming that fosters inclusion, promotes collaboration, illuminates variety, and ensures affordable access. Bringing together voices from around the country to sing the group’s mission to life, The Unitus Ensemble, directed by Anthony Trecek-King, seeks to create emotionally immersive concert experiences that spark reflection, promote socially just education and inspire action.
With celestial projections, this live concert in Hartford will capture of sense of awe and wonder with heavenly choral music underneath the stars featuring "Stars" by Erik Esenvalds, "Sing to the Moon" by Laura Mvula, including a new arrangement of "Follow the Drinking Gourd" by Anthony Trecek-King, as well as works by Fanny Hensel, Marques L.A. Garrett, Eric Whitacre, Saunder Choi, Claudio Monteverdi, and more.
The pre-concert virtual facilitated panel discussion hosted though Charter Oak Cultural Center will explore the injustice of experiencing the night sky by asking, “Are stars for all who look up?” The panelist are Dr. Meredith Hughes (Astronomer at Wesleyan University), Sharon Lewis (CT Coalition for Environmental Justice), and Dr. Anthony Trecek-King (Composer/Conductor), to be facilitated by Miles Wilson-Toliver (Professional Musician/Voices of Hartford). It is free to attend this discussion. Register here.
Admission to attend the live performance at Charter Oak on April 9th is $15 (however, no one will be turned away if the ticket price is a hardship). It is free to attend the virtual panel discussion on March 31st.
To purchase tickets for the concert or to register for the free pre-concert discussion, please visit: https://www.consonare-sing.org/concinnity-concerts
This performance is the first in our Woven Skies Concert Series for Spring 2022, which features collaborations to illuminate through choral music how turning our eyes to the celestial can build community here on earth. This concert and discussion are made possible through support from a grant from CT Humanities.