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Sangre de Cristo Chorale to sing NM premiere of 'The Opposites Game'
The Sangre de Cristo Chorale de Cristo Chorale will perform 鈥淧ilgrimage of Hope鈥� at St. Bede鈥檚 Episcopal Church on Saturday, March 9.
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Inspired by events in his own English classroom, the writer and teacher Brendan Constantine penned 鈥淭he Opposites Game.鈥�
The poem traces an exercise where students identify antonyms for each word from the title of Emily Dickinson鈥檚 poem 鈥淢y Life had stood 鈥� a Loaded Gun.鈥�
Sangre de Cristo Chorale to sing NM premiere of 'The Opposites Game'
The composer Dale Trumbore turned that text into a choral piece. Santa Fe鈥檚 Sangre de Cristo Chorale will sing its New Mexico premiere in 鈥淧ilgrimage of Hope鈥� concert at St. Bede鈥檚 Episcopal Church on Saturday, March 9.
The classroom discussion weaves around, with the music mirroring the debate, ranging from the confrontational to the poignant, from harmonious to discord.
鈥淭he students go back and forth,鈥� said George Case, music director. 鈥淭hey settle on the opposite of the gun is wherever you point it.鈥�
Case chose the work because it reflects the current disjointed state of the world.
鈥淚t鈥檚 to acknowledge that there is a lot of violence and brokenness in the world,鈥� he said.
The poem ends with the line, 鈥淵our death will sit through many empty poems.鈥�
Despite that theme, Case insists the concert is anything but a downer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to leave anybody depressed, I promise,鈥� he said.
The program also includes 鈥淪ing Gently鈥� by the Grammy Award-winning composer/conductor Eric Whitacre, 鈥淛ustorum animae鈥� by the English Renaissance composer William Byrd, 鈥淧ilgrim鈥檚 Hymn鈥� and 鈥淭he Road Home鈥� by American classical composer Stephen Paulus.
The singers also will perform 鈥淩equiem鈥� by Eliza Gilkyson with arrangement by Craig Hella Johnson, Dolly Parton鈥檚 鈥淟ight of a Clear Blue Morning鈥� and Carly Simon鈥檚 鈥淟et the River Run.鈥�
The concert will end with 鈥淪ure on this Shining Night鈥� by National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen.
Now in its 46th season, the amateur chorale consists of about 40 members of all ages hailing from around Santa Fe and as far away as Las Vegas, New Mexico. It reigns among the largest continually performing independent choruses in New Mexico.
Case teaches voice and diction at the New Mexico School for the Arts and is a staff singer at the Church of the Holy Faith. He was formerly associate professor of music and director of choral activities at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
