KENT, Conn.—Spring is the time of rebirth, of young creatures and hope for the future. And what could be more spring-like than a chorus of vibrant young voices?
On Saturday, March 29, St. Andrew’s Church’s Music in the Nave series will present the acclaimed children’s choir Chorus Angelicus in a concert of classic and recent works.
It is the second Music in the Nave concert dedicated to young people, according to Matt Harris, chairman of the church’s Music Committee and Concert Series.
“Our children’s concert series has been in the works for a long time,” he said. “We have been trying to get it together for many years and it finally came together last year when we presented ‘Barbar the Elephant.’ ‘Barbar’ was adults performing for children—this time we have children performing, basically boys and girls under the age of 13.”
Young they may be, but they are already vocal veterans, having performed many regional concerts, sung with the Hartford Symphony and at venues such as Boston Symphony Hall. They have toured Ireland and Spain and were recently featured on NBC and WNPR.
Chorus Angelicus was begun in 1989 by Grammy Award-winning composer and keyboardist Paul Halley. Today, it is led by Argentinian conductor, pianist and tenor Gabriel Löfvall, a faculty member at Hartt School and director of music for St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Hartford.
“He has big shoes to fill, but he is doing a great job,” Harris said of Löfvall.
Löfvall explained that Chorus Angelicus has four tiers of singers, ranging from Angels in Training to Advanced Angels, Juniors, middle schoolers, and Seniors, who are in high school.
“It’s an educational ladder,” he said. “I love the intergenerational dynamic. Sometimes we have a talented middle school student who might sing with the seniors or do solos and sometimes young graduates come back from college to help,” he said.
So, who are these children who are immersed in this world of cultural wonders? According to Löfvall, most of the children are drawn from Torrington and the towns immediately around it.
“Ideally, we love it when they come in when they are young enough to be in the Angel program, he said. “Then, if they stay through middle and high school, they become beautiful choristers. We are very proud that some of our alums have gone on to be composers, opera singers and in musical theater.”
The March 29 concert provides some challenging music for the young people, but both Harris and Löfvall believe they are up to it.
“The program includes works by four composers, starting with [Benjamin] Britten’s ‘Missa Brevis,’” said Harris. “It’s pretty serious, pretty sophisticated, and it is amazing those kids can do it—but they have done it before.”
“‘The ‘Missa’ is a stunning piece of music with a fun organ part,” Löfvall said. “It’s very vibrant and modern. The kids really love it.”
The chorus will also perform Harris’s own “Object Lesson,” Eric Ewazen’s “Gold Coast Harmony,” and Brahms’s “Four Songs,” accompanied by Elizabeth Allyn on organ, Amanda Evans Carabase on harp, and Eric Brummit and Jamie Marci on French horns.
Harris, a composer who has been awarded three composer grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, has never included his own music in a Music in the Nave program before but did this time with the encouragement of Löfvall.
“I had been in contact with a Matt Harris before, but I never put two and two together that it was that Matt Harris,” said Löfvall. “I had performed long ago some songs he had written and I remember the pieces because they are challenging but so beautiful.”
Harris’ pieces for the program form a triptych drawn from Spanish poetry by Octavio Paz.
“The first one is about a tree and has a folky melody,” said Löfvall. “The second talks about fire and blood and the last is about a child spinning a top. It’s a romp, technically difficult with a lot of quick Spanish words. The kids are loving it. It’s been a good challenge. I love Matt’s music—he creates tonal paintings.”
He said the last piece in the triptych describes how we relate to everyday objects and the music is “low and spooky.”
“The kids say it is like a horror movie,” he related. “I love working with kids when a child’s imagination is so wild.”
The other two pieces on the program are Eric Ewazen’s “Gold Coast Harmony,” which was written in Florida and reflects that state’s southeast coastline. Ewazen is best known for his brass works, which have become international staples.
“We finish with a beautiful Brahms piece that is difficult but a lot of fun,” said Löfvall. “He uses poetry for this that is so interesting. What I love about Johannes Brahms is that it is all in German, but the second one is a translation from Shakespeare’s ‘The Twelfth Night,’ the third is ‘The Gardener,’ an original German poem, and the fourth is from a Scottish poem, the ‘Fingal’ epic. The whole program has works in Latin, Spanish and German, a very international program.”
Löfvall added, “I am very excited about this program. The kids seem to be ready, and yet we still have two weeks to work on details.”
The concert will take place at 3 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Parish, 1 North Main St. in Kent. Tickets are $25 and available at https://bit.ly/ANGELICUS, and the door. Children are admitted free.
For more information, call 860-927-3486, email office.sa.kent@gmail.com, or visit www.standrewskentct.org/mitn.html.
