On Friday, November 1, the Christ Church Concert Series will present a program of music for All Saints Day at 7:30 pm. Doors will open at 7 pm, and the public is invited. In addition to works by Charles Hubert Parry, Johannes Brahms, Anton Dvořák, and Samuel Barber, the program will feature Light Shines in the Darkness by Michael John Trotta. One of Trotta’s more recents works, the composition is an eight-movement work for choir, string quartet and organ that draws on texts examining the many facets of death, the pain of transitions, and the hope and joy of a better place.
Fueled by a passion to share new music that engages conductors, ensembles, and audiences alike, Michael John Trotta (b.1978) is fast becoming one of the most “exciting and prominent new composers of choral music” (Fanfare). Prior to his work as a full-time composer, his experience as an educator at the elementary, middle school, high school, and university levels – as well as a church music director – infuses his works with “an intimate knowledge of the human voice” and a “rare sensitivity to the capabilities of a choral ensemble” (Fanfare). This, combined with his degrees in music education and a doctorate in choral conducting, have grounded his style in tradition, which blend with his modern sensibilities to “inform the thoughts and aspirations of the people and the time” (Choral Scholar) and to create “tender harmonies and a palette of glowing vocal and instrumental colors” (Gramophone).
All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is a Christian festival celebrated on November 1 in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. All Souls’ Day or the commemoration of the Faithful Departed follows on November 2 and is the day when Christians historically remember deceased relatives. In the Anglican tradition, All Souls’ Day is an extension of the observance of All Saints’ Day and it serves to remember those who have died, in connection with the theological doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the Communion of Saints.
This concert is sponsored in part by the Talbot County and Maryland State Arts Councils. There is no charge for the concert, but a freewill offering will be received in support of the ongoing concert series. For more information, please call 410-822-2677. Christ Church is located at 111 S. Harrison Street in downtown, Easton.
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