Artistic Director Vision
Singing is a transformative act. When we sing together we transform the air – the space between us – into sound. As we sing together, we listen to each other and are transformed as we integrate our voices and our intentions into a collective, cohesive whole. When others hear us singing, the boundaries between us are diminished and we are all invited to be changed by the music our minds create as the sounds reach us.
This power is especially important to our world today, where we find ourselves both more connected and yet more divided, more fractured and isolated than ever before. Music, especially singing, has an unrivaled power to create community and to let us glimpse a portion of the lived experience of other communities, other peoples, other cultures and other times.
As a conductor, I place incredible value in the opportunity to be in a choral community and to use this platform to explore music in a variety of genres/styles, from composers from around the world and across historical periods. This means performing everything from music of the Western European Renaissance; when choral music was the most advanced form of musical expression, to music written today; especially as music by members of historically marginalized communities is becoming increasingly valued and performed (although we still have a long way to go).
Because choral music contains the dual modalities of music and text, we have the unique capacity to connect emotionally with audiences in multiple ways with the same work. This might look like anything from eliciting profoundly comforting, nostalgic feelings or challenging preconceived notions, expanding feelings of empathy or touching on timely social issues. These emotional connections are made all the more potent when music is made at a very high level. When talented and experienced musicians work together to find a level of expression that transcends notes on a page and becomes true music: the transformative connection of individuals through sound is complete.