Rochester Oratorio Society, Eric Townell Conducting, Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 7:30 PM, Hochstein Performance Hall “The Emancipation Oratorio”, this new work combines texts and music styles from West Africa, Europe and the US. The abolition of slavery by act of Congress 150 years ago is supremely worthy of celebration and commemoration. No region more than Western New York, and no…
“Soul of a Free Man” is the newest addition to “Emancipation Again: A Musical Freedom Trail.” The High School and Middle School Choirs of Geneseo Central School will join 3 soloists to sing this new work based the writings of Haitian Revolutionary, Toussaint L’Overture. This new work began with research by the 7th grade Social…
We traveled to the John Brown Farm Historical Site just outside of Lake Placid for the second performance. The performance of “Voices of Timbuctoo” kicked off a full day of music, speakers, and commemorations for the work of John Brown, Harriet Tubman, and other North Country Abolitionists. We gathered under a large tent for African…
Everything a composer could want. The performance was right on! The choir, the soloists, the accompanists played every bit of soul that this piece had to offer (and a little more than I expected in some cases!). But that wasn’t all. The church was packed. By some estimates, there were upwards of 500 people there….
New music will be performed tonight and tomorrow in Saranac Lake and North Elba as part of the John Brown Day events. Voices of Timbuctoo is a new work based on the Adirondack settlement of Black farmers in the mid-1800’s designed to secure voting rights. Abolitionist Gerrit Smith gave away 120,000 acres of his land,…