Voices for Peace and Hope to come to Orcas Center

||| FROM LYNN BAKER for ORCAS CHORAL SOCIETY |||

Orcas Choral Society brings music of longing, reflection and joy to the Orcas Center this April in its spring concert, Voices for Peace and Hope.

“Prevailing wisdom holds that ‘classical’ music was written long ago in a land far away,” said Artistic Director Bruce Langford. “However, in this concert, two of three pieces come from the pen, or the computer, of composers who are alive, well, prospering and speak directly to our lives today.”

First, members of the Orcas Youth Chorus and its new junior division, the Junior Orcas Youth (JOY) Chorus, will join the adult choir for the Orcas premiere of “Roots,” by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo. Commissioned in 2019 by Orcas Choral Society and other choirs, this lovely song evokes quiet longing for our heart’s home.

A powerful choral suite follows from The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace written for Britain’s Royal Armouries at the turn of the millennium by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Dramatic readings interspersed with the music urge us “not to ignore the world as it is, but to look toward a world that can be. A world of mercy, justice and peace,” Langford said. 

Finally, “musical redemption, celebration, and fireworks come from Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi,” Langford said. “A Venetian violinist and conductor, in his spare time he wrote 49 operas and 500 concerti. His Gloria – joyful, lively and infinitely encouraging – will send you back out into Eastsound uplifted and renewed.”

Voices for Peace and Hope comes to the Orcas Center at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 15 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 16. Tickets are available at orcascenter.org/ Adult tickets follow the Orcas Center’s choice of prices. Tickets for youth 13-17 are $5. Children 12 and under are free.