The fusion of traditions is the through line of this concert. Each piece on the program is a kind of crossroads where different cultures meet and make music together. This is illustrated in the two featured works for the concert. Paul Basler’s Missa Kenya takes the classical Latin mass and fuses it with the rhythms and choral traditions of east Africa, accompanied by piano, African drums and French horn. Gustav Holst’s infrequently performed Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, while quite English in character and language, utilizes a translation from the original Sanskrit by the composer and incorporates some motifs from Indian ragas. 

Other examples are Imant Raminsh’s In the Night We Shall Go In, where a Latvian composer, living in Canada, uses the words of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda; and Caldwell and Ivory’s Hope for Resolution which interweaves the hymn Of the Father’s Love Begotten with the Zulu freedom song Thula sizwe. Rounding out the concert program are pieces from Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, and South Africa, to name a few. Come and hear this interesting and beautiful music the Chorale has been practicing for your enjoyment.