The Menomonie Singers Present: Threads of Becoming - April 26th

The Menomonie Singers will present two concerts on April 25 and 26 with the theme, “Threads of Becoming.” Both are at 2 pm. The ensemble will perform on April 25 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Eau Claire and on April 26 at Our Savior’s Lutheran in Menomonie. A $10 suggested donation is requested. 

“Threads of Becoming” explores music inspired by faith, text, grief and loss, landscape, interconnectedness, and the celebration of humanity and nature.

The featured work is Franz Schubert’s Mass in G which was inspired by Schubert’s personal faith and his upbringing in the Viennese church tradition. The Mass will be performed in a German-influenced Latin pronunciation to reflect its historical context and will be accompanied by a string quartet of Menomonie musicians.

Additional pieces include Three Madrigals by Emma Lou Diemer, Love: Then and Still by Susan LaBarr, Laughing Song by David Dickau, Tundra by Ola Gjeilo and Turn the World Around by Harry Belafonte.

Three Madrigals, by Emma Lou Diemer, may sound familiar, text-wise, because they were inspired by the words of Shakespeare. Audiences will hear words from Shakespeare plays -- Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, and Much Ado About Nothing. A Madrigal is typically a Renaissance secular choral work for a small number of singers but Diemer brings a contemporary spirit and perspective to the texts of the Bard.

Laughing Song is a contemporary choral setting of the 1789 poem by William Blake, inspired by the universal celebration of joy and the harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. 

Music is often inspired by loss. The grief of Charles Anthony Silvestri, contemporary poet, who lost his wife to cancer, inspired Susan LaBarr to compose Love: Then and Still.  The music is difficult rhythmically and harmonically, yet it is uplifting and beautiful.

In Tundra, we hear again the poetry of Charles Anthony Silvestri. The composer, Ola Gjeilo, was inspired by the landscape of his native Norway; the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. The plateau is barren yet according to Gjeilo, intensely beautiful.  The music has a majestic and poignant quality.

To close the concerts, the Singers will visit Turn the World Around. With its West Indies feel, it is a passionately triumphant anthem about the interconnectedness of humanity and nature, emphasizing that despite cultural differences, all people share a fundamental unity through their connection to the Earth's elements.

The Menomonie Singers is a non-profit music organization started in 1989. This adult community choir performs at various venues in Menomonie and western Wisconsin. Singers are a mix of many professions, including UW-Stout faculty members. The group frequently sings four-part, a cappella music.

The choir is looking for new members to expand the group to 40. Auditions will be held again in August with rehearsals beginning again shortly after auditions for concerts in the fall.   Interested singers should contact Juliana Schmidt, Executive Director and founder, at admin@themenomoniesingers.org.

Check out our website at www.themenomoniesingers.org. The Menomonie Singers can also be found on Facebook.