Canticle of the Sun: Beth Willer

Tommy Mesa, Cello
Jon Gillock, Organ

Voices of Ascension proudly welcomes Beth Willer as our Featured Guest Conductor for the season’s culminating performance. Founder and Artistic Director of the celebrated Boston-based Lorelei Ensemble and Director of Choral Activities at the Peabody Conservatory, Willer is a fearless champion of music that bridges tradition and innovation.

In this thrilling program of firsts, Voices presents the New York City premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun—a radiant work for chorus and solo cello originally composed for Mstislav Rostropovich, with text by St. Francis of Assisi—the East Coast premiere of Ellen Reid’s immersive work Oscillations: 100 Years and Forever, featuring newly reimagined NYC visuals, and a world premiere by New Zealand/New York composer Celeste Oram titled All my salt falls short. Works by Olivier Messiaen (Apparition de l'église éternelle (Apparition of the Eternal Church) for organ, Louange a l'eternite de Jesus for chorus) complete this visionary concert.