Members Of New York Choral Society Reunite For First Live Recording Since COVID To Present Morning Light

The New York Choral Society, New York's pioneering symphonic chorus that explores unique collaboration and dynamic repertory, announces their latest digital collaborative project, Morning Light, as part of their hybrid Reimagine 2021-2022 season.

Committed to exploring choral works through a social lens for a modern audience, Morning Light will premiere on December 1 and brings text from the mid-nineteenth century to life through a new arrangement by composer Kevin Siegfried and choreography by performing artist David  Thomson to represent the life of noted Black Shaker Rebecca Cox Jackson, the forces of nature, and finally, a collective light at the end of the tunnel.

With text written in the 1870's attributable to New York Shaker Lydia Annas, Morning Light is the cycle from light to dark, calm to chaos and the belief that with faith, we can weather any storm that life may bring. With spirituality as a grounding force, the collaboration highlights the storms of our current timeline; a global pandemic, political and social disruption, uncertainty, and environmental deterioration- and with a room full of singers reunited after nearly two years, coming together in song to offer the promise of growth, progress, and hope. Black Shaker Rebecca Cox Jackson personified these themes in her own life in 1830 after experiencing a spiritual awakening during a severe thunderstorm. Her fear of storms had been so great that she became physically sick at their onset until one day, in her moment of greatest despair, she was transformed through prayer and a divine message, seeing a bolt of lightning not as a threat of danger, but a sign of peace and consolation. Kevin Siegfried notes: "I have arranged many Shaker songs for modern choirs, but this is a song I came across during the pandemic, and it's meaning for me was very much impacted by the time we are living in."

In this digital film collaboration, Dance maker Thomson portrays this prophet with a single dancer, Nehomoyia Young, to pay tribute to a powerful Black female presence, and remind us all that the calm and beautiful light of the morning will always return as long as we stand steadfastly through the storm.

"Unlike our previous digital projects, this is the first one that will be recorded live and in-person, singing together again after 18 months," notes New York Choral Society Music Director David Hayes. "This work speaks to the experience we've all had: the 'fearful tempest' of the text is a shared experience for millions of people now. Perhaps, having stood strong through the storms, we are beginning to see some light - a precursor of the full, bright light that will come when we are fully through the storm."

"In researching the work of the Shakers and discussions with Kevin, I discovered the figure of Shaker Eldress Mother Rebecca Cox Jackson, a freeborn Black woman who had an incredible power to move people," adds collaborator David Thomson. "I wanted to bring her presence to light and the hope that she brought to her own community as we navigate our own hope through the traumas of the pandemic, climate change and other issues that are challenging our peace."

The film will be released on December 1 on both https://www.nychoral.org and the company's YouTube page.