Pacific Chorale Premieres TO THE HANDS Original Staged Choral-Theatrical Production

Pacific Chorale will launch its 2024-25 season with the premiere of an original staged choral-theatrical production entitled “To the Hands” on Saturday, September 14, 2024, 8:00 pm, and Sunday, September 15, 2024, 5:00 pm, at Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts
 

The program reaches across the centuries with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw's poignant To the Hands for voices and strings, imploring compassion for the disenfranchised, performed side-by-side with the work it was written in response to – Dieterich Buxtehude's masterful 17th century cantata Ad Manus. Deeply moving and thought provoking, the 60-minute production features Pacific Chorale's 16-voice chamber choir with members of Delirium Musicum, a string quintet led by Etienne Gara.

 

Woven into this special presentation are a selection of consolatory works by Moira Smiley, Sarah McLachlan, Simply Red, Kevin Siegfried, Ken Burton, Shawn Kirchner, Michael McGlynn, and Ysaÿe Barnwell, spanning a spectrum of Baroque, American folk, British soul, contemporary classical, and pop vocal music. Although Shaw's piece, written for voices and strings, features members of Delirium Musicum, most of the music will be performed unaccompanied.

 

Conceived by Istad, “To the Hands” was several years in the making and is a first-of-its-kind production for the GRAMMY Award-Winning Pacific Chorale. It is stage directed by Marty Austin Lamar with choreography by Courtney Ozovek, projection designs by Omar Ramos, and recording by Christian Amonson, Arts Laureate.

 

Istad says, “At the core of this multi-pronged production is Caroline Shaw's extraordinary work To the Hands, which resonates with a powerful message of compassion towards those who are struggling. Her piece will be interspersed with a range of other works to create a musical and philosophical conversation about social justice and our role and responsibility in addressing human neglect. The singers will perform entirely memorized, helping to foster a greater emotional connection with the audience during this profoundly reflective and contemplative presentation.”

Lamar states, “Caroline Shaw's work, To the Hands, requires each of us to reflect on our individual responsibility to humanity. How do I regard, judge, or avoid the forgotten and neglected? Pacific Chorale's work responds to this question by fusing movement, technology, and a diverse offering of music to expand Shaw's clarion call for humankind to do more.  Our world is in urgent need of love, tolerance, and a commitment to our collective humanity.  The hope is that this intensely thought-provoking production might ignite conversations and actions towards eradicating poverty and discrimination of any kind.” 

 

In the spirit of “To the Hands,” Pacific Chorale has also created a community partnership with the OC Food Bank, which unites communities to end hunger and malnutrition by partnering with more than 300 local charities, soup kitchens and community organizations. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring shelf-stable food items to the event as part of a community food drive. (Most needed items include canned meat/fish, canned fruit, canned vegetables, peanut butter, and dry foods such as beans, pasta, rice, and cereal.)

 

Pacific Chorale's production of “To the Hands” is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Pacific Chorale's 2024-2025 season, its 57th, is supported by Platinum Season Sponsors Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons.

 

The Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. For tickets ($38-$108) and information, visit www.pacificchorale.org or call 714-662-2345.

To post a comment, you must register and login.