Long Beach Camerata Singers to Present PEACE PROJECT VII: THE WORTH OF WATER

Long Beach Camerata Singers will open its 58th  season on Sunday, October 8 with its annual themed Peace Project concert.  Peace Project VII, “The Worth of Water,” will be presented in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center Arena Lobby, beginning at 4:30pm.  California State Assembly member, Josh Lowenthal, will narrate the concert.  In the afternoon before the event, Camerata will sponsor an EnviroArts Fair in the Long Beach Arena from noon to 3pm.  
 
This year's Peace Project begins a two-year theme cycle of Environmental Justice, this year focusing on raising awareness of how we must all become stewards of our water resources.  Benjamin Franklin said, “When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.”  Camerata's Grammy-winning Artistic Director, Dr. James K. Bass, has curated a concert of music from many eras and styles that contain poetry and libretto about water.  The narration, which will be read by Assembly member Josh Lowenthal, will delve further into the theme, as well as provide information about the composers and music.
 
The concert, which will be approximately 80 minutes in length, will feature the 80 voice pro-core ensemble, as well as several solos, and an assortment of instruments including piano, guitar, bass (played by James Bass), tabla, swarmandal and bansuri, an Indian Flute.  
 
The latter three instruments are from the Indian musical tradition, and will accompany a piece called Pani Ka Rang, composed by Gaayatri Kaundinya, a Hindustani vocalist, composer and artist.  The piece is written in Hindi and LBCS is fortunate to have two singers on staff who have coached the ensemble in diction and pronunciation.  The piece was recently premiered in the US by the National Children's Chorus in Washington, DC.
 
Other repertoire included in the concert:

Take My Hand, Precious Lord by Thomas A. Dorsey:  Dorsey wrote the lyrics and adapted an 1844 hymn tune to create this lush and deceptively difficult piece.  He wrote it upon the death of his wife in childbirth.  It was Martin Luther King's favorite song, and he often invited Mahalia Jackson to sing it at rallies to inspire crowds; she also sang it at his funeral in April, 1968.  The important thoughts in this piece that are relevant to the theme are “. . . Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light . . . At the river I stand, Guide my feet, hold my hand . . . .”
 
Waves from The Hope of Loving by Jake Runestad:  a very prolific, young contemporary composer, Runestad has written this piece for double choir.  It is built on washes of sound, with a repeating motive in the piano that creates a stable foundation for the vocals. “Waves come, waves go.  Waves know nothing but tossing and crossing, crashing and thrashing . . . . “

The Prow by local composer, Matthew Lyon Hazzard, this piece is filled with energy and soaring melodies.  It captures the joy of sailing on a boat on a beautiful afternoon.  “The prow, the best place on the boat for a seat . . . .”
 
Tickets are available online at the link below and are $40, $55 and $65 each (ticketing fees apply).  Group tickets are available for groups of 10 or more at $30 each, including fees, and may be obtained by contacting Camerata's box office at 562-900-2863

Long Beach Camerata Singers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, 80-voice professional choir that has provided Long Beach residents with high-quality choral music for 58 years. Under the artistic direction of Grammy-winner Dr. James K. Bass, Director of Choral Studies at UCLA, the choir will present five concerts this year, including a fully orchestrated performance of Handel's Messiah. In addition, the choir is often contracted by other organizations to fulfill the choral component of their programming. Camerata Singers' repertoire encompasses a wide range of works from the Renaissance to the present. In the 2022-2023 season LBCS premiered its all-professional chamber ensemble, The Catalyst Chamber Ensemble.

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