Vashon Island Chorale: Averitt & Honegger
$5-$20
Averitt – Away to the Skies
Honegger – A Christmas Cantata
It’s time to celebrate Christmas! And this year, you can even chime in for some sing-along carols. We’ll sing a few other favorite carols in arrangements by the great English conductor, Sir David Willcocks. You can also hear a cantata by the Virginia-based composer William Averitt. This work, Away to the Skies, is based on the at times raucous early nineteenth-century American shape-note hymns. A highlight of the concert is a rare performance of A Christmas Cantata by the mid-twentieth-century Swiss composer, Arthur Honegger. He begins with a musical depiction of humankind’s despair, written during the Second World War. Angelic voices of children announce Christ’s birth, joining the full chorus for a joyous jumble of carols sung in turn and even at the same time. Honegger provides a confident declaration of hope and joy amid a world of troubles. A children’s chorus, full concert organ, and 31-person orchestra join the Vashon Island Chorale on stage for a rousing evening of Christmas joy.