Lenox — Cantilena Chamber Choir will give its season-ending performance on Sunday, May 4, at Trinity Church. Joining the group will be the award-winning youth choir from Boston Arts Academy, The Spirituals.
Featuring prominently on Sunday’s program will be Ronald Perera’s “Golden Door,” a seven-movement cantata scored for speaker, SATB chorus, and chamber ensemble. Composed in 1998 and commissioned by the New Amsterdam Singers, the work draws its text from interviews and archival materials related to immigrants who came through Ellis Island early in the 20th century.
The cantata’s movements—titled “What is your number?,” “America, I wish I was going,” “The fastest and securist transportation,” “Steerage,” “The Lady with her hand up,” “Island of hope; island of tears,” and “Names”—describe the harsh realities of the immigrant experience. The piece employs a small ensemble that includes flute, clarinet, strings, piano, and percussion. Through various musical textures, the work depicts the emotional side of the immigrant journey.
“The Golden Door” has received critical praise for its moving depictions of the immigrant experience. The “American Record Guide” described the work as “dramatic, poignant, whimsical, and horrifying” for portrayals of the most harrowing immigration stories.
The New York Times pointed out the work’s “invitingly consonant and occasionally dramatic” qualities, praising its depictions of both the hopes and hardships of newly arrived immigrants to America, the “land of freedom.” Its duration is about 23 minutes.
Established in 2009, vocal group The Spirituals is based in Boston Arts Academy (BAA), the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts. Comprising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, this group has dedicated itself to celebrating and preserving the long tradition of Black spirituals. Music Department Chair Michael W. Bradley directs the ensemble, which has won acclaim for its performances of these powerful songs.
Now in its 21st season under the direction of Dr. Andrea Goodman, the Cantilena Chamber Choir comprises 24 professional-caliber singers who won a multi-year Cultural Portfolio grant award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council in recognition of their annual Martin Luther King program and three Choral Arts New England Alfred Nash Patterson awards for innovative programming. The chorus has appeared at Tanglewood, the Mahaiwe and Colonial Theaters, Hancock Shaker Village, The Mount, The Berkshire Museum, Hevreh, and WGBY in Springfield.
Andrea Goodman has held professorships at the Cincinnati Conservatory, New York University, and Skidmore College. She has been a visiting professor of conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she also directed the women’s choir. She has served as the director of the annual summer Saratoga Choral Festival for 18 summers. Guest appearances have included the Aspen Music Festival; the Festival de Musique Sacree in Fribourg, Switzerland; the Festival of White Nights; and the Singing World Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dr. Goodman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting.
Hear Cantilena Chamber Choir in its season-ending performance on Sunday, May 4, 3 p.m., at Trinity Church, 88 Walker Street, Lenox. Tickets are available here. Cantilena participates in Mass Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program.
