Coro de Cámara News:
Precious and rare gemstones. Glittering choral gems. People living centuries and continents apart, connected through the power of music and storytelling. This is what’s in store for audiences at Coro de Cámara’s upcoming “Jewelscapes” concerts.11
There will be two matinee performances. One is 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 at the United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Road and the second is 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Unitarian Universalist Santa Fe, 107 West Barcelona Road in Santa Fe.
“Jewelscapes: Choral Gems from Around the World” kicks off the chamber choir’s 36th season. Coro’s new series is called MUSICSCAPES, with three concerts: Jewelscapes, Dreamscapes and Soundscapes. In “Jewelscapes,” 10 choral gems from around the globe and different periods of music history are featured. An informative script shared by Coro singers connects a gemstone to each composer/music selection/country represented in the program, sometimes in surprising ways.
Artistic Director Nylea Butler-Moore, in her 11th season with Coro, said, “The ‘Jewelscapes’ idea started with the traditional Western choral canon and what time-honored pieces (i.e., ‘gems’) singers and audiences might enjoy from this canon (i.e., our Bach, Vivaldi, and Haydn selections). But the choral music canon is much larger than just compositions written by white European men of the past. The canon now encompasses works by diverse and underrepresented musicians: women, people of color, and composers from around the world. Hence, Coro shares ‘choral gems’ representing a range of composers. And I figured if you have ‘choral gems’, you should also have corresponding gemstones! Figuring out how to connect the ‘gems’ was a creative challenge!”
Coro de Cámara was founded in 1989 as an auditioned chamber chorus with singers and high school apprentices from Los Alamos and Santa Fe. Musicians are from varied backgrounds including scientists, teachers, health professionals, yoga instructors, and even a rabbi. The group’s innovative programs cover a host of topics with enchanting music in numerous styles, often with scripts, instruments and multi-media.
The sparkling glimpse of musical riches showcased in the upcoming “Jewelscapes” concerts, along with information about gemstones, composers, and countries, will leave audience members in awe of the vast scope of choral music.
Matinee tickets are $30 for adults at the door, $25 online, $25 for seniors (65 and older) and college students at the door, $20 online and the concert is free to those age 18 and younger. Coro de Cámara is offer something new – $60 season tickets. Available at the door or online at corodecamara-nm.org.
Coro de Cámara pianist Yelena Mealy and percussionist Eric Schaller prepare for their ‘Jewelscapes’ performances scheduled for Saturday Nov. 3 and Sunday Nov. 4. Courtesy/Coro de Cámara
