Get ready, Brattleboro. The wolves are coming to church.
The Brattleboro Concert Choir, directed by Susan Dedell, joyfully present Paul Winter’s “Missa Gaia” on Saturday, May 17th at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, May 18th at 4 p.m. Both concerts will be at Centre Congregational Church, downtown Brattleboro.
And the wolves? Their recorded voices, along with those of loons, whales, and harp seals, will join with the men and women of the Brattleboro Concert Choir in interconnected harmony in this joyful, rhythmic, and contemporary mass for the earth.
“Missa Gaia” originated when the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City asked saxophonist Paul Winter to create new music for the mass. Winter realized that he wanted to create a Mass that was both ecumenical and ecological. He embarked upon a long study of the great historical Masses, and was encouraged to know that many elaborate and historically important masses from the Middle Ages and Renaissance were based on popular tunes, including drinking songs and folk ballads. Winter said, “I had no drinking songs in mind, but I did have a fine melody from a wolf that fit perfectly with the words “Kyrie eleison.”
The female tundra wolf sings a four note howl, usually in a seven time pattern. She uses a slightly different embellishment each time, sometimes barely perceptible to human hearing. This four note pattern includes the interval known as the tritone, an interval considered so mysterious medieval ears that it was regarded as the interval of the Devil. Paul Winter wanted to rethink our perception, remarking “it is entirely appropriate that this wolf-call be the main motif of the Earth Mass. For just as we are now graduating from our inherited European fear of wolves and wilderness, so may other devils and dragons we conjure with our minds disappear, as we come to resonate with the greater community of life. This is the purpose of the Missa Gaia.”
As one music reviewer recently noted, ”This piece begs the ear to listen and the soul to respond.”
“Celebration and joyful gratitude is central to this piece,” says director Susan Dedell. “Even in the more soulful moments, there is a sense of wonder that is rooted in abundance. The music seems to breathe a sense of spaciousness, a generous exhilaration. I think ‘Missa Gaia’ is in a class of it’s own – a truly satisfying and complete experience.”
A particularly unique aspect of “Missa Gaia” is that it is a collaborative and ongoing creation. The piece originated as an interweaving of creative ideas from all the members of the Paul Winter Consort, including Winter, Paul Halley, Jim Scott, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Kim Oler. In subsequent performances, the core movements of the “Missa Gaia” remain, but new movements have been written – and are still being written — that may be added to the work as the director desires, giving “Missa Gaia” a work of ongoing creation and evolution.
In the spirit of evolution, music director Susan Dedell decided to invite several instrumentalists that were, in her view, the next generation of fine musicians. “I wanted to have guest musicians for this concert who were either former or current students of the musicians of my generation who were associated with this piece,” says director Susan Dedell. “This sense of continuity and connectedness seems so appropriate for this piece, not to mention the fact that they are awesome musicians!”
Guest vocal soloist for the concert is the dynamic Zara Bode. Zara is a founding member of the Sweetback Sisters, and is an active studio musician in New York. Zara was recently heard in Winged Productions “Three in the Wilderness.”
Soprano saxophonist Tony Speranza, Jr., is a graduate of Hartt College of Music and a BUHS alumni. He is a member of the Asylum Quartet, which recently won the Grand Prize and the Gold Medal at the 2014 Chamber Music Competition in Boston. This distinction is even more significant considering that they are the first saxophone quartet to receive this honor in the history of the competition. He is also the son of local music teacher Tony Speranza, Sr., and a former piano student of Dedell’s.
Cellist Marta Roma, from Barcelona, Spain, is a student of Eugene Friesen at the Berklee School of Music. Friesen is a member of the Paul Winter Consort and featured on the original recording and is delighted to be mentoring Marta for these performances.
Percussionist Stefan Amidon will be joining his former teacher and mentor Steve Rice as percussionists for the piece. After leaving Brattleboro, Stefan went on to attend the Jazz program at Oberlin College and has an active freelance career.
Other instrumentalists for the program include oboist Aaron Ichiro Hilbrun and pianist Brian Fairley. Hilbrun is a versatile musician who is currently on the faculty of the Florida Gulf Coast University, oboist with the Sarasota Opera, Northeast Symphony Orchestra, and the Walt Disney World Orchestra. Pianist Brian Fairley is the music director for Double Edge Theater and maintains an very active schedule as a pianist, coach, and director in the Boston area.
Join the Brattleboro Concert Choir for “Missa Gaia” on Saturday, May 17, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 18, 4 pm, at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Tickets, $15 general, $8 students, are available by calling the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523, or by visiting www.bmcvt.org.
Brattleboro Concert Choir presents
MISSA GAIA
Directed by Susan Dedell
Saturday, May 17, 7:30 pm AND Sunday, May 18, 4pm
Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT
