For Immediate Release: January 23, 2009
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The Esoterics performs VOTIVITA THE ESOTERICS CELEBRATES THE PROMISE OF LOVE IN VOTIVITA Concert features texts from the Old Testament and a commissioned work by Martha Sullivan setting poems by Edmund Spenser PLUS! Join The Esoterics for a champagne reception after the Valentine's Day performance |
SEATTLE — In these times, when controversies over marriage provoke conflict and hatred, The Esoterics will celebrate Valentine's Day by celebrating the dimensions of love that are common to all humanity.
"This year's programming is about the sincerest forms of human communication," says Founding Director Eric Banks; "I think the import of this concert's theme -- the promise of love and life-long commitment – is even more powerful due to the controversy around marriage in the current political climate."
Sensual verses of love poetry from the Old Testament's Song of Songs provide a common, lusty thread to the repertoire of VOTIVITA, in settings by Dutch composer Ton de Leeuw (Car nos vignes sont en fleur [While our vineyards are in bloom]), French composer Daniel Lesur (Le cantique des cantiques), Två dikter av Höga visan [Two poems from the Song of songs] by Swedish composer Gösta Nystroem, and the original Hebrew verses of Eric Banks' Shir hakhusim: a song of the senses.
To complete the conjugal theme of this program, The Esoterics will premiere Martha Sullivan's Epithalamion, five odes by Edmund Spenser, inspired by the wedding vow – Time, Nocturne, Banishment, Silence, and Blessing. This piece represents another type of consummation for the composer, who wrote the first of the five movements as a commission for the Dale Warland Singers' Choral Ventures program. Because the group disbanded in 2005, Sullivan was unable to complete the remaining four movements as planned under Choral Ventures.
Fortunately, The Esoterics received a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to commission the full cycle of Epithalamion, as well as three other commissions to be presented in the 2009 season. Sullivan's setting of Spenser's musings on the marriage vow will provide a timely fulfillment of both the repertoire and portent of VOTIVITA, and the composer will attend the performances on February 14th and 15th.
Please join The Esoterics for this celebration of the eternal commitment of love.
Saturday • 7 February • 7 pm • Lynnwood
Trinity Lutheran Church • 6215 196th St. SW
Sunday • 8 February • 3pm • Tacoma
Christ Episcopal Church • 310 N K St.
Saturday • 14 February • 8 pm • Seattle
St Joseph's Catholic Church • 732 18th Ave E
** PLUS post-concert reception
Sunday • 15 February • 3 pm • West Seattle
Holy Rosary Catholic Church • 4139 42nd Ave SW
Tickets are $20 at the door, $18 in advance, $15 for students,
seniors, the un(der)employed, and the differently-abled. Discounts are available
for groups of five or more at $12 per person. Active singers of any choral group
may attend for only $10. Advance tickets are available online at
The Esoterics has presented dozens of local and international premieres and has tackled the most challenging works of 20th and 21st century choral repertoire. Now in its 16th season with founding director Eric Banks, the ensemble has drawn national and international praise for presenting the many styles that comprise contemporary choral music. The Esoterics' commitment to innovative concert repertoire has been nationally recognized four times (in 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2008) with the ASCAP and Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. The ensemble was also honored to be selected as the only North American chorus to compete at the 2000 International Choral Festival in Cork, Ireland, the 2001 International Choral Festival in Tolosa, Spain, and the 2006 Harald Andersén International Choir Competition in Helsinki, Finland.
If you have additional questions about VOTIVITA or The Esoterics (media contact only), please contact Bayta Maring ()