For this concert, not only do we have recent works by American composers, but we have also chosen texts which, at first glance, seem incongruous. They deal with our human relationship with the greater world, particularly life and death. We touch on how things heal, how our boundaries change, how we deal with time, our inner-most perceptions of life’s end, our place in the universe, what brings us peace, and what music offers to us.

So many things seem to be at odds with each other, coming from completely different poles, but upon closer examination the dichotomy begins to make sense. And, since this seems a heavy, thought-provoking collection of poems, we have added some nonsense to remind us to laugh, and some liturgical texts that ground us in our spirituality. The program moves from the tinkling of wind chimes to the bell sounds of the vibraphone, and finally to the drama of snare drum and djembe with stomping feet and clapping hands.