"Hear and Now": Voices of the Earth — Sunday, July 23, 2006
Santa Fe New Music began its 6th season with the second annual “Hear and Now” concert, a co-production with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, on Sunday, July 23, 2006, at the historic Santuario de Guadalupe. This year, the program was presented twice: at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Themed “Voices of the Earth,” the concerts featured contemporary choral and chamber music inspired by the beauty and magnificence of the land. The program includes music by Toru Takemitsu, John Luther Adams, SFNM’s own John Kennedy, John Cage, Emmanuel Sejourner, and others.

In addition to the renowned, 24-voice Santa Fe Desert Chorale, guest musicians included harpist Guiseppina Ciarla, Susan DeJong on alto flute and piccolo, and percussionists John Pennington and David Tolen.

SFNM’s John Kennedy describes the “Hear and Now” concert as an example of two music organizations successfully combining their resources and expertise. “Last year’s ‘Hear and Now’ concert not only played to a full house, but really gave both organizations’ audiences a chance to discover what the other does so well,” he says. “We’ve received many positive comments from ‘Chorale people’ about how much they loved the new chamber music on the program, and conversely, from our audiences who had not been as familiar with new chorale music.

“It’s exciting for SFNM to have the opportunity to present music that utilizes the fine voices of the Desert Chorale, and I know that their singers appreciate the opportunity to broaden their repertoire as well. The non-vocal chamber music helps create a cohesive and well-rounded concert, and the ‘earth-based’ theme allows us to program some very interesting music that creates both a counter-weight and a complement to the ethereal quality of chorale voices.”

Each concert performance was preceded one hour prior by a roundtable discussion with SFNM’s John Kennedy, Linda Mack of the Desert Chorale, Richard Brandt of Santa Fe Live Poets’ Society, and the composer G. Bradley Bodine, on the relationship between words and music.