Zephyrus, the outstanding Charlottesville-based vocal ensemble, has commissioned a setting o fThe Gift to Sing, by poet/novelist and important Civil Rights activist James Weldon Johnson to premiere on April 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Paul’s Church in Charlottesville, VA. Text choice was a wonderfully collaborative process. Members of the chorus and I both suggested wonderful poetry, and in the end we all agreed on this one. Primarily performers of Renaissance music, the choir’s vocal blend also lends itself to contemporary music and they have performed a variety, including music by Tarik O’Regan, Ola Gjeilo and Ivan Moody. You can hear their rendition of Benedicams Domino by Michael Praetorius here.
