Sanctuary: Bel Canto Company & Gate City Voices

Old meets new and sacred stands with secular as **Bel Canto Company ** and Gate City Voices celebrate the Triad’s outstanding high school conductors and their choirs. We are excited to invite four exceptional high school music educators to guest conduct Bel Canto Company in this unique musical celebration:
• Marshall Johnson, Grimsley High School (Guilford County)
• Marlo Nall, Rockingham County High School
• Michael Martinez, Forbush High School (Yadkin County)
• Lemar Martin, Wheatmore High School (Randolph County)

This collaborative event also showcases two major selections:
Sacred Place by Alex Berko – Performed by Bel Canto Company and Gate City Voices. Scored for chorus, violin, cello, and piano, the central themes of this six-movement work are ecological preservation and healing set within the structure of a traditional Jewish service. Although each movement is titled after a different pillar of the service (Opening Prayer, Amidah, Shema, Mi Sheberach, Kaddish, Closing Prayer), none of the text is in Hebrew. Rather it is a collection of the writings of several environmentalists and poets exploring their relationship with the earth, including Wendall Berry, John Muir, William Stafford, and Rabindranath Tagore. (Read More at alexberko.com)

Proud Music of the Storm by Jake Runestad – Performed by all ensembles and conducted by Bel Canto Artistic Director Welborn Young, this piece is based on Walt Whitman’s poem of the same name celebrating the sounds of our world, from nature to music. Runestad describes it as an “ode to all sounds that make up Whitman’s world and how they inspired him to create.” Like many of Runestad’s works, it evokes a deep love for nature and implores the listener to protect its sacred beauty.