“Songs on Fire,” a benefit concert for D&R Greenway Land Trust by Voices Chorale, will be performed Sunday, Nov. 22, at D&R Greenway’s Johnson Education Center, a circa-1900 restored barn at 1 Preservation Place, Princeton.
Doors open at 2:30 p.m. with the concert from 3-4:30 p.m.
“Songs on Fire” will include vocal music on lightning, fire for comfort, fiery hearts and stars by Mozart, Handel, Mendelssohn, Schumann and contemporary composers, interspersed with poems.
Voices Chorale is an auditioned chorus with 50 members from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Music director Dr. Lyn Ransom founded the chorale 22 years ago.
Dr. Ransom and Emily Vite will conduct the concert, with Joshua Wilson on keyboard and Karttikeya on percussion. The concert will conclude with a Ceremony of Fire for the Earth, during which audience members will be invited to write their wish for the earth.
Song has accompanied fire as long as humans have been alive. Songs and dances were performed around the fire for rituals, celebrations, storytelling and recreation, and songs are sung to inspire fire in the heart for battle. As human lifebecame less dependent on the basic elements — food, water, fire and shelter —there were songs to celebrate fire in its various forms: sun, lightning, campfiresFire has also been used in poetic language — hearts on fire with love; hearts with burning desires; minds on fire with inspiration; fiery tempers.
Fire is depicted in choral music in different ways. In some music the composer sets notes running from lower to higher pitch, like flames of fire. Other composers set fast tempos and incessant rhythms.
The program for Songs on Fire is structured so poems will introduce each section of music.
“Nature is what I seek for solace, for adventure and for enjoyment,” said Music Director Dr. Ransom. “I’m grateful for what I can do to help to preserve farms and wild lands for the health of the environment and for grandchildren to come.”
Dr. Ransom, founder and music director, has led VOICES on three European concert tours and been a guest conductor in Russia, Germany, England and the eastern U.S.
Tickets to “Songs on Fire” cost $30 and include a wine and cheese reception with singers and musicians. Sales support the mission of D&R Greenway.
To buy, call 609-924-4646 or visit www.drgreenway.org.
The concert coincides with Earth/Fire, a juried art exhibit hosted by D&R Greenway Land Trust that celebrates the themes of earth and/or fire and the role they play.
The exhibition is on view Nov. 16-Jan. 22, with an opening reception Friday, Dec. 4, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Marie L. Matthews galleries of the Johnson Education Center. The exhibition can be seen during Songs on Fire, and additional gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
D&R Greenway Land Trust is in its 26th year of preserving and protecting natural lands, farmlands and open spaces in central and southern New Jersey. D&R Greenway has permanently preserved more than 18,750 acres, including 28 miles of trails open to the public.
