Concerts in the Village

KINDERHOOK — Concerts in the Village continues its 10th Anniversary Season with the Broad Street Chorale, the Broad Street Orchestra and soloists perform well-known works of Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of 20th c. Britain’s most important and popular composers. Included will be the Serenade to Music (1938), The Lark Ascending (1914-1921) with soloist Elizabeth Silver, and the dramatic oratorio Dona nobis pacem (1936) setting texts primarily by Walt Whitman. With the oratorio CITV honors the 200th anniversary of Whitman’s birth.

Composed during the anxious period between WWI and WWII, Dona nobis pacem was written in the hope that there would be no more war. It is not so much an anti-war statement as it is a plea for peace. Utilizing fragments of the Latin Mass, three poems from Whitman’s best-known work, Leaves of Grass, and passages drawn from a powerful address to the British Parliament attempting to avert the Crimean War, this dynamic oratorio touches both nerves and soul, its moods ranging from pastoral contemplation to the drum beats of war. The work’s quiet conclusion affirms Vaughan Williams’ hoped-for resolution, which history was regrettably to deny.

Elizabeth Silver, who performs the violin concerto The Lark Ascending, one of Vaughan Williams’ best-known works, is a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra and Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra, and since 2012 concertmaster of the Broad Street Orchestra. As a member of the Broad Street Chamber Players, her CITV chamber music performances have been frequent and warmly received, including Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. Ms. Silver is also known for her teaching, both privately and at the Emma Willard School in Troy.

For The Serenade to Music and Dona Nobis Pacem vocal soloists will be soprano Caroline Dunigan and tenor Jon Morrell. Ms. Dunigan has appeared to enthusiastic acclaim in three previous CITV concerts, and now resides in the Washington, DC area. Jon Morrell, resident in Chatham but singing internationally, has often appeared on CITV programs, most recently performing Schubert’s Winterreise with CITV Artistic Director David Smith. Assistant Conductor Noah Palmer, recently appointed Artistic Director of the Battenkill Chorale, will lead The Serenade to Music, a particularly rich setting of text from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

Says CITV Artistic Director David Smith, “The eight concerts of our 10th Anniversary Season say much about our uncompromising programming, our performing strengths, and our institutional history. The body of talent we gather to accomplish this, nearly all of it regionally resident, has made much possible.” The concert on November 10th will be CITV’s 40th performance.

$20, Sunday, November 10, 3 p.m., https://www.concertsinthevillage.org/

Kinderhook Reformed Church, 21 Broad Street, Kinderhook, 518-758-6401

www.kinderhookreformedchurch.com