The Burlington Choral Society takes flight with "Birds, Byrd, and Birding to Change the World" on Saturday, November 23, 7:30 pm at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester, VT. Inspired by soaring music referencing birds from the 16th to 21st centuries, the concert features the 50-voice chorus, violin soloists Kathy Andrew and Laura Markowitz, cello soloist John Dunlop, and local author Trish O'Kane, whose book "Birding to Change the World" has received wide acclaim.

Two well-known pieces for solo violin and orchestra will receive first-ever performances involving chorus. The "Spring" violin concerto from Antonio Vivaldi's famous "Four Seasons" will include the chorus singing Vivaldi's own words. "The Lark Ascending," by English composer Ralph Vaughn-Williams will include words for the chorus that Vaughan-Williams cited as the inspiration for his rhapsody for violin and orchestra. English Renaissance composer William Byrd will soar with two works arranged for chorus with strings.

General admission tickets for $30 are available at sevendaystickets.com, and at the door. Students 18 and under are free.

Birding to Change the World is the title of an uplifting 2024 memoir by UVM professor (and BCS tenor) Trish O'Kane. O'Kane will share passages about what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.

Artistic Director Richard Riley has arranged all but one piece on the program, but not everything can be written down: in "Plainscapes" by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks (b. 1946), the chorus, along with solo violin and cello, will improvise two minutes of birdsongs that are incorporated in the piece.

The program ends with "Birdsong" by the Atlanta composer Eric Nelson (b. 1959), set to a text by 13th century poet Rumi: "Birdsong brings relief to my longing. I'm just as ecstatic as they are."

Event Info

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