Coro de Camaro/Photo by Minesh Bacrania
CORO DE CAMERA NEWS RELEASE
Thirsty for a unique concert experience that dives into the amazing substance that sustains our planet? Then quench your thirst through Coro de Cámara’s presentation of “Agua-Vida,” the second program in the chamber chorus’s triptych of discovery, Earth • Water • Sky.
Two performances: Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:00 p.m., Immaculate Heart Chapel, 50 Mount Carmel Road, Santa Fe | Sunday, Feb. 26 at 4:00 p.m., United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Road.
“Many consider to water be the defining issue of the 21st century, and we here in New Mexico and the arid West see how precious water is,” says Artistic Director Nylea Butler-Moore. “Coro’s ambitious ‘Agua-Vida’ program explores the worth of water and its incredible journey around the planet. It includes an informative and entertaining script, a diverse selection of appealing ‘water-themed’ music, and even a bit of audience participation.”
“Agua-Vida” begins with Swedish composer Anders Edenroth’s thoughts on water, followed by his intriguing composition, “Water” for a cappella voices and tuned bottles—Coro’s first time to play bottles! Other works include Robert Kapilow’s jazzy “The Mississippi River Empties into the Gulf” with text by Lucille Clifton; a fun arrangement of Huddie Ledbetter’s “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy” with body percussion, string bass, and cajon; “Noche de Lluvia (Rainy Night),” a juicy tango by Sid Robinovitch with text by Uruguayan poet Juana de Ibarbourou; and the memorable “The Water Is Wide” arranged by Craig Hella Johnson for chorus, solo soprano, and cello.
Perhaps the most challenging piece in the program is Eric Whitacre’s “Cloudburst.” Based on a thought-provoking text by Nobel Prize winning poet Octavio Paz, the composition allows listeners to experience and participate in a thunderstorm without getting wet! The chorus employs such techniques as random singing, snapping, tapping, and clapping, while handbells, windchimes, drums, and a thunder sheet enhance the sense of an actual cloudburst beginning, intensifying, and fading away.
“Agua-Vida” ends with a rapid-fire game show sketch called “Water, Water, Do Tell Me!” and the invigorating gospel-styled piece, “Take Me to the Water” by Rollo Dilworth.
Along with Coro pianist Yelena Mealy, instrumentalists include cellist Jim Knudson, percussionists Eric Schaller and Stuart Bloom, and string bass player Howard Coe.
Tickets: $25 Adults at the door, $20 online | $10 College Students | Free 18 & under.
Available at the door or online at corodecamara-nm.org. Masks encouraged. All Coro singers are vaccinated and boosted.