Ever since True Concord Voices & Orchestra made the decision last month to postpone its season finale, Music Director Eric Holtan has been thinking of ways to keep music on the minds of the ensemble鈥檚 fans.
Last week, he launched the first of what he says will be regular weekly playlists, curated from some of the best classical choral recordings and programmed in a thematic way to feel like you are hearing an hourlong concert.
Holtan will upload a new 鈥渃oncert鈥 every Friday and will keep the playlist on Spotfiy and YouTube throughout the week. Each week鈥檚 offerings relate to our current homebound condition, the result of stay-at-home orders from state and local officials issued last month in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first 鈥減rogram,鈥 released April 10, focuses on 鈥淢usic For Shelter鈥 and speaks of 鈥渉ope in the midst of turmoil, despair and loneliness,鈥 according to a description on True Concord鈥檚 website. The playlist includes Bach cantatas, Brahms 鈥淕eistliches Lied鈥 (Sacred Song), works by Mendelssohn and John Rutter, and several gospels and spirituals including the Josiah K. Alwood soul-lifter 鈥淯nclouded Day.鈥
People are also reading…
The second playlist, 鈥淟ight For A Weary World,鈥 went live on Friday, April 17. Holtan said he is combing through some of the best classical and choral recordings available at no cost through Spotify to create the lists. And at some point, 鈥渨e will probably work a True Concord cut from our (Stephen) Paulus album.鈥
True Concord recorded several works by the late Minnesota composer on its 2015 Grammy-nominated CD 鈥淔ar in the Heavens: Choral Music of Stephen Paulus,鈥 which also included Paulus鈥檚 鈥淧rayers and Remembrances,鈥 a choral work True Concord commissioned in 2011 to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
You can tune in to Holtan鈥檚 playlists on Spotify or YouTube through . There is no fee for either option.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com or 573-4642. On Twitter @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
