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The premiere of 鈥淗elios鈥� by Timothy Takach came Saturday night before an audience that loosely filled the Catalina-Foothills High School Auditorium. The , presented to composer Jake Runestad for True Concord鈥檚 February 2022 world premiere recording of Runestad鈥檚 鈥淓arth Symphony鈥� (鈥淐horal鈥�), was announced at ceremonies in Phoenix right around the same time.

Although True Concord did not get the trophy itself, Saturday鈥檚 audience gave Eric Holtan and his professional choir resounding applause and a few hearty 鈥渨hoop-whoops鈥� from a fan near the back of the hall.

In Runestad鈥檚 鈥淓arth Symphony,鈥� which True Concord commissioned, we got a glimpse of Earth鈥檚 hope for humanity as it seeks to destroy and then restore her.

In 鈥淗elios,鈥� Takach widens the lens to give us a closer look at the cosmos from Pluto to the Sun, complemented with brilliant visuals created by (aka CandyStations) that were projected on a giant screen onstage.

Award-winning actor (鈥淪tar Trek,鈥� 鈥淒ays of Our Lives,鈥� 鈥淢y Little Pony: Friendship is Magic鈥�) performed a prologue introducing the nearly hourlong work. He pointed out some of the quiet noises that greeted us as we entered the auditorium on Saturday: the distant sound of a baby crying, the crackling of a campfire, the rush of a gentle breeze and the voice of Chucky Berry singing his trademark rocker 鈥淛ohnny B. Goode.鈥�

No, it wasn鈥檛 someone鈥檚 cellphone ringtone. It was ambient sounds and sound effects recorded for the Voyager Golden Records sent up with the Voyager spacecraft in 1977 as a time capsule of sorts of life on Earth.

De Lancie鈥檚 monologue set the stage for Takach鈥檚 a capella narrative that True Concord performed with the finesse of a large-scale choral symphony. 鈥淗elios鈥� borrows texts of published poems and poems commissioned by True Concord to paint a picture of the universe, from Patricia Monaghan鈥檚 pledge to control chaos (鈥淧luto (At the Border)鈥�) to her hopeful vision of 鈥淢ercury (Move Towards Freedom)鈥� that promises a way to move toward chaos, change and turbulence to discover 鈥渟o many degrees of freedom.鈥�

Takach employs an array of vocal techniques and textures from staccato rhythms to chants and a series of frenetically played notes that sounded like an ocean swell.

In the hands of Holtan and his choir, 鈥淗elios鈥� sounded larger than life, as if the piece were accompanied by an orchestra instead of just their voices.

Holtan programmed the concert鈥檚 second half with the delightful and familiar 鈥淥de to Joy鈥� finale from Beethoven鈥檚 Ninth Symphony, with 蜜柚直播 pianist Alexander Tentser doing the heavy lifting playing Liszt鈥檚 piano transcription of Beethoven鈥檚 score. Tentser played with a true sense of passion and joy for the music and the choir. He was simply sublime.

Takach鈥檚 鈥淗elios鈥� was the first of two works composed by True Concord鈥檚 inaugural composers-in-residence. The second comes in January, when True Concord performs the world premiere of Takach鈥檚 wife Jocelyn Hagen鈥檚 鈥淗ere I Am鈥� with soprano .

The piece was set to premiere at the 2022 蜜柚直播 Desert Song Festival last January, but it was postponed to the 2023 Song Festival due to the pandemic.