Ember Ensemble (www.emberensemble.org) hosts summer (Sight-)Sing: Muehleisen’s A Kipling Passion
The Ember Ensemble, which will be presenting the East Coast premiere of John Muehleisen’s oratorio, But Who Shall Return Us Our Children – A Kipling Passion, in November, is opening its read-through of the work on Monday evening, July 31st, to the public, free of charge! The open reading will take place at St. John’s in the Village, 224 Waverly Place (at 11th), beginning at 7:30.
Ember is under the direction of Dr. Deborah Simpkin King (htttp://deborasking.com/).
Summer in NYC is a season filled with opportunities for the public to spend an evening singing through familiar, popular major works. For a change of pace within that tradition, some of the singers within the Ember Ensemble will be reading through the work for the first time as well, and invite any with an interest to share the evening.
Whether to sharpen the sight-reading chops or to meet a brand new major work – or both! – those planning to come are asked to register (http://scholaonhudson.org/kipling-readings) by noon on Saturday. Although walk-ins are welcome, only those registered will be guaranteed a score to use for the evening. (Scores will be available only for the evening, and may not be retained following the session.)
Mission behind the madness: As a Choral Arts organization, the mission of the Ember Ensemble (of Schola Cantorum on Hudson) extends the role of Art beyond that of its own intrinsic value, seeking to leverage it additionally for bringing visibility and expansive thinking to issues of human significance.
In this final year of the 2014–2018 centennial commemoration of World War I, Ember present a season-long theme entitled When the War is Over. The featured work of the season will be the East Coast premiere of John Muehleisen’s oratorio, But Who Shall Return Us Our Children – A Kipling Passion, based on the historical account of the death of Lieutenant John Kipling during the Battle of Loos, and on the impact that his death had on his family, particularly on his parents, Rudyard and Carrie Kipling.
A great deal can and will be said about the oratorio over the coming months leading to its performance on November 11th (NYC) and 12th (NJ); and a Veterans’ Task Force is working on collaborative efforts with many impacted by military conflict. Interested individuals are invited to become involved with the year-long veterans’ work by writing to http://.
Summer is the most active audition season for the Ember Ensemble (ScholaOnHudson.org/auditions). Auditions will be heard Monday afternoon, prior to the reading of A Kipling Passion.
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Schola Cantorum on Hudson was formed as an independent choral ensemble in the fall of 1995. The name change to the evocative “Ember” for the performing ensemble (as of the 2017-18 season) provides expansive imagery more reflective of its eclectic, spirited performances based almost exclusively on the music of living composers, programmed around full-season explorations of topics of social pertinence.
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