CANTICLE OF THE SUN To Be Presented By Voices Of Ascension In World And Regional Premieres

Voices of Ascension has announced Canticle of the Sun, the final concert of its season, to be presented May 21, 2026, at Church of the Ascension in New York City.

The program will be led by guest conductor Beth Willer, founder and artistic director of Lorelei Ensemble, and will feature a combination of contemporary and 20th-century repertoire, including multiple premieres.

Highlights of the concert include the New York City premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun, featuring cellist Tommy Mesa, and the East Coast premiere of Ellen Reid’s Oscillations: One Hundred Years and Forever. The program will also include the world premiere of All my salt falls short by composer Celeste Oram.

Additional works include Olivier Messiaen’s Apparition de l’Église éternelle, performed by organist Jon Gillock, along with Louange à l’éternité de Jésus.

Willer described the program as an exploration of spiritual and artistic questions. “I’m sort of grappling with that conversation between the things here on this earth and the things that we’re always trying to understand that are beyond this earth,” she said. “And I think this is an opportunity…to really be with composers like Messiaen and Gubaidulina, who were deeply religious and also deeply progressive.”

The performance will also launch Voices of Ascension’s new Choral Visionaries Initiative, an ongoing collaboration that will invite guest conductors to curate and lead original concert programs with the ensemble.

Program Information

Canticle of the Sun will take place Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Ascension, located at 36 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The program will feature:
– Celeste Oram: All my salt falls short (World Premiere)
– Ellen Reid: Oscillations: One Hundred Years and Forever (East Coast Premiere)
– Sofia Gubaidulina: Canticle of the Sun (New York City Premiere)
– Olivier Messiaen: Apparition de l’Église éternelle
– Messiaen/Gottwald: Louange à l’éternité de Jésus

Ticket Information