Mass for the Endangered at Soundstreams

The Soundstreams season opener, Mass for the Endangered, featurs choral, instrumental, and orchestral works, performed by celebrated musicians Louise Bessette (piano), Judy Loman (harp), and Erika Raum (violin), with Soundstreams Choir 21 and Ensemble Soundstreams conducted by David Fallis. 

The first half of the concert features several pieces from Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux: L'alouette calandrelle, Le traquet rieur, Le courlis cendré); R. Murray Schafer’s Wild Bird (originally premiered by this night’s performing harpist, Judy Loman); Andrew Balfour’s Gaze Upon the Trees; the Canadian premiere of Let them not say by Chris Hutchings; and Veni Creator Spiritus by Arvo Pärt.

The concert concludes with Mass for the Endangered by Sarah Kirkland Snider. Hailed by National Public Radio as “one of today’s most compelling composers for the human voice,” her piece is a poignant choral meditation on the fragility of our natural world. It blends Nathaniel Bellows’ evocative poetry with the traditional Latin Mass, a plea for compassion and stewardship in the face of environmental crisis.