Heritage Signature Chorale to Launch 27th Season

The opening concert marks the launch of HSC's 27th season of artistic programming, taking place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, 6 PM at Washington, DC's First Congregational United Church of Christ.

Through The Poets, Curators' Choice Series, Telling Our Story, and HSC Opera Initiatives, this program explores the powerful connection between poetry, history, storytelling, and music - - bringing together the Heritage Signature Chorale, HSC Chamber Singers, HSC Chamber Orchestra, and featured vocal soloists, led by artistic director Stanley J. Thurston.

In particular, the opening concert will present the music of celebrated Black composers, including Clarence Cameron White, a gifted concert violinist, who had significant ties to Washington, DC, through his attendance at Howard University, a key founder of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc, and as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Other featured composers include Margaret Bonds, Adolphus Hailstork, Moses Hogan, Kirke Mechem, and Ulysses Kay.

Of special interest on this program, HSC will perform the modern-day premiere of Clarence Cameron White's Heritage: A Musical Statement, newly edited by Michael Cooper. This Nov. 14 concert will be the world premiere, first heard performance, of this cantata presented with the original orchestration by the composer. On this program, as the chorale launches its new HSC Opera Initiatives with young DC vocal artists, the Washington, DC premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's operatic theaterpiece Paul Laurence Dunbar: Common Ground, which combines the Dunbar poetry with Hailstork's music and narration by Herbert Woodward Martin.

Additional concerts of the 2026-2027 season will all take place at First Congregational UU and will include:

HERITAGE SIGNATURE CHORALE ANNUAL HOLIDAY CONCERT: FRIENDS AND FAMILY

• Sunday, December 6, 2026
• 4:00 PM
• First Congregational UCC (map)

Celebrate the holiday season with the Heritage Signature Chorale at our annual Holiday Concert!

Gather your family and friends for an afternoon of music that captures the warmth, joy, and spirit of the season. From treasured holiday traditions to uplifting choral selections, this concert brings audiences together through a wide breadth of joyous musical expressions.

Music on this program will include a full presentation of Margaret Bond's Christmas Cantata The Ballad of the Brown King, music of Damien Geter, along with special Christmas holiday arrangements by Washington, DC's own Evelyn Simpson Curenton. Telling her story.

HERITAGE SIGNATURE CHORALE BLACK HISTORY LEGACY CONCERT: SPIRITUAL VOICES

• Saturday, February 27, 2027
• 6:00 PM
• First Congregational UCC (map)

The Heritage Signature Chorale presents Spiritual Voices, our 2027 Black History Legacy Concert celebrating the extraordinary musical legacy of African American composers and the enduring power of the spiritual.

As part of HSC's Legacy Series, Spiritual Voices continues our commitment to celebrating the contributions of Black composers to the American artistic canon while connecting audiences to the history and stories embedded within the music.

HERITAGE SIGNATURE CHORALE: 27TH ANNUAL CONCERT

• Saturday, May 1, 2027
• 6:00 PM
• First Congregational UCC (map)

The Heritage Signature Chorale presents the culminating performance of our 2026-2027 season, Connecting the Dots...Telling Our Story

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