Cantate presents Duality, a season of pairings and perspectives. Each concert on this exceptional season tells at least two sides to a story, exploring the complexity and universality of our shared experiences through contrasting imagery, languages, eras, and styles. Join us for the full season with a discounted subscription package, or pick and choose the individual concerts that fit your schedule and your interests. We look forward to sharing this extraordinary season with you.
A Duality season subscription gives you access to all six concerts of deeply moving and thought-provoking choral music sung by both the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers. Join us for works by Johannes Brahms, H. T. Burleigh, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Randall Thompson, Aaron Copland, Margaret Bonds, Carlos Simon, Ola Gjeilo, Morten Lauridsen, Dan Forrest, Alice Parker, Gwyneth Walker, Eric Whitacre, Samuel Barber, and more. Treat yourself to intimate encounters with chamber classics, a Latin mass with a tango twist, and grand oratorios, traditional and modern, with lush, immersive orchestras. Subscribe today to experience all six concerts for the price of five!
Morning and Evening
Saturday, October 7, 2023 • 5:00 p.m.
Bethesda Presbyterian Church
7611 Clarendon Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814
Spend a whole day with Cantate Chamber Singers, all in one evening. Our concert draws on imagery from the sun’s first rays to the moon’s final glow, including things that go bump in the night. This program includes beloved miniatures by Johannes Brahms, Josef Rheinberger, Claudio Monteverdi, and more; settings by H. T. Burleigh and Shawn Kirchner of folk songs and spirituals; and as always, some wonderful new discoveries.
Americana and America
Saturday, November 18, 2023 • 5:00 p.m.
Bethesda Presbyterian Church
7611 Clarendon Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814
Two well-known works of musical Americana — Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs and Randall Thompson’s Frostiana — pair with moving pieces by Margaret Bonds, Joel Thompson, Carlos Simon, and more to take us on an aural journey through two sides of America.
Featuring Daniel J. Smith, baritone
Magnificat
Saturday, December 2, 2023 • 8:00 p.m.
Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church
6601 Bradley Blvd, Bethesda, MD 20817
In this joyful start to your holiday season, Cantate Concert Choir is joined by an orchestra for three varied settings of Mary’s awe-filled song, the Magnificat, by Antonio Vivaldi, Kim Andre Arnesen, and Christine Donkin. Also on the program is Song of the Universal, Ola Gjeilo’s setting of Walt Whitman’s words of unwavering confidence in our shared humanity.
Featuring Jennifer Casey Cabot, soprano; Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano; John Logan Wood, tenor; and Anthony Anderson, baritone
Brazil and Argentina
Saturday, March 16, 2024 • 5:00 p.m.
Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
The intriguing rhythms of tango bring new energy to the traditional Latin mass, as mezzo-soprano Cara Schaefer and bandoneonist Heyni Solera join Cantate Chamber Singers for Argentinian composer Martin Palmeri’s Misa a Buenos Aires (Misatango). A cappella works by Brazilian composers Ernani Aguilar, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Ronaldo Miranda complete the program.
Featuring Cara Schaefer, mezzo-soprano, and Heyni Solera, Bandoneonist
Peace and Light
Saturday, April 27, 2024 • 5:00 p.m.
Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
The Concert Choir joins with orchestra to share two lush, immersive works focused on comfort and light. Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna celebrates, in the composer’s own words, “a universal symbol of illumination at all levels – spiritual, artistic, and intellectual;” while Dan Forrest’s Reqiuem for the Living comforts those facing the daily pains and sorrows of life while summoning rest and peace for all.
Featuring Laura Choi Stuart, soprano, and John Logan Wood, tenor
Earth and Sky
Saturday, May 11, 2024 • 5:00 p.m.
Christ Episcopal Church
4001 Franklin St, Kensington, MD 20895
Cantate Chamber Singers sing music inspired by the earth around us and the sky above us, paying tribute to the natural world with texts and sounds from the sublime to the ridiculous, evoking glimmering starshine, blazing comets, and even a chorus of mosquitos. Music by Alice Parker, Gwyneth Walker, Eric Whitacre, Samuel Barber, and more.
MASK POLICY UPDATE: To reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, masks that fully cover the nose and mouth are recommended. This policy is subject to change as we continue to monitor local and state guidelines.
Cantate seeks to maintain an equitable, safe and welcoming environment for all who participate in its various activities and functions, both in-person and virtually. We welcome musicians and volunteers of diverse backgrounds, abilities, and creeds, and strive to create an inclusive and creatively stimulating community. Therefore, discrimination and harassment of any nature will not be tolerated.
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