The Cayuga Vocal Ensemble is celebrating 50 years of music making in Ithaca with a concert that brings together favorite works from the group’s history and the memories of its singers.
The ensemble’s anniversary concert, “Reflections and Radiance,” will feature music selected in part by its current members, according to music director Sean Linfors, who has led the group for about seven years.
“I actually asked the singers to suggest some repertoire for this concert because I wanted them to reflect on their time with the group and pieces that had stuck with them for one reason or another,” Linfors told WSKG’s Arts in Depth. He said he combined their suggestions with other works inspired by the selections.
The program includes music by contemporary composer Morten Lauridsen, whose “Fire Madrigals” set Renaissance poetry to passionate modern music. The ensemble will also perform a movement from Jonathan Dove’s “Ring Out Wild Bells,” which reflects on the changing seasons and the passage of time.
Other selections include motets by William Byrd and Maurice Duruflé, as well as several of Johannes Brahms’ “Liebeslieder Waltzes,” or love-song waltzes.
Linfors said the Brahms works are among the pieces he has known the longest. “I think we all come up singing those, performing them whenever we can,” he said, noting that they are beloved by singers and audiences alike.
The concert will also feature James MacMillan’s “O Radiant Dawn,” which Linfors described as a striking way to begin the program.
The ensemble’s history includes several directors, among them founding director Gerald Wolfe, who led the group on and off over the years, and Larry Doebler, who served for many years. Carl Johengen directed for about a decade before Linfors took over.
Linfors said he is especially looking forward to welcoming former ensemble members back to the anniversary celebration. Alumni who attend will be invited to join the current singers for a performance of Alice Parker’s setting of “How Can I Keep from Singing?”
“It’s been 50 years of great singing,” Linfors said. “That’s a good indicator that we might head for 50 more.”
The Cayuga Vocal Ensemble presents “Reflections and Radiance” Sunday, November 15, at 4 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 315 North Cayuga Street in Ithaca. More information is available at cayuga-vocal.org