For Linda Mack Berven, Durango Choral Society executive director/conductor, coming up with a title for DCS’ latest show was a no-brainer.
“The title of the concert is ‘How Can I Keep from Singing?’ and I don’t think I’ve ever produced a concert with a more appropriate title because the forces of nature have conspired to keep us from singing lately between COVID and snowstorms and you name it – we have really had to pivot and be flexible and be resilient and all those things. So, ‘How Can I Keep from Singing?’ is really appropriate for this concert,” she said. “And all of the music, this concert has been designed to provide the audience with hope and joy and forget their troubles and just wallow in beautiful music.”
The singers will take the stage for two performances – one on March 11, the other March 12 at Summit Church in Durango.
The show will feature singers from DCS and the Durango Women’s Choir, and, Mack Berven said, will have selections ranging through 400 years of the history of choral music. One of the show’s highlights, she said, will be the performance of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” although it will be a little different than usual.
“We would normally do that in the round, but we can’t do that this year with COVID restrictions and all that, but we’re still going to perform it, and it’s such a wonderful piece; it just transports you to heaven,” she said.
If you go
WHAT: Durango Choral Society presents “How Can I Keep from Singing?”
WHEN: 7 p.m. March 11 and 2 p.m. March 12.
WHERE: Summit Church, 2917 Aspen Drive.
TICKETS: $5 children/students (with ID), $20 adults. Tickets available online at https://bit.ly/3HD7bHk and at the door.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit durangochoralsociety.org.
NOTE: Masks and proof of vaccination are required at this live event.
Singers will be singing in masks for this show, Mack Berven said, adding that they have been wearing them to sing all year and have learned how to breathe, project and articulate in them. Concert-goers are also asked to wear a mask and bring their vaccination cards.
“I hope it’s the last time we have to do this, but we still need to in the interest of public health,” she said. “I hope that we’re on the cusp of being able to take those masks off, but for this concert we are going to ask the audience to wear masks and show their vax cards just like everyone else in town has been doing.”
As for program highlights, there will be gospel pieces, Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” and the concert will open with “a great big triumphant chorus by none other than George Frideric Handel, who was the composer of the ‘Messiah,’” Mack Berven said.
“I just can’t wait to give my singers the opportunity to connect with a live audience again,” she said. “And I can’t wait for the audience to experience this exciting and beautiful and hopeful and inspiring music.”
katie@durangoherald.com
