When this many voices sing together, the sound just might echo all the way around the Beltway.
The Washington Chorus is gathering local singing organizations to celebrate a return to live music by staging the inaugural “Joyfully Together” choral festival at Wolf Trap Sunday at 5 p.m.
“We just wanted to take a minute to celebrate the return to in-person and live singing after what we have been through the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Artistic Director Eugene Rogers told WTOP. “We couldn’t think of a better way to do that than to bring as many different types of singing together.”
The concert will feature a robust spread of local choirs, including the Children’s Chorus of Washington, Alexandria Harmonizers, Washington Gay Men’s Chorus and the GenOUT Youth Chorus, The Duke Ellington School of the Arts Chorus, Towson University Singers and the Washington Performing Arts Women, Men, and Children of the Gospel Choir.
“We are hoping with the audience and the regional choirs and the stage choirs that we will have over 7,000 together that evening, together celebrating, singing,” Rogers said.
The songbook will include Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” John Legend’s “Wake Up Everybody,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Elton John’s “Circle of Life” and Luther Vandross’s “Brand New Day.”
The Washington Chorus also commissioned Melissa Studdard and Reena Esmail to write the piece “We Are Love,” which will premiere at the festival and tries “to celebrate our common humanity and the love that we share for each other. There’s so much division in our world.”
The concert will culminate with the regional premiere of Rollo Dilworth’s “United in Purpose,” based on a text by Maya Angelou “celebrating our shared humanity and our responsibility to come together to improve the human condition,” Rogers said.
Best of all, it’s in the beautiful setting of Wolf Trap.
Tickets to the concert are $10.
Find more information on Sunday’s concert here.
Listen to my full conversation with Washington Chorus Artistic Director Eugene Rogers here.
