CONCORA Presents “First Editions”

CONCORA presents “First Editions” on May 22nd at First Church of Christ, Congregational, in New Britain at 4:00 PM. The concert features works by composers that Artistic Director Chris Shepard has commissioned over the past thirty years.

The concert begins with Ricky Ian Gordon’s Five by Langston, settings of poems by Langston Hughes, one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance.

Two other major works are Robert Convery’s The Heart of a Woman, a setting of poems by Georgia Douglas Johnson, another member of the Harlem Rennaissance, and the moving Songs of Love and War by Paul Moravec. The latter is set to letters sent between the front and home from four different wars: the Civil War, World Wars I & II, and the Vietnam War. Powerful and dramatic, this work will feature baritone Malcolm Merriweather and trumpeter Bill Owens, who is a Staff Sergeant in the West Point Band.

Other works on the program include compositions by Michael Conley, Philip Jameson, William Hawley, and Gwyneth Walker.