Accord Treble Choir presents “Reverence & Resistance” (NYC, 5/30/26)

Accord Treble Choir’s spring concert, Reverence and Resistance, explores two spheres of devotion: spiritual beliefs and humanitarian ideals.
The program’s first half features sacred music, demonstrating how faith and reverence have been expressed through music across time and place. Andre Caplet’s “Messe a Trois Voix,” Ramona Luengen’s “Salve Regina,” and Fredrick Sixten’s “Alleluia” serve to inspire through the sheer beauty of the harmonies and soaring melodic lines. Composer Cedrick Howoseb’s “Muhona,” in the Otjiherero language by way of Namibia, will transport listeners with its joyful rhythms. Accord will also present the world premiere of David Douglas’ reimagined setting of the 13th century chant “Pangat Melos” as a harmonically complex polyphonic motet.

In the second half of the program, Accord presents three significant works that speak directly to our political moment, telling stories of resistance in the face of oppression and loss. Marie-Claire Saindon’s “Imaginary Garden” is a setting of poetry from Mahvash Sabet, an Iranian educator who has been imprisoned in Iran for most of the past 20 years because of her Baha’i faith. A buoyant melody carries aching lyrics that speak of finding hope in just one flower or branch. Accord is proud to premiere the treble version of Shireen Abu-Khader’s “Rumor Mill,” an 8-voice a cappella setting of poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye that expresses the longing of displaced Palestinians for their homeland. Alongside these stories of loss and hope comes “River,” by Joan Szymko, capturing the inevitability of change and the necessity of action.

Join Accord for this program at St. John’s in the Village (Manhattan) on Saturday, May 30 at 7pm. Tickets available here.