Pacific Chorale, Launches 2024-25 Season with the Premiere of “To the Hands,” an Original Staged Choral-Theatrical Production

Pacific Chorale, conducted by Artistic Director Robert Istad, launches its 2024-25 season with the premiere of an original staged choral-theatrical production entitled “To the Hands” on Saturday, September 14, 2024, 8:00 pm, and Sunday, September 15, 2024, 5:00 pm, at Samueli Theater, Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The program reaches across the centuries with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s poignant To the Hands for voices and strings, imploring compassion for the disenfranchised, performed side-by-side with the work it was written in response to – Dieterich Buxtehude‘s masterful 17^th century cantata Ad Manus. Deeply moving and thought provoking, the 60-minute production features Pacific Chorale’s 16-voice chamber choir with members of Delirium Musicum, a string quintet led by Etienne Gara.

Woven into this special presentation are a selection of consolatory works by Moira Smiley, Sarah McLachlan, Simply Red, Kevin Siegfried, Ken Burton, Shawn Kirchner, Michael McGlynn, and Ysaÿe Barnwell, spanning a spectrum of Baroque, American folk, British soul, contemporary classical, and pop vocal music. Although Shaw’s piece, written for voices and strings, features members of Delirium Musicum, most of the music will be performed unaccompanied.

Conceived by Istad, “To the Hands” was several years in the making and is a first-of-its-kind production for the GRAMMY® Award-Winning Pacific Chorale. It is stage directed by Marty Austin Lamar with choreography by Courtney Ozovek, projection designs by Omar Ramos, and recording by Christian Amonson, Arts Laureate.

In the spirit of “To the Hands,” Pacific Chorale has also created a community partnership with the OC Food Bank, which unites communities to end hunger and malnutrition by partnering with more than 300 local charities, soup kitchens and community organizations. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring shelf-stable food items to the event as part of a community food drive. (Most needed items include canned meat/fish, canned fruit, canned vegetables, peanut butter, and dry foods such as beans, pasta, rice, and cereal.)

The Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. For tickets ($38-$108) and information, visit www.pacificchorale.org or call 714-662-2345.