The Lost Birds, Sunday November 19, Littleton, MA

The Sounds of Stow Chorus & Orchestra invites you to attend the opening concert of our 45th season, “Beauty in Birdsong,” on November 19, 2023, at 2:00 pm. The concert will be held at a convenient and state-of-the-art venue, the auditorium at Littleton High School, 56 King Street in Littleton, MA (just off I-495).

Under the direction of Barbara Jones, the chorus and orchestra will perform the area premiere of Christopher Tin’s important new work, The Lost Birds: An Extinction Elegy. The composer’s website observes that the work serves as a “musical memorial to bird species driven to extinction by humankind. Sweeping and elegiac, it is a haunting tribute to those soaring flocks that once filled our skies.” Drawing on texts by four 19th-century women poets, The Lost Birds celebrates the beauty of birds and the natural world, while also warning of the tenuous existence of all living things. Tin has created a profound, timely, moving and beautiful work that will touch the hearts of all who hear it.

Preceding this new work, the Sounds of Stow Orchestra visits familiar works from the musical canon that are inspired by birds, including Vivaldi’s “The Goldfinch” Flute Concerto (performed by principal flutist Katherine Kleitz); Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan” arranged for harp and cello; Margaret Lowe’s Dawn Carol for flute ensemble; and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, played by violinist Siri Smedvig.

Sounds of Stow is partnering with Mass Audubon Society to highlight the importance of conservation as bird populations are declining across North America. Joan Walsh, chair of natural history and field ornithology at the Mass Audubon Society, will give a short talk after intermission, and Audubon staff will be in the lobby to answer questions, provide informational material, and introduce some avian “wildlife ambassadors.”

For further information and to purchase tickets, please visit our website or email . Sounds of Stow is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as administered by the local cultural councils of Stow, Acton-Boxborough, Bolton, and Hudson.