The Emancipation Oratorio at Chautauqua

The Emancipation Oratorio travels to the famous Chautauqua Institute on July 7 for two performances by the Rochester Oratorio Society under the direction of Eric Townell. They will join singers from the institute, soloists Sean McLeod, Lawrence Craig and Jackline Madegwa and percussionists Ted Canning and Yahaya Al-hassan in a 10:45 AM worship service (with excerpts) and a full performance at 8PM of the complete work.  Chautauqua is the perfect venue for this celebration of our country’s struggle for racial equality. The institute was founded in Western New York State to train Sunday school teachers, primarily women in 1874.  Since then it has remained a vibrant center for scholars, artists, politicians and religious leaders.

Voices of Timbuctoo at the Lake Placid Arts Center

Voices of Timbuctoo returns for its third performance August 18 at 8pm with the Northern Lights Choir under the direction of Helen Demong.  This work recounts the voices of abolitionists and Southern Black Farmers who carved out a community in the wilderness of Northern New York to bring the vote to Black Americans.  The premier performances in Saranac Lake and the John Brown Farm Historical Site were huge successes.  They celebrated this powerful chapter of abolition history in rural, northern New York.

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“The Emancipation Oratorio”, this new work combines texts and music styles from West Africa, Europe and the US.

The abolition of slavery by act of Congress 150 years ago is supremely worthy of celebration and commemoration. No region more than Western New York, and no city more than Rochester, claims connection to the personalities, the ideas and the energy that made Emancipation real for millions. Join us in a world-premiere by Geneseo composer and area favorite Glenn McClure entitled The Emancipation Oratorio, commissioned by the ROS as a way to re-write the slave -trade story, transforming a system of oppression into a world of opportunity, creativity and hope.

Folk music, texts and instruments from the U.K., from Ghana and from our own region inform McClure’s original music. The Kenyan-born soprano and Rochester favorite Jackline Madegwa pairs with baritone Lawrence Craig, international star of Broadway and concert stages, in the piece that will become a staple of the repertoire for choirs across the country.

Composer’s Notes

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