BRATTLEBORO — The 17th annual fall concerts of the Brattleboro Women's Chorus will be Saturday, Nov. 17, and Sunday, Nov. 18, at the First Baptist Church in Brattleboro. Local women and girls led by the chorus' founder/director, Becky Graber, will present songs of pilgrimage - travels of spirit in a concert called So Glad I'm Here.
Among the eclectic “travels of the spirit” songs to be performed are an original composition by Graber called Heaven Above, Earth Below, her arrangements of three pilgrimage songs in a medley, Om Mata Om Kali, So Glad I'm Here, and Kinderly as sung by the Medieval Babes, and sections of Preludium from The Sound of Music.
The chorus, which was formed by Graber in 1996, has about 80 performers, and around 60 of those will be joining in the upcoming concerts. Chorus members meet weekly for about 11 or 12 weeks learning each concert.
“It is a joy to sing for people,” said Graber.
Molly Steinmark will be joining the chorus for the first time, as she accompanies the singers on percussion. She is an innovative drummer, singer, songwriter, and percussionist. She was a student at the Brattleboro Music School and in Graber's Children's Chorus. Formerly the vocalist and percussionist with the bands Groove Shoes and Mo Ambesa, Steinmark is currently working on her debut CD as a solo artist.
Graber says she wanted to fashion the upcoming concert around a variety of styles of music, but all centered around pilgrimage.
“We will have, as well as the original composition by myself written especially for this concert, Hindu chants, spirituals, rounds. We will also sing a little from that beautiful chorus sung by the nuns at the very start of The Sound of Music. Everything we will be doing centers on moving forward towards the spirit.”
With the death of her father a few weeks ago, Graber said the concert program has extra resonance for her.
“Of course, I programmed what we were going to sing last fall, but as often happens to me, life seems to come around to mirror what we are doing in the chorus.”
Graber's own piece centers on the words “Heaven above and earth below/ and I the path between to create between.”
The inspiration for the piece came from Tai Chi classes she took with Cielle Tewksbury in Marlboro. Her composition is about a spiritual journey, and she sees it as a rewrite of the 23rd Psalm, although she didn't know it when she started it.
“I see the connection now,” she said, “but I don't expect others to necessarily do so.”
As Graber considers what kind of music her new piece is, she added, “It is definitely in the choral tradition. I would not really call it classical, however. It springs from an oral tradition, which is how we work at the Women's Chorus. I suppose I would call it composed folk music.”
Graber said she likes to compose a new piece each semester she works with Brattleboro Women's Chorus. “I find it easier to write for them. Like how Bach used to write his cantatas, you know who you are writing for, their strengths and weaknesses. I don't have to labor at it as much.”