May 17 & May 18, 2025

Location, timing, and ticket information coming soon!

Music

THIS SHINING NIGHT is a choral concert bookended by two different settings of James Agee’s poem, Sure on this Shining Night. Beginning at sunset and ending at sunrise, the program plunges deep into the human condition by using the phases of the night as an extended metaphor for the complex topic of aging and memory loss. The performance includes music by well-known composers such as Samuel Barber, Morten Lauridsen, Eric Whitacre, Alice Parker, and Ysaye Barnwell. It also features selections that speak directly to navigating the journey of dementia: Jessica Rudman’s multi-movement work, A Forest that is a Desert, and Eric Nelson’s arrangement of When Memory Fades. Before Sunday’s program, singing members with professional ties to the program’s theme will present a pre-concert talk. This includes Anne Jaskot (Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Williams College), Jane Salata (MSW, LICSW), and Jason Kittler (MD). The Choir is also thrilled to welcome special guest performer, Wanda Houston, for both performances!