So all roads seem to lead to Lincoln Center this year. Randomly, through the socials, I saw a call for volunteers at GlobalFest this year, so I got to help out and see several amazing groups when I was done at the concession table.
I had gone to the reopening of David Geffen Hall last fall, with a beautiful commissioned piece called San Juan Hill by Etienne Charles. So between the two events, I got on their mailing list and found out about some choral work.
Search for Spring was a piece set to open March 2020, but for obvious reasons got postponed. The choirs spanned boroughs and numbered roughly 800 people. I was intrigued, as the last time I sang in a choir was in grade school and in church as a kid. It was an amazing opportunity to hear voices in unison and a very ambitious work about climate change post-pandemic.
From that, I got the opportunity to perform in a smaller choral ensemble in an opera written by three of my heroes. Octavia Butler was a pioneering sci fi writer whose prescient Parable of the Sower is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her work. Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon have adapted the novel into an opera, and it had a sold-out run at Lincoln Center in July.
It was amazing to participate in both, the first a classical piece with scored parts sung outdoors with a children’s choir and the second more in the gospel style and in the round, done pretty much by ear.
I’ve always been a harmonizer by heart, and my happy place is in vocal arranging and stacking parts, so this gave me insight into ensemble singing. Especially coming out of pandemic isolation, singing in community is so profound and powerful.
I really love what Lincoln Center is doing with programming and outreach these days, the programming is vibrant and the performances very accessible with sliding-scale tickets and free programming.
Here’s a link to their Summer in the City. Enjoy yours while it lasts!
Alice Lee 