Present Music’s Thanksgiving Concert Has Spiritual Touches

Some twenty years ago, Kevin Stalheim, founder of Present Music, created a community celebration of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, which has become a Milwaukee tradition.

David Bloom, co-artistic director of Present Music, recalls his first experience with the event.

Music is just such an important part of how communities have been, of inspiring empathy and joy in communities for such a long time. And to really give gratitude, Thanksgiving, a place in a concert, I find the idea just so inspiring and has really helped me think about the role that music plays in family and community as inspired by this specific tradition.

Last season, the William Kentridge concert featured performers from the artists’ Johannesburg studio. A unique music and film production, theater, and local art exhibit could only be scheduled in November. But this year, what music critic Tom Strini called “the official start of Milwaukee’s holiday season” returns.

A song cycle, Simple Songs by Aaron Jay Kernis, reflects the spirit of the event. Kernis said he sought to represent the “essences of spirituality and mysticism that the world’s religions share.” He continued, “I found exactly those confluences in Stephen Mitchell‘s path-breaking collection of spiritual poetry, The Enlightened Heart.” He chose selections from the Book of Psalms, the 12th-century abbess and musician Hildegarde von Bingen, the Japanese Zen master Ryokan, and the renowned Sufi poet Rumi.

Soprano Ariadne Greif, who appeared in Present Music’s Future Folk Machine concert in February, will sing. Praised for her “luminous, expressive voice,” “searing top notes,” and “dusky depths” (New York Times), she has premiered over a hundred new works and more than a dozen new operas.

Greif will also join the Present Music Ensemble for Owl Song by Raven Chacon. Chacon’s compositions explore soundscapes. Bloom describes the work (not available to preview online): “This work features electronically produced sounds augmented by voice with the instrumental performers finding a middle ground between these two sounds, and producing sounds that sort of bridge the two worlds in this really compelling way.”

Present Music welcomes Chacon back to Milwaukee after he was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for music for Voiceless Mass, which had a world premiere performance at the 2021 Thanksgiving concert. Voiceless Mass and Owl Song will be recorded next week for a new Present Music CD. He will discuss his work with Bloom in a pre-talk.

Milwaukee composer Brian Packham has been commissioned to write a new work. Packham describes the evolving structure within the work, entitled Staircase Variations: “The music strives to reveal our shared emotional, human connections both on a universal level and on an individual level. Incessant thoughts become a conversation, layers are added, and ultimately a tapestry of unseen relationships become apparent through transformation.”

The Present Music Ensemble strings will play two short instrument works:

The Simple Songs cycle will be preceded by an instrumental version of a 17th-century English song, Lachrimae antiquae written by John Dowland in 1603.

The second, Leilehua Lanzilotti‘s ko’u inoa, represents an instrumental take on a traditional Hawaiian anthem. The strings apply a technique called bariolage, moving the bow back and forth like waves across the instrument.

And, of course, the program will begin and end with traditional drumming and songs by the Ho-Chunk Little Priest Singers (formerly known as The Buck Drummers.)

The extraordinary acoustics and vast internal architecture of the cathedral enhances the experience. The room’s warm resonance is effective throughout the cathedral, but those with preferred seating will be more able to appreciate the words in the texts.

The concert will be held Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, 812 N. Jackson St., and live online via the Present Music Digital Stage. The pre-talk begins at 4:00 p.m., and the concert begins at 5:00 p.m. Tickets and livestream access can be purchased online.

The next Present Music concert at the UW-Milwaukee, Jan Serr Studio, is scheduled for two performances, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2024. Cello Cello features composer/cellist Paul Wiancko, cellist Nick Photinos, guest composer/musician Pamela Z, and three other cellists. Wiancko and Pamela Z have been commissioned to compose world premieres.