Upcoming Performance
Join us Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 7:30pm at Westmoreland UCC in Bethesda for an evening of fun classics from the Swingle Singers and other classical-inspired jazz tunes featuring renowned vocalist Lena Seikaly. The Westmoreland Festival Chorus will be joined by a jazz rhythm section with music director Alec Davis on piano, informal style; come sit on one of the couches or floor cushions, enjoy food and wine while you listen, laugh and celebrate community and familiar melodies arranged in delightful ways. The concert is free to all who attend, but as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, please consider a donation of money or time to So Others Might Eat (SOME).
Learn more at https://bit.ly/Music-at-WCUCC
Donate now to SOME: https://secure.myvanco.com/YP6M/campaign/C-158J9
This season at Westmoreland we’re exploring this idea of “doing old things new ways,” so what a great opportunity to pull out some jazzy arrangements of classical tunes from the height of the Swingle singers’ fame.
I’ve been thinking about how it feels to be in a quickly changing world now a few years post-lockdowns and those depths of collective unknown; I don’t think of it this way most of the time, but I do feel like even now a lot of energy goes toward trying to square these two internal forces - everything is different and there is no going back, but my body and mind still want tradition, familiarity, and comfort. So how do we do that without erring into grasping onto what no longer has relevance, or on the other side throwing out the baby with the bathwater? Well… we stay dynamic. We try things, we fail at things, we maybe stay out of the way of the desire to be connected to the past, but also stay out of the way of that resistance to change and newness which can bring so much light where we think there is none because our eyes are closed. We can just want the excitement that comes from classic Mozart, Bach, Chopin, while staying open and attentive to how it can take shape as influenced by our own time and idiom. And this helps us to realize that it is in the essence of all music, and really of all the activity of our lives, for old ideas to come alive in new ways.
Of course this question is not only about our individual journeys - especially around the holidays we try to be mindful of the many circumstances that could lead to some people being without stable housing, income, food, community, or opportunity. The concert will be a wonderful opportunity to express gratitude that we get to take these things for granted in fellowship for the evening, while collecting funds for So Others Might Eat, or SOME, which has been doing this important work in our community since 1970.
Whether or not you join us for the concert, you can contribute and learn about the work they do, you can follow Music @ Westmoreland and learn about our goals to support justice, create beauty, and build community through music, and even watch past performances, and find out how to follow Lena Seikaly and the other tremendous musicians who will be featured. But what we can’t do is share food, wine, and laughter together, so if you can, please show up and enjoy!
Westmoreland Festival Chorus
The Westmoreland Festival Chorus is a community organization that prepares both sacred and secular works for the Bethesda community, and raises funds for local charities and service organizations. A part of the social outreach activities of the church, the choir is made up of a diverse group of singers from the surrounding areas and beyond, and engages both amateur and professional musicians. They have presented the Requiems of Mozart, Brahms, Fauré, and Duruflé; cantatas by Bach, Britten, and Pinkham; and major works by Vaughan Williams, Handel, Schubert, Vivaldi, and others. The chorus often collaborates with local ensembles, such as the Apollo Symphony, the Washington Conservatory of Music, and the Great Noise Ensemble, as well as soloists, such as Laura Choi Stuart, Lena Seikaly, and Richard Giarusso. In 2014, they presented the world premier of The Imaginary City, a cantata inspired by the life of Palestinian violist Ramzi Aburedwan, which raised over $17,000 for Al Kamandjati music schools of Palestine. The Westmoreland Festival Chorus continues to work with many of the area’s best musicians to create beauty in the world, sustain a rigorous yet edifying experience for its singers, and provide support to the many local organizations that seek to do good in our community.
Performing a program of all Latvian Music at Latvian Lutheran Church in Rockville, MD, March 2018, in celebration of 100 years of Latvian Independence. This performance raised funds for Lutheran Immigrant Refugee Services and was in the presence of His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Andris Teikmanis. Photo: Ed Benkowski
Past Performances
Click on the image to learn more about this performance, part of the 2024-2025 Music @ Westmoreland season!
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This enormous collaboration featured the US premiere of Paul Stanhope’s set “Sea Pieces”, performed by soprano Laura Choi Stuart, along with the momentum “Da Pacem” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, adapted for strings, percussion, and organ by Alec Davis and Chris Betts.
We raised funds for Bethesda Cares as they honored their executive director Sue Kirk and her 20 years of leadership.
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This concert featured a new orchestration of this work, which was originally written for two violins and organ. It was adapted to fit an advent theme and we included spoken word throughout in remembrance of victims of gun violence. This was in conjunction with the establishment of a scholarship fund in the name of Rev. Pinckney, for which we raised over $5,000
Listen to the music selections here.
The Imaginary City (December 6, 2014)
On Saturday, December 6, 2014, the Westmoreland choir, soloist and orchestra presented the world premier of "The Imaginary City" -- a cantata inspired by the life of Palestinian violist Ramzi Aburedwan. It was a magical evening of music and fellowship and raised over $17,000 for Al Kamandjati music schools in Palestine. Enjoy the video of the concert below. Download a copy of the concert program.