On Sunday, May 18th, the Irvington Arts Collective will present a concert by the Harmony Collected Community Choir. I have written about my participation in this community choir, and for those following along, I will once again be one of the tenor voices in our presentation of “Community In Song: A concert of world music celebrating belonging.”
Singing has always been one of the joys of my life, and I have subjected friends and strangers to my impulsive outbursts of song. When I was young, I sang in churches with my brother and sister; I sang with my friends in a “singing group” — we did not call ourselves a “band” — and when my first child asked it of me, I sang for her. I collected harmony from those who had it, learned to sing “Ave Maria,” sang it from the balconies of two churches, and sat down to watch as my friends were married. When I enter and leave my favorite cidery, I sing both a song of greeting and farewell. Despite those noxious outbursts, I have yet to be banned from the establishment, and I flatter myself that my songs please those who hear them.
I have been a participant in the Community Choir for a little more than a year. (See “Come To The Music,” Weekly View, 05/17/2024.) The group has presented its music to the public on several occasions, (“Come Sing,” 09/05/2024,) including during the night of the 2024 Irvington Luminaria, when we went caroling down to the Irving Circle. This season’s offering will be a celebration of community, a phrase that our artistic director, Dr. Webb Parker, loves to use. And that community is rich and broad and inclusive.
The Community Choir will be singing in several languages, including Swahili, Traditional Haitian, Sanskrit, a Jewish dialect, and English. In addition to the piano, we will be accompanied by the rich, deep tones of a djembe, the West African “rope-tuned, skin-covered goblet drum”; a saxophone, flute, and a violin. We will also be clapping, snapping, and clicking our tongues. The audience will be invited to clap along with us to join in the connectedness of the concert’s theme.
Come to the Irvington Presbyterian Church at 55 Johnson Avenue at 4 p.m. and sit in the pews to watch and hear some dedicated singers share community with you. Sing along, clap along, hum along, or sit in the pews and tap your feet, but some to see us. We would love to look out and see the pews full of people, listening for the joy of our music.
cjon3acd@att.net
