Canticle of the Sun: Beth Willer

Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Church of the Ascension

Olivier Messiaen Apparition de l'église éternelle (Apparition of the Eternal Church)

Olivier Messiaen, arr. Clytus Gottwald Louange a l'Eternite de Jesus

Sofia Gubaidulina Canticle of the Sun (New York City Premiere)

Ellen Reid Oscillations: 100 Years and Forever (East Coast Premiere)

Celeste Oram All my salt falls short (World Premiere)

What endures after the music fades? Guest Conductor Beth Willer, Director of the Lorelei Ensemble and Peabody Conservatory, shapes a reflective program that holds the fleeting and the eternal in balance, asking what outlasts us, what we inherit, and what we carry forward.

In this thrilling program of firsts, Voices presents the New York City premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun—a radiant work for chorus and solo cello originally composed for Mstislav Rostropovich, with text by St. Francis of Assisi—the East Coast premiere of Ellen Reid’s immersive work Oscillations: 100 Years and Forever, featuring newly reimagined NYC visuals, and a world premiere by New Zealand/New York composer Celeste Oram. Works by Olivier Messiaen (Apparition de l'église éternelle (Apparition of the Eternal Church) for organ, Louange a l'eternite de Jesus for chorus) complete this visionary concert.

This program will be recorded.