Back to Work!!

Cantus jumps back to work with the start of rehearsals tomorrow, Aug. 17th. After a very eventful summer, and a little break, we are working on putting together 3 different programs in the next 3-4 weeks: our normal Touring Program (this year it is called 'Elemental'), a special program for a tour with Allied Productions in September, and some early work on our Christmas shows: All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914; and 'Away in a Manger', our annual holiday show at Harriet Island in St. Paul, MN.

'Elemental' is a program about the four Aristotelean elements: Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. When these four elements are in perfect balance, Aristotle writes that a Fifth Element emerges: the Spirit. That is what Cantus hopes to achieve with this program. Some highlights from the 'Elemental' touring program include: music from 20th Century masters Zoltan Kodaly and Veljo Tormis; a wonderful part song by Franz Schubert that uniquely interprets a poem by Goethe about a sea-going apparition; a feisty setting of Greek palindrome by Twin Cities composer Abbie Betinis called 'Yhinx' that actually puts a hex on a former lover; and a host of other pieces from Japan, Sweden, Scotland, the Republic of Georgia, Venezuela, and the U.S.

We are in rehearsal weekdays from 1-6pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, MN. Rehearsals are open: if you want to see how the music is made, schedule a drop-in to rehearsal by emailing reinwald@cantusonline.org! Happy Singing!