This weekend, the Aspen Choral Society (ACS) invites all from across the Roaring Fork Valley to “Luminous Night,” a poignant musical exploration of the nature of grief and loss in a moment not only significant for its organization but the world as a whole.
Aspen Choral Society, which has performed mixed choral and orchestral concerts since 1977, will be performing at three locations, beginning at the Third Street Center on Friday, April 17, followed by a concert at the Harris Concert Hall in Aspen on Saturday, April 18 and concluding at the Glenwood Springs High School auditorium on Sunday, April 19. Each performance will begin at 7pm. The performances will not only lend a space to freely explore the depths and significance of both personal and collective loss, but will also mark the final performance of Paul Dankers’ tenure as musical director of ACS and the culmination of his musical visions in the Roaring Fork Valley.
“One of the most fundamental truths of our existence is that it’s impermanent,” Dankers said in an interview, “but it seems like it’s come a little bit closer lately for some reason.”
The repertoire consists of two sections of music centered on themes of loss. The concert will open with a performance of contemporary English composer John Rutter’s “Requiem,” one of Dankers’ favorite pieces.
“Requiem” sets the Catholic Requiem Mass (or Mass for the Dead) to music in seven movements, composed in memoriam to Rutter’s father.
The second part of the concert will consist of three pieces by contemporary Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo: “Dark Night of the Soul,” “Luminous Night of the Soul” and “Across the Eternal Sky.”
ACS performed these three pieces by Gjeilo several years ago. However, while that performance was more theatrical and carnival-esque — with Dankers himself taking part in the action onstage — this weekend’s performance will be focused more tightly on the music itself.
The theme of the performance has been informed by sudden personal tragedy after two ACS board members’ spouses passed away in quick succession. After receiving the news, Dankers said that it “clicked,” and he felt ACS needed to give a proper space for grief.
The concert also arrives at a significant moment for Dankers, after an increase in cost of living has led to his and his husband’s difficult decision to leave the Roaring Fork Valley community, terminating Dankers’ over 10-year career with ACS and the married couple’s tenure at Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist Church.
“It’s been an incredibly meaningful time in this Valley and making music with ACS, and as precious as that is [equals] how much we will grieve it when it’s gone,” Dankers said.
Practicing for this concert series has also been emotionally affecting for ACS members. In the course of rehearsal, choir members independently created a book club to discuss Francis Weller’s “The Wild Edge of Sorrow” to further explore the themes at play after rehearsals. Dankers, as conductor, has also reminded the choir continually during practice of the fundamental impermanence of our lives, and urged them to consider how best to spend their time and to treat one another as members of a musical community and in the world as a whole.
Dankers said he expects that, in the course of the performance this weekend, there will be tears from himself, the musicians and perhaps from those in the audience. He bemoaned the ubiquity of apologizing for one’s emotions, and expressed that it is a goal of his to allow those tears to flow and to remove the stigma around expressions of sorrow.
“If we dissolve into tears and have to stop the concert for a moment, what better place, what better time, what better way to show honor to the music and to the things and the people we are grieving than to spend a moment weeping together?” Dankers asked.
Despite the intensity of its tone, the performance also intends to accentuate joy and the gift of life. “We take away from joy and happiness by refusing shadow,” Dankers said. In avoidance, he said, “we are robbing ourselves of the joy which exists in contrast with the pain.”
Discounted presale tickets are available online at aspenchoralsociety.org. While tickets will also be sold at the door, ACS recommends purchasing in advance. Online sales will close the day before each respective performance.
IN A NUTSHELL
When: 7pm
Where: Third Street Center in Carbondale on Friday, April 17, Harris Concert Hall in Aspen on Saturday, April 18, and the Glenwood Springs High School auditorium on Sunday, April 19
Tickets: aspenchoralsociety.org