The Eastminster Choir presents the Canadian Premiere of The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnett on Sunday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. at Eastminster United Church 310 Danforth Avenue (at Jackman) in Toronto.
The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass is a ground breaking work that mashes sacred classical choral tradition with the sparkling down home bluegrass sound of mandolin, violin, guitar, banjo and string bass. The inspired result is spirited new music - the perfect entry point for choral music lovers to the infectious energy of bluegrass, and for bluegrass fans to the beauty of choral singing.
The work features the Eastminster United Church Choir under the musical direction of Jacqueline Sadler with special guests, Tim Posgate and Sorry Cousins.
Eastminster is a Danforth Avenue United Church rightly proud of its thirty voice adult choir – a combination of professional singers and dedicated amateurs who not only raise their voices on Sunday mornings, but have also raised thousands of dollars for a variety of worthwhile causes at fundraisers throughout the city – singing everything from Bach to the Beatles and from Mendelssohn to Motown.
The choir is joined by Sorry Cousins, a new stringband fronted by Canadian banjo player and multi-instrumentalist Tim Posgate. This is a quintet that prides itself on being bluegrass one minute and Zappa-inspired the next. The five members bring eclectic individual musical histories to bear on the collective “freak out” they call, Sorry Cousins. They are: Tim Posgate, banjo, Victor Bateman, bass, Adrian Gross, mandolin, Darryl Poulsen, guitar, and James McKie, fiddle.
The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass is the work of award-winning American composer, Carol Barnett. Barnett is a long-time fixture on the Minnesota music scene, whose work has been called “audacious and engaging” – having scored works for solo and choral voice, piano, organ, wind ensembles, string bands and steel drums.
Admission to The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass is by donation.
For more information, visit the Eastminster website at www.eastminsteruc.org or call Eastminster at (416) 463-2179.
