Voices of mannahatta

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 @ 7:30 pm
Church of the Ascension
36 Fifth Avenue at Tenth St
New York, NY 10011

Danielle Jagelski, Artistic Director and Conductor
Hai-Ting Chinn, Curator, Voices of The New
Sage Ahebah Addington, Projection Designer

featuring
the International Contemporary Ensemble
The Eagle Project

Works by Raven Chacon and Andrew Balfour
World Premiere by Danielle Jagelski

The settlement of Manhattan Island embodies a complicated legacy marked by the colonization, clash of cultures, displacement of Indigenous and Black communities, and the continuation of this land as a hub for commerce, art, and connection. 

On April 8th, Voices of Ascension will present Voices of Mannahatta at The Church of the Ascension, exploring the history of the land on which our concert hall stands, on the unceded lands of the Munsee Lenape, Mannahatta Island.

In collaboration with The Eagle Project—NYC's only Lenape-led performing arts organization—this concert will feature the multimedia world premiere by composer Danielle Olana Jagelski (Oneida/Ojibwe). Written for five Indigenous classical singers from the Mvskogee, Acoma Pueblo, Cherokee, Anishinaabe, and Taíno Nations, the composition Holy Ground is accompanied by a five-octave marimba and vibraphone, with video imagery created by visual artist Sage Ahebah Addington (Navajo).

The program will also include performances of Raven Chacon's 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Voiceless Mass, and Andrew Balfour's Vision Chant, juxtaposed with early Western Renaissance music sung by a 16-voice ensemble and featuring the Church’s Manton Memorial Organ. 

“Holy Ground is a piece written for the land on 5th avenue between 10th and 11th streets on Mannahatta in Sapokanikan; right near Kintecoying in Lenapehoking; Nimaamaa-aki just like everywhere else. It is also written to be sung with that land, in the acoustic conditions of the building currently standing there- the Church of the Ascension.

This piece, written for 5 voices and percussion, is an effort to listen to this little plot of land- what she has to say to those who inhabit it, and what we have to say to her?”

What happens if we sing with the land, rather than to her?
What will happen if we stop excavating, but instead start listening?
What will happen if, rather than extracting, we nourish?
What if while learning, we un-learn too?
What does she have to teach us?
Do you think that we are the ones who made this ground holy?

- Danielle Jagelski, 2024

Other Concerts in our 2024-25 Season