Voice of Connection welcomes guest curator James Bassi

James Bassi composer, pianist, music director, and tenor, is a founding member of Voices of Ascension, singing with them every season, and he has written numerous commissioned works for the group. Choral singing has been an integral part of his life since childhood, and has opened the doors to a myriad of musical opportunities and experiences. In this five-part Voices of Connection series, he reflects on how all this began.

Hello all!

I am honored to contribute to Voices of Connection. Many of you know me as a founding member of VOA, singing in the tenor section for all of its 30 years and counting. And, as a composer, I have had the privilege of writing a number of commissioned works for the group.

What I now want to share with you is part of my origin story: particularly, my years as a high school choral singer in my home town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Rachel Batchelder, director of the high school chorus, found me acting and singing in a bicentennial pageant — yes, in 1976! — celebrating a rather fictionalized version of our town’s history. She corralled me, as it were, into joining choir. This bit of recruiting was to be of great importance to my musical development. Mrs. B, as she was known, was a wonderful musician and had high ambitions for her singers. She introduced us to the works of many important composers. In this series of presentations, five in all, you will hear music I sang during these high school years.

The first piece is by Samuel Barber, one of our greatest American composers. In an after-school chamber group called ‘Chorale,’ we sang one of Barber’s most beloved and enduring melodies, in this well-known choral arrangement. Enjoy!

— James Bassi