Voices of Connection: 11/6 Charles Villiers Stanford: Beati quorum via

FROM GUEST CURATOR NEIL FARRELL

Many, if not most of the members of Voices of Ascension over the years have stories of how they became lovers of choral music, and how they developed the particular brand of musicianship to sing this music at the highest level. My parents met singing in the New Jersey Oratorio Society, where a shy baritone from Belfast, NI volunteered to take attendance so he'd get an opportunity to know people without having the approach them directly. That 2nd soprano who kept slipping down to the alto line here and there (sectional versatility being a family trait, it appears!) and he both noticed each other, and, long story short, here came along my four sisters and I. Of course, they both sang in the church choir in the small Episcopal Church they'd settled on attending near our Maplewood, NJ home. Without even realizing it I learned how to sight-sing in that choir, from second grade on, with new anthems and new hymns coming at me weekly. As time went by and my voice changed, one of my fondest memories of singing in that church choir with my Dad, a natural musician though with relatively little formal training involved this gorgeous a cappella anthem by Stanford, a fellow Irishman.

Winding its tenor line in and around my dad's baritone, slipping in and out of dissonant passing notes and suspensions, sharing that innate ability with and affinity for this beautiful art form, this piece became a talisman for the love I have for the Anglican choral tradition, one of the hallmarks of Voices of Ascension's vast repertoire. The choir at St. George's in Maplewood may not have sounded quite like this, but we came close enough that none of the piece's delights escaped my notice even in my youth. I think of my dad each and every time I sing or hear it, and, as the text of "Justorum anime" says of those who die in the Lord, I am at peace.

– Neil Farrell, founding member of Voices of Ascension

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