SPRING CONCERT

Music Above and Beyond for Spring

Our spring 2026 concerts continue our 45th season theme, Music Above and Beyond, with a repertory that will inspire and challenge your hearts and minds. It includes pieces written in a variety of musical eras, from Francesca Caccini’s O vive rose, composed in the 1600s, to this year’s brand-new commission piece. The texts range from the African American spirituals I got a robe, My Lord What a Morning and Let me fly to 10th-century Arabian love poems set to music by Grammy Award–winning composer Stephen Paulus. Varying moods, from the exuberance of Jacob Naverud’s Ad Astra to the beauty of Samuel Gordon’s Antiphons for the Ladymass, will make this concert a mélange of exquisite music.

The highlight of these concerts will be the world premiere of the new commission by renowned contemporary composer Z. Randall Stroope. Pauline Toevs is the sponsor of this season’s commission, which is dedicated to her beloved husband, Jim Toevs, who died in 2025, and features Jan McDonald, Jim’s friend and fellow trumpeter, performing with the Ensemble.

Joining our music making is guest artist Jan McDonald, trumpet; and Ensemble accompanist, Bill Epstein.

Concert Program Book – Coming in November