Songs From Around the World and Premiere of Jonathan Santore's “Living with Squirrels”

MEREDITH, NH – The New Hampshire Master Chorale’s (NHMC) upcoming concert series will celebrate songs of harvest and home from around the world - Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Romania, and America. Unveiled at the concerts will be originally set music based on poetry about New Hampshire by Jonathan Santore, the 2010 NH State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow. Concerts will be held on November 20, 21, and 22 in Concord, NH; Norwich, VT; and Plymouth, NH respectively.

Santore has set to music three humorous and poignant poems about New Hampshire written by Liz Ahl, a Plymouth State University professor and nationally acclaimed poet.

“I’m so pleased to premiere these new pieces, setting text by a contemporary New Hampshire poet,” said Santore. “I’d like to thank the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts for the fellowship, and the New Hampshire Master Chorale, whose encouragement, advocacy, and consummate artistry inspired me to create the body of work that won the award.”

Tickets will be sold at each concert for $15 for seniors and students or $20 for all others. The concerts will be held on the following dates and times:

• Friday, November 20, 8:00 PM, South Congregational Church, Concord, NH;
• Saturday, November 21, at 7:30pm, Norwich Congregational Church, Norwich, VT; and
• Sunday, November 22 at 4:00 PM, Plymouth Congregational Church, Plymouth, NH 
•  3:30 PM pre-concert talk with Jonathan Santore and Liz Ahl

Dan Perkins, NHMC Music Director commented, “We welcome five wonderful new singers to the ensemble this season!  Our program is one of comfort and warmth, focusing on the things most important and close to us – our families and our passions.  We will sing a wide variety of familiar, as well as new works that celebrate these themes.”

The New Hampshire Master Chorale, a nonprofit choir in its seventh season, is dedicated to excellence in the art of choral music performance. Members of the group are singers auditioned from throughout New England who have performed as soloists and in choral ensembles throughout the world. For more information about the New Hampshire Master Chorale or concert tickets, visit http://www.nhmasterchorale.org or 603-536-2367.