On Spirituals ...
Spirituals. The Pacific Mozart Ensemble. Hmmm.
That was one of my first thoughts when Lynne Morrow told us about the plan for our December 2006 concert set. What happened? One of the most moving and beautiful concerts we've done yet.
Fast forward to July 2007. 
PME performs the same Spirituals concert at the Green Music Festival in Sonoma, California at Sonoma State University. My thoughts and feelings now? Wow!!
We took an entire concert and made it mobile. We've only done that a couple of other times, taking Jazz & Pop to Brentwood, but it was a heck of a lot of work to do so. This group doesn't usually have the opportunity to perform an entire concert set outside of our regular season, so we had a perfect chance to perform this one once again without the weeks of learning beforehand. This concert came together in just 2 rehearsals, and I think it was even better than the first set.
The ensemble sounded so beautiful and strong, Clarissa Darden Morrow gave a poignant performance in her narration along with the slide show Valerie Brown assembled and projected above us during the entire performance.
Beautiful, moving, sorrowful, loving, uplifting, fun. All of that.
PME has earned a reputation for interesting concerts, projects and collaborations, and I have to say that the
Spirituals concert is one of my very 
favorite sets in the 10 years I have been
singing in this group. There is something so visceral about this music, and in combination with Lynne's vision of
presenting the story with a narrator and slide show, it is a powerful tribute to the history of the music.
The festival itself attracted music lovers from all around the area, and for PME it was a great opportunity to kind
of strut our stuff for an unknown audience. I believe we achieved our goal, judging by the reception we received
during and after the concert. I can say that personally, it was a thrill to stand before them and give them the
stories. 
I could feel the audience listening, watching and feeling the experience,
which of course, comes right back into the music.
Here are a couple of links to photos taken before and during.
Claudia's pics
Dick
Grant's pics
There's talk of taking it to other places. There is an important message in this concert that rings true for current events as well as reminding us of the past. I'm game! Let's do it again! 