Assabet Valley Mastersingers (AVM) will celebrate the end of its 40th Anniversary Season in a concert on Saturday, May 11 at 8 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 640 Main St. in Shrewsbury.
The program titled “Across the Millennia” will combine two historic choral classics—JS Bach’s cantata #80 Ein Feste Burg and Mozart’s Regina Coeli K.276—with music by two of the 21st century’s most accomplished composers. Ola Gjeilo’s 2016 setting of Walt Whitman’s poem Song of the Universal sings of “optimism, exuberance and unwavering confidence in our deeper humanity.” The Latvian composer Peteris Vasks offers a fervent cry for peace in Dona Nobis Pacem. The Mastersingers chorus of approximately 70 members will be joined by vocal soloists soprano Teresa Wakim, mezzo Margaret Lias, tenor Charles Blandy, and baritone Thomas Jones with orchestra under the direction of AVM Founder and Artistic Director Robert P. Eaton.
In the past 40 years AVM has gained praise for performance excellence and innovative programming in Central Massachusetts and takes pride in a history of hiring professional vocal soloists and instrumentalists who enjoy the collaboration.
Concert tickets may be purchased through www.AVMsingers.org or in advance at David French Music Co., Westborough; Gray’s Carpet Center, Northborough; Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union; English Garden Florist, Southborough; Serendipity Jewelry, Art, & Whimsy, Hudson; and both Joy-Den Jewelers and Main Street Café in Marlborough. Advance sale tickets from outlets in these six towns are discounted $3 from the regular price of $25 and $20 for students and senior citizens. Tickets at these outlets will be available after April 22.
The concert site is accessible to the physically challenged and large print programs will be available. For further information, please call (978) 562-9838 or reference the website. This non-profit organization is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council; Avidia Charitable Foundation; Southborough Community Fund, a fund of the Foundation for MetroWest; Choral Arts New England; Webster Five Foundation; and through the local Arts Councils of Ashland, Boylston, Grafton, Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough, and Westborough, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.