New Song Church in Port Perry, (14460 Simcoe St), is happy to announce and invite the community to immerse themselves in the music of Lament & Hope, to be performed by the New Song Chancel Choir on Saturday, November 12, at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 13 at 10:00 am.

“As we move beyond the pandemic stage of COVID, I felt a deep desire to present music that gives our community a space to acknowledge loss,” explains choir director Jonathan Liebich. “I can’t think of a single person who has not experienced some kind of loss since COVID became a reality. Whether that be broken relationships, isolation, loss of income, missed life milestones or the loss of loved ones, we’ve all lived with the grief that comes from losing something we value deeply. For some of us that included a long pause from gathering to sing and enjoy making music together. This year we are preparing music that definitively acknowledges sorrow and loss but lands squarely in a place of hope.”

New Song Chancel Choir is delighted to be back together, challenging themselves to prepare meaningful, enriching music for the community. The feature work in Lament & Hope will be the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Fauré. This piece premiered in Paris in 1888 and focuses on human yearning for eternal rest and consolation. Many requiems in history were written to commemorate someone or something specific, but Fauré declared, “My Requiem wasn’t written for anything – for pleasure, if I may call it that!” This requiem, while coloured with some darkness is brimming with lush, beautiful music that envelops the listener in a sense of peace and comfort.

All are welcome to either or both presentations of Lament & Hope.

Lament & Hope: Music to acknowledge grief and live in hope
Location: New Song Anglican Church, 14460 Simcoe St., Port Perry (www.newsongportperry.ca)
When: Saturday, November 12, 7:30 PM and Sunday, November 13, 10 AM

Admission by donation, with proceeds going to Oak Ridges Hospice.