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Monday, February 18th, BLUEGRASS EXTRAVAGANZA AT CARNEGIE HALL

FEATURING THE WORLD BELOVED, A BLUEGRASS MASS BY CAROL BARNETT AND MUSIC BY JOSEPH MARTIN & PEPPER CHOPLIN

Nancy Menk, Joseph Martin & Pepper Choplin, Conductors Distinguished Concerts Singers International

President’s Day – Monday, February 18 –

7:00pm Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents an exhilarating evening of bluegrass music with a festival chorus of 300 singers on Monday, February 18 at 7:00pm at Carnegie Hall. Taking place on President’s Day, the concert will feature The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnett, a uniquely thrilling work combining the solemnity of a classical choir-based Mass with the sparkling down home sound of banjo, mandolin and fiddle. In addition, all-new, improvisatory bluegrass accompaniments will deepen and enliven a selection of choral works by Joseph Martin and Pepper Choplin.

Special guests, joining the Distinguished Concerts Singers International—comprised of 18 choirs hailing from across the US, Canada and Ireland—are the acclaimed bluegrass band Monroe Crossing. While bluegrass music and a church mass might seem like an unlikely pairing, composer Carol Barnett, in writing the work, recalled the country music with a church flavor that she heard a child. “My highest hope,” says Barnett, “is that listeners coming from one tradition—classical or bluegrass—and perhaps dubious about the other might discover something new and wonderful in the combination, as I have.” Bluegrass band Monroe Crossing lent their expertise to the Mass’ creation and, since premiering it in 2007, have performed the work over thirty times across the country. Nancy Menk, Chair in Music at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, is Guest Conductor. The concert will also present the debut of an exciting collaboration between composers Joseph Martin and Pepper Choplin and Monroe Crossing who will inject bluegrass style and infectious energy into a series of the composers’ choral works. Martin and Pepper, each of whom will conduct at the concert, chose pieces with early American, gospel or folk elements for the band to accompany, who will improvise and decorate the songs in their own fresh style. Highlights include Choplin’s “Sing Shout Praise,” set for folk instruments and infused with earthy rhythms and primal folk harmonies, and Martin’s “Great, Great Morning,” a menagerie of spirituals and gospel songs overflowing with rustic energy.

Visit here for TICKETS or 212-247-7800 or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office 

Happy (belated) Mardi Gras everybody-

Cumberland Gap

White Dove At Bedtime

Wind and Rain

Willow Garden

girlmeetsbanjo: Gilian Welch, The Way the Whole Thing Ends

(via fuckyeahbluegrass)

A great old Hank Williams gospel tune.  I don’t think Hank would cast his vote for Mr. Romney.

(Source: Spotify)