Celebrating its 48th season, the 52-voice Sangre de Cristo Chorale is led by Music Director George Case and accompanied by pianist Deborah Wagner. Courtesy/SDCC
CONCERT News:
SANTA FE — The Sangre de Cristo Chorale will perform its final concert of the 2025-2026 season, America’s Bard, on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24 in Santa Fe. Both concerts start at 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe.
Celebrating its 48th season, the 52-voice Chorale is led by Music Director George Case and accompanied by pianist Deborah Wagner.
The centerpiece of this concert is Jeffrey Van’s four-movement piece “A Procession Winding Around Me” for guitar and chorus. Based on civil war poems by Walt Whitman, this piece will feature Martin Ly on guitar. Whitman’s poetry will also be heard in music by other 20th-century American composers, including Eric Whitacre, Norman Dello Joio, and William Schuman.
“Walt Whitman’s poetry is deeply embedded in the American cultural fabric, woven throughout our words, our music, and our art. It teems with possibility, with optimism, and with an admonition to celebrate the present while remaining open to a limitless future,” Case said. “Over 500 composers have set the words of Walt Whitman to music, from the smaller, more intimate works you will hear in this concert to the grand settings with large choruses and full orchestras. In this concert, Jeffrey Van’s “A Procession Winding Around Me” provides a gorgeous, haunting setting of four of Whitman’s Civil War poems. Set for chorus and guitar, this piece is incredibly moving with its depiction of the poignancy in the texts as it moves toward a recognition of collective grief. We’re very much looking forward to sharing this music with our audience.”
Tickets cost $30 for adults. Students under 18 are free. Tickets are available online at sdcchorale.org. The First Presbyterian Church is at 208 Grant Ave. in Santa Fe.
About the Sangre de Cristo Chorale:
The mission of the Sangre de Cristo Chorale is to entertain, educate, unite, and inspire singers and audiences by performing great choral music. Founded in 1978, the Sangre de Cristo Chorale is among the longest continually performing independent chorales in New Mexico and performs diverse choral music for the educational and artistic enrichment of the audience, the community, and its members.