Grinnell Singers Hit the Road

March 17, 2017 — The Grinnell Singers are once again going on tour over spring break. This year’s stops include the Twin Cities and Rochester, Minn.; Chicago and Monmouth, Ill.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

In Minnesota, the Grinnell Singers will join forces with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra to present “The Passion of Christ” by Carl Heinrich Graun, under the direction of the internationally renowned conductor Simon Carrington.

A distinguished quartet of soloists will appear with the ensemble, including soprano Maria Jette, mezzo-soprano Nerea Berraondo, tenor Roy Heilman, and baritone Thomas Meglioranza ’92.

Tickets for these performances are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and public radio members, and $10 for students. Tickets are available at lyrabaroque.org.

In the Illinois and Wisconsin leg of the tour, the Grinnell Singers will present a concert titled “And We’ll All Sing Hallelujah.” The highly varied concert ranges from the 16th century to the present day, including an exuberant work by William Byrd, which puts the glories of renaissance choral writing in high display, a dramatic selection from Rachmaninov’s beloved All-Night Vigil that tells the Easter story, selections from Carl Heinrich Graun’s Passion of Jesus, the 18th century’s most performed passion, and an evocative depiction of the northern lights by the Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds, a sensitive Longfellow setting by the young American composer Nico Muhly, a rousing spiritual arrangement by Stacey Gibbs, and Shawn Kirchner’s joyous shape-note arrangement, “Hallelujah.

These performances are free and open to the public.