Contributed by Jessie Wetherell
Alaska Children’s Choir, December 2017
A History Through Song Concert
5/19/2018 - 4PM
Alaska Children’s Choir
St. John Lutheran Church
440 E Elmwood Ave. Palmer
Tickets: $10
A History Through Song Concert
5/20/2018 – 2:30PM
Alaska Children’s Choir
Central Lutheran Church
1420 Cordova St. Anchorage
Tickets: $10
Throughout our nation’s history, there have been many songs penned about pivotal events. From war to peace, plantation life to civil rights, there was a song for everything. The Alaska Children’s Choir has chosen to focus their music for this semester around most of the major wars the United States has been involved in and the culture of those times. Their spring concert, coming up on Saturday, May 19th, is a musical retelling of “A History Through Song.”
The concert begins with students quoting from some of our most important documents -the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. “Yankee Doodle” and “The British Grenadiers” are just two of the songs included during the Revolutionary War segment, representing both sides of the War for Independence. From there, the choristers move into the Civil War, again representing both sides. They also include some African-American spirituals such as “Deep River” and minstrel songs such as “Old Dan Tucker.”
The set from the World Wars includes a choral version of Siegfried Sassoon’s poem, “Everyone Sang,” which is a joyous reference to Armistice Day. The children also take time to remember those who perished during the Holocaust with a Jewish folksong, “Ani Ma’amin” and “Inscription of Hope”, the text for which comes from an inscription written by those who were hiding from the Nazis in Cologne, Germany.
Many more pieces are included in this two-hour musical history lesson. The performance will be held at St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer on Saturday, May 19th at 4pm. The Choir will also be performing their concert in Anchorage on Sunday, May 20th at Central Lutheran Church at 2:30pm. Tickets are $10 a person and are available for purchase at the door via cash or check. The students, aged 5-18, would love to have you join us for an evening of music, culture and history.
For questions about the Alaska Children’s Choir, their upcoming concerts or enrollment, please contact Director Jessie Wetherell at alaskachildrenschoir@yahoo.com or 907-982-5467.
