Snowfall, a selection from Crazy Cold Beautiful about the history and culture of sled dog mushing along the North Shore of Minnesota as influenced by 19th-century Anishinaabe mail carrier John Beargrease, will be performed for the first time by the Borealis Chorale at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais Sunday and Monday, Dec. 6 and 7. The concerts begin at 7 p.m.
The concerts will be performed by visiting soloists, a 90-piece choir, and a 20-piece orchestra. Accomplished composer, director and musician William Beckstrand directs.
With more than 90 Cook County residents in the choir and orchestra, the longstanding holiday tradition continues as this year’s program includes selections from Handel’s Messiah; Berlioz’s The Shepherds Bid Farewell to the Holy Family; Donkey Carol, by John Rutter; Corelli’s Christmas Concerto for orchestra; and How Still He Rests, by B. Pierce.
New this year is the premiere of a piece based on a North Shore legend.
Robin Escher received a grant for writing the song cycle Crazy Cold Beautiful during the past year. “Many resources in Grand Marais and nearby communities have informed this work,” said Eschner, including her meetings with mushers and sled-builders, librarians, writers, historians, musicians, and people from families who have lived along the North Shore for generations, as well as letters and journal writings that were written between 1880-1900 and shared by the local historical society.
For premiere performances of the song cycle in 2016, The Borealis Chorale and Orchestra will be joined by Take Jack, a nine-person Sonoma County ensemble, and Grand Portage drummers on Friday, Feb. 5 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais, and Saturday, Feb. 6 at Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth.
For more information contact the North Shore Music Association at (218) 387-1272.
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