UNION, NJ — The Easter cantata is a beloved community tradition that kicks off Holy Week.
A cantata is a collection of songs with some sort of narration. This year, the choir will perform “Let All Heaven Rejoice,” by David T. Clydesdale.
This performance will take place on Saturday, March 28, at 7 p.m., at Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church. Admission is free.
The event is directed by Dewey Moss, an award-winning writer, director and producer, whose career has spanned Broadway, opera and commercial theater. Moss has been a musical director with Connecticut Farms for 13 years.
For the Easter cantata, Moss chose the work of David T. Clydesdale, because he grew up singing some of his music. “He’s still out there, writing and doing a lot of work. It’s a bit older, but still contemporary.”
“Let All Heaven Rejoice” begins with the temptation of Christ and moves through the resurrection. George Heath sings the bass baritone part of Satan. The part of Jesus was written as a tenor and is performed by Jeffrey Sharp.
Moss says it’s almost literally from scripture, though not word for word. “It’s a nice, big dramatic musical type cantata,” he said. “I always try to choose something that’s going to challenge the choir. This one is a particular challenge. It has interesting chord structures.”
In choosing music to perform for the cantatas, Moss tends to lean toward music that is on the contemporary side, but has a strong message – and an easy message that makes things more accessible.
He said, “Overall, just about anything I choose is going to have a strong message of love, a strong message of healing. I seek out those kinds of things. A lot of that powerful music was written earlier, in contemporary Christian music genre. Now, it’s very rock and pop music sounding. Back then, it combined classical with contemporary music. That’s where I find the sweet spot for making something like this accessible for an audience of all ages.”
There are no costumes in the performance. In addition to the roles of Satan and Jesus, there’s a narrator, Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and some other solos.
“It’s a lovely piece of music,” said Moss. “Guest soloists from opera or Broadway love to come out and sing with us. The choir is always welcoming to them. They are grateful the choir works so hard. It’s a nice evening. It’s low pressure, but everyone does their best to do a good job. I press my little choir quite hard. We only rehearse once a week.”
Following the performance, there will be a reception and guests can enjoy some food.
Visit Connecticut Farms Presbyterian Church at: https://www.ctfarmschurch.org/.
Photos Courtesy of Dewey Moss
