Echoes of the past, voices of

the future

Summer Festival Sponsor

Sallie Bingham

Program Sponsor

Lynne Horning

Conductor

Joshua Habermann

Artistic Director
Sponsored by Carmen Paradis and Brian McGrath

Get a sneak peak at our upcoming commercial album live in concert! At the heart of this program lies The American Road: Six Songs of the Enslaved, Embattled and Emancipated by Nigerian-American composer Shawn E. Okpebholo. In this new large-scale work, Okpebholo reimagines folk songs and spirituals—including an original by Rhiannon Giddens—that both honor the pain and resilience of the past and inspire hope for the future. Be among the first to hear this momentous work paired alongside commissions from our recent past, which we plan to include in a new album coming in 2026. Kile Smith’s Northland infuses the poetry of Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay with jazz, blues, and melodic lyricism to describe the Jamaican immigrant’s experiences in his new home. The bilingual work Caminante (Traveler) by Jocelyn Hagen exemplifies musically and poetically the miracle of people from all walks of life coming together as fellow travelers. The Tipping Point by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail combines Western and Indian musical techniques to portray the constant struggle between light and darkness, and that miraculous moment of the scale tipping in favor of light. Pianist Nathan Salazar and tabla player Sutanu Sur join the twenty-four Desert Chorale vocal artists for a journey through American choral music.

Singer Sponsors

Donald Shina and Kevin Waidmann

James Bass, bass

Richard and Chris Frenk

George Case, tenor

Jim Murphy and Roxanne Howe-Murphy

Enrico Lagasca, bass

Laurie Meyer in Memory of Dick Meyer

Kate Maroney, alto

Tom and Anne Conner

Kathlene Ritch, soprano

Pat Stanley

TBD