VIRTUAL CONCERT March 21st, 2021; 4PM

In keeping with the Season S theme “Vita Brevis, Ars Longa,” music from across centuries will showcase eternal and shared human emotions of devotion, peace, suffering, and love. Bach’s sacred cantata for Pentecost “O ewiges Feuer, O Ursprung der Liebe” [“O Eternal Fire, O Source of Love”] features a warm and contemplative alto solo, full chorus, and chamber orchestra. The theme of fire continues with a rebroadcast of Seraphic Fire’s performance of American composer David Lang’s oratorio the little match girl passion. Stark and emotive, the contemporary work, inspired by Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, tells Hans Christian Andersen’s tragic fable of a girl selling matches in the cold of winter. Though sonically very different, the two works will ignite your heart with compassion.