I. Kyrie
II. Gloria
III. Credo
IV. Sanctus
V. Agnus Dei

From the composer: Mass is a five-movement work for reed quintet, running around 30 minutes in length. The work follows the five sections of the Mass ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. As a composer, my musical development was very much framed by growing up in church and singing in a choir. To my ears, there was something indescribable about this music that was designed for the huge reverberance of the church. When I began working with the Akropolis Reed Quintet, I was immediately struck by the explosive resonance of the instrumentation — it reminded me of a sort of lively and expressive portable organ — and I was dying to hear them play loud music in a big stone room. My idea for this work came from an interest in exploring the stylistic and formal possibilities of casting the Mass genre onto their unique ensemble of reed instruments. Although Mass does not explicitly set the Mass text, it explores many of the stylistic, structural, and expressive features of the genre and its long history of musical settings. The lack of text is not meant to discourage a liturgical experience, but rather leave space for the dimensions of spirituality, devotion, and inwardness that are possible through this type of music.

With Kenneth Overtone, Baritone

God Bless the Child was written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. and first recorded in 1941. In her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday recalled that an argument with her mother regarding finances led to the writing of this song, stating that during the argument her mother said, "God bless the child that's got his own." God Bless the Child became one of Holiday’s signature works and remains a jazz standard. Arranged by composer Remy Le Boeuf, this song has now been adapted and reimagined for reed quintet.

About Kenneth Overtone

Kenneth Overton is lauded for blending his opulent baritone with magnetic, varied portrayals that seemingly “emanate from deep within body and soul.”  Kenneth Overton’s symphonious baritone voice has sent him around the globe, making him one of the most sought-after opera singers of his generation. Kenneth is a 2020 GRAMMY AWARD WINNER for Best Choral Performance in the title role of Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.​

This season, Overton will lead two productions for the Welsh National Opera’s new season. The new work Migrations, and in the world premiere of The Shoemaker. Overton will reprise his most celebrated role in Porgy and Bess as Porgy, co-produced by Opera Carolina and North Carolina Opera. Concert engagements will include Handel’s Messiah at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Chapel, a concert staging of Porgy and Bess with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, a solo recital for the African American Music Festival at Pennsylvania State University, a solo recital with the Howland Chamber Music Circle, Mahler’sLieder eines fahrenden Gesellen for the Spartanburg Philharmonic, and a return to The Kennedy Center with The Washington Chorus as the soloist for Duruflé's Requiem and Undine Smith Moore’s Scenes from the Life of a Martyr.

In An American in Paris, Gershwin aimed to create one of his more serious works despite his natural affinity for frivolity. He consulted Ravel about this conundrum, who wisely instructed that if Gershwin was making more money than Ravel (which he was), he shouldn't change how he writes his music. He sought advice from Nadia Boulanger, the great teacher of Aaron Copland and others. She also wisely suggested to Gershwin try to be no one but Gershwin. And so, using complex motivic development which is constantly modulating and changing form, Gershwin manages to create his most accessible, but simultaneously most complex piece of music.

Among the challenges Dutch saxophonist Raaf Hekkema faced in arranging the work was how to convey these ideas with only 5 instruments. Hekkema brilliantly takes a smaller color palette and combines the instruments to create more textural possibilities than the listener could ever predict. In ways, while Gershwin's orchestration maximizes the orchestra's capabilities, the listener might find Gershwin's ideas even easier to deduce in the chamber music format. The continually repeating and evolving motives make for a challenging but thrilling performance which Akropolis is delighted to bring to the stage.