NH Master Chorale presents a musical romp through Radioland

PLYMOUTH — The centerpiece of New Hampshire Master Chorale’s two concerts on Father’s Day weekend is “The Radio Hour,” an innovative one-act choral opera about a woman who’s given a new lease on life by a trip through Radioland.

The concerts’ second half will transport audiences to the studio of a 1940’s radio variety show, featuring swing-band arrangements of golden oldies such as “Our Love Is Here to Stay” and “Blues in the Night.”

The concerts will take place on Saturday, June 15, at the South Church on Pleasant Street in Concord, and Sunday, June 16 at the Plymouth Congregational Church.

Conventional opera features principal soloists singing arias and recitatives, with occasional choruses. In this “choral opera,” the narrative is entirely sung by the chorus while the principal character – a hard-working, lonely, depressed, middle-aged woman named Nora – is played entirely in pantomime by the well-known New Hampshire actor Lisa Lovett.

Dan Perkins, the Master Chorale’s founder and music director, said these concerts’ homage to radio stems from his adolescent fascination with the medium.

“I love the power of radio and how, like a book, it forces us to imagine images, places and faces that are clearly spelled out – or perhaps spoon-fed to us – in film and on the stage,” Perkins said.

He programmed The Radio Hour because “it’s unlike anything we’ve done.”

For more information, visit nhmasterchorale.org.