Pemi Choral celebrates 50th anniversary with a concert

LACONIA — The 100-voice Pemigewasset Choral Society (Pemi Choral) will perform its 50th anniversary concert series “Sweet Rivers” on Saturday, May 4, 7:30 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre.

The concert will feature a commissioned work celebrating the chorus’s 50th anniversary, composed by internationally recognized New England composer Moira Smiley. Her commission, “I Soared without Regret,” is based upon the poem “Flying” by former Plymouth State University professor Jane Babin, who died from ALS in 2015. Accompanied by an 11-piece chamber orchestra, the concert also features the beautiful Franz Schubert “Mass in G” with soprano soloist Janet Poisson and bass soloist Michael Gallagan.

“Shawn Kirchner’s composition ‘Sweet Rivers’ provided the title of the concert,” said Music Director Will Gunn, who fell in love with this piece when he first heard it. “It seems fitting to have a program dedicated to our namesake, the Pemigewasset River. Just as rivers converge and flow as one, so too do our voices combine with powerful harmonies that create a sound richer than any one individual.”

The Abenaki word Pemigewasset means “swift current coming from the side,” describing the joining of the Baker River to the Pemigewasset.

“Pemi Choral is well-known for the wide range of musical genres it has performed over the past 50 years that include Broadway, classical, folk, standard and modern choral pieces, and holiday favorites,” said Gunn. “This concert honors the chorus’ broad repertoire with a diverse program of choral works that celebrate the joy music brings to our lives and the future of community singing.”

Tickets are now available. For more information, visit pemichoral.org.