The LOTUS Project of Trenton, N.J., will present “Stay. Together, A Vigil for Veterans” — an evening of choral and instrumental music to commemorate Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at Patriots Theater in Trenton’s War Memorial.
Artistic director Alicia Brozovich will conduct more than 100 musicians, including the LOTUS Community Chorale, the Bordentown Regional Middle School Select Choir, the Trenton Children’s Chorus, plus the LOTUS Festival Orchestra.
This will be a debut for the LOTUS Community Chorale. Separate from the professional vocal ensemble known as the LOTUS Project, the Chorale comprises amateur singers from the greater Trenton area. “Our youngest member is 21, our oldest is 93,” says Brozovich.
The concert’s centerpiece is British composer Howard Goodall’s “Eternal Light,” a Requiem composed in 2008. Goodall’s work is as much about the living, the survivors, as it is about the deceased.
Goodall writes, “Events in my private life and some tragic public losses made me think that it might be possible to provide a semi-secular, semi-sacred piece to help in some small way with the terrible loss and pain people feel at these times, a Requiem that would not be about hell, damnation, guilt or sin. I especially felt that I wanted to write something focused on the interruption and loss of young lives.”
“Eternal Light’s” lyrics also innovate the Requiem. Goodall uses the Mass’s Latin text in some movements, but several poems in English in other movements – the most notable being “In Flanders Fields,” by the Canadian physician-soldier John McRae. “The juxtaposition of ‘Dies irae,’ the Day of Wrath, with that poem is his nod to what was going on at the time, the Afghanistan War was in full swing,” says Brozovich.
Instead of an organ, Goodall prescribes either a harp or a second piano; Brozovich chose the latter. Since Patriots Theater has only one piano, Jacobs Music is lending the second piano and is helping to sponsor the event.
Two other choral pieces will be performed: Aaron Copland’s “The Promise of Living,” sung by the chorale, also with dual-piano accompaniment. Patrick Hawes’ “The Last Post” will be sung by the soprano soloist, the chorale, and the two children’s choruses, with solo trumpet.
The first half of the program will feature strings arrangements for the LOTUS Festival Orchestra, including HBO’s “Band of Brothers” theme, written by the late Michael Kamen; “Point Lookout, a Fantasy on Civil War Songs” by Brian Balmages; and the string quartet, “Middle Ground” by Shelley Washington. A solo violinist will perform “Ashokan Farewell,” composed by folk musician Jay Ungar and popularized in Ken Burns’ “The Civil War.”
The concert will be a visual as well as an aural experience. A projector will show images of soldiers alternated with veterans’ artwork, created on paper made from their uniforms. The artwork will also be displayed on easels for audience members to see as they walk into Patriots Theater.
Ron Erickson, a Marine Corps veteran, is manager and assistant instructor of the ongoing Frontline Paper Program in Branchburg, N.J. Every Sunday afternoon, “We deconstruct our uniform, we reclaim it as paper, and then we tell our story on that paper.” Erickson says it’s sometimes difficult for veterans to give up such a sacred garment, though once they’ve gone through the process, it can be a cathartic experience.
“Oftentimes some veterans will say, ‘look, I’m not an artist.’ But that’s not the point. The point is finding some healing and new ways to relate to yourself after you’ve been in service,” says Brozovich. Some of her relatives, who are veterans, will attend the concert, then visit Frontline Arts the next day to donate their uniforms.
Stories written by veterans and their families will also be projected on the screen and posted on The LOTUS Project’s blog and social media. Some of those veterans are members of the Chorale.
“I’ve been touched by the responses we’ve had,” says Brozovich. “I had one Chorale member approach me to say she had a stepmother who is a vet…she felt like her stepmother never really got the recognition she deserved. She said this was very healing for her, to be able to honor her in this way, in her community at this time. That was beyond what my hope was, but I’ll take it.”
Tickets are available online and at the door at a suggested donation of $25/person. Patrons can reserve preferred seats up until Monday, Nov. 6 at thelotusprojectnj.org/workshop. Free parking is available in the lots adjacent to the War Memorial building.
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