WHAT THE EARTH REMEMBERS

Robert Moody, conductor; Brian Bartoldus, conductor; Handel Choir of Baltimore, chorus

J. RUTTER – Lord Make Me An Instrument

S. OKPEBHOLO – What The Earth Remembers *World Premiere*

R.V. Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem

BCO combines forces with the Handel Choir of Baltimore for a special concert that invites audiences to consider our relationship to one another and with the planet we call home. Handel Choir Artistic Director Brian Bartoldus leads the concert’s first half starting with John Rutter’s Lord Make Me an Instrument, a heartfelt plea for compassion and understanding before leading the combined ensembles in What the Earth Remembers, a World Premiere written by Grammy-nominated composer Shawn Okpebholo with text from Marcus Amaker and commissioned by the Handel Choir that explores the realities of climate change and our responsibility to future generations. In the second half, BCO’s Music Director Robert Moody takes the podium to lead the combined forces of both ensembles in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ powerful Dona Nobis Pacem, a rarely performed masterpiece that addresses the human cost of conflict and humanity’s struggle to create a more peaceful world.