By Daniel Buckwalter
Sometimes, you can get lucky — the stars and planets align perfectly, just for you.
Such was the case on April 19 when Eugene Vocal Arts and Evocantus, two chamber groups under the umbrella of the Eugene Concert Choir, took a nearly full house at Hult Center’s Soreng Theater on a trip through the cosmos in a program titled Cosmic Voices. All of this hard was on the heels of NASA’s stunning Artemis II voyage around the moon, from April 1-10.
Timing is everything, and this worked out well for Diane Retallack, artistic director and conductor of the Eugene Concert Choir, and Chris Dobson, the director for Evocantus.
There was the eerily soft music befitting the quiet of space, music with Biblical verse and music from the early 20th century that paid their own tributes to the moon (e.g. Blue Moon, Moonlight Serenade and It’s Only a Paper Moon.)
All of it was given beautiful video representation by Jeremy Bronson, who heads Bronson Studios in Eugene.
That video work merged with the music most magnificently in the program’s second piece — Lux Aeterna by Hungarian composer György Ligeti, which uses a version of the Eternal Rest Prayer:
Let eternal light shine on them, Lord
as with your saints in eternity,
because you are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and let perpetual light shine on them.
At the end of the piece, Retallack conducted to silence, not a voice to be heard. Instead, the colorful galaxy overtook the large screen behind the choir and even to the ceiling above the choir. It was peaceful, provocative and elegant.
Dobson’s nine-member a cappella group, Evocantus Chamber Choir, brought star gazing to Earth with Ute Sundance, The Heaven’s Flock, and Underneath the Stars. Formed in 2024, Evocantus is a young-adult choir that has performed in small venues throughout Eugene. It will perform again at 5:30 p.m. on May 2 at the Eugene Science Center (in Eugene’s Alton Baker Park at 2300 Leo Harris Parkway), and it is a group worth listening to.
The second half of the program featured the work of pianist Vicki Brabham, bassist Nathan Waddell and drummer Don Elkington, along with contemporary songs by Eugene Vocal Arts.
The most stirring of these was Luna Liberiana (The Liberian Moon), a traditional Costa Rican song by Jesús Bonilla ChavarrÃa. What made it remarkable for me was the solo work of soprano Ashley Storie, whom I hope to hear more from in the future.
Artemis II splashed down safely and was deemed a success. The same thing can be said of Eugene Vocal Arts and Evocantus with their Cosmic Voices concert.
