Toward the Unknown Region
April 2-3, 2022
Matthew Mehaffey, conducting the MCP
Shady Side Academy and Westminster Presbyterian Church
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Proof of vaccination is required for entry to all concerts.
In the spring, MCP will present Toward the Unknown Region, a concert about boldly emerging from these uncertain times with daring optimism and a sense of renewal. This concert will feature two dynamic works for chorus: Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region and Jonathan Dove’s blistering song cycle The Passing of the Year, which contains an extended, challenging, beautiful solo piano part. 

Using a variety of highly charged and hypnotic rhythms and piano and choral textures, The Passing of the Year traces a journey through the seasons, from the anticipation of summer and its eventual steamy arrival, to autumn’s sense of mortality, ending in winter with the promise of rebirth and hope to come.  Toward the Unknown Region, one of the composer’s earliest works captures the sense of youthful adventure when one sets out on a new journey.  It begins with murky, uncertain harmonies and climaxes with a new, exultant theme on the text “Then we burst forth, we float, in time and space O soul, prepared for them, equal, equipt at last…” Both works are meant to inspire hope and courage amidst our uncertain times.The concert will also feature music by Jocelyn Hagen, Ellen Gilson Voth, and others.Toward the Unknown Region will continue the celebration of our return to live performance by showcasing what MCP does best: virtuosic music performed by an extraordinarily skilled and passionate chorus.