ANNOUNCING SEASON 16: A Vocal Force for Impact

Written By Kimberly Osberg

Featuring new works by Dave Ragland & Cecille Elliott, performances by Caroline Shaw, Danni Parpan, Nancy Ives

Resonance Ensemble announces its sixteenth season, A VOCAL FORCE FOR IMPACT. For the past 16 years, Resonance Ensemble has brought exceptional performances of meaningful new music to Portland’s artistic scene, reflecting on the most pressing social issues of our times. Now, with four large-scale productions reaching audiences across Portland, this award-winning choir continues to champion compelling voices sharing their stories. From confronting hard truths and honoring beloved composer collectives, to hosting a jam session featuring some of today’s most brilliant music makers—including Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw—our season is packed with impact.

“We are thrilled to be working once again with such phenomenal artists and organizations,” says Resonance Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon. “This season is filled with a deep and varied array of projects. Audiences will experience the work of beloved longtime collaborators alongside artists we've always dreamed of working with.”

Damien Geter curates the season opener this November, with a special array of vocal works by Blacknificent 7 – an incredible array of leading Black composers – including Jasmine Barnes, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okhepholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, Joel Thompson, and Geter himself. “These are some of the most exceptional, accomplished composers working today,” says Geter. “I can’t wait for Portland to experience their music.” The concert will include the world premiere of a new Resonance commission by Dave Ragland, as well as the Oregon premiere of Geter’s Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow, with cellist Nancy Ives.

In February, Resonance’s treble singers join forces with the innovative talents of Ringdown – Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee – and Resonance-favorite Cecille Elliott for CHOIR GRRRLS—part community jam session and part celebration, this concert will feature boundary-pushing new works by these fiery voices.

In March, Resonance and the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra harness the immense power of music in addressing global conflicts. Another major work by Caroline Shaw, “To the Hands,” rounds out a program featuring Margaret Bonds’s Credo and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem. The fine student chamber choirs of Lewis & Clark College and Reed College will join Resonance voices for the Vaughan Williams.

To conclude the season, Resonance Ensemble joins Vanport Mosaic, writer Chisao Hata, and survivors of Japanese-American incarceration and their descendants, to acknowledge the little-known history of the Portland Expo Center and honor the survival and persistence of Japanese Americans in our region. Associate conductor Shohei Kobayashi will lead musical performances, interspersed with theatrical performances written by Hata.

Don’t miss a single note of it. Read more about each of the season’s programs below, or visit this link to purchase your subscription. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, October 1.

THE BLACKNIFICENT 7

THE BLACKNIFICENT 7
Sunday, November 17th | 2pm | @Alberta Rose Theatre

Damien Geter curates this concert of vocal music by a collective of leading Black composers known as the Blacknificent 7, a group that includes Geter, Jasmine Barnes, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson.

Conducted by Katherine FitzGibbon and Shohei Kobayashi, one of the concert’s centerpieces will be the Oregon premiere of Geter’s Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow, with a soprano soloist and cellist Nancy Ives.

Adding to the excitement, Resonance will also debut their latest commission, by award-winning composer, Dave Ragland.

CHOIR GRRRL

CHOIR GRRRL
Saturday, February 8th | 7:30pm | @Aladdin Theater

A concert celebrating phenomenal women working as composer/performers in Portland today. 

Resonance treble singers join forces with the innovative talents of Ringdown—a new group featuring collaborators Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee. Described as an electronic cinematic pop duo, between the two of them they have a Pulitzer Prize, several Grammys, and a “Best Drum Major” Award.

The program will also feature a world premiere commission by Resonance-favorite, Cecille Elliott.

RESONANCE NOVA

RESONANCE NOVA
WITH PORTLAND COLUMBIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Saturday, March 15th | 7:30pm | Reynolds High School (Troutdale)
Sunday, March 16th | 2:00pm | Patricia Reser Center for the Arts (Beaverton)

Resonance Ensemble and the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra collaborate to present Music of Peace and Justice, with the Margaret Bonds’ Credo, Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem.

Featuring special guests Lewis & Clark Cappella Nova Choir and Reed Collegium Musicum.

WE’RE STILL HERE

WE’RE STILL HERE
CO-PRESENTATION WITH VANPORT MOSAIC
Saturday, May 31st | 7:30pm | @Portland Expo Center

Resonance Ensemble joins Vanport Mosaic, artist Chisao Hata, and survivors of Japanese-American incarceration and their descendants, to acknowledge the little-known history of the Portland Expo Center and honor the survival and persistence of Japanese Americans in our region.

As part of the 10th Vanport Mosaic Festival, this event will activate the former WWII-era assembly center with historical photographs and video projections, a communal altarpiece, and musical and theatrical offerings — including new site-specific works conceived by Hata. 

In tandem with Vanport Mosaic’s celebration of a decade of memory activism, this evening will be recorded for an ongoing digital memorial as we aim to recognize and ring out the whole of this space in sound, word, movement, and song.

Single tickets will go on sale October 1st, but subscription packages are available today!

Click here to explore the available options for this season.

Note to Journalists: Katherine FitzGibbon, Shohei Kobayashi, Damien Geter, and featured guests are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on our season or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Liz Bacon Brownson at liz@resonancechoral.org or by calling 971-212-8034

Kimberly Osberg
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