The seventh season of Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts at Emanuel continues on Sunday, May 5 at 3:00 p.m., with The Message of the Masters: Let Freedom Ring!, performed by the Mineola Choral Society Chorus & Orchestra, Thomas W. Jones, conductor.
History is replete with mankind’s continued struggles to bring about freedom and peace in countries, cultures and society. At this, their 71st annual Spring Concert and their third under the auspices of Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts, the 80-voice Mineola Choral Society and orchestra turns to the music of master composers — Beethoven, Handel, Rossini and Verdi — to continue that plea for liberty and brotherhood throughout the world.
Max Janowsky’s setting of the blessing Sim Shalom (Create Peace) is a fitting opening for the program followed by excerpts from Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service. Then, part I of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt depicts scenes from the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Opera choruses by Rossini (“Prayer” from Moise at Pharaon) and Verdi (“Va, pensiero” from Nabucco) dramatize the Israelites’ struggle for freedom. The concert concludes with the last movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a musical setting of Friedrich von Schiller’s Ode to Joy composed as a celebration of brotherhood and equality.
This season, the Mineola Choral Society, 80 voices strong with orchestra, celebrates 71 years of presenting the highest quality choral music to Long Island communities. Jones joined the society in 2006 and is also conductor of the Huntington Men’s Chorus and the Stone House Singers, a chamber choir in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Tickets are $20 or two for $35. For further information about subscription discounts and to purchase tickets, call 516-482-5701.
Temple Emanuel of Great Neck is located at 150 Hicks Lane in Great Neck.
