For seven weeks each spring, Centre County’s Lenten Ecumenical Choir brings together singers of diverse faiths and experience to practice music that reflects the spirit of the season and to share it with the community.
“Prayers are part of it,” says director Laurel Sanders. “It’s kind of a cross between a concert and a church service.”
The choir will offer its 12th annual Lenten Musical Meditation on April 9 at 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in State College, featuring Michael John Trotta’s “Requiem,” accompanied by a 17-piece orchestra. The free event will begin with a community meal and include another choral piece, “Yours Are the Hands” by Mark Burrows; two selections by The Bells of Grace handbell choir; and prelude music by The Whistle Tones flute quartet. Donations are welcomed to offset costs.
In addition to sharing “Requiem” with the local community in April, 25 choir members will have a second opportunity to perform the piece. The composer has invited them and three other choirs to sing in the Carnegie Hall debut of Trotta’s piece on Memorial Day in New York City.
Trotta told Sanders he invited the choir to perform at Carnegie Hall because he had come to State College and worked with them briefly, at her request, before their 2019 performance of his “Seven Last Words.” He told her he knewthey would be well-prepared.
Sanders says Trotta’s work is powerful. He takes the ninth-century requiem chant (mass for the dead) as one of his main themes, with some non-traditional additions. “He ends this requiem with a quiet sense of hope. It slips into a peaceful state, musically assuring us of salvation,” Sanders says
Trotta’s “Requiem” is sung in Latin. English translations will be provided for the audience.
Each year’s Lenten Musical Meditation is unique. Sanders says, “I try to make every year be completely different from the year before so the singers can’t say, ‘Oh, I really liked last year better,’ or ‘I like this year better.’ I like to make it so different that they can’t compare.”
Some past presentations have featured spirituals, a musical Sanders wrote, music and art with a local iconographer, and seating the choir among the audience to inspire them to join in singing hymns.
Sanders is the director of music and arts ministries at Grace Lutheran Church in State College. The Ecumenical Choir she founded has become a ministry of the church. “This is not a job requirement. This is something I started because I believe in ecumenism, and the church supports it fully.” Ecumenism is the concept of unity across different Christian churches.
“The ecumenical aspect is important,” she says. “When you live in different places and are challenged to rethink who you are as a person and how you fit, you realize there are many different ways to crack a nut, and they can be equally good.”
The choir annually includes singers from 14 to 15 churches, local organizations such as the State College Choral Society and Essence of Joy, and people with no church affiliation. “As long as they know I’ll say a prayer and they’re okay with that, anybody can come,” she says. “Everybody’s welcome.”
The choir is open to people of various levels of musical experience. More experienced singers are encouraged to support less experienced members.
“This is one of my passions,” Sanders says. “If someone needs more help, I’m here for you. … I want people to get to the highest level they can be, individually and collectively.
“Outside of those that have moved to another community or aged out, we’ve hardly lost anybody over the years. People come back year after year after year to sing. And new ones find out about it, say ‘I’d like to try it,’ and they return.
“One of the things I love about this is people come back year after year. … They say ‘I’m looking forward to seeing my Ecumenical friends again.’ And I think — yes, that’s it. It’s not just the music.”
H. Ryan Ditmer of Boalsburg has participated in the choir since 2012 and says, “Even though we come from different faith traditions and practice our beliefs in different ways, we come together in the rehearsals and are woven into presenting a unified message. We know we can be different, yet we can also respect and embrace each of our differences as we weave our separate vocal parts into one song.”
Choir member Laurie Brogan of State College says, “I have sung with the ecumenical choir for 10 years or more and it has become so very meaningful to me. This choir welcomes all and the experience is one where differences are overwhelmed by a common expression of faith. It warms my soul.”
Sanders says, “I believe that together we can do great things, and if I do my homework and prepare myself well, I can give people a very meaningful experience.
For more information: glcpa.org/music, (814) 238-2478, or lsanders@glcpa.org. T&G
Karen Dabney is a freelance writer in State College. After researching this article, she decided to join the Lenten Ecumenical Choir.
