Phoenix Chorale will open its 2026-27 season Oct. 10-11 with “Life, Love, and Light,” a program exploring joy, love, remembrance, grief and consolation through works spanning several generations of choral music.
Artistic Director Christopher Gabbitas will lead the ensemble in Herbert Howells’ “Requiem,” which Phoenix Chorale has not performed in more than a decade. Howells began composing the work in the 1930s, and its association with loss deepened following the 1935 death of his 9-year-old son, Michael. The program also includes Howells’ “Gloucester Service” from 1946.
The concerts will pair Howells with works by Reena Esmail, Adolphus Hailstork, Ysaye M. Barnwell and Ingram Marshall. Selections include Esmail’s “TaReKiTa” and “Tuttarana,” Hailstork’s “Songs of Life and Love,” Barnwell’s “Wanting Memories” and Marshall’s “Hymnodic Delays.”
