We Are Family

Name: We Are Family
Start: 2024-05-17T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-05-18T16:00:00-05:00
Location: Community Music School of Webster University

Schedule

Fri May 17 2024 at 07:00 pm to Sat May 18 2024 at 04:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Community Music School of Webster University | Webster Groves, MO

CHARIS, The St. Louis Women’s Chorus, will perform We Are Family on Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 4:00 pm at Webster University Community Music School, 535 Garden Avenue, Webster Groves, MO.
Tickets for We Are Family are $17 in advance and $20 at the door; tickets for seniors (65+), children (5-12) and students with student ID are $15. Tickets are available online via https://www.charischorus.org/events or at the door. Free parking is available in the Webster University garage on Garden Avenue South of campus.
We Are Family expresses through music all the complexities and beauty inherent in the concept of “family.” The concert opens with “TaReKiTa,” written by Reena Esmail for a choir of unhoused persons called the Urban Voices Project. The piece uses percussive sounds called “bols” rather than words. Next Charis will perform a lullabye-like piece called “All the Wild Wonders,” and “Kids” from the musical Bye Bye Birdie. The focus turns to adult relationships in Steven Sondheim’s “Being Alive” from Company, and the Beatles favorite “When I’m 64.”
Charis will then invite to the stage special guest artist and former St. Louis resident Kristen Goodman, an incredibly powerful singer and songwriter who now lives and performs in New York City. Kristen will perform several of her original pieces, including one she wrote for this concert about her own family. Charis is thrilled to back Kristen up.
Highlights of the second Act include “Koudjay,” a Haitian-American piece by Sydney Guillame, about a joyful, large gathering. Elizabeth Alexander’s “Life is Not a Garden,” will follow, confronting some of the frustrations inherent in relationships. Next is Dar Williams’ charming folksong called “The Christians and the Pagans,'' about two branches of a family navigating their different holiday traditions. After a bow to adoptive families in “You’ll Be In My Heart” from Tarzan, Charis will perform Joan Szymko’s spectacular piece called “Stars in My Bones,” about the universal human family and the connections between all living things. The program will conclude with “We Are Family,” with Kristen Goodman belting out the solo and Charis partying along with her.

CHARIS, The St. Louis Women’s Chorus was established in 1993 and is a diverse, inclusive group of singers united in the mission of performing music that celebrates and encourages women and the LGBTA+ community. Stuart Chapman Hill, PhD, Assoc. Professor of Music and Director of Music Education at Webster University, is the Artistic Director for CHARIS, and he is assisted by Assistant Artistic Director Michaela Cruse, Music Educator at North Side Community School. CHARIS is financially supported by the William A. Kerr Foundation and the Regional Arts Commission.

Community Music School of Webster Univ., 535 Garden Ave, St. Louis, MO 63119, USA