UPDATED CONCERT LOCATION:
St. Columba’s Episcopal Church (4201 Albemarle Street Northwest Washington, DC 20016)
Join us on Friday, June 13th @ 7:30 PM (in-person & livestream) and Saturday, June 14th @ 4:30 PM (in-person only) at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC to honor the stories we’ve uplifted, the music we’ve built together, and the promise of what’s still to come. To us, Synthesis is not just a concert—it’s a declaration that choral music is alive, evolving, and deeply relevant; that when we come together—voices resolute and resonant—we become more than the sum of our parts.
TICKET INFORMATION
The 18th Street Singers firmly believe that cost should never be a barrier to the arts and provide a wide variety of ticket options to fit any need.
Including: General admission, senior, pay-what-you-can, and FREE admission options for students. Available online through the links below or at the door (until we sell out)
CONCERT DESCRIPTION
In every breath and chord, we are reminded that the songs we sing are possible because we are not alone—that our music, like our lives, is made whole by one another. Over the past two decades, the 18th Street Singers built a musical community that champions emerging voices, spotlights under-heard stories, and has helped to usher countless new pieces of choral music into the world. It is this literal synthesis–“combining of often diverse conceptions into a coherent whole”–in the musical stories we tell that make it only fitting that our spring concert is celebrated as such. Synthesis: A 20th Anniversary Celebration is not only a retrospective of where we’ve been, but a reaching outward—and looking inward—toward the future, asking: what does it mean to create music in community with one another? What do we owe to each other, as artists, as neighbors, as human beings?
Throughout Synthesis, we echo tradition in pieces like "Sanctus" by Ola Gjeilo and the serene early works like "Pulchra Es," with the intimacy of Ben Folds’ "The Luckiest" arranged by Jim Clements, and a shimmering madrigal “Kum du ljuva.” But the bulk of Synthesis asks us to look deeply at the responsibility and joy of shaping the world through song and challenges assumptions about what choral music can be.
We’re thrilled to present the world premiere of Dale Trumbore’s "Listening in Deep Space," commissioned for us especially for this moment. Alongside it, the premiere of two co-winning pieces from our 3rd Composition Competition–"Where Does Your Body End" by Ben Matney, and "Go Down, Death" by David Das–as well as revisit past Composition Competition standouts, including "So Breaks the Sun" by Shavon Lloyd (winner of our 2nd competition) and "Soldier Boy" by John Milne (a finalist from our very first competition in 2015). We also highlight works from our own singers, including "Life is Motion" by Sammy Grob, "Rainbow Nation" by Trevor Harris, and "The New Colossus" by Michael L. Austin—three powerful, original compositions from 18th Street Singers members past and present.