March 3, 2013

For Susan Swaney and her Voces Novae Chamber Choir, the reason for a performance has always been music plus.
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So, this evening’s concert at the Unitarian Universalist Church, titles “Decadence and Disater, appears to fit into tradition. It’s centerpiece is “Après Moi, le Déluge.” for choir and cello, composed by Luna Pearl Woolf to a text by Eleanor Wilner, written in response to Hurricane Katrina.
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Preparing it, says [cellist] Jake Woollen, “has been a fun challenge. As technically demanding as the work is, it poses even greater interpretational challenges: highlighting musical irony, embracing the unusual combination of choir and solo cello, weaving together complex modern music with ‘hail to the chief’ and the 12-bar blues.”
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Woolen describes Woolf’s score as “a rich gumbo of sounds, styles, vivid text painting, and musical references. It is a powerful appeal to the emotions and the intellect. Impact on the audience, rather than comfort level of the performers, was at the front of Luna’s mind in writing “Après moi.
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By Peter Jacobi
View the article at Hoosier Times.