Cantemus Chamber Chorus, with 45 members from across the North Shore, will present three December concerts titled “Shared Breath, Shared Song: Sacred Music Across Faiths.” The performances in Newburyport, Swampscott, and Gloucester will feature a rich variety of choral music from Christianity, Judaism, Sufism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
From Rachmaninoff’s “Bogoroditse Devo” and Duruflé’s “Ubi Caritas” to a Hebrew “Prayer Before Sleep” and an Islamic chant “Zikr,” the chorus will sing in Russian, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, Sanskrit, Spanish — and English. Full translations will be provided in the concert program.
The concert’s anchor work, the “Misa Criolla” by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez, combines folk music traditions of the indigenous peoples of South America with the forms and practices of Western art music. Tenor Josaphat Contreras is the featured soloist, with guest guitarist Chris Rubén Winters and three percussionists.
Mr. Contreras has over a decade of experience, performing with Teatro Angela Peralta in Mexico, Boston Lyric Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera of Boston, and Opera Memphis, among others. He has performed in musical theatre and sung backup for Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli. Mr. Contreras currently teaches voice and pedagogy at the University of Memphis, TN. For 2024-2025, he was named a Garcia-Robles Fulbright Scholar, researching Mexican folk music style, interpretation, and vocal pedagogy at the National Mariachi conservatory Ollin Yoliztli Garibaldi in Mexico City.
Guitarist Chris Rubén Winters, who performed with Cantemus last spring, will also join the chorus. Winters draws from deep roots in jazz, salsa, and classical music and his playing has enriched performances of multiple Massachusetts choral groups.
Cantemus’ concerts will take place in Newburyport on Sunday, December 7 at 4:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 166 High St.; in Swampscott on Saturday, December 13 at 4:00 p.m. at First Church in Swampscott, 40 Monument Ave.; and in Gloucester on Sunday, December 14 at 4:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 10 Church St.
Cantemus’ Artistic Director Jason Iannuzzi said: “Cantemus is excited to perform a series of concerts that highlight the rich choral tradition associated with many world religions. The incredible variety of music emphasizes what a big and multifaceted world we live in, while the points of connection and similarity in the texts remind us that people of many faith traditions can walk parallel roads toward the infinite.”
For more information about the program and to purchase tickets, visit www.cantemus.org/concerts. Tickets may also be purchased at the door, space permitting.
Cantemus gratefully acknowledges sponsorship support from the Institution for Savings and Eastern Bank, and funding support from the Local Cultural Councils of Beverly, Essex, Hamilton-Wenham, Newbury, and Newburyport. Cantemus participates in the Card to Culture program, a Mass Cultural Council initiative that offers reduced-price tickets to card holders.
Cantemus is a member of MASSCreative.org and the Greater Boston Choral Consortium.
Cantemus singers come from across the North Shore and New Hampshire: Amesbury: Gary Lubarsky. Beverly: Jennie-Rebecca Falcetta, Karen Kepler, Richard Salandrea, Marjorie Short. Bradford: Mern Ebinger. Durham, NH: Sydney van Asselt. Essex: Betsy Vicksell. Georgetown: Patricia Clark. Gloucester: Cormac Callanan, Roger Garberg, Doug Smith. Hamilton: Alexis MacTaylor. Haverhill: Doug Guy, Lea Pearson. Ipswich: Jill Gleim, Anna Jerome, Elizabeth Krafchuk, Anne Maguire, Stephen Miles, Andrea Welty Peachey. Lexington: Artistic Director Jason Iannuzzi, Azalea Yunus. Manchester: Isabella Bates, Caroline Royer, Byron Winn. Melrose: Accompanist Jeffrey Mead. Newburyport: Richard Blumenscheid, Claire Cayot, Brian Greenberg, Ann Harter, John Moreland, Maryellen Moreland, Mark Robbins. North Reading: Priscilla March. Rockport: Brittany Betts. Roslindale: Deborah Lemont. Salem: Alexandra Asacker, Jacques Duranceau. South Hamilton: Donna Gale, Pamela Morris. Topsfield: Kristen McEntee, Dennis van Maaren. Wenham: Janet Glasser, Jeremy Satchell. West Newbury: Jamie Cabot, Susan Nash.
