Saturday, November 7, 2009

Musicians of the Sun

On Saturday, Nov 1, my husband and I attended the world premiere of Steve Margoshes' Musicians of the Sun. Based on a chidren's picture book written by Gerald McDermott, which in turn is based on an Aztec tale, the work was a piece written for chorus and orchestra. The music evoked the vivid colors of the picture book and the chorus brought the audience directly into those colors.

The work was narrated by Samuel E. Wright who starred on Broadway as Mufasa in The Lion King, was thr voice of Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid, and was Grapes in the old Fruit of the Loom commercial. Sam read the text of the children's book in a voice that recalls the richness of James Earl Jones and Dennis Haysbert.

I loved two things about this performance. One, the convergence of chorus, orchestra and spoken narration from a children's book. Two, my daughter Aleta Eriksen was in the chorus.

If anyone has a chance to see a performance of this work (with or without my daughter!!), see it. It's uplifting and you will leave the event happier than you went in.