LEADING COMPOSER AND VOCALISTS AT WMPAC
Arts Center Presents Musicians of International Renown
Two of the most influential forces in choral music working today—composer Ted Hearne and Grammy-award winning a cappella vocal group Roomful of Teeth—will present their works in what might seem an unlikely venue on January 7: The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky.
Now in it’s fourth season, WMPAC is a recognized leading presenter in the state, if not the entire Northwest region. The presentation of Hearne’s work by Roomful of Teeth is so
lidly in keeping with this developing reputation.
“Our mission is to bring those who are working at the top of their fields to our audiences,” explains Executive Director John Zirkle. “Roomful of Teeth is pushing the limits of what anyone could ever imagine accomplishing with the human voice, and they’ll be singing compositions by Ted Hearne—an undisputed compositional genius.”
Zirkle, who sings with both the Bozeman Symphony Choir and the new choral group, Aoide, in Bozeman, also hosts the Choral Initiative at WMPAC in the summer, where Ted Hearne has been a resident composer. Hearne’s music has a special appeal to lovers of musical and written literature as he explores the interface of language and sound. Roomful of Teeth’s hyper-accomplished vocalists, some of whom also perform with The Crossing, which comes to Big Sky in the summer, offer the perfect instruments for Hearne’s compositions.
Of particular interest to Hearne is the synthesis of music and social justice. The New York Times praised Hearne for his “topical, politically sharp-edged works.” In their WMPAC performance Roomful of Teeth will perform the much-lauded piece, Coloring Book.
With lyrics drawn from famous poets and writers, the piece explores the nature of color in society—and how often it transgresses “outside of the lines.” In one particularly moving section, the singers describe the all-too common event of a racially-motivated arrest. “And you are not the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description. Get on the ground now.”
The combined experience of Hearne’s compositions with Roomful of Teeth’s vocals is something more often seen in Philadelphia or New York, but Zirkle says is equally fitting for Montanans who love adventure, new frontiers—and excellence.
