Please join the Humboldt Department of Music and choral conductor Rachel Samet as they present the Humboldt University Singers and Humboldt Chorale, performing an engaging and moving concert called "Beyond Borders" on Friday, December 13th at 8:00 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall.  Samet has selected a program of superb choral repertoire that explores the nature of boundaries from musical, emotional, and geographical perspectives, and ultimately looks beyond borders to celebrate the things that unite us.   Tickets are $10 General, $5 Child, and FREE for Humboldt Students with ID.

The program is musically diverse, as is shown by the juxtaposition of pieces from the canonic Western classical tradition by Haydn, Brahms, and an exciting double choir piece by the Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli, alongside folk music from Spanish, Nigerian, and Jewish traditions. A celebration of the heroic woman who helped African Americans traverse the Underground Railroad is presented with an arrangement of Walter Robinson's Harriet Tubman, featuring a hypnotic melody and unrelenting rhythmic drive. Rene Clausen's thoughtful setting of the Scottish folk tune The Water is Wide is augmented by guest faculty artists Paul Cummings on clarinet, Ronite Gluck on horn, and Garrick Woods on cello.

The choral program is enhanced by the evocative texts of several fine poets. Ada Aharoni is an Egyptian-born writer and peace activist who now lives in Israel. A Bridge of Peace features Aharoni's poetry set to music dramatically and tastefully by the beloved and prolific Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker. The piece offers a sense of hope between Palestinian and Israeli peoples. The late nineteenth/early twentieth century African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar's iconic poetry is presented in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Dunbar's poetry, when set musically by the Ohio composer Bryan Sharpe is simple and exquisite. The voice of American lyric poet Sara Teasdale as set by the fresh American composer Susan LaBarr beautifully expresses our shared humanity and allows us to be grateful for each moment with Grace Before Sleep. The pinnacle of the program, We Can Mend the Sky, focuses on the poetry of fourteen-year old Warda Mohamed, a Somali immigrant now living in Minnesota. Using Mohamed's poem and two Somali proverbs, Minnesota-based composer Jake Runestad presents a powerful piece that explores one's journey as an immigrant and offers an affirmation of hope as we embrace the diversity around us.