The settlement of Manhattan Island embodies a complicated legacy marked by the colonization, clash of cultures, displacement of Indigenous and Black communities, and the continuation of this land as a hub for commerce, art, and connection.
On April 8th, Voices of Ascension will present Voices of Mannahatta at The Church of the Ascension, exploring the history of the land on which our concert hall stands, on the unceded lands of the Munsee Lenape, Mannahatta Island. As part of this program, International Contemporary Ensemble will be performing Raven Chacon's 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Voiceless Mass.
In collaboration with The Eagle Project—NYC's only Lenape-led performing arts organization—this concert will feature the multimedia world premiere by composer Danielle Olana Jagelski (Oneida/Ojibwe). Written for five Indigenous classical singers from the Mvskogee, Acoma Pueblo, Cherokee, Anishinaabe, and Taíno Nations, the composition Holy Ground is accompanied by a five-octave marimba and vibraphone, with video imagery created by visual artist Sage Ahebah Addington (Navajo).
The program will also include Andrew Balfour's Vision Chant, juxtaposed with early Western Renaissance music sung by a 16-voice ensemble and featuring the Church’s Manton Memorial Organ.
PERSONNEL & PROGRAM
Danielle Jagelski, Artistic Director and Conductor
Hai-Ting Chinn, Curator, Voices of The New
Sage Ahebah Addington, Projection Designer
featuring
the International Contemporary Ensemble
The Eagle Project
Works by Raven Chacon and Andrew Balfour
World Premiere by Danielle Jagelski
VOICES OF ASCENSION
Voices of Ascension Chorus & Orchestra, founded in 1990 and directed by conductor Dennis Keene, presents exceptional performances of great works of music for chorus and orchestra. Over the course of its 35-year history, Voices of Ascension has produced an annual concert series, released Grammy-nominated recordings, and engaged in artistic collaborations with the San Francisco Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival, José Limón Dance, the Mark Morris Dance Group, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and others. Recent performances have been described as 'richly colored, impressive, and beautifully balanced' (Wall Street Journal) and 'inspired' (NY Times).
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director and Conductor of Voices of Ascension, is an internationally renowned conductor. Through his concerts and Grammy-nominated recordings with Voices of Ascension, regular guest appearances as conductor and teacher, and his work as Artistic Director of the Dennis Keene Choral Festival and Voices of Ascension Conductor Academy, he has become one of the preeminent figures in choral music today. Recipient of awards for exceptional artistry from The Juilliard School and Chorus America, Dr. Keene has also served on grants panels for the NEA and NYSCA as well as the board of Chorus America.
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Now in its third decade, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a multidisciplinary collective of musicians, digital media artists, producers, and educators committed to building and innovating collaborative environments in order to inspire audiences to reimagine how they experience contemporary music and sound. The Ensemble creates a mosaic musical ecosystem as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), honoring the diversity of human experience and expression by commissioning, developing, recording, and performing the works of living artists. Co-founded in 2001 by flutist and MacArthur “genius” Fellow Claire Chase, the Ensemble has premiered over 1,000 works. The Ensemble has given performances at Warsaw Autumn, TIME:SPANS, Berliner Festspiele, HEAR NOW Los Angeles, Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, Ojai Music Festival, and Big Ears Festival as well as in venues such as the Dutch National Opera, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Japan Society, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Fridman Gallery, Chelsea Factory, NYU Skirball and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
CREDITS
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2024-25 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors, many individuals, as well as the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Robert D. Bielecki Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Arlene and Larry Dunn Fund for Afrodiasporic Music, Fromm Music Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, Cheswatyr Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Siemens Musikstiftung, New Music USA, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.