{"id":1110,"date":"2014-01-15T04:58:39","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T10:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/draugas.org\/news\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2016-01-13T05:11:11","modified_gmt":"2016-01-13T11:11:11","slug":"1110-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/1110-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Monadnock Chorus embraces the Lithuanian Choral Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ILONA W. KWIECIEN.<\/p>\n

\"Monadnock
Monadnock Chorus performs a concert billed \u201cA Lithuanian Christmas\u201din Peterbourough, New Hampshire. Right: Soprano J\u016brat\u0117\u0160vedait\u0117 with Simona Smirnova playing the kankl\u0117s. (Photos Dalia\u00a0Shilas)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI would like to thank The Monadnock Chorus for this beautiful concert. Thank you for honoring our country, for representing our culture. Thank You for bringing us together and exposing our wonderful Lithuanian heritage! It is a gift to us!\u201d \u2013 extolled Dalia Shilas, one of the organizers of the Monadnock Chorus performance at St. Peter\u2019s Lithuanian Church in South Boston, MA on January 12th.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1959 the Monadnock Chorus is is a true \u201ccommunity\u201d chorus, comprised of residents from the greater Monadnock area in New Hampshire. The chorus presents several concerts each year, performing outstanding choral works for the local populace. This year, the chorus chose to present a special winter concert entitled \u201cA Lithuanian Christmas\u201d which was performed in Peterbourough, NH, on January 11th and then, with the support of the Pastor of St. Peter\u2019s Church, Father Steve Zukas, at South Boston\u2019s Lithuanian parish the following day.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled_Clipping_011316_043914_PM\"<\/p>\n

The unusual theme for this concert was proposed by Lithuanianborn soprano J\u016brat\u0117 \u0160vedait\u0117 to the chorus\u2019 artistic director Jim Sharrock, who agreed to take on the project. This was quite a challenge, since there were no Lithuanian speakers among the chorus members. Ms. \u0160vedait\u0117, who is the granddaughter of noted Lithuanian composer Jonas \u0160vedas, joined the choir as soloist.<\/p>\n

Instead of well-known traditional Christmas carols, the program showcased complex choral works \u2013 the best that Lithuanian culture has to offer. In the first part of the program, thechorus, together with soloist \u0160vedaite, and accompanied by Jeffrey Fuller on the organ, performed \u201cMagnificat\u201d a spiritual work sung in Latin by contemporary Lithuanian composer Kristina Vasiliauskait\u0117. It was the American premiere of the work. In the second half of the program the chorus tackled difficult Lithuanian pronunciation with aplomb. It sung the works of J. Naujalis, J. \u0160vedas, B. Dvarionas, M.K. \u010ciurlionis, A. Ka\u010danauskas, J. Gai\u017eauskas, G. Svilainis and Boston local Jeronimas Ka\u010dinskas. Berklee College of Music graduate student Simona Smirnova played the kankles, and the Boston Lithuanian folk dance group, Samb\u016bris, led by Tomas Mikuckis, entertained with a selection of folk dances.<\/p>\n

Dalia Shilas noted that the concert date in South Boston, was significant to the Lithuanians. \u201cIt could not be a better way, time and place for us to honor our fallen heroes \u2013 the price we paid for our independence \u2013 as we are approaching a very important day in Lithuania\u2019s history, the 23rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, January 13, 1991, that some of us, including myself, had a chance to experience and witness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Monadnock
Monadnock Chorus performs at St. Peter\u2019s Lithuanian Church in South Boston. Photos Dalia Shilas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Picture this \u2013 an old Catholic church on a side street in South Boston, beautiful stained glass, a warmth which embraces, a pastor with a gentle soul. A group of \u201cYankees\u201d descends from the north onto this Lithuanian enclave, bringing with them music from a homeland which is not theirs yet brings tears to one\u2019s eyes. Yes, their Lithuanian is accented\u2026but that only evokes gracious smiles, appreciation of the attempt to sing in a language \u2013 your language \u2013 not familiar. And imagine you are from a small country which only a few short years ago gained its independence after years of oppression; and here you are celebrating the music of your countrymen, whose names roll off American tongues with difficulty. But\u2026 they came to share!<\/p>\n

\"Boston
Boston Samb\u016bris dancers perform at St. Peter\u2019s Lithuanian Church in South Boston, MA. (Photo Eglut\u0117 Paplauskait\u0117)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so it was that on Sunday, January 12, 2014, the Monadnock Chorus graced the sanctuary of St. Peter\u2019s Lithuanian Church in South Boston with its performance of Lithuanian music, both contemporary and traditional. A friend and I, unable to attend their performance in Peterborough, decided to take a \u201clittle adventure into the big city\u201d to see what this concert was all about. And what a beautiful adventure it was! That Sunday afternoon something \u201cmagical\u201d happened, it was more than just a concert. One could see it in the faces and feel it in the energy that came from those Lithuanian-Americans representing \u201cthree waves\u201d of immigrants to this county \u2013 pre-and immediately post-WWII, and a more recent surge after the Soviet era \u2013 immigrants who appreciate the opportunities they have, who make their own significant contributions to their adopted country, and who can remember \u2013 and even have lived through \u2013 a time when such a concert would have been considered an impossible dream.<\/p>\n

When we first pulled into the church parking lot, three church members from the post-WWII wave happened to be coming out. We asked them if they could direct us to a restaurant where we could have lunch. Before we knew it, we found ourselves at the Lithuanian Club having an absolutely delicious meal and learning about the Boston Lithuanian community. Back at the church there were well over 100 in attendance, spanning several generations. The pastor, Father Steve Zukas, welcomed everyone and then the music began. Whatever your tastes, it would be difficult not to appreciate what this concert represented \u2013 a true gift of sharing! The music spanned cultural and generational gaps, creating a sense of respect and goodwill, and demonstrating how in diversity there is unity. This was an event which transcended time and space. Thank you Monadnock Chorus and St. Peter\u2019s Lithuanian Community!<\/p>\n

\"Boston
Boston Samb\u016bris dancers pose with concert performers \u2013 organist Jeffrey Fuller, soprano\u00a0J\u016brat\u0117 \u0160vedait\u0117, Simona Smirnova, Monadnock Chorus Artistic Director Jim\u00a0Sharrock, Samb\u016bris ensemble director Tomas Mikuckis, and Father Steve \u017dukas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ILONA W. KWIECIEN. \u201cI would like to thank The Monadnock Chorus for this beautiful concert. Thank you for honoring our country, for representing our culture. Thank You for bringing us together and exposing our wonderful Lithuanian heritage! It is a gift to us!\u201d \u2013 extolled Dalia Shilas, one of the organizers of the Monadnock …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,72],"tags":[79,92],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-music","category-religion","tag-draugas-news","tag-kwiecien-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}