WRC wraps up season with 'Songs of America' June 2

The Western Reserve Chorale (WRC) will conclude its 32nd season with the concert From Sea to Shining Sea: Songs of America on June 2, 3:30 p.m., at Church of the Saviour (2537 Lee Road).

The performance will feature a broad spectrum of songs representing various genres of American music.

The music, both secular and sacred, has texts of American poets and lyricists, or are settings of other texts by American composers. The audience will hear the spirituals of Moses Hogan and William Dawson, as well as traditional Americana songs, including "America the Beautiful" and "Shenandoah." Stephen Foster, often called the Father of American Music, will be represented in the setting of the upbeat minstrel song "Nelly Bly." And the chorale will explore some jazz with the arrangement of Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night."

In addition to some of these more recognizable choral numbers, WRC will also feature the diverse musical styles of living composers and arrangers, including: Shawn Kirchner's "Unclouded Day" (a setting of text from a mid-19th-century circuit preacher from the Midwest), “I Will Make a Way” by Tom Trenney (an organist and composer trained locally at the Cleveland Institute of Music), "The Old Mill" (Kenneth Riggs's setting of 19th-century poet and politician Thomas Dunn English), and "Sunrise" (a musical adaptation of Walt Whitman's "Give Me the Splendid, Silent Sun") by Michael Hennagin.

The concert is free and open to the public; donations are encouraged.