A concert featuring the music of the legendary Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz paired with the music of the wildly popular and dynamic Eric Whitacre was destined to be a sure-fire winner.  Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) brought this concept to Avery Fisher Hall on March 30, 2014 in a concert entitled “Defying Gravity” (a reference to a song from Stephen Schwartz’s smash Broadway hit Wicked). Eric Whitacre was to conduct his own works and those of Stephen Schwartz, with Tali Tadmor at the piano. Special guests Ashley Brown and Sara Jean Ford were also to have featured roles. The full hall was buzzing with excitement as family members looked for their “star”, hoping to get onstage photographs.  These young (and not so young) performers were ready to be part of something special that each one would treasure forever. I have witnessed this excitement countless times, but it still delights me.  DCINY “defies gravity” each concert they give, lending wings to the musical dreams of countless persons from around the world.

The first half chorus consisted of High School ensembles from China, Georgia, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, “and individuals from around the globe,” as the program notes state. Eric Whitacre bounded onto the stage to launch the afternoon by leading an energetic and engaging performance of Mr. Schwartz’s Defying Gravity. One could see joy in the faces of so many of these young performers, setting the tone for the rest of the concert.  Next up was Mr. Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque, one of his earlier works (used for the initial “performance” of Whitacre’s famous Virtual Choir: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir- Lux Aurumque).  The chorus handled well the challenges of the close harmonies and the divisions of voices.  It was a bit top-heavy at times, not at all surprising considering the young women outnumbered the young men in a ratio of about three to one, but was the net effect was still beautiful. The next work, Mr. Whitacre’s the city and the sea, part of the DCINY Premiere Project, uses the texts of five poems by E.E. Cummings. Three selections, the jaunty No.1 i walked the boulevard, the nostalgia-tinged No. 3 maggie and milly and molly and may, and the furiously hectic No.5, little man in a hurry were given strong characterizations. Mr. Whitacre told the humorous story behind the next work, Seal Lullaby, with text from Rudyard Kipling, originally intended for a DreamWorks project that was abandoned in favor of Kung Fu Panda. Mr. Whitacre’s setting would have been DreamWorks gold if the project moved forward. The tune is simple, yet very moving, and the timbre of young voices was simply perfect in a touching performance. What If, from Mr. Whitacre’s upcoming musical (on which he has been working on for more than a decade) Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, followed. My enjoyment of this work was affected by both the missing lyrics in the program and the accompanying pre-recorded track, which overwhelmed the chorus. If over two hundred singers were not able to overcome this track, then it was WAY too loud, and it should have been dialed back a notch or four.

After this, Mr. Whitacre introduced Stephen Schwartz, who took over at the piano for his own works.  The first song, Testimony, was inspired by the “It Gets Better” project, which was created by Dan Savage to give hope to bullied LGBT youth around the world. Testimony takes words from actual interviews of those who lived through the pain and the horrors of being bullied. Moving from despair to hope to acceptance to celebration, the message is clear: hang on, it will get better, and life is full of wonders waiting to be found.  It is a powerful message, and the music reflected this in an inspired performance that had many audience members in tears.  For the last two songs of the first half, Spark of Creation and Ain’t It Good, from Children of Eden, Broadway superstar Ashley Brown unleashed a passion-filled performance that closed the half with a bang, bringing the audience to its feet.

After intermission singers from Michigan, Connecticut, Canada, Italy, “and individuals from around the globe” took the stage. With the exception of a few very young performers, this chorus was composed of college-age and older singers. Mr. Whitacre returned to the stage and told the story behind his Sleep, which opened the second half. Originally written using Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Mr. Whitacre was denied permission by the Frost estate to use the text in any form, including performance, until 2038 (when the work would enter the public domain), and was threatened with legal action.  Luckily for Mr. Whitacre, his friend Charles Silvestri was able to provide him with a metrically identical poem, for which Mr. Whitacre was able to use the already written music. It was a given a winning performance.

Mr. Whitacre’s Animal Crackers, Vols. 1 and 2, followed, and had the audience howling with laughter. The composer used Ogden Nash’s hilarious animal poems (Volume 1- The Panther, The Cow, and The Firefly: Volume 2- The Canary, The Eel, and The Kangaroo) in ways that were every bit as witty as Nash himself. Mr. Whitacre read each poem before it was performed by the chorus. The “mooooooo” in a slow yodel during The Cow, the “ew!” building in intensity to a soft, staccato “yuck! for The Eel, the incessant repetition of “never varies” in The Canary, and the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Piano Concerto/ O Christmas tree mashup in The Kangaroo, had this listener laughing every bit as loudly as the audience.  These five or six minutes were the highlight of the afternoon to this listener.  A Boy and Girl, with text from Octavio Paz followed this merriment, and the shift of gears was handled seamlessly in another satisfying performance. It is always amazing that these ensembles are able to put forth such polished readings with such short rehearsal time. Sara Jean Ford, Broadway star and no stranger to DCINY events, came to the stage to sing Fly to Paradise, which was the selection for the fourth performance of the Virtual Choir.  Her voice truly soared in a dynamic performance.  Once again, a pre-recorded electronic track was added to the mix, and once again it was too loud. Ms. Ford was able to triumph over the decibel levels by virtue of her strong voice and the use of a microphone. The chorus was more audible as well.  Even Mr. Whitacre made a joke about the volume, saying, “Choral music is LOUD!”

Stephen Schwartz returned to the stage and took the piano again to close the half and the concert with three of his works. The first, Keramos, is a setting of a portion of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem of the same name.  The chorus took the audience on a moving life journey through Mr. Schwartz’s musically adept setting. The second song, Forgiveness’ Embrace, was sung and played by Mr. Schwartz himself as if he were telling the story of his own life journey. The last selection, For Good (from Wicked) combined the vocal talents of Ashley Brown, Mr. Schwartz, and the chorus. Ms. Brown, as the professional that she is, deftly handled a microphone malfunction by grabbing another microphone without missing a beat. The energy was electrifying in a terrific performance that brought this highly enjoyable concert to a close. The audience responded with an extended ovation. Congratulations to all!

While all the performers are to be congratulated, it was Eric Whitacre who was the star of the day. Mr. Whitacre is a one-of-a-kind talent. His music has mass appeal to an audience that normally would shun “classical” music. He is young and energetic, an ideal ambassador for the “cause”, and is one of the most charismatic individuals I have seen or heard in any field. He is a “rock star” in a decidedly non-rock world!  One could go on and on, but I will limit myself to a comment I overheard in the hall- “I would listen to Eric Whitacre read the phone book.” Any further comments would be superfluous.