Best ticket in Farmington: Caliente Community Chorus program based on theme of flight

Even under normal circumstances, Caliente Community Chorus performances tend to be large-scale affairs, as the group features nearly six dozen members and typically features musical accompaniment of some kind.

But the group’s “Measure Me, Sky” program planned next week in Farmington will feature so many elements it can only be described as elaborate. An evening of choral music, food, poetry, photography, painting and more is planned ― all of it built around a theme of celebrating flight.

Altogether, the event will feature close to 100 performers, artists and presenters.

“I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’ve done a lot,” Caliente cofounder and Director Virginia Nickels Hircock said, acknowledging the challenges of putting together a program with so many moving parts.

The evening will begin with a dinner and exposition event. Caliente members are preparing a variety of soups, breads and desserts, which will be served while the nature photography of Jim Rhodes is projected on a large screen. Visitors can then mingle with the four presenters at the expo, each of whom is involved in an activity related to flight, Hircock said.

The group includes Emily Kloster, a local pilot and flight instructor; Les Lech, a radio-controlled model airplane operator, Brandon Borquist, who rescues and rehabilitates birds; and Ken Richardson, a hot air balloon pilot.

That portion of the program will take approximately an hour or 90 minutes, Hircock said, after which guests will walk to the church sanctuary for the performance. The entire Caliente chorus will be featured on some selections, while smaller ensembles will perform others.

The theme for the evening, “Measure Me, Sky,” is based on a poem by Leonora Speyer that is accompanied by music, a piece that will kick off the evening. Hircock described it as a bold, adventurous piece, one that moves rapidly from high to low notes and features a plethora of triplets.

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“It really is a stunning piece of music,” she said.

Other highlights of the program will be a performance of Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” which will feature soloist Tenille Taylor on violin; “Bird Song” by the Canadian trio the Wailin’ Jennys, which will feature Taylor on violin and Bob Ashley on banjo; and “The Bluebird,” a poem by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge set to music by Charles Villiers Stanford. Hircock described the latter as a very challenging selection, an ethereal and tranquil piece in which the sopranos float above the rest of the choir.

She said her favorite piece in the program is “Flight” by Craig Carnelia, an exploration of the journey from darkness into light, which she described as essentially an escape into optimism.

While the chorus is performing, Farmington painter Marilyn Taylor will be completing a large-scale work based on the theme of flight that she will have roughed out in advance. That work will be auctioned off after the concert.

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And the during the intervals between songs, the work of other poets will be read aloud by local writer Elizabeth Fleming and Rebecca Morgan, the former interim pastor at the First Presbyterian Church.

Hircock said the way Caliente members have responded to the program already has been gratifying, as their excitement about the music has been noticeable.

“They don’t usually email me about the material, but this semester has been incredible,” she said. “ … They’re saying this piece touches their heart and that piece makes them laugh and this piece challenges them. … I have received so much positive feedback from this program. They love it, and I think the audience will, too.”

“Measure Me, Sky” will be performed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 at the First Presbyterian Church, 865 N. Dustin Ave. in Farmington. Admission is $15. The dinner and flight expo begin at 5:30 p.m. in the church’s Ogilvie Hall. Admission is $10. Visit calientechoir.org for more information.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Farmington choral group pulls out all the stops for spring program