Conception Abbey to host two free concerts
The weekend of May 6 will feature concerts of accordion and sacred music at Conception Abbey
Conception Abbey’s Basilica of the Immaculate Conception will be the venue for two free concerts the weekend of May 6, 2017. The first concert on Saturday, May 6 at 8:00 p.m. will feature the UMKC Accordion Chamber Ensemble presenting a repertoire of classical music. Then on Sunday, May 7 at 3:00 p.m. the Nodaway Choral will perform the Faure Requiem. Both concerts are free and open to the public.
Members of the UMKC Accordion Chamber Ensemble.
Under the direction of Joan Cochran Sommers, the UMKC Accordion Chamber Ensemble will give a one hour concert with music from Handel, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Mohr, Mozart, and Gershwin among others. Members of the ensemble are former UMKC Conservatory of Music students and have performed concerts for several years at the Annual Festival of The Accordionists, International held in Chicago, San Francisco, Alexandria, and Kansas City.
It is an incredible coincidence that the observance of World Accordion Day is being held throughout the world on May 6. If you have never heard a group of accordionists performing classical music, you will indeed be surprised at the various sounds and distinctive timbres produced by this outstanding group of musicians.
The doors of the Abbey Basilica will once again open on Sunday for a concert given by the Nodaway Chorale under the direction of Michael Phillips. Drawing its performers from the local community, the Nodaway Chorale will present the popular Faure Requiem, a musical composition from the 19th-century French Romantic composer Gabriel Faure.
A “requiem,” Latin for “rest,” is a piece of music for use in a funeral mass. This particular Requiem composed by Faure focuses less on the anguish and fear that death inspires, but on the idea of rest and peaceful acceptance and release. The music is serene, elevating, and comforting – a perfect compliment to the sacred space of the Abbey Basilica where it will be performed.
For more information, visit the Conception Abbey website calendar at https://www.conceptionabbey.org/calendar/ or call (660) 944-3100.
