May 2025 | Light

Planning for this concert began well over a year ago. Morten Lauridsen’s beautifully rich and compelling Lux Aeterna has always been a favorite of mine. The Chorale performed two of the five movements in February 2024 with the promise of performing the entire piece in this year’s standalone concert. With its emphasis on light – in Latin Lux Aeterna means eternal light – a theme was born. 

I asked my singers what pieces they would like to sing that reflected the theme. We’ll begin the program with an old choral standard from 1948, Light Everlasting, which speaks of the sacred light of God’s love. In Healing Light, by Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins, we contemplate the deep peace of the moon and stars as they pour their light upon us. 

Sacred Ruins by the Chorale’s composer-in-residence, C. A. Worden, is a stunningly beautiful piece for women’s voices. In nature’s stillness we discover light. It is an honor to premiere and share Sacred Ruins with you.

The concert takes a serious turn as we explore the loss of human light extinguished too soon by suicide. Caryn suggested Jake Runestad’s Please Stay, a poignant piece offering hope and strength to anyone who may “think [they] can’t go on another day.” This is a difficult subject from which we often shy away, but of it we must speak; fearless social awareness is crucial in saving lives. Many of us here today have lost friends and family to suicide. This piece inspired the collaboration with Kitsap Mental Health Services; CEO Monica Bernhard will speak about the organization and what it provides for our community. Brochures will be available in the narthex so that you can learn more. 

David thought You Are the New Day would be a lovely addition to the program (it is). Maya suggested our closing piece, Goodnight Moon, which is the 1947 children’s story by Margaret Wise Brown, set to music by one of choral music’s true giants, Eric Whitacre. “In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon…” 

There are so many kinds of light.  Visible – the sun, moon, stars, incandescent, LED, and more. Inner – that which enables us to live our authentic selves with acceptance and gratitude. Sacred, another form of inner light which connects us to our spirituality, and eternal, which is a personal and solo journey. Consider what each may mean to you as we explore the visible and invisible natures of light.

LeeAnne Campos, Director, Bremerton Symphony Chorale