See the June 4 Premiere of “Where We Find Ourselves”

Cary, NC — The next online presentation of the Concert Singers of Cary, “Where We Find Ourselves,” will be available for streaming starting tomorrow, June 4 at 7:30 PM.

Setting the Scene

The free-to-see production is approximately 53 minutes and will be presented in a 5-piece song cycle. This new work comes from Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, one of the nation’s emerging composers, who specializes in choral works on social and environmental issues.

The premise of “Where We Find Ourselves” centers around a rediscovered collection of portraits by Hugh Mangum, a 20th century North Carolina-based photographer. The portraits include people of all races and walks of life and it’s these folks that are brought to life through the music and lyrics of this new choral work.

Bussewitz-Quarm produced this piece along with collaborators Chantal Sellers (lyricist), and photographer/authors Margaret Sartor and Alex Harris of the School of Documentary Studies at Duke University. The Concert Singers of Cary are joining with 31 other choirs (seven in the Triangle, NC area) who co-commissioned and are giving voice to this inspiring new creation in separate presentations.

As a self-taught photographer born in NC in 1877, Hugh Mangum went on to work as an itinerant portraitist in NC and VA during the rise of the Jim Crow era. His works capture the lives of people — Black and white, rich and poor — during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Enjoy For Free, Consider a Donation

The show will be completely free without any paywalls for all to enjoy. Though, as the Concert Singers point out, “these shows don’t just produce themselves.”

Donations to this Cary nonprofit arts organization are always accepted and appreciated online via the Concert Singers of Cary Individual Donation page.

Story from staff reports. Photos courtesy of the Concert Singers of Cary.

All the Cary news for the informed Cary citizen. Subscribe by email.