Vocal Art Ensemble offers “COMFORT FOOD” for the Season

Photo credit: Kian Barbieri

When one thinks of the holiday season, aside from music and good cheer, doesn’t food usually come to mind first?

The Vocal Art Ensemble thinks so. So for their upcoming concert set, they are including food along with their music and good cheer.

At least, in their audience’s imagination.

Entitled Comfort Food: Choral Music to Feed the Soul, the three performances will compare choral pieces to delicacies you might find on a restaurant menu, drawing attention to the similarities between appreciating food and appreciating music.

“Listeners will be invited to compare what they hear to tastes and flavors they may already know!” explains Vocal Art Ensemble director Tracia Barbieri. “The song could be like a curry from India, or a dense pastry from Eastern Europe, or a home-grown vegetable dish from rural America. I think it will be fun for audience members to guess why a choral selection represents a particular dish.”

“When we think of comfort food, we think of things that are creamy and warm, or sweet and salty, or juicy and cold,” adds VAE soprano Rachel Hartsough. “They make us feel full and safe and loved. Music can be similar. It feeds our soul, and makes us part of something larger than ourselves.”

The concerts will combine pieces for the entire chorus with small ensembles with just one singer on a part, to create a diverse ‘meal’ to give tastes of multiple genres, cultures, and time periods.

“In small groups, you get to connect more closely with the other singers,” explains VAE soprano Erin Reddy. “It is more of a responsibility to carry your part though, especially since we perform our entire programs from memory!”

Comfort Food premieres on Friday, December 11, 2015 at 7:30 pm at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (2620 Capitol Ave, Sacramento). Repeat performances are on Saturday, December 12 at 7:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church (27078 Patwin Rd, Davis), and Sunday, December 13 at 4:00pm at the United Methodist Church (1620 Anderson Rd, Davis).

“The theme evokes the feeling of cozying up to enjoy your favorite meal,” adds Reddy. “It will be a deliciously entertaining and comforting experience!”

Suggested donation for the performances is $10-25. In addition, to honor the spirit of ‘feeding the soul,’ non-perishable food items will be accepted at all concerts for Yolo County’s STEAC (Short Term Emergency Aid Committee).

“There is always a need for food donations,” says Lynne Rumery, a volunteer at STEAC. “We run a food closet that every month provides five days’ worth of food for each member of a family in need. Poverty is rather hidden in Davis, so there is more of a need for it here than you might think.”

“We hope to provide ‘comfort food’ in multiple ways,” offers Barbieri.

For more information, please visit www.vae.trug.com or call (530) 757-2396.