Belmont School of Music’s “A Concert for Peace” will invite viewers into a shared act of reflection, remembrance and hope.
Presented by music ensembles Bel Canto and the University singers, the concert takes place Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, offering a chance to explore peace from various perspectives. The ensembles will dig deeper into what it means to pursue peace in a world marked by violence, injustice and division, and how music can help transform darkness into light.
The program grew from a simple, yet profound question.
“Can we sing the darkness to light?” asked Dr. Jane Warren, director of University Singers.
The question was inspired by a campus-wide focus on the Peace Prayer of St. Francis –– “Make me an instrument of thy peace” –– which has been championed across campus by Dr. John Witvliet, Belmont’s chief officer for university missional initiatives.
For Warren and Dr. Lesley Mann, director of Bel Canto, the prayer became a starting point for a collaborative concert shaped by history, faith and lived experience.
Music that Remembers and Responds
Both choirs' musical selection and stage structure will demonstrate the power and beauty of peace, justice and equality.
Bel Canto’s portion of the program will focus on the role of women in peacekeeping initiatives by singing works from “Reflections from Yad Vashem,” a choral work that confronts the realities of genocide and war while honoring the lives of children lost in the Holocaust.
“Yad Vashem is a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and this piece in particular centers on the Children’s Memorial. Names of children killed during the Holocaust are woven throughout the piece along with text from Genesis, original poetry by the composer and a Hebrew lullaby,” shared Mann.
University Singers’ selection will focus on works that echo the concert’s central call for peace. The group’s repertoire includes a setting by Karl Jenkins of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi –– the prayer that inspired the full program –– alongside “Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In” from “Hair,” arranged by School of Music freshman composition major Mickey Mahan, and "Peace (Worldwide)” by the Luminaries, arranged by faculty members Brian Seay and Warren.
Together, the selections trace a path from lament to hope, acknowledging suffering while insisting on the possibility of renewal.
Staging the Work of Peace
The concert’s message is carried out not only through music, but through movement and pacing.
“There will be several moments in the program where there will be no space between songs,” Mann explained. “The music flows with great momentum because the work of peace, justice and equality requires great energy, and the only way for this work to continue is for it to be shared. When one person’s energy wanes, someone else must be there to continue it forward.”
A “Behind the Scenes” Emotional Journey
Beyond the notes on the page, what truly shaped this program was the emotional journey the students and directors of both ensembles undertook to bring this message to life.
“For students and myself included, preparing a program that shares a powerful message like this offers continual opportunities to focus our mindsets,” reflected Mann. "For every minute of rehearsal, we choose what to bring into the room. I invite the singers to ‘be where your feet are’ –– a mantra that helps center our work, our minds and our music on what we’ve decided matters in the way we interact with the world.”
The shared commitment to presence shapes both the individual performing and impacts the audience member watching.
“We know the world’s wounds; we carry many of them ourselves,” added Warren. “And yet, we choose to sing. In raising our voices together under one roof, we take part in the ancient, ongoing work of transformation.”
A Call to Join the Work of Peace
That same spirit of presence and purpose is at the heart of the message of “A Concert for Peace.”
“We hope the audience will feel uplifted after this concert,” Mann said. “This concert offers an opportunity to decenter the despair and division we find in our news cycles and to center a stubborn, defiant hope.”
This vision asks the audience not just to sit and enjoy this performance, but to join in on the work. Peace is something practiced through memory, presence and, sometimes, through song.
Find tickets to "A Concert for Peace" on the Fisher Center website.
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