Former Artist-in-Resident at National Sawdust, Choral Chameleon, comes to Divine Mercy with their choral pioneering spirit. The group, lead by director Vince Peterson (winner of the 2018 Louis Botto Award), aims to "reinvent the art of choral music from every perspective." They will be performing in our parish church of St. Nicholas. Built by German immigrants in 1865, the tall ceilings and wide nave create some of the best acoustics a choir could ask for. This is definitely a concert you do not want to miss!

The concert is free of charge. There will also be a reception after the show.

This concert is made possible through the Divine Mercy Parish Concert Series. Please check out all of our other free shows on our Eventbrite page, or by viewing our flyer.

Music Program: If I Left The Zoo

A concert statement on running away, only to find yourself right where you have always belonged.

When we turn on the news, it doesn’t matter if we are leaning to the right or to the left. We throw up our hands and dream out loud about moving somewhere else where we can start over again.

But what if the slate were actually wiped clean? What if we could just put all of our foregone national pride behind us and pretend like none of this ever happened? What if we left this zoo? Would we each eventually find Utopia or would we fall into the same never-ending search as the rest of humanity since the beginning of creation?

The Choral Chameleon Ensemble explores the primal instincts in humans and the stories and fables of earth’s creatures and transformations in this epic narrative concert.

At the center, the profound “Prayers from the Ark” of British composer, Ivor R. Davies gives a vulnerable empathetic voice to bird, cat, raven, mouse, and dove – but only after showing us a mirror of ourselves in Noah, ever complaining of his exhaustion from the daily grind of work and the world around him.

Added to the program are the world premiere of Edward Thompson's whimsical new a cappella trilogy, “Aphorisms of the Zookeeper,” Lauren Bydalek's deeply moving “Pieces of My Heart” and musical comments from our friends, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the form of “Blackbird” and “I Am the Walrus.”

Don’t miss this shape-shifting and life-affirming concert event with one of New York's best award-winning ensembles.