Choral Arts Presents “In Search of Home”
Choral Arts, under the direction of conductor Marie Bucoy-Calavan, will present “In Search of Home” on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at the Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St NW, Washington, DC).
Featuring staged performance elements, marking a first for a Choral Arts program, alongside both historical and contemporary repertoire, this opening season concert integrates multiple perspectives on refuge, identity, and human connection across five works.
“Home is deeply personal—the place where we feel safe, known, and that we belong. This concert, with music spread across centuries, asks us to look beyond our own sense of home and consider our responsibility to those who are still searching for theirs. Not simply the place we come from, but the place we create for one another,” stated Marie Bucoy-Calavan, Artistic Director of Choral Arts. “As the Ambassador Chorus, we believe music can do more than be performed at the highest level; it can open a door. Being an ambassador begins with listening: to the stories of those without a home, and to the questions we might otherwise hurry past. It means meeting what is unfamiliar with curiosity rather than fear, and recognizing that a place to belong is something we make together. As we begin our 2026-2027 season, Embrace the Unknown, I cannot think of a more important place to start.”
Originally commissioned by Philadelphia’s The Crossing, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw’s To The Hands, is a response to Dieterich Buxtehude’s 1680 cantata of the same name, which meditates on the suffering of the crucified Jesus. Shaw broadens the imagery of wounded hands to consider the present-day suffering of displaced persons and those seeking refuge throughout the world. Performed by the Chamber Ensemble in a staged version, it opens with a prelude of chants based on the 17th-century composer’s music and features six distinct movements. Selections of Buxtehude’s third cantata, Ad manus (“To the Hands”) will also be performed as part of the program. Through intimate vocal writing, suspensions, and expressive chromaticism, Buxtehude invites the listener to not simply observe suffering, but to contemplate it.
A well-known advocate for world peace, Leonard Bernstein crafted a musical plea for unity in divided times with his Chichester Psalms. Considered one of the mainstays of the twentieth-century choral-orchestra repertory, the work is a three movement composition that blends tonal, accessible melodies with biblical Hebrew text.
Rounding out the program is Johannes Brahms’ An die Heimat (“To the Homeland”) and Jeffrey Derus’ Whoever You Are. An die Heimat is a reflective quartet for mixed chorus and piano composed in 1863 in response to a poem by C.O. Sternau. First published in 1874 as the first of Brahms’ Three Quartets, Op. 64, the work captures a profound sense of longing, nostalgia, and emotional displacement. With a text by Jalal al-Din Rumi, Derus’ Whoever You Are (2025) is an original a cappella work with layers of harmony expanding as the piece develops, bringing in a feeling of warmth and belonging.
Event Details
Choral Arts — In Search of Home
Date/Time: Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.
Performance Timing: approximately 90 minutes (no intermission)
Location: Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: $60 | Purchase here
Featuring:
Marie Bucoy-Calavan, Artistic Director
Matthew Steynor, organ
Ian Pathak, countertenor
Choral Arts Symphonic Chorus
Choral Arts Chamber Ensemble
Choral Arts Chamber Orchestra