“All souls…all nations…all identities…”

Walt Whitman’s lyrics are a stirring embrace of all of humanity. Combined with the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, A Sea Symphony uses the vastness and power of the sea as a backdrop for our search for meaning. Written for chorus, soloists, and orchestra, A Sea Symphony will fill you with a sense of awe and wonder in the face of a boundless universe. Auburn Symphony Orchestra is delighted to present this work in collaboration with Seattle Pro Musica and their conductor, Karen P. Thomas, and featuring Susan Payne O’Brien, soprano and Damien Geter, baritone.

ASO will perform The Boatswain’s Mate Overture by British composer Ethel Smyth. A cheerful piece of music which also contains Smyth’s defiant feminist spirit. The opera is a witty take on gender roles with the heroine of the story outwitting a retired boatswain who is scheming to become her suitor.

SPM will open the concert with Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae by Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. This haunting work draws on folk song, news reporting, and the Requiem Mass to recount the ill-fated 1994 journey of the MS Estonia.