Grinnell Singers to Present Fall Concert

The Grinnell Singers, a select ensemble comprised exclusively of Grinnell College students, will present their fall concert titled “Songs of Earth” on Sunday, November 10, at 2 p.m. in Sebring-Lewis Hall. The program includes a collection of distinctive works that are themed around a sense of connection and intimacy with the places that we inhabit. This event is open to all at no charge.

The centerpiece of the program is a piece by the 29-year-old rising star Alex Berko, titled “You Through Me,” which deals with the controversy surrounding the Elizabeth Street Garden in SoHo, New York, and its planned conversion into affordable housing.

“An die Heimat,” an intensely lyrical piece by the then 29-year-old Johannes Brahms, expresses the composer’s deep longing for his home in Hamburg at a time when he had taken up residence in Vienna.

Brasilian composer Javier Zentner’s “Vasija de barro” sings of an intense love for home that is carried throughout life and into death: “From you I was born, and to you I’ll return.”

“Haiku,” a song by composer, singer, and banjo player Moira Smiley, offers a beguilingly beautiful setting of a brief poem that contemplates our relationship to the earth: “In this world, we walk on the roof of hell, gazing at flowers.”

Scottish composer James Macmillan’s “Gallant Weaver” is a love song that features gently cascading melodies for high soprano. The choir will also present a thrilling selection from Reena Esmail’s This Love Between Us, a work that combines Hindustani and Western European traditions.

The finale of the concert comes with an uplifting gospel version of Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus, with piano, drums, and bass, led by Assistant Conductor Jadyn Al-Fatah ’27.