May 3: Halalisa! Celebrating Roots and Wings

Boston-based world music vocal ensemble The Halalisa Singers led by artistic director Mary Cunningham presents “Halalisa! Celebrating Roots and Wings” on Saturday, May 3, 7:30 pm at First Parish of Lexington, 7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA. The celebratory concert honors Cunningham’s 20 years as artistic director and includes favorites from the ensemble’s repertoire plus a stirring selection of works new to the chorus. South African vocalist Nthabiseng Thakadu is featured in pieces reflecting a founding inspiration for Halalisa, the South African apartheid movement. Joining the group are pianist Trevor Berens, percussionist Bertram Lehmann, and bass guitarist Benjamin Green. Tickets $25, livestream $15 at https://halalisasingers.brownpapertickets.com. For more info, email info@halalisa.org.

Thakadu will raise the roof in South African songs including the African prayer for peace “Ukuthula,” traditional Sesotho hymns “Tshela Moya” and “Ke nna yo Morena,” and the delightful South African folk song “Uma Ngihamba Naw, Thuli,” as well as Gloria Estefan’s “Reach,” the official theme song of the 1996 Summer Olympics.

As part of the celebration of her 20 years with Halalisa, Cunningham takes center stage as soloist in her own arrangement of Eva Cassidy’s gorgeous rendition of the hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing?”

Andrew-John Bethke’s “Graduation Song” opens by proclaiming “Halalisa!,” the Zulu world for “celebration.” The Halalisa “Top Ten” features staples from the chorus’s history including “Freedom Is Coming,” “Peace Salaam Shalom,” “Hava Nashira,” “Now Let Us Sing,” “Never Turning Back,” “Guide My Feet,” “For the Beauty of the Earth,” “Peace Be With You Always,” and Mystic Chorale founder Nick Page’s “Gwaza Universe.”

Page is also represented by the shape note-inspired “Lights Upon Our Souls.” Former Halalisa audiences may recognize Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Ysaye M. Barnwell’s dynamic call to action “Hope,” Kirby Shaw’s uplifting arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” the title tune “Roots and Wings” by Linda Hirschorn, and Brian Tate’s joyful a cappella “We Sing,” commissioned by Halalisa in 2014.

Newer repertoire includes Linda Spevacek’s “Always Something Sings” set to text by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Kim Andre Arnesen’s lush “Flight Song.” The high voices of Halalisa are featured in Hirschorn’s wondrously winding round “I Have a Million Nightingales,” while the low voices regale the audience with the classic favorite “Stand By Me.”