EL SALTO

A UNIQUE SETTING FOR
NEW MUSIC AND
SPIRITUAL INVESTIGATION

El Salto's NYC debut took place
April 23, 2010

at the
New York Society for
Ethical Culture

Stay tuned for the ongoing series starting Spring 2011!





 

El Salto ("the leap") is a new performance format for contemporary classical music, presented in an atmosphere of focused intellectual and spiritual inquiry. Alongside performances of new music, El Salto features short readings from literature, journalism, philosophy, and other sources, a short talk, and a new easy (and optional) kind of congregational singing.

Though El Salto explores sacred subjects, figures, and images from various traditions, it is not a religious service; it is a musical and intellectual experiment designed to promote new music and to provide a forum for broad exploration of relevant spiritual questions.

First conceived by Robinson McClellan and presented at Yale's Institute of Sacred music in 2005 in collaboration with Mellissa Hughes and Matthew Haugen, this unique project makes its New York City debut on April 23 at 8pm — now with Erin Jeanette as co-director — with the New York Society for Ethical Culture and Anne Klaeysen, Leader.

The theme for the April 23 debut program was:

Longing: The Fate of Desire in a Culture of Ambivalent Appetites
read a full description

Music by:
— Herbert Howells: Like as the Hart (arr. McClellan)
— Jonny Rodgers: an original song plus Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street
— Caroline Shaw arr.: Oh Death
— Michael Daugherty: Oh Ken from his pop cantata What's that Spell?
— Eric Whitacre: A Boy and a Girl

Featured performers:
Jonny Rodgers, voice/guitar/wine glasses
Mellissa Hughes, soprano
Hudson Quartet (led by Caroline Shaw)
Sarah Schram, oboe

Readings:
— A fable by Jonathon Keats
— A poem by Anne Sexton
— A story by Molly McNett
— and more!

MORE ABOUT EL SALTO

Read Robin McClellan's
article on El Salto, in Liturgy

(a quarterly journal)

See/Hear El Salto 1 - 12/13/05

See/Hear El Salto 2 - 1/31/06

 

WATCH a video about this project