Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio
Text by Ken Wilber, Thich Nhat Hanh and Steve Banks. Music by Steve Banks
World premiere 14th May 2022
7.30pm St Giles’ Cripplegate, London, and streamed live + 7 days on demand.
The London Mozart Players, Excelsis and Vox Farnham Chamber Choirs,
conducted by Rob Lewis. Angela Hicks (soprano), Luthien Brackett (mezzo-soprano), David de Winter (tenor) and Geoff Williaims (bass)
An invitation to the world premiere of this ground-breaking, inspirational new choral work, including a free guest ticket and ticket discounts for members of your choir.
Blue Pearl: A One World Oratorio is an extraordinary, inspiring new choral work for our times. Its central image is the earth seen from space: a precious, fragile ‘Blue Pearl’, the earth recognised as a whole, a unity-in-diversity. Blue Pearl also celebrates humanity as a unity-in-diversity: one human family, which needs to act ‘in concert’ as never before if we are to restore a harmonious balance between ourselves and mother nature.
This is the first large scale choral work by British musician and composer Steve Banks, though listening to it you would never guess it was his first. He has had a successful career as a violinist, drummer and singer since the 1980s, performing classical, early music, world music and folk. He has been writing and arranging songs for 25 years. Steve has poured his love and experience of diverse musical idioms, together with his personal journey of psycho-spiritual exploration and training, into this wonderful, profound, uplifting new choral work. You can hear a demo recording of Blue Pearl and read more about it at www.stevebanks.info.
“As a choral director, I’m always on the lookout for exciting new works for Excelsis to sing. In 2015 we were delighted to perform the world premiere of Karl Jenkins’s The Healer – A Cantata for St Luke. When the invitation came to perform in the world premiere of ‘Blue Pearl’ I jumped at the chance. ‘Blue Pearl’ is a really exciting challenge for the choir: to bring to life the different styles of music which Steve has used to great effect to evoke the whole range of our shared human experience: from joy, humour and sexuality to the opening of our hearts in compassion, to the spiritual mystery we encounter in stillness and silence. ‘Blue Pearl’ is a wonderful and moving celebration of our shared humanity. I’m sure many other choirs will perform it in the years to come; to be the first is a real treat for Excelsis and Vox, and for me.”
– Rob Lewis, Musical Director, Excelsis and Vox Farnham Chamber Choirs
The text of Blue Pearl includes the extraordinary ‘Anamnesis’ (‘unforgetting’), by American mystical philosopher Ken Wilber, and a beautiful, very moving poem by the much-loved Zen Buddhist master and peace campaigner Thich Nhat Hanh, who sadly passed away very recently. The music is immediately accessible, tuneful, beautiful and memorable, in a variety of styles, including classical – from 18th to 22nd centuries, African-influenced, and jazz. As Rob Lewis says in the quote above, the different musical styles convey the extraordinary diversity of experience which are all part of being human. Blue Pearl is well within the reach of good amateur choirs.
Blue Pearl is in two parts of about 45 minutes each with an interval between. It is scored for SATB choir, SATB soloists, and orchestra. There are a number of movements which can be performed on their own, in pairs, or groups (for example, each half works well on its own), some with much smaller instrumental forces. In particular, ‘One Mother, One Father’, a celebration of the unity-in-diversity of humanity, works well for accapella choir.
“An inspiring musical exploration of spirituality. London Mozart Players look forward to this collaboration, bringing to life this beautiful, evocative music.”
– Julia Desbruslais, Executive Director, London Mozart Players
World premiere ticket offer
Steve is offering a free ticket for a representative from your choir – to either the London concert, or the live stream (+ on demand). Please email Steve to be added to the guest list, steve@stevebanks.info. He is also offering a 20% discount for two more tickets to the London concert and 15% off for any members of your choir to watch the live stream + on demand (which makes an online ticket just £7.65), with coupon BluePearlCOTN. To purchase tickets, go to www.stevebanks.info.
Zoom seminars
Steve will be holding a free online Zoom seminar for choir directors and members of choirs who would like to find out more about Blue Pearl on 21st April, 7.30 – 9pm (UK time). He will give a brief introductory talk about Blue Pearl, and then most of the time will be for Q & A. For info and booking click here.
“A remarkable achievement, offered with remarkable sincerity, depth of personal knowledge and experience – all or which permeate the writing of this extraordinary work. The music is, by turns, witty, moving, exciting, and transporting.”
– Julian Marshall, composer. ARCM, FHEA
Steve is also giving an online seminar about the spirituality conveyed in Blue Pearl, 6-8pm BST, 31st March, ‘Blue Pearl: Sacred Music For A Human Spirituality’. Steve will talk briefly about this emerging ‘human’ spirituality, rooted in a rational worldview, and open to any human being, whether from an existing spiritual tradition or not, a synthesis of the ancient spiritual wisdom of the East with the modern psychology and science of the West. For more info and booking, click here.
Listen to the Blue Pearl demo recording
You can listen to a demo recording of Blue Pearl at Steve’s website (www.stevebanks.info), where you can also read more about the piece, more testimonials, the vocal score and the lyrics.
Support Blue Pearl – the world premiere and future performances
If your choir would like to support Steve with the world premiere and help Blue Pearl establish a place in the choral repertoire, there are a number of ways you can do so:
- Come to the concert, and tell your choral friends about it, wherever they are in the world. Either at St Giles’ in London, or the live stream, or watch on demand during the 7 days after the concert.
- Support the crowdfunding campaign at https://igg.me/at/bluepearloratorio
Please get in touch with Steve if you would like to discuss any aspect of the world premiere, or the possibility of performing some or all of Blue Pearl in the future.
Thank you for your time reading this.
www.stevebanks.info
E: steve@stevebanks.info
M: +44 (0)7957 855458
Facebook :: LinkedIn :: YouTube :: Instagram :: Twitter
This mailing has been sent out on behalf of Steve Banks using the British Choirs on the Net Mailing Service. Details can be found here: www.choirs.org.uk/mailings.html
