* My Kingdom: A concert featuring works by New England composers and poets

The Shirley Meeting House opens the 2017 season with Ensemble Lyrae. - New England is home to the five core members of Ensemble Lyrae. In crafting their inaugural season, they have chosen to present a program featuring the words and music of New England poets and composers, immediately offering audiences a glimpse into the culture that cultivated these Boston-based artists. Anchoring the program around Louisa May Alcott’s poem, “My Kingdom,” Ensemble Lyrae has commissioned Vartan Aghababian, Eva Conley Kendrick, Brian John, and Charles Tarver, four consummate composers with ties to New England, to set the poem. Other selections include Juliana Hall’s “Syllables of Velvet, Sentences of Plush,” which brings to life Emily Dickinson’s charming and profound letters. Also featured is Theodore Chanler’s masterpiece, the song cycle “Eight Epitaphs.” These pieces will complement the commissioned works, and, combined, will each express the great beauty and diversity of style, wit, and wisdom of this artistically rich region. A reception will follow the concert. Suggested donation: $15.00