Seasoned choral singers are warmly invited to participate as volunteers in Eudaimonia Voices’s fall concert, Consent of the Governed, on Sunday November 1. This highly inclusive and broad-minded choir welcomes skilled singers with a wide range of backgrounds and tastes, committed to celebrating a mosaic of voices.

Eudaimonia Voices is a “project choir” (with intensive and condensed rehearsal leading up to specific programs) made up of a mix of stipended professional singers and experienced avocational singers. We deliberately program “something for everyone,” ranging from early repertoire with period instruments through contemporary and avant garde works as well as inventive arrangements of popular and folk music. If you’re unfamiliar with Eudaimonia’s performances over the past 12 years, please take in some of our musical adventures at our website or on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@eudaimoniaapurposefulperio3047). Those who are interested in, and able to make the commitment to, singing in the upcoming program should contact director Vivian Montgomery (vivian.musicdirector@gmail.com) by August 25 to discuss participation.

Below is general information about the program and our rehearsal schedule:

Consent of the Governed: Singing 250 Years Toward Democracy

Sunday November 1, 7:30pm, First Parish in Cambridge

Eudaimonia Voices offers a bold musical take on our nation’s bisesquicentennial, blending baroque choral portraits of tyranny and uprising with contemporary exploration of autocracy and emancipation. Promoting full audience participation, we premiere a treatment of pointed words from the Declaration of Independence by John Howell Morrison, blending readings from attendees with an experimental choral landscape. Another new composition by Eva Montgomery-Morrison sets to choral music Phillis Wheatley's ode to the American Revolution, a poetic denunciation of abuse at the hands of government. These fresh pieces are interwoven with a suite of excerpts from Handel’s oratorio Athalia, a heartening tale of resistance to power unchecked. As always with Eudaimonia, this concert is built around the mission of partner organizations, in this case those working to defend voting rights (Partners in Democracy and MassVote). The program includes conversation with representatives from those initiatives, providing direct exposure to key issues and means of engagement in advance of the midterm elections.

For our 2026-27 concerts, we will offer two rehearsals for volunteer singers prior to the start of full group preparation, in order to give them a chance to drill parts before bringing everyone together. Each volunteer singer needs to attend at least one of these preparatory sessions, taking place on:

• Friday October 2, 6:30-8:30, First Parish in Waltham - Volunteer singer part-learning
• Saturday October 3, 2:30-4:30, UU Church of Medford - Volunteer singer part-learning

All volunteer singers need to attend at least 7 out of 10 full group rehearsals, plus the dress rehearsal.

First (Sunday 10/4) and last (Wednesday 10/28) full group rehearsals plus dress rehearsal (10/31) are mandatory for all singers, while the remaining required rehearsals can be selected according to the participant’s availability. Singers are asked to confirm the rehearsals they plan to attend a month before the start of rehearsals.

Full group rehearsals will take place:
Sunday 10/4 1:30-3:30pm, First Parish in Cambridge - required for all singers
Monday 10/5 7:00-9:00, UU Church of Medford
Saturday 10/10 2:30-4:30, UU Church of Medford
Wednesday 10/14 7:00-9:00, First Parish in Waltham
Sunday 10/18 1:30-3:30pm, First Parish in Cambridge
Monday 10/19 7:00-9:00, UU Church of Medford
Saturday 10/24 2:30-4:30, UU Church of Medford
Sunday 10/25 1:30-3:30pm, First Parish in Cambridge
Monday 10/26 7:00-9:00, UU Church of Medford
Wednesday 10/28 7:00-9:00, First Parish in Cambridge - required for all singers
Saturday 10/31 4:00-7:00, First Parish in Cambridge - Dress rehearsal, required for all singers
Concert Sunday, November 1: 5:30 call for singers, 7:30 concert, First Parish in Cambridge