NEWS RELEASE
ST. PAUL'S CENTRE
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In celebration of Earth Day, (Sunday, April 22) the choir of St. Paul’s United Church, Orillia, under the direction of Blair Bailey, is presenting a mixed media performance of Missa Gaia.
Created in 1981 by jazz musician Paul Winter for the ecumenical cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Missa Gaia (‘Earth Mass’) is a musical and visual celebration that is both ecumenical and ecological, embracing all life on Earth.
The ancient Greek name for Mother Earth, ‘Gaia’ acknowledges the “Gaia hypothesis” of scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis who propose “that the entire range of living matter on Earth, from whales to viruses, and from oaks to algae, could be regarded as constituting a single living entity, capable of manipulating the earth’s atmosphere to suit its overall needs and endowed with faculties and power far beyond its constituent parts.”
The musical stylings of this ‘Earth Mass’ range from ancient plainchant to traditional gospel and joyous Brazilian baiao folk rhythms. Interspersed with the music are pre-recorded whale songs, wolf calls, the haunting cry of the loon and harp seal pup calls.
An instrumental ensemble will accompany the choir featuring well known Orillia musician and educator Bruce ‘Suds’ Sutherland on soprano saxophone and cellist/singer/songwriter Alyssa Wright.
The lyrics range from Latin texts of the traditional Mass liturgy, to the words of the Beatitudes, to the Canticle of Brother Sun/Sister Moon by Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. Accompanying the music will be interpretive dance and visual images of nature and the environment.
In between the movements of this ecologically-themed choral work, appropriate readings will be heard.
Guest readers will be Valerie Powell, Green Party candidate for North Simcoe riding in the upcoming provincial election and Kevin Willison, professor of Sociology with a particular interest in the sociology of the environment at the Orillia campus of Lakehead University.
Missa Gaia will be performed at 7:30 p.m., April 22 in the Great Hall of St. Paul’s Centre, on the north-east corner of Peter and Coldwater Streets in downtown Orillia. Admission is by freewill donation.
For more information go to www.stpaulscentre.ca/events.
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