The hearth symbolizes the center of the home, a source of heat, light, and sustenance. It is a central gathering place for loved ones and new acquaintances, a place of comfort, truth, and goodness. In its program, “Tending the Hearth”, Brooklyn Treble Choir focuses on nurturing love, care, and strength within ourselves and our communities. We will explore music that reminds us that we must have love at the center of our lives, moving in both directions between our own hearts and the hearts of our neighbors. 

As a flame must be coaxed from hot coals and kindled into fire, active love takes intention, effort and vigilance. With persistent care, this love will, in turn, lead us to collective action to create a better world. Join BK Treble in this musical invitation to love and call to action.

As the light and warmth of spring returns, it becomes easier to look to the future with renewed optimism and energy. BKTreble’s spring concert program, Emerging, was about growing into wholeness and connection, taking stock of our present state and making choices to become better selves, forge deeper relationships, and build stronger communities. Reflecting on the challenges of the last few years, this concert asked us to take time to discern who we truly want to be, what we value in our world, and how we can move toward those aspirations.

In Emerging, BKTreble performed music ranging in style from traditional Hebrew folk song to Gospel and Pop, as well as contemporary choral works by Melissa Dunphy, Jenni Brandon, Jake Narverud, and Sarah Quartel. Each piece inspires us to move forward with intention, to love harder, and to care for our world. In the words of Grace Lee Boggs, whose life and work inspired “New Dreams” by composer Melissa Dunphy, “We need to grow our souls.” As the Earth begins to spring forth with life, perhaps we can all emerge from winter slightly warmer, wiser, and ready for that soul growth. It is our pleasure as BKTreble to share this music, so full of hope, gratitude, and love for humanity.

Through the fear, loss, and grief of the past year and a half, our ensemble has continued to come together to support one another as a community and to make music. We are extremely proud to be part of an organization that challenges itself to grow and adapt as our society evolves. In the past season, the work of our wonderful Vision Committee and the “Where We Find Ourselves” project pushed us to think about our identity as individuals and as a choir. Everyone who was involved with those activities was invited to think about how we are shaped by our past, while, at the same time striving to create a future that is more loving, just, and inclusive. Sometimes we need to look back in order to move forward.

Without further ado, don’t miss our return to in-person concerts as Brooklyn Treble Choir (fondly shortened to BKTreble)!

To mark our 20th Anniversary, on June 30th, 2021, Brooklyn Treble Choir premiered a multimedia production entitled: "Where We Find Ourselves" by composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm and lyricist Shantel Sellers. Commissioned as part of a multi-national consortium, this piece is based upon Margaret Sartor and Alex Harris' book of the same title, which showcases a collection of studio portraits by Hugh Mangum, a white, self-taught, itinerant photographer who set up makeshift portrait studios in the railroad towns of North Carolina and Virginia between 1897 and 1922.

The hugely diverse clientele captured in Mangum's portraits are evidence of both his attraction to the full spectrum of human experience and his studio's accessibility to those from all walks of life. Several boxes of glass plate negatives were salvaged from the Mangum family farm in the 1970s. From these, prints were created and eventually published by Sartor and Harris, allowing us to peer back in time through Mangum's lens.

"Where We Find Ourselves" explores the identities of the people in the photographs, highlighting visible signifiers of class, race, career, and lifestyle while also acknowledging the mystery and complexity of each individual who sat in front of Mangum's camera. Many of Mangum’s subjects were first or second generation Americans in the post-slavery South, but others had lived through slavery. Can these images and the histories help us understand "Where We Find Ourselves" in 2021? The multimedia performance, recorded live at Lightbox NYC, will artfully display Mangum's photographs in juxtaposition to the choir and the musical work.

The production premiered on June 30th via our Youtube Channel as a celebration of the Choir’s 20th Anniversary.