What 150 Voices Can Hold: Reflections on Joyful Abundance with the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia by Octavia McBride-Ahebee

I’m a wordsmith, but words alone can’t fully capture the beauty, shared vision, creativity, and collaboration that came together in Saturday’s extraordinary concert by the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia.

The performance marked the debut of the Joyful Abundance initiative, in which five local poets were paired with five composers to create original works exploring the question, “What Now?”, a particularly timely theme as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I had the honor and pleasure of collaborating with Grammy-nominated composer Ted Babcock and the phenomenal poet Kirwyn Sutherland, who served as my mentor, to create my piece, *Electric Bloom*. Hearing it performed by the Mendelssohn Chorus, a 150-voice ensemble celebrating its 152nd season, was truly unforgettable.

I wish I could share the full performance here, but the video is simply too long. If you’d like to hear the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia bring my commissioned poem Electric Bloom to life, I invite you to visit my Substack, where I’ve shared this extraordinary moment. Here is the link:
 https://open.substack.com/pub/octaviamcbride/p/what-150-voices-can-hold-reflections?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

My deepest thanks to Dominick DiOrio, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Chorus, and to the entire staff whose dedication and hard work made this remarkable experience possible.

With Dominick DiOrio, far left , and Ted Babcock

I feel especially blessed to have shared this milestone with family and friends who came to celebrate with me: Sojourner and Sami; Laura and Osama; Phyllis; my young writing colleague Conor; my dear Aunt Mabel, who has been attending my events since I was a little girl; my favorite cousin Carol, my dearest Mona; Danni; Gideon; Mr. Norm; Renee; and my beloved Powel School family-Ms. Bunyon, Coach Spivey, Brandy, and Lynnette.

My heart is full of gratitude for this experience and for everyone who helped bring *Electric Bloom* to life.

As the Nation Turns 250, We Gather to Ask: What Now?- An extraordinary afternoon of Joyful Abundance with the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia.

 

Painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and installation artist Titus Kaphar confronts history by unsettling the classical forms and visual traditions of Western art, often dismantling them to reveal what has been obscured, omitted, or erased. Writing for Gagosian Quarterly, Bridget R. Cooks observes: “Through a kind of tender violence, Kaphar emphasizes what is unknown in representations of the past and forcefully argues that our understanding of the past still matters.” 

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia

After attending the rehearsal, this past Wednesday, for Joyful Abundance, I can honestly say: this project is absolutely beautiful.

There are moments in Philadelphia when art reminds you who we are or perhaps asks us who we might yet become.

On Saturday, June 6th,  the 152-year-old Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, more than 150 voices strong, will premiere Joyful Abundance, an extraordinary afternoon of new choral works created through collaborations between Philadelphia poets and composers as part of the ArtPhilly Festival’s question: “What Now?”

The concert will include world premieres, poets reading their work, composers speaking about their creative process, and Randall Thompson’s stirring Testament of Freedom, not performed by the Chorus since 1976 , an especially moving offering as our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I am deeply honored to be one of the five commissioned poets. My poem, Electric Bloom, brought to life musically by Grammy-nominated percussionist-composer Ted Babcock, asks difficult but necessary questions through the imagined voices of those excluded from the nation’s earliest promises.

Yet the poem is not only about exclusion. It also speaks to how, generation after generation, those once denied liberty and belonging , Indigenous peoples, the enslaved, immigrants, women, workers, and others , used the very language and ideals of our founding documents to lay claim to dignity, citizenship, humanity, and a fuller vision of democracy.

An excerpt:

“Here we are, here we are and who are we?

We are an odd pair,

one body, indigenous and transplanted,

indivisible from your plunder,

swathed in earth’s unending memory…”

Hearing these words sung by more than 150 voices during rehearsal genuinely moved me.

If you can, come. Truly. This feels like one of those rare Philadelphia afternoons where history, music, poetry, and possibility gather in one room.

Saturday, June 6 | 4 PM

Rodeph Shalom

615 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19123 (use the 1339 Green Street entrance)

Discount code for tickets: 50% off discount code: GUEST50. This code can be utilized online (here)

Learn more about Joyful Abundance through the official ArtPhilly Festival site:Art Philly