Julien's Journal November 2015 (Volume 40, Number 11) | Page 26

Premier
Event

Saturday-Sunday,
November 7-8

by John B. Donovan

“T

here’s a bright golden
haze on the meadow…”
Hopefully, you’ll smile
when you hear those
words by Oscar Hammerstein II this fall at the Dubuque Chorale’s
fall concert, Linked to the Land. Maybe, just
maybe, that tune or one of the others will
continue to ramble through your mind once
the concert ends.

As Artistic Director of the Dubuque Chorale, Bob Demaree has worked hard to
bring songs about people, place, and heritage to the group’s performances. He
strives to have the group present more than
simply a collection of music, but a collection
of songs that together tell a story to which
people can relate. Two years ago, the theme
was centered on the rich heritage of families that settled in the greater Dubuque
area. Last year, the Chorale’s performances
focused on the importance of rivers in our
lives, especially the Mississippi River, and
what it means to Iowa. In November, they
bring the land to the forefront, how we are
dependent upon it, and how its forces influence our lives; we are all Linked to the Land.
“Linked to the Land is a special event for me
because it has evoked fond memories of
my childhood and of my grandfather,” said
Demaree. “In my family, the Demaree farmstead was an integral part of our heritage,
and programming and rehearsing pieces
relating to the planting, cultivating, and
harvesting of crops has been tremendously
rewarding.”
The land around us is some of the richest,
most fertile in the world. The Chorale will
bring to life the values of hard work, trust,
faith, family, and community that center
around our land. These life experiences
24  ❖  Julien’s Journal  ❖  November 2015

weave a story, which makes our lives a
bountiful living fabric.
The Dubuque Chorale, Children’s Choir,
and Cadenza will celebrate our agricultural heritage with a multi-media event on
Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8,
at the Five Flags Center. The program will
open and close with combined choirs performing arrangements of the well-known
hymns “For the Beauty of the Earth” and
“We Gather Together.”
Linked to the Land will highlight, through
songs, the cycle of farming life, from planting and cultivating, to growing, reaping,
and harvesting. From “Trust the Seeds”
(Elizabeth Alexander) and “Plant a Radish” (Harvey Schmidt), to