Main Street School of Performing Arts Brings Caribbean Sound to Holiday Season with "St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass"

Main Street School of Performing Arts (MSSPA) Music Department will present a collaborative concert on December 18th at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins featuring the MSSPA Chamber Singers and Choir, and the Steel Drum and Advanced Ensembles. The acclaimed St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass celebrates the marriage of Latin American cultures and the spiritual legacy of the medieval Italian saint, Francis of Assisi. This concert mass sets several of Francis’ writings into languages and musical styles of the New World. The instrumentation features steel drums (invented in the islands of Trinidad and Tobago in the mid 20th century) and other percussion instruments from Latin American traditions. 

“This is a masterful work by composer Glenn McClure,” commented Main Street School music instructor Matthew McFarlane. “You may think combining steel drums and choral music seems like an odd mix, but it works. It is a musical mosaic of the writings of one of the world’s most beloved saints.” McFarlane added, “This concert mass uses themes from the Caribbean, Africa, and southern United States and is a joy to experience. It has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and other world-class venues. We are thrilled to be bringing this composition to Hopkins, and with it, sharing the depth of our students’ talents and putting a new twist on the traditional school holiday concert.”