May 9, 2026 at 7:30 PM – The Music Center at Strathmore 

Deanna Tham, conductor
Shara Nova, vocalist

PROGRAM

The Blue Hour, Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider
set to excerpts from “On Earth” by Carolyn Forché

1.  Prologue
2.  Opening
3.  A black map
4.  A memory
5.  A syllable
6.  Angelica-balefire
7.  Canticle
8.  Dark
9.  Early summer’s green plums
10.  Even if by forgetting
11.  Firmament
12.  1st Refrain
13.  Ghost swift
14.  He told her how
15.  Her hair
16.  I am alone
17.  In the toy store
18.  It appears to be an elegy
19.  J’ai rêvé
20.  Keeping a record
21.  Library lilac
22.  My dear
23.  Nevertheless
24.  Oil soap
25.  Older than clocks
26.  Poppy seed
27.  2nd Refrain
28.  She hear no one’s footsteps
29.  Tendril
30.  The ganglia
31.  The hole
32.  The name
33.  The silence
34.  Twirling
35.  Vesture, vigil
36.  We are as paper
37.  Yet the women
38.  You are the ghost
39.  Zero
40.  3rd Refrain

After intermission, we invite everyone to join us for a panel discussion from the stage featuring conductor Deanna Tham, composer and vocalist Shara Nova, composer Sarah Kirkland Snider, and poet Carolyn Forché, moderated by NatPhil Concertleader Laura Colgate with the opportunity for a brief audience Q&A. Questions will be taken at the end of the discussion from the microphones at the front of the orchestra level. 

This concert was made possible in part by generous financial support from Season Sponsors Ed Brinker & Jane Liu, Brad Clark, and Kathleen Knepper.