FROM ARABIA TO ARGENTINA: WOMEN’S VOICES IN GLOBAL SONG

Hoboken's all-women community chorus, Cantigas Women's Choir, presents its eight annual spring concert entitled FROM ARABIA TO ARGENTINA: WOmen's Voices in global song on Saturday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Trinity Church at 57 Eighth Street (at Hudson Street) in Hoboken, N.J with an additional performance in New York City on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of St. Joseph at 371 Sixth Avenue (between Washington Place and Waverly Place) in New York City.

Joan Isaacs Litman directs the chorus with accompaniment by assistant director Erasmia Voukelatos. This year's concert features the North American premiere of Argentinian composer Leonardo San Juan's Magnificat. Mr. San Juan is traveling to the United States to work with the choir and will guest conduct his piece himself at both performances. "The American people are so cultured — I hope that my music will be well-received, and that I can share all that I put into it," Mr. San Juan says. "I feel truly honored that Cantigas Women's Choir and director Joan Litman have chosen my music for their concert — and am doubly grateful for giving me the opportunity to work with them. It will be an enriching experience for everyone."

Ms. Litman echoes the sentiment. "I first learned of Leonardo San Juan's Magnificat two years ago when I attended a rehearsal of a women's choir in Buenos Aires preparing the piece for a concert. I immediately thought, "Wow, what a dynamite piece!' There's so much variety in the composition — so much vigor."

Ms. Voukelatos will also perform two of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas.  Additionally, the choir will perform pieces from the other side of the world — from countries as diverse as Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and Romania — all culminating in a global celebration of women's voices uniting in harmony. The suggestion donation for the concerts is $15 ($5 for seniors and students).

Cantigas Women's Choir, named after a medieval Spanish song form called a "cantiga," is composed of 40 women of varying ages and backgrounds and brings women of the community together to explore the rich tradition of women's singing. The group performs a broad spectrum of global music and advocates through song for those whose hearts need to be uplifted and whose voices need to be heard, performing regularly with the inmates of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, N.J., as well as at other community events like the Cancer Survivors Support Network in Bayonne, New Jersey, and the Empty Bowls hunger relief benefit in Hoboken. Litman founded the group in September 2002.

Director Joan Isaacs Litman is a native of Los Angeles and has been a choral director in the New York metropolitan area for 30 years. She was awarded with the prestigious "Educator of the Year Award" by the Organization of American Kodaly Educators in Washington D.C., last March. She also received the first "Excellence in Teaching" award from Westminster Choir College. Litman is a member of the music faculty of the United Nations International School in Manhattan and a member of the summer faculty at the Kodály Institute at Capital University. In April 2008, Litman was the guest conductor at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel, and her United Nations International School children's chorus has performed for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to New York. Additionally, Litman is the author of Song Caravan: Songs of the Middle East. She is a founder and Music Director Emerita of Mustard Seed School in Hoboken.