The auditioned Midcoast a cappella vocal ensemble VoXX: Voice of Twenty presents its summer concert series, Musical Miracles, led by Music Director John Mehrmann. The concerts will be held in Midcoast venues over the last two weekends in June.

Many may feel in need of some miracles these days, so VoXX has chosen to feature works that span a wide range of the miraculous for this concert series, according to a news release. Songs both sacred and secular, large and small, celebrate the miracles of nature, of love, and of God.  

Purcell’s In these delightful pleasant groves depicts the ever-miraculous return of “cheerful Spring.”

Orlando Gibbons’s The Silver Swan and Jakob Arkadelt’s Il bianco e dolce cigno meditate on the beautiful dying song of a heretofore voiceless swan.

Pieces by Mozart, Byrd, and Francisco López Capillas speak of the miracle of the Resurrection, while works by Josquin, Lassus, and Gjeilo marvel at the promise of mercy. Jonah’s Prayer, by VoXX Music Director John Mehrmann, is a hopeful retelling of Jonah’s escape from his fishy prison.

Two other contemporary pieces–When the Earth Stands Still, by Don Macdonald, and The Peace of Wild Things, a setting of a Wendell Berry poem by Matthew J. Olson–offer promise of the hope and peace to be found in the nature. These are all miracles, caught and celebrated in gorgeous music from the 1500s to the present century.  

VoXX began in the early part of this century as Ave Maris Stella, a group of passionate singers who gathered in living rooms to challenge themselves with early, a cappella music. Since then, the group has grown, in size, skill, courage, and repertoire, entertaining audiences in the Midcoast and beyond. 

VoXX will present Musical Miracles  

Sunday, June 21, at 4 p.m.
Old South Cushing Meeting House
Salt Pond Road, Cushing

Saturday, June 27, at 4 p.m.
Searsmont United Methodist Church
18 Main Street, North Searsmont

Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m.
Hammer Hall at Bay Chamber
5 Mountain Street, Camden

Tickets for the Belfast, Cushing, and Camden concerts are $20 (students may attend at no charge). The Searsmont concert is free, sponsored by the Searsmont Town Library. 

FMI and to purchase advance tickets, visit www.voiceoftwenty.com. Tickets also available at the door.