Into the West explores the identity and shared sense of place we experience in the American West. Veterans of vocal groups Chanticleer, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists and others, the ensemble has been featured on National Public Radio and on San Francisco’s KDFC.

This 75-minute program will explore what makes this place such a diverse and enticing region to call home. Like many of us, the composers featured in this program have come to reside here, representing every corner of the globe. Through migration, struggle, pandemic, boom and bust, their voices reflect a modern and dynamic sense of place. Their distinct musical languages are unified by a common thread: the music of people who live here now.

Into the West reflects the singers’ migration to the Bay Area, and shared experience of the pandemic. You will also hear the personal migration stories of Clerestory’s singers — what brought them here and what keeps them here.

This program will include a performance of Reena Esmail’s Quarantine Madrigals. These short meditations on pandemic isolation are at once humorous and moving.