- September 6, 2024
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When Joe Holt joined Choral Artists of Sarasota in 2009 as artistic director, the group had entered what he calls an artistic valley.
The chorus needed revitalization, and he was hired to build the ensemble. A member of the U.S. Army Band of 20 years, and a former associate music director for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, Holt had the credentials.
Years later, the work is paying off. The chorus has been invited to be a part of the choral ensemble commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France on June 6.
As many as 2 million people are expected to be at Normandy American Cemetery, with the chorus also performing at Brittany American Cemetery and elsewhere in France.
“We are thrilled we’re going to be there,” Holt said.
The largest amphibious invasion in military history and the foundation for the Allied victory, D-Day saw the loss of 4,414 Allied troops, including 2,501 Americans.
“It’s sort of numbing ... when you think of all of the history that has been lost because they didn’t make it,” Holt said.
“I don’t know how I’m going to sing in the midst of all this,” said Bill Kimbell, president of the chorus’ board of directors. “It’s going to be very emotional.”
This trip is years in the making. It started two years ago, when the group received an unexpected phone call from the American Battle Monuments Commission.
It was asked to sing at the 79th anniversary of D-Day, having been nominated by an anonymous retired military officer.
But the impacts of Hurricane Ian resulted in Holt asking whether he could postpone the trip to the 80th anniversary.
He recalled being told by the person on the other end of the line, “We already have about 1,000 people participating, but I think, considering what we’ve heard about you, we really want you to be a part of this.”
What led the commission to select the Sarasota chorus out of others across the country?
Holt thinks it was partly the success of the chorus’ July 4 performances in Sarasota, which had garnered a loyal following.
He said the chorus also strives to be its best.
“One is engaging the right singers to be a part of this group,” Holt said. “We also set the bar high with our expectation of how they perform.”
Choral Artists of Sarasota comprises 40 auditioned singers, which Holt said is probably the largest the group has been.
“It really offers us a nice, rich, vibrant sound,” he said.
Forty members will be in attendance for the performance, 15 of whom will be younger, nonprofessional singers filling in for senior members.
Some of the younger singers received scholarships from Choral Artists to make the trip. Holt and a pianist will also be in attendance.
At the Normandy and Brittany cemeteries, the group will serve as the featured singers after the laying of the wreaths, performing the song “Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones” by Orrin Hatch, Lowell Alexander and Phil Nash.
“For sure, you will have to have some nerves of steel, because the issue is that we will be facing those very same pure white stones and those blades of grass as we sing this,” Holt said.
The chorus will also perform “Hymn to the Fallen” by John Williams, from the film “Saving Private Ryan,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The chorus’ tour will also involve other locations in France, including Sainte-Mère-Eglise, one of the first towns liberated in the invasion.
Holt said the celebrations there will feature a more party-like atmosphere and will feature patriotic music and other works, with a tribute to 1940s music with a selection of Top 10 tunes.
“This was the music that these service people were listening to, and it gave them a lot of comfort and perhaps support, so the big band there was really an important part of the musical scene at that point,” he said.
Following that performance, they will walk in a parade of approximately a quarter mile, with all 1,000 event participants.
Finally, they will also offer a performance in Paris at the Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, with the selection of music including religious works, with two African American spirituals.
“I felt like it was important for us to recognize the African American community, because there were African Americans fighting in World War II,” he said, noting that the forces were not integrated until an order by President Harry S. Truman. “I wanted to show that, as well as the unique contribution that African Americans have made to our home music.”
The chorus typically rehearses four to five times before a performance, during which time, Holt said, they have had the chance to share stories and shed some tears.
“With this particular concert, it’s a little bit of a challenge, because of the emotional content that’s inherent in it, and how it affects all of us, including me. There have been times when I have said things in front of this group, and the tears are starting to swell up because it’s so poignant; you’re so in awe of what these people did 80 years ago.”
