‘Missa Gaia: Earth Mass,’ with special guest artist, Theresa Thomason will be presented at First Church’s ‘Arts in the Center’ concert series in West Hartford.

Theresa Thomason. Submitted photo

Submitted by First Church

On Sunday, April 19, at 4 p.m., the First Church Music Ministry Program will present Missa Gaia, with special guest artist, Theresa Thomason at First Church  on 12 South Main St. in West Hartford.

Missa Gaia (Earth Mass) is a collaborative work by Paul Winter, Paul Halley, Jim Scott, and members of the Paul Winter Consort celebrating Mother Earth. It is frequently performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and has gained popularity with several performances by other choirs in the area.

The piece itself takes inspiration in the use of calls of wild animals, including the timber wolf, the right whale, loons, and a South American condor interwoven with music set to the texts of sections of the mass. It truly is a celebratory work for commemorating Earth Day.

In addition to the mass itself, it is customary to include other celebratory music as part of the Missa Gaia performance.  These pieces are often interchanged from performance to performance.  For the First Church presentation, Theresa Thomason will join the First Church music ensembles as a special guest artist, singing a number of her well known gospel favorites.

Theresa Thomason grew up exploring all genres of music.  She continues to tour throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, The Caribbean and New Zealand with her own band as well as a jazz duo and trio.  Her career spans over two decades of performances and recordings with eight-time Grammy Award winner Paul Winter, with regular performances at the world-renowned annual Winter Solstice and Earth Mass at New York’s Cathedral of St. John The Divine.  Other career highlights include a succession of sold out concerts in over 170 European cities headlining a theatrical concert she wrote and produced, performing at the United States Library of Congress, The Broadway Musical, HOT FEET,  and performances at various venues with Savion Glover, Earth, Wind and Fire,  Ray Charles, Dream Theatre, Brazilian artist Ivan Lins, Pete Seeger,  Valerie Simpson and John Rutter.

This concert is part of the First Church’s “Arts in the Center” series.  A donation of $10 per person is suggested, and children are free with the donation of non-perishable food items for the local food bank.  The proceeds from this concert will be used to help fund the First Church Youth pilgrimage to help the Oglala Lakota people in South Dakota this summer. Parking is available in the rear of the church.  The building is handicapped accessible.  For more information call 860-233-9605 or www.whfirstchurch.org.