At a New Year’s Day party back in 2002, I was in fine form, buzzed on mimosas and postulating to anyone who would listen that “all objects, ideas, and material processes are musical instruments in need of a musician willing to work towards mastery.” Eric Banks, director of the a cappella vocal ensemble the Esoterics, was there too. When my blustering pontification ended, he smiled and suggested that “the human body is also a musical instrument.” Sometimes the best lessons are taught in short sentences.
Recently, I interviewed Banks about the Esoterics’ upcoming 10th-anniversary season, and he explained the enduring appeal of a cappella music–singing without instruments. “It is music’s purest form,” he said. “Human voices join together without any accompanying technology or amplification. I think a cappella choral music is also a highly empathic art form. Everyone has a voice, so everyone can relate to singing in some way. For me, it is this empathy that makes choral music so universal.”
To celebrate their 10th anniversary–a noteworthy feat for any arts group–the ensemble is revisiting some of their favorite music. Titled “Missa: Liberation of the Ordinary,” their first concert of the season features the wry Mass in G Major by Francis Poulenc, one of the great choral composers of the 20th century. Also on the program are the Swiss composer Frank Martin’s goosebump-inducing Mass for Double Choir and a reflective Missa Brevis by the Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI
The Esoterics sing Fri Feb 7 at 8 pm (St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 8398 NE 12th St in Medina, 935-7779), Sat Feb 8 at 8 pm (St. Joseph’s Church, 732 18th Ave E, 935-7779), and Sun Feb 9 at 3 pm (Holy Rosary Church, 4139 42nd Ave SW, 935-7779), $10.
