Cantus “Alone Together”

Cantus, which last performed at Penn State in 2014, has been called “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.” The group returns to perform Alone Together, an introspective look at what it means to connect in our modern world.

By almost any measure, our ability to communicate has never been easier or more advanced. Yet, as the world grows exponentially smaller with new technologies, the rifts between nations, among communities, and in individual relationships only seem to widen. Exploring the struggle to build meaningful connection in a world that has never been more connected, Alone Together is anchored by a multi-movement setting of a Walt Whitman poem, “We Two,” by Steven Sametz. The program is also informed by David Lang’s modern exploration of yearning in his “Manifesto.”

The world premiere of a multi-movement piece by Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen, co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts through its membership in the Music Accord consortium, helps to celebrate a reaffirmation of our humanity through communication and a recognition of our universal need for understanding and acceptance.

Alone Together also includes music by Jennifer Higdon, William Grant Still, Halsey Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, Dave Matthews, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lennon/McCartney, Pentatonix, Elder Joseph Brackett (arranged by Stephen Caracciolo), Leonard Bernstein, and Gabriel Kahane.

Artistic Viewpoints will not be offered before this performance, but artists will engage in conversation with audience members after the concert.