Preparing for Palm Sunday: Crawford Street Choir to perform ‘Weeping Tree’ cantata – The Vicksburg Post

The Crawford Street United Methodist Church Choir will perform a Palm Sunday cantata, “The Weeping Tree,” April 10 at 10:55 a.m. in the church sanctuary.

A cantata is a piece of narrative music for voices accompanied by instruments that may include solos, choir and orchestra. The cantata is the first performed in the church since 2019, said Kathy Mahloch, director of music ministries at Crawford Street.

“We were ready to perform a cantata in 2020, but they closed everything (due to COVID-19),” she said. “It’s a real blessing to be able to come back to church to perform a cantata for our congregation.”

Composed by Joseph Martin, “The Weeping Tree” involves the week leading up to Christ’s crucifixion, Mahloch said.

“It features narration by Pam Martin, familiar hymns, new music, sacred symbols and a chamber orchestra,” she said, adding that the orchestra will feature musicians from Jackson.

The choir will include local residents who are not Crawford Street members.

Some of the songs performed during the cantata include ‘Alas, and my Savior has bled’, ‘Lament of the Cross’, ‘Of Tears and Sorrow’, ‘Wondrous Love, Wondrous Cross’ and ‘Without His Cross’.

A native of North Carolina, Joseph Martin earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and later earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Texas at Austin. . He taught for five years in the Department of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Texas. At Furman University he was accompanist to choirmaster and composer Milburn Price, and inspired by his teaching, Martin began to compose and wrote over 1,000 works.

Mahloch said the choir has performed Martin’s works before.

“We love performing his works and his music blends well with our voices,” she said.