By Patricia Platt

In keeping with the 2026 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival’s theme of “Anniversaries,” the Litchfield County Choral Union (LCCU) will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a special multi-cultural performance entitled “From Roots to Promise: Singing America at 250” on Sunday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m., in the Battell Music Shed, conducted by Gabriel Löfvall.

There will undoubtably be much foot-tapping to Carol Barnett’s “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass” that blends two traditions: that of a bluegrass ensemble with banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass and the richness of choral music from a classical Latin Mass.

Gabi Guest, a music educator from Texas who is helping with the concert said, “I have been waiting 15 years for an opportunity to perform this piece. I love the combination ofclassic church music and southern musical traditions that the composer melds together. When I found out the LCCU was going to be performing this piece during my short time here this summer, I immediately reached out and asked if I could be a part of it!”

Another piece, “Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo,” by Cecilia McDowall, was commissioned by The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain in 2018 and will be performed by youths in the LCCU. It tells the true story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy who was forced to travel from wartorn Syria to Germany in a wheel-chair. It is a tale of grit and hope that reflects the humanitarian crisis of refugees today.

The LCCU recruited 12 young singers to perform “Everyday Wonders.” Some are current members of Chorus Angelicus; oth-ers are alumni of Berkshire Children’s Chorus and other local youth choirs. Gabi Guest coached them.

The third piece, Paul Halley’s “Freedom Trilogy,” is a beautiful choral work that blends three traditions—Gregorian chant, a South African folksong and “Amazing Grace”—first in sequence and then layered together as an expression of world unity.

The LCCU is a community chorus that was founded by Ellen Battell Stoeckel and her husband, Carl, in 1899. By 1902, the concerts were so popular that the couple built the Norfolk Music Shed for one weekend concert each summer. It is now home to the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Today’s LCCU consists of 70 singers from Connecticut and western Massachusetts who participate in 10 weeks of rehearsal before the summer concert.

The LCCU is always looking for new members and welcomes all applicants. Felix Graham-Jones, LCCU president, commented, “We are delighted to be continuing to uphold the LCCU’s tradition of presenting fine choral masterpieces in this magnificent concert hall, built for that specific purpose. Dr. Löfvall’s program this year challenges us all—the singers, to achieve the rhythmic accuracy these works demand; the audience, to be led by a chorus into very unfamiliar musical territory; and everyone involved, to ponder how, in 250 years of history, America is living up to its promises.” More information and tickets to the concert are available atwww.litchfieldcountychoralunion.com.