On Sunday, September 19th, celebrate the approaching Autumnal Equinox with thousands of singers and picnickers at the 7th annual Revels RiverSing along the Charles River in Cambridge. This FREE giant community sing produced by Revels features a colorful Grand Procession, dozens of area chorus members and solo artists, a talented folk band, local sax legend Stan Strickland- and the entire audience- because at a Revels event, everyone is encouraged to sing along!
Over 100 members of various Boston area choruses will participate in this year’s celebration including Sharing a New Song, Reading Community Singers, the Greater Boston Intergenerational Chorus and Revels Repertory Company. Interspersed with the songs will be poetry readings by Cambridge Poet Populist Jean Dany-Joachim and members of the acclaimed Actors’ Shakespeare Project, plus sax great Stan Strickland will perform an improvisational sunset serenade from an illuminated Sun/ Moon boat floating on the Charles – one of the evening’s truly magical moments.
Come early for some Pre-Show Fun in Harvard Square (see below) or enjoy a quiet picnic on the banks of the Charles.
RiverSing «singing» location: The Cambridge side of the Charles River near the John W. Weeks Footbridge at Memorial Drive. Nearest T: Harvard Square on the Red Line
Communal singing begins at 6:00 pm and lasts until dark.
PRE-SHOW FUN in HARVARD SQUARE:
Revels RiverSing Entertainments & Grand Procession
At 5:00 pm drop by Winthrop Park in Harvard Square (in front of Grendel’s Den) for RiverSing family entertainments including a marching band, hula hooping, puppets, face painting and more, then join us in a Grand Procession down to the river at 5:45 pm led by a fabulous «honk» band.
The 7th annual Revels RiverSing is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, The Cambridge Arts Council, and the Harvard Square Business Association.
Revels RiverSing is FREE and open to all!
For more information on the 7th annual Revels RiverSing call 617-972-8300 or visit www.revels.org where you can find video and photos from past seasonal celebrations.
Background: In 2004 Revels first teamed up with the Charles River Conservancy to create a free community singing event along the banks of the Charles River. Since then «RiverSing» has established itself as a much-beloved fall marker and Boston area tradition.
Founded in 1971 by musician and educator John Langstaff and his daughter Carol, Revels links the music, dances and seasonal rituals from an older world to a modern world. The theater company celebrates the seasons and cycles of human life through the arts, the songs and dances, and the stories from traditional cultures in its annual production of The Christmas Revels plus other community events like Revels RiverSing.
Revels, Inc. currently has production companies in Cambridge, MA; New York City, NY; Washington, D.C.; Hanover, NH; Oakland and Santa Barbara, CA; Houston, TX; Tacoma, WA; Portland, OR; and Boulder, CO. George Emlen is Revels, Inc.’s music director; Patrick Swanson, is national artistic director. Learn more about Revels at www.revels.org
Next Revels Celebration: the 40th Anniversary production of The Christmas Revels at Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, December 17-29. Tickets on sale October 20th.
