About Musica Spira:

Musica Spira (Music Breathes) will open their second season with “ But They Are At Peace: Music for the Feast of All Souls” on Sunday, October 29. The emerging artist-run ensemble is directed by Paula Maust (harpsichord and organ) and Grace Srinivasan (soprano), both Peabody graduates. Their mission is to capture the essence of life’s stories with innovative musical programming that makes baroque music relevant to issues in contemporary society. Last season, the Wilson Center praised them saying “Musica Spira draws musical traditions of the past into renewed conversations about the importance of life and values.” With programs like “Let Me Speak,” “Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” and “In Pursuit of Fidelity,” Musica Spira combines thought-provoking social issues with high-level professional musical performances. “But They Are At Peace” will explore music’s transcendent capacity to commemorate the dead and comfort those who mourn. Taking place around the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and All Souls Day, the concert will recall the famed 16th-century German theologian Martin Luther who wrote extensively about the connection between music and the divine. Luther’s ideas influenced and inspired future generations of composers, including Heinrich Schütz and J.S. Bach. “But They Are At Peace: Music for the Feast of All Souls” features Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien (German burial mass) and Bach’s Jesu, meine Freude (Jesus, my Joy), which will be performed by a chamber choir of eight voices and organ. Join Musica Spira on a sublime journey through 17th and 18th-century Germany as we explore music’s ability to connect us to both the realities of earthly life and the mysteries of the divine.