In conjunction with Earth Day's 50th anniversary and its Artists for the Earth program, The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Ann Arbor will be presenting a new choral drama at UMMA. Curated by Ben Cohen, Music for a Meanwhile Earth, interlaces actors, soloists and choral artists in a program that is both an existential exploration and a call to action.  Antaeus, the giant who draws strength when in contact with the earth, faces a crisis when Hercules lifts him off the ground on his way to his eleventh labor.  What do they say to each other in the bearhug? Music and texts from the Renaissance to contemporary surround and intersperse the story, including a world premiere by composer Evan Hause, a setting of Yeats' poem "The Two Trees".  

This program is organized by the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Ann Arbor and co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Museum of Art.