Over Havet performance on Ellis Island!
So…Tracy Resseguie is taking his choir to Norway, soon, to sing Over Havet in the places where the piece’s subject, Peter Mandius Nerland, grew up- including the church on the coastal island of Norway where he was baptized. (Think of it- “my eyes look out, gray as the gray north-sky, across the sea…”).
On the way back from Norway, the choir is intentionally coming through Ellis Island. So Tracy applied for a permit to sing Over Havet in the Great Hall of Ellis Island, but his request was denied, citing federal policy that that kind of performance is not permitted in the Great Hall because of the weight of its historic significance. They gave him permission to sing outside, instead.
So Tracy (in typical fashion) wrote a couple senators, explaining the piece’s significance to American immigration…and today he received a letter from Washington, DC, stating that he will be given an exception to their policy, and his choir will be permitted to perform it in the Great Hall on Ellis Island, March 19th, at 2:00. The videographer who is making a local PBS documentary about the piece will be there to video the performance. I can’t WAIT to see it, and I wish I could be there!!!
