Upon assembly countertenor John Vacation within the NPR foyer, I used to be instantly tasked with carrying his superior spangly boots (he introduced two pairs) as much as our Tiny Desk house. Different arms, together with his husband’s, have been occupied with clothes and numerous requirements.
The boots mirror Vacation’s glowing persona — a fascinating mix of willpower, wit and clear-eyed optimism. These qualities helped propel him into movie star standing, not solely within the closing rounds of NBC’s The Voice, the place he was championed by John Legend, but additionally in opera homes the world over.
Whereas Vacation has made a reputation for himself in classical music, he says his aim is to be a bridge between the various genres of music he sings. And on this set he offers us a fairly big selection, together with a chic, Bach-inflected French artwork music, a regal opera aria by Handel, a shifting conventional religious and the devastating jazz music “Unusual Fruit,” made well-known by Billie Vacation. “It’s not a really feel good music,” the countertenor warns, including that it “represents a lot in our nation’s historical past that generally we wish to skirt.”
The one strategy to comply with a music of such darkness is with certainly one of gentle and triumph. Vacation dedicates “Raise Each Voice and Sing” to younger, Black voters, saying, “It’s actually vital that you just let your voices be heard, even when you suppose no person’s listening.”
And for followers of fabulous voices, it’s vital that this voice be heard — the singular, silvery and expressive voice of John Vacation.
SET LIST
- Reynaldo Hahn: “À Chloris”
- Conventional (arr. Corridor Johnson): “I’m Goin’ to Inform God All My Troubles”
- George Frideric Handel: “Ombra mai fù” (from Xerxes)
- Abel Meeropol: “Unusual Fruit”
- James Johnson/J. Rosamond Johnson: “Raise Each Voice and Sing”
MUSICIANS
- John Vacation: countertenor, piano
- Jeanne-Minette Cilliers: piano
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Tom Huizenga
- Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
- Audio Technical Director: Hannah Gluvna
- Host/Collection Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Body, Alanté Serene
- Audio Engineers: Andie Huether, Josh Newell
- Manufacturing Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Alanté Serene
- Tiny Desk Group: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
- Govt Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Collection Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
