The Thirteen: Beautiful as the Sky

In this program, The Thirteen explores moral beauty in three guises: the second World War, the American Civil War, and the women's rights movement in America.

Poulenc secretly composed his Figure Humaine in Vichy France, with the intention that it should be performed in Paris upon liberation from Nazi rule. Last performed by The Thirteen in 2018, this twelve-part tour de force is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the practice of remembrance.

Leonard Bernstein Award-winning composer Hilary Purrington writes a new work for The Thirteen that traces the progress and intimate stories of the American women's rights movement. Jeffrey Van's A Procession Winding Around Me sets Civil War poems by Walt Whitman for choir and solo classical guitar with music as evocative and transcendent as the poetry. 

3 performances of this program:
- Friday, May 17, 2024, 7:30pm at Washington Street United Methodist Church in Alexandria, VA
- Saturday, May 18, 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, DC
- Sunday, May 19, 5pm at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD

The May 19 performance will also be livestreamed. All in-person tickets include access to the virtual performance On Demand.

About The Thirteen

"Exquisite in every way" (Gramophone), The Thirteen is a professional choir and orchestra celebrated for re-imagining the potential of vocal music from many periods. Praised for performing with "striking color and richness" that "transfigures the listener" (The Washington Post) and "a tight and attractive vocal blend and excellent choral discipline" (American Record Guide), for over a decade the ensemble has been at the forefront of invigorating performances of masterworks ranging from early chant to world premieres and the centuries in between.

The Thirteen's discography includes a new recording of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610; the world premiere recording of Scott Ordway's opera The Outer Edge of Youth; Truth and Fable, which premiered in October 2019 and was pre-nominated for a Grammy award; the critically-acclaimed Christmas album Snow on Snow; and RADIANT DARK, which reached #28 on the iTunes Classical Charts.