Fresh from their Austrian tour last month, the Minnesingers take over the stage at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center this weekend for two concerts, Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
The program of largely American music includes hits by Taylor Swift, the Isley Brothers and Stevie Nicks; songs made famous by Elvis Presley, Bette Midler and Frank Sinatra; gospel spirituals, sea shanties, folk songs and contemporary favorites.
The 30-member choir also will sing a selection of classical works by Villa-Lobos, Mendelssohn and Brahms.
On several numbers — including the Isley Brothers anthem Twist and Shout, which the Beatles famously covered — the Minnesingers will dance as well as sing, with choreography by Ken Romero.
To honor the Minnesingers’ German-speaking hosts and audiences from their recent tour, chorus director Abigail Chandler has titled the concerts Liebeslieder.
“For people that know choral music, that title is deceptive,” Ms. Chandler admitted. Neither Brahms’s Liebeslieder Waltzes nor P.D.Q. Bach’s Liebeslieder Polkas are on the program.
But Liebeslieder simply means “love songs,” and there are several in this weekend’s shows including Wind Beneath My Wings, I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You and Wichita Lineman.
Even the concert’s more pensive numbers — such as Dolly Parton’s Light of a Clear Blue Morning — have an undercurrent of love running through them, Ms. Chandler said.
The Minnesingers also will reprise their performance of Charleston, from a 2021 concert at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, and close out the show with Barry Manilow’s Dancin’ Fool, from his Copacabana stage musical.
Tickets for this weekend’s concerts will be available at the performing arts center door before each show.
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