(Photo Credit: David Conte)

Closing its 13th season, the Washington Master Chorale will present the world premiere of David Conte’s new work “The Unknown Sea” as part of the “Poetry Into Song” concert on March 5, 2023, at the National Presbyterian Church. The concert starts at 5:00 p.m., local time.

The new choral-orchestral work will feature mezzo-soprano Lena Seikaly, SATB chorus, piano, and chamber orchestra. “The Unknown Sea” draws from texts by American poet Elizabeth Bishop.

Conte will attend this premiere and participate in a pre-concert conversation hosted by the former Poet Laureate of California, Dana Gioia.

Also to be featured on the program is Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Cantata “Dona Nobis Pacem,” which uses texts from Walt Whitman’s poems, the Hebrew Bible, and the Latin Mass. Composer and conductor Jonathan Rathbone re-orchestrated the piece. Soprano Laura Choi Stuart and baritone James Rogers serve as soloists.

Originally planned for the Chorale’s 10th anniversary season, the pandemic postponed the premiere of “The Unknown Sea.”