The Choral Society of Pensacola Opens the 2026–2027 Season with Voices of Sea and Sky: Celebrating Pensacola’s Naval History.
The Choral Society of Pensacola will open its 2026–2027 season with Voices of Sea and Sky: Celebrating Pensacola’s Naval History on Friday, October 16, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Resource Center
In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Choral Society will honor Pensacola’s lasting naval presence through an evening of music inspired by the sea, military tradition, service, and the people whose lives have been shaped by Pensacola Bay.
Among the featured works are “Beyond the Sea” by Charles Trenet, arranged by Shaw; “Oceans and Stars” by Amy Bernon; “Viking Song” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; “The Golden Vanity”, a traditional sea chantey; “What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?” traditional, arranged by Eddleman; “Wherever You Are” by Paul Mealor; “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, John Denver/arr. Huff; and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” by John Dykes, arranged by Forrest.
The Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Resource Center provides a particularly fitting setting for this concert. Situated directly on the water, the venue offers a 270-degree view of Pensacola Bay, creating a unique backdrop for an evening centered on Pensacola’s maritime and naval heritage.
Voices of Sea and Sky invites audiences to celebrate both Pensacola’s rich history and the powerful role music plays in telling a community’s stories. From traditional sea songs to beloved melodies and stirring anthems, the program promises an engaging and memorable opening to the Choral Society’s new season.
Event Details
What: Voices of Sea and Sky: Celebrating Pensacola’s Naval History
Who: The Choral Society of Pensacola
When: Friday, October 16, 2026| 7:30 p.m.
Where: Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Resource Center
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
This performance launches the 2026–2027 season of The Choral Society of Pensacola, one of the region’s longest-standing arts organizations, dedicated to bringing outstanding choral music and meaningful musical experiences to the Pensacola community.
Program Notes
by Peter Steenblik, conductor
This concert has been ruminating in my head ever since I moved to Pensacola 11 years ago. I was immediately struck by the pride of the residents regarding a historied military presence. I immediately noticed the surface-level gestures of respect: the National Aviation Museum, supportive bumper stickers, flags, and the Blue Angels icons on pillars under the interstate. But it didn’t take long to detect subtler, and far deeper expressions: conversations between military families, generational involvement, and reverence for those who choose to serve. It is an honor to live and work in the cradle of naval aviation.
Beyond the Sea seems like a fitting way to introduce this concert. First recorded in 1945 as La Mer (the French title), this song rapidly became a post-WW2 hit. It gained even more popularity when Bobby Darrin recorded it in 1959.
Next, we offer an Invocation with Edvard Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella. Authorship is dated to at least the 9th century, but quite possibly hundreds of years earlier. This Marian hymn makes brief mention of the Mother of God being the “star of the sea” and asks her to “prepare a safe way.” Oceans and Stars speaks of the emotion we feel when setting off for such journeys. The composer sets the tune in Mixolydian mode, hearkening back to an ancient and lasting tradition of exploration.
Our next set begins with English-born Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who once held audience with President Theodore Roosevelt. At the time, this was seen as an unusual honor for a man of African descent. His Viking Song dates to pre-WWI and sets an elegy to the allied navy by an Irish-Australian poet who was known pro-conscription: the belief that if you are a part of a society, you have an obligation to protect that society. His use of Norse imagery is striking and powerful. We then board the ship with our small collection of sea chanties. Such tunes were sung as entertainment in an oft-mundane environment. We sing of a Drunken Sailor, and The Golden Vanity. The latter tune is a veiled and embellished retelling of the cruelties of Sir. Walter Raleigh. Away from the Roll of the Sea is a modern tune by Canadian singer/songwriter Allister MacGillivray, evoking the lights of home that welcome the weary sailor.
We take to the skies with High Flight, based on the poem of the same name by American WW2 pilot John Magee. During his training, he wrote a letter to his parents, which included this poem he wrote in his mind while flying his plane. A few months later, he was tragically killed in a collision during a training exercise at the age of 19. The poem has been recalled many times since, but quite notably by President Ronald Reagan after the U.S. space shuttle, Challenger, exploded just 73 seconds into its journey. Leavin’ on a Jet Plane acknowledges the painful experience of leaving the safe-ness of home. We honor the family members who have often remained behind.
Wherever You Are is an anthem of sorts performed by The Military Wives Choirs, a registered charity and network of 70 choirs in British military bases across the UK and overseas, bringing women in the military community closer together through song. We ask Who Are the Brave? nineteen times, as the poet, J. Paul Williams, provides possible answers. The ponderous responses are varied: from protectors to orators. While none of the individual replys are definitive, the aggregate collective is sure: These are the brave.
By way of Benediction, we offer up the Navy Hymn, popularized by both the Royal Navy and the United States Navy. Eternal Father consists of four standard verses, which we present this evening, but there are dozens of additional verses, seemingly written for every military branch and possible scenario. And The Storm is Passing Over, written by Charles Albert Tindley, a Methodist minister, around the turn of the 20th century. He is also credited as being the inspiration for the U.S. Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” Please clap and sing with us as we encourage all who are “far from home” to “journey on.”