Tom Ficklin finds a lot of aural magic in New Haven. From College Street, it seeps out note by note from the Co-Op High School for the Arts & Humanities. Off of Legion Avenue, he hears it drifting from the choir at Career High School.
Paul Bass Photo
The man who brings those “instruments of my peace” — Fickln’s peace — together is Jonathan Berryman (pictured), founder and director of The Heritage Chorale of New Haven, which performs pieces from adaptations of spirituals and early modern music to more contemporary sacred music.
Ask him where to find the warmest welcome in the city, and he will tell you to step inside a church, school, or auditorium where a chorus is hard at work.
Berryman shared his musical story — which is still very much unfolding — with Ficklin on Ficklin’s eponymous morning show on WNHH.
You can listen to the whole episode now by clicking on the link above or search for on any mobile device in the iTunes store and play it later.
“What I’ve discovered is that good music is good music. It doesn’t matter when it was written or where it came from, it moves people,” Berryman said, sharing his thoughts on pieces that ranged from M. Roger Holland’s “Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi” to concertized spirituals sung by college choirs.
“We have an obligation to share this,” he continued. “To communicate to others that which moved us. If we don’t do it, who will?”