“With pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations.” –John Adams, on celebrating Independence Day
“Shews” means “shows,” and this weekend, the most American show on the Island will be Island Community Chorus’s Fourth of July concert. The chorus’ 2026 repertoire is vast, encompassing multiple genres and eras — but all the pieces share the distinction of being composed by American musicians.
The ICC has been performing since 1996, presenting an international range from Bach to local composers. The group has graced venues all over the Island, including the Whaling Church and the Performing Arts Center, where they performed Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” to a full house. For this concert, however, they are returning to the Oak Bluffs Tabernacle, a space long associated with family-friendly sing-alongs of popular Americana.
This year is also notable because there will be a surprise guest, whose identity has been kept under wraps.
The ICC truly is a chorus for, and of, the Island community. People commit themselves to the weekly rehearsal schedule for more than the excellent music.
“The Island has its own unique ways of gathering individuals toward a common creation. It naturally generates a sense of being ‘part of,’” says Patty Howell, a relatively new member. “For myself, joining … has been a tremendous example of that ability. Island camaraderie and choral music must be one of the finest combinations to be had, and I’m thrilled each week to be a part of it.”
“I first came to the ICC through the [Martha’s Vineyard M]useum,” recalls longtime member Phil Wallace. “There were a bunch of youths in our staff … and one of them wanted to do the Island Community Chorus, so I said, fine. She, of course, left the Island, and after three sessions, I decided, This is awesome. I’m loving it. I’m going for it. And that was 10 years ago. So it stuck with me. I look forward to the seasons of music, and the way Peter [Boak, former music director], and now Bill [Peek], have led us in different times. Christmas is a joyful celebration that’s really from the heart. The spring is harder. It stretches us, and here we are at the 250th, which is a celebration, a joyful noise.”
Stephen Chapman, designer of all the concert posters, has a poignant backstory. “I joined the chorus right after my wife, Linda, passed away 10 years ago. It’s helped to fill an empty space in my life for all of the years since. There’s something so healing and irreplaceable about singing together with other people.”
Sean Potts agrees. “As third spaces vanish and people seek deeper, screen-free connections, community singing is experiencing a massive revival both on and off the Island,” he notes. “In the two years since I’ve joined the Island Community Chorus, we’ve seen a surge of younger people joining our ranks. It’s incredible that the Island Community Chorus exists on Martha’s Vineyard at a time when so many need both a good musical outlet and a stronger sense of community.”
The concert features an impressive chronological span — from Revolutionary-era hymns by one of the first American songwriters, William Billings, to Eric Whitacre’s “Sing Gently,” composed during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically to be performed by a worldwide virtual choir of thousands. In between, there is something for everyone.
The evening will begin with an even newer offering, published just three years ago. “We Belong” is an upbeat piece from Karen Marrolli, a young choral composer. “We just like its message,” says Bill Peek, music director. “It’s an ode to unity.”
Some of the music is iconic: It’s hard to imagine the Fourth of July without “America the Beautiful” (by Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward), and no sampling of the country’s music is complete without a Black spiritual like “My Lord, What a Morning” by Harry T. Burleigh, who spent summers here.
Nearly a third of the pieces share an interesting trait: The composers have set to music already iconic prose by already iconic American writers. Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana,” for example, lends harmony to a series of Robert Frost’s poems.
Peek, who has arranged many of the evening’s numbers, composed the cantata “Soon It Is Day,” featuring the words of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Recuerdo.” Langston Hughes’ “Hold Fast to Dreams” has been set to music by Susan LaBarr. And Emma Lazarus’ immortal phrases associated with the Statue of Liberty were made choral by none other than Irving Berlin, in “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor.”
A favorite from ICC’s spring concert will be brought back: “I’m Glad There Is You” by Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Madeira, which Peek describes as “a song about a person’s appreciation for another person, which we think is a good positive message for this celebration. It’s a wonderful jazz arrangement.”
On a similar theme, Alison Frazier-Hayden will be a guest soloist — with her husband Paryss Hayden on guitar — for a pairing of Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love” with “Love Is What We Need” by Roderick Giles, a contemporary gospel composer. “We put them together because we feel it’s a sentiment that’s appropriate to share,” says Peek. “It’s what we need for our country as we’re celebrating the 250th anniversary.”
The Island Community Chorus will be performing at 7 pm at the Tabernacle on Saturday, July 4. No reservations required: Just show up. Donations will be warmly accepted.