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Offering of Love, Longing, and Belonging


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Andrew Egbuchiem full profile / Soprano, Countertenor and piano / 3 musicians


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Valentine’s Offering of Love, Longing, and Belonging

Valentine’s Day often celebrates love in its brightest and most visible forms. Toward the Light listens more closely — to love as it is prayed for, remembered, tested, and shared. This program traces a journey through devotion and desire, solitude and resilience, intimacy and community. Across centuries and cultures, these songs reveal love not only as romance, but as faith, patience, courage, and the deep human need to belong.

Each piece becomes a step toward light — the kind that does not dazzle, but endures.

Part I — The Lyrical and the Divine

(Love as Prayer, Devotion, and Sacred Longing)

Camille Saint-Saëns – Ave Maria (Duet)
A timeless expression of sacred reverence — love offered in prayer.

Francesco Durante – Vergin, tutto amor
A plea for mercy and compassion, where love speaks in humility.

Antonio Vivaldi – Vedrò il mio diletto
Joy in anticipation — love held in hope and promise.

George Frideric Handel – Empio, diro, tu sei (from Giulio Cesare)
Righteous passion transformed into faith in justice and truth.

Vincenzo Bellini – Vaga luna, che inargenti
A moonlit meditation on love remembered from afar.

Vincenzo Bellini – Ma rendi pur contento
A selfless wish for another’s happiness — love expressed as generosity.

Francesco Cilea – Io son l’umile ancella
“I am the humble servant of the creative spirit” — love as devotion to beauty itself.

Johannes Brahms – Die Mainacht, Op. 43 No. 2
Love glimpsed in spring’s beauty, yet felt in solitude.

Johannes Brahms – Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43 No. 1
Love tested and affirmed — steadfast and unbreakable.

Johannes Brahms – Drei Duette, Op. 20
• Weg der Liebe (No. 2, Poco Adagio) — The patient path of love.
• Die Meere (No. 3, Andante) — Love vast and immeasurable as the sea.

— Intermission —
Part II — Songs of Spirit, Soul, and Home

(Love as Resilience, Memory, and Belonging)

Gerald Finzi – Two Lips
Love’s tenderness — fleeting, intimate, and deeply felt.

Leslie Adams – The Heart of a Woman
Strength, grace, and endurance — love shaped by resilience.

Claude Debussy – Ariettes oubliées
C’est l’extase, Il pleure dans mon cœur
The bittersweet beauty of longing — love dissolved into sound.

Alban Berg – Die Nachtigall
The nightingale sings — love awakening hope in stillness.

George Gershwin – What You Want Wid Bess? (from Porgy and Bess)
Love seeking forgiveness and home.

Andrew Lloyd Webber – Memory (from Cats)
Love remembered — loss transformed into gratitude.

Henry Krieger & Tom Eyen – Changing (from Dreamgirls)
The courage to claim one’s voice and love oneself anew.

Innocent Okechukwu – Egwu Onwa (Moonlight Play)
Love as community — shared joy beneath the moon.

David Ibinaiye – Gbamu Gbamu (Filled to Overflowing)
Love expressed as abundance and blessing.

Henry T. Burleigh – Deep River
A longing for rest, peace, and eternal love.

Hall Johnson – River Chant
Love carried forward like living water.

Jacqueline Hairston – Lord, I’ll Go
Love answered with commitment and service.

Florence Price – You Won’t Find a Man Like Jesus
Love affirmed in joy, gratitude, and praise.


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