Heartland Sings are a jewel in the music scene in the Summit City, and this time that jewel is an emerald — the Emerald Isle. 

It’s time once again for their crowd-pleasing St. Patrick’s Day concert, Celtic Landscapes, on Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16, featuring music from Ireland and Scotland.

Making a move

In their 28th season, Heartland Sings are Fort Wayne’s professional choral group, and they perform just about every kind of vocal music, from opera to classical and church music to musical theater and rock and pop. 

Celtic Landscapes is a program they’ve brought out several times over the years, and it’s one of their most informal, fun, and popular shows.

I’ll steal a few lines from the group’s email newsletter: “Celtic Landscapes, a magical, mystical, musical, and original Heartland Sings production, highlights haunting melodies and enchanting harmonies to surround the audience in the spirit of the Celtic culture.

“Enjoy a variety of vocal and instrumental selections that will get your toes tapping and your heart dreaming of mist rolling over the lush green hills and valleys of those unforgettable Celtic Landscapes.”

Somebody over there is writing good copy these days.

At last year’s Celtic Landscapes concert, Heartland drew a large crowd of fans to the lobby at Electric Works. However, it wasn’t a concert space, there was no proper stage, and everything was laid out awkwardly for the band, singers, and large audience decked out in festive green.

This year, they’ve found a more suitable venue in Bergstaff Place, 2020 E. Washington Blvd., which should be cozy and comfortable and sound good, too — and have easier parking. Bergstaff has a seating capacity of 228, and this show might sell out. So, get your advance tickets at heartlandsings.org before you pick out your gaudiest green outfit to celebrate.

Keeping show uptempo

For this show, Heartland Sings will feature 16 Fort Wayne singers, all of whom will take a solo within their set of 16 songs. The set will include a couple of traditional instrumental reels and jigs from their six-piece Irish band — which includes one guy playing the Scottish bagpipes. Maestro Robert Nance will lead the band from the keyboard.

Natalie Young is Heartland Sings’ associate artistic director; she will take over as artistic director next season when Nance becomes “emeritus.” 

For Celtic Landscapes, Young will be the musical director and stage director, only stepping in to conduct the singers in one or two places.

Young is looking to improve on last year’s show by keeping the audience favorites and adding a number of new arrangements of pieces that are also new to Heartland Sings, both traditional and modern.

“We tried to keep a lot of uptempo music this time, because there is so much life in Celtic music, and I really wanted to get that across in the repertoire that we chose,” she said. “Even if you don’t know the music, it’s still so catchy. Everyone loves it, and it’s so easy to dance to. People should come expecting to sing along, to tap their toes, to learn some new music, and to hear some Irish.”

Mix of traditional, contemporary

Yes, in addition to the familiar Irish or Scottish tunes you know from hearing them sung in English, the 16 singers are going to include several songs in the Irish Celtic language, which of course is still spoken and sung in Ireland. Here are the song titles, which I won’t even attempt to translate: “Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneallaigh,” “Dúlamán,” “Aisling,” “Mo Ghile Mear,” and “Shivna.”

Young was glad to find new settings of these songs by the prominent Irish choral arrangers Michael McGlynn and Desmond Earley and the English arranger Bob Chilcott of the King’s Singers fame. Working from arrangements sung by contemporary Irish choral groups will enable Heartland’s professionals to interpret these spirited songs the way they ought to be.

Young said that even though the singers have training in phonetics, they find singing in Irish to be a big challenge. She thanks Beatrice McCabe, a friend of Heartland Sings, who has provided help teaching the pronunciation to the singers. 

As for the audience, don’t worry; as they always do, they’ll explain what the words mean in English as part of the show.

In addition to the toe-tapping jigs, you can expect some lush, beautiful ballads. Young is particularly pleased with a new arrangement of the traditional song “The Parting Glass,” sung by the sopranos and altos a cappella.

As for songs in English, beyond the traditional folk songs, you’ll hear songs you will recognize if you saw productions of Riverdance or Celtic Woman and heard songs made popular by Americana act Switchback and the Canadian group the Wailin’ Jennys. 

Heartland will also sing and play their own arrangements of contemporary music with a Celtic flavor from pop artists you know, including Lindsey Stirling, Jacob Collier, Enya, and Annie Lennox.

So, don’t forget to wear green. Be prepared to sing along and not afraid to tap your toes. 

With the luck of the Irish, we’ll all have a good time.