For conductor Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, an attentive and hungry audience is one of the essential parts of creating a transcendent musical experience. That’s why he scatters his Musica Viva choir at All Souls Church on the Upper East Side throughout the church. So the audience is in the middle of the action.

In this conversation, Helga and Alejandro talk about the challenges of managing both choirs and audience, the meditative qualities of live choral music, and the capability of music to transcend daily life to a spiritual plane.

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About the podcast:

HELGA with host Helga Davis features probing conversations with artists across the creative and performing arts that have a unique, uncompromising voice and a stake in the matter of social change.

Produced by Q2 Music www.q2music.org

Q2 Music is WQXR, New York's multi-platform home for dynamic and inspiring contemporary music. Discover countless new artists via our 24/7 music stream – hand-crafted daily to reward your curiosity – and surprise your imagination with a world of new sounds.