The New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus and Butler Flats Chantey and Chowdah Society will sing sea-music at Gallery X on Thursday, June 5 from 6:30 to 8:30PM. During this free event the groups will sing songs reflecting the far-reaching voyages, history, and resilience of the historic Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey.
Gallery X presents the concert as part of Ship Shape II, its exhibit of maritime-themed art featuring works using material connected with the SSV Ernestina-Morrissey, now in its “fifth life” in the fleet of Mass Maritime Academy and homeported in New Bedford.
Enjoy songs about waters the Schooner has sailed and cultures and trades spanning its one-hundred-thirty-one-year history. From Greenland and the eastern Arctic, the Maritime Provinces, New England, Great Lakes, the Caribbean, and Bering Sea to Cabo Verde and back, the Ernestina-Morrissey has, “done more than she oughta,” in the words of Tom Goux, director of the Chorus founded as a volunteer activity of the Schooner.
The Chorus has performed widely in the region, at the Mystic Sea Music Festival, New Bedford Folk Festival, Roots and Branches Festival, and in Newfoundland. Its CD, Lovely Ernestina, is available from Whaling City Sound. Butler Flats are five members of the Chorus who came together to expand their singing opportunities and repertoire. They have performed at the New Bedford Art Museum and Whaling Museum and with the Chorus at the Roots and Branches Festival and elsewhere.
Gallery X traces its own history to participation of some of its founders with a festival and regatta organized by the Schooner’s crew and staff in 1990. Ship Shape II will be on view at Gallery X from Wednesday, May 14, until Saturday, June 7, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 17. Check the Gallery X Facebook page or entertainment calendars for other events during the exhibit.
This program is supported in part by the Wicked Cool Places grant funded by the City of New Bedford through its Arts, Culture & Tourism Fund, and is facilitated by New Bedford Creative at the NBEDC. Additional support received from the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, through its Festivals & Projects Program.