Damask presents a powerful program of music appropriate for Passion season. We pair some of the most lovely and profound American melodies from various spiritual traditions--Shaker, Quaker, slave songs--with a modern masterpiece, David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion for four singers each playing percussion. This substantial work tells the Hans Christian Andersen story of an innocent girl’s death through the structure of a Bach Passion, with chorale-like sections reflection on her plight, an “Evangelist” narrative style, and a haunting final chorus. This contemplative program, performed without interval, strongly affects audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds and is a worthy counterpart to the more grand and well-known Passion repertoire.