(Photo credit: Rene Roy)

Founder and artistic director of Classical Uprising Dr. Emily Isaacson leads the Oratorio Chorale in “Room to Breathe.”

The meditative candlelight concerts feature choral works by Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Caleb Burhans, Howard Frazin, Frank Ticheli, and David Lang. The programs which coincide with total solar eclipse passing over northern Maine on April 8 aims to “create a space for emotional sanctuary, asking participants to pause doing and focus on being—in this moment, at this place, with the people around them.”

“I designed this program to be a secular ritual: an immersive sound bath, an artistic wellness ceremony, a musical meditation for those who don’t meditate.” “Central to the Room to Breathe program are the musical refrains from Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands: ‘I will hold you, I will love you, We will be your refuge.’ These are words I needed to hear this year. Each time they are repeated I believe them a little more, letting down my guard and making space for joy,” Dr. Isaacson said of the concert.

As eclipses have long been seen as a time of letting go and as a reminder of the vastness of the universe audience members are asked to tap into this opportunity for personal transformation and collective renewal through music. They are encouraged to join the creative process by writing down something they wish to let go of, setting their own intentions, and releasing what no longer serves them.

“Room to Breathe” performances take place on April 6 and 7 at 3 p.m. at the Williston-Immanuel United Church in Portland and at the First Parish Church in Brunswick, respectively.