This Sacramento choral group sings in a cave where the sounds evoke the sense of ‘light and love’
Attendees for this Christmas concert first had to descend 16 stories down a narrow stairway. They arrived in an awe-inspiring cavern surrounded by ancient crystal formations. A conductor, wearing a dapper black suit, punctuated the somewhat damp air with a wave of his arm, and the cave filled with music written a millennium ago.
The women’s choral group Vox Musica performed nine pieces in the concert deep inside the Moaning Caverns in Calaveras County. The caverns, more than 85 miles from Sacramento, are home to the largest single cave chamber open to the public in California.
The organizers admit that the event is obscure, with about 45 people in the audience.
Now in its second year, the cave concert happens only two nights annually — this year their voices filled the cavern with “Light & Love: A Choral Journey with Hildegard Von Bingen” Dec. 14 and 15 in what the group’s site called “Cave, Church & a Cosmosphere.”
The concert is an exclusive ticket (at about $50) that sells out within hours. This year’s show, performed in Germanic Latin, explored the pioneering mystical chants and music of von Bingen, a trailblazing composer.
“Hildegard is one of the greats,” said Daniel Paulson, founder and music director of Vox Musica and professor of voice and choral music at Sacramento City College. “She lived in a monastery a thousand years ago, she was sort of a mystic at points in her life. And she’s hailed as one of the first composers.”
Paulson conducted the cave concert, adding occasional ethereal notes that resonated throughout the cave from various instruments, including singing bowls, a harp, and a shruti box, which has its roots in Indian classical music.
Natalie Seitzman, who works as an energy policy analyst, performed in the inaugural Moaning Cavern concert last year.
“Daniel drew out a little diagram of the cave and handed out pictures, and said, ‘OK, guys, here’s what it looks like.’ I was really excited, I love climbing, and caves. The whole event just spoke to me. When we did the performance, it was really surreal. It rained during the concert. It started as a light, occasional droop of sound, and by the end of the performance, there was this lovely sound of a constant stream of water. “
The cave is a perfect muse for the experimental Paulson. Next year he plans to integrate musical notes from the cave itself, after discovering that, when tapped, some of the crystal formations create beautiful tones.
Rap promoter meets cave concert
The cave is the perfect venue for Paulson. He needed a young promoter, who had been working in Los Angeles marketing rap artists and social media influencers, to make it happen.
Tristann Dias, 24, said in 2021 he was having something of an identity crisis when, a trained classical pianist, he wanted to do something different, really different. He thought of the cave concert.
“Creating music in the cave, this is kind of the opposite of the world of social media,” he said. “Cell phones don’t work 16 stories underground.”
Dias said that the inspiration came to him when he thought about Christmas 2012.. “I was an 11- or 12-year-old boy, and my family visited the Moaning Cavern,” he said. “I was blown away by just the scope of it all. And there was a Christmas performance. It was like a really small thing, just a handful of people. But I was so captivated as a kid being in this space and hearing Christmas music. And it stuck with me, for a long time.”
Dias said he contacted the owners. At first, they were skeptical. “I think they were wondering, ‘who is this kid who wants to have a concert in the caverns?’ I spent a while building a relationship with the space, and trying to get them to open up to do it,” he said. Ultimately, they agreed.
Dias still needed to find the perfect group to perform.
“I started looking around, and then I came across Vox,” he said. “I loved the all-women’s choir, their social commitment and desire to experiment and to break boundaries. As soon as I met Daniel he just got it.”
The annual concert is also a benefit for the organization WEAVE, a local non-profit that provides crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence. The first concert was built around the theme, “lux in tenebrous,” a Latin phrase that roughly translates to emerging from total darkness to light.
“Working with WEAVE ties in so well,” Dias said. “They are supporting survivors of trafficking and domestic abuse. It doesn’t get more lightness into the dark than that.”
A concert dedicated to a victim of gun violence
This year’s concert had added resonance because of a tragic event that occurred last Valentine’s Day, when one of Paulson’s students at Sacramento City College, Chasity Sparkman, became a victim of gun violence.
Sparkman was a new student of Paulson’s. She had been mesmerized passing by his classroom and hearing a student singing a baroque composition. She joined his class.
One day Sparkman came to class with her two kids, Princella, 6, and Zayone, 8.
“It was Valentine’s Day, and she was very apologetic and, I think, embarrassed,” he said. “She told me ‘I’m sorry to have my kids. If it’s a problem I could skip this week.’ “I just said, ‘we are happy to have them.’
“Afterwards, I’ll never forget it, they came running back into the classroom, I think Chasity put them up to it, and they hugged me and said, ‘thank you so much for having us.’” he said. “And I said something I say a lot , ‘light and love to you.’ And I added, ‘remember to tell your mom you love her.’”
That night Paulson heard horrific news. Chasity had been shot to death in a parking lot.
Paulson said that if Chasity were still alive, she would have been inspired by the cave concert and might one day have performed in what is becoming a Christmas tradition.
“I know if she was still alive, she would have been so inspired and engaged,” he said. “Her eyes would be wide open.”
In the fine print of the program from the latest cavern show, Paulson referred to his connection with Chasity, though he didn’t name her.
“Tonight’s performance is inspired by a simple yet profound mantra; I send you light and love. It’s a message of joy, hope and gratitude — one that I carry with me to share with the people. This mantra became especially meaningful to me on a tragic day when one of my students was shot and killed.
“When I learned of her passing the following week, the phrase resonated more deeply than ever. It made me reflect on what truly matters. Is it our work? Our reputation? The things we buy? For me, it’s time — how do we spend it and who we share it with.“
This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: Because of incorrect information provided to The Bee, the story has been changed in its description of the contractual rights to the cave concert.
