California music listeners were blessed with a rare opportunity to hear two internationally renowned vocal ensembles share a unique body of work that, for the most part, is equally rare to hear.
Part of the Next Wave Festival, 21c Liderabend achieved a delicate balance that, more times than not, New York’s larger performing arts venues fail to accomplish: an intimate experience in an extravagant, larger-scale setting.
This was my second visit to the Brandenburg Choral Festival, and I was looking forward to seeing younger performers tackle some challenging music. The experience outlined in the programme that Oakham School Chamber Choir have had is impressive, with the school giving over 80 concerts a year and touring recently to Dublin and Paris.
After the overload of concerts and carol singing around Christmas, most choirs have a well-deserved break before starting for another year, but not Vivamus. This young London-based choir entered 2013 in style with a candlelit concert for Epiphany.
Raucous cheering and stamping accompanied Eric Whitacre’s entrance and he looked every bit the part of rock star as he charismatically took to the mic to introduce this evening’s concert. Never before, he told us, had he been to a choral concert that made him seriously consider stagediving.
In my notes for this evening’s concert by Renaissance, a chamber choir founded by the young singer, conductor and composer Ben Rowarth, one word kept recurring – “thoughtful”. This was a programme that had been carefully put together, and which was performed without any unnecessary flashiness or attempts to impress.
An anniversary is undeniably a time for celebration, a time to reflect on past accomplishments whilst keeping the future in close view. This was the case for Tafelmusik’s Chamber Choir on the eve of their 30th anniversary.
It seemed fitting that the Calton Consort's Tenth Anniversary Concert should also be a celebration of the genre they have made their own - contemporary music. Under the direction of Jason Orringe - conductor since its foundation - the choir offered a very varied programme of choral music by living composers, ranging in age from 41 to 103.
Visiting the Sage to perform a larger concert tomorrow night with the National Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Choir of Scotland presented a solo recital this evening, showcasing, we were told, some of their recent repertoire and favourite pieces, including contemporary arrangements of Scottish folk songs.
