Sing Out the New Day

The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, under the direction of Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson, announces its new 2021-2022 season, Sing Out the New Day, with season subscriptions now on sale to the public. Single tickets for all concerts go on sale on Aug. 2.
 
The “hybrid” season, Sing Out the New Day, will contain dynamic original programming through in-person and virtual concerts on the Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage.

The Houston Chamber Choir’s 2021-2022 concert lineup is:
 
I. Two Streams, A Cantata
Two Streams - Daniel Knaggs (b. 1983)
Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. | South Main Baptist Church
Sept. 26, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release
 
The Houston Chamber Choir opens the 2021-2022 season with Two Streams, a cantata scored for choir and string orchestra by the young American composer Daniel Knaggs.* Joining the choir for the concerts are Kinetic, the dynamic Houston-based string ensemble and international soloists Caitlin Aloia, soprano; Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano; Christopher Bozeka, tenor and Mark Diamond, baritone. Following these performances, the 70-minute work, written in memory of the composer’s father, will be recorded for international release by Grammy Award-winning producer Blanton Alspaugh.
 
*The Houston Chamber Choir will be featured in the world premiere of Two Streams at Annunciation Catholic Church on Sept. 9.
 
II. A Requiem for Humanity
Ein deutsches Requiem – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. | South Main Baptist Church
Nov. 21, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release

A deeply personal work, Brahms wrote his Requiem for the living. Rejecting liturgical tradition and dogma, he conceived the work as a “human requiem” to offer comfort for those who mourn. Given the losses of the past 16 months and the heroic efforts of researchers and medical professionals, Brahms’ beloved 19th century masterpiece expresses our emotions of sorrow and gratitude like no other. This concert is dedicated to the men and women who risked their personal safety to care for the victims of COVID-19 and their families. The choir is pleased to feature soloists Cynthia Clayton, soprano; Héctor Vásquez, baritone and distinguished Moores School of Music faculty member at the University of Houston; noted early piano specialist Brian Connelly, Artist Teacher at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and Chelsea de Souza, award-winning Steinway artist from Mumbai, India, playing a historic 19th century Bösendorfer piano, like one Brahms himself might have played.
 
III. Candlelight Christmas 
Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. | Christ Church Cathedral
Dec. 11, 3:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. | Christ Church Cathedral
Dec. 26, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release
 
Joyful music of the season will resound through the candlelit beauty of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston as the Houston Chamber Choir once again offers carols both old and new to welcome the Yuletide season. Special guests will be international organ recitalist Daryl Robinson, Director of Organ Studies at the Moores School of Music and organist at Christ Church Cathedral and the Treble Choir of Houston, directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson. This holiday tradition is the perfect occasion to celebrate the season with family and friends.
 
IV. Hear the Future
Jan. 30, 2022, 4 p.m. | South Main Baptist Church

Each year the Houston Chamber Choir invites three outstanding school choirs from the Greater Houston area to participate in its annual invitational choral festival. Now celebrating its 22nd year, thousands of students from the area’s finest school choral programs have participated in Hear the Future. This year, the choir welcomes the Parker Elementary School Advanced Chorus directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson (Houston ISD); the North Shore Middle School Choir under the direction of Erin Huston (Galena Park ISD) and the Cy-Fair Chorale, conducted by Nicholas Lykos (Cypress-Fairbanks ISD). To further its impact on local choral music education programs, the Houston Chamber Choir includes a clinic for eight Title I high schools on Jan. 29, 2022 as part of the festival. This season’s clinic will be led by Dr. Eduardo García-Novelli, a University of Houston graduate who is the newly appointed Director of Choral Activities at the University of Kansas.
 
V. De la noche el día
Music of Central and South America – María Guinand, guest conductor
Mar. 12, 2022, 7:30 p.m. | South Main Baptist Church
Mar. 27, 2022, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release
 
The Houston Chamber Choir eagerly awaits the return of Venezuelan conductor María Guinand, one of its most popular guests, in this reunion between conductor and choir. In demand around the world, Guinand brings a master’s touch to the exuberant and passionate music of Central and South America. Seven years ago, the audience erupted in applause at the conclusion of her concert.
 
VI. All-Night Vigil
All-Night Vigil – Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Apr. 23, 2022, 7:30 p.m. | The Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ at Rice University
Apr. 24, 2022, 3:30 p.m. | The Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ at Rice University
May 15, 2022, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release

The Houston Chamber Choir was on the eve of presenting All-Night Vigil in March 2020 when the world abruptly shut down. Returning to its unfinished business, the choir presents what many feel is Rachmaninoff’s greatest work within the reverberant space of the Organ Hall at the Shepherd School of Music. The hall was the ideal location for the Houston Chamber Choir’s previous performances of this Russian masterpiece in 2002, and 20 years later the choir can welcome the audience back to this extraordinary concert space.
 
VII. Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time – Benedict Sheehan (b. 1981) 
May 21, 2022, 7:30 p.m. | South Main Baptist Church
Jun. 5, 2022, 2 p.m. | Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage, Virtual Release
 
The Houston Chamber Choir concludes its season with an evening of enchantment to delight children and adults alike. Once Upon a Time features the magical retelling of treatments of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” by the Brothers Grimm and “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen, as interpreted by young American composer Benedict Sheehan. Scored for choir and narrator, this concert promises to be a perfect outing for the entire family.