GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING HOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR PRESENTS “CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS” FOR HOLIDAY CONCERT OFFERING

WHAT: The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, under the direction of Robert Simpson, presents “Candlelight Christmas” for its annual holiday concert, in which joyful music of the season will resound through the candlelit beauty of Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston. The Houston Chamber Choir once again offers carols both old and new to welcome the Yuletide season. Make this an occasion to join family and friends in a Houston holiday tradition. In the giving spirit of the holidays, patrons are invited to bring items to donate to The Beacon, a nonprofit in downtown Houston that works to end homelessness and restore hope. Needed are small shampoos, conditioners, soaps and razors.

WHO: Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson will conduct the Houston Chamber Choir. Special guest will be international organ recitalist Daryl Robinson, Director of Organ Studies at the Moores School of Music and organist at Christ Church Cathedral. Additionally, the Houston Chamber Choir welcomes back the Treble Choir of Houston directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson.

WHEN: In person on Friday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. CT and Saturday, Dec. 11, 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. CT and virtually on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2 p.m. CT

WHERE: The choir performs at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Ave., Houston, 77002, on Friday, Dec. 10 and Saturday, Dec. 11. The concert is available on the Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage (HoustonChamberChoir.tv) starting Sunday, Dec. 26.

Complimentary parking is available in the garage at 511 San Jacinto St., across from the Cathedral.

COST:  Single tickets for in-person and virtual concerts range from $10 to $25, with discounts for students, seniors, veterans/military and music educators. Full season digital subscriptions are available at $80. Go to https://houstonchamberchoir.org/2021-2022-season to purchase single tickets or a subscription.

Check out our website at HoustonChamberChoir.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

# # #

Link to photos here.

About the Houston Chamber Choir

Led by Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson, the Houston Chamber Choir is a Grammy® Award-winning ensemble of 24 professional musicians selected from the finest choral artists in our region. “One of the jewels of the city’s cultural scene” (Houston Chronicle), the Houston Chamber Choir has brought Houston an array of choral works for 26 years ranging from early music and Baroque masterpieces, including the city’s first period instrument performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass, to the rarely heard Third Sacred Concert by Duke Ellington, and performances and premieres of works by today’s leading composers, many with Houston ties — David Ashley White, Christopher Theofanidis, Dominick DiOrio, J. Todd Frazier, Mark Buller, Karim Al-Zand, Pierre Jalbert, Marcus Maroney, and Daniel Knaggs.

The Houston Chamber Choir’s awards include Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the American Prize. They were one of 24 international ensembles selected to appear at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music in New Zealand. The Houston Chamber Choir has appeared at national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, and Chorus America. Tours have taken them to Mexico, Wales, and the Northeastern United States where they performed at Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City, and Yale University at the invitation of the Institute of Sacred Music.

The Houston Chamber Choir's recording of the complete choral works of French composer Maurice Duruflé was awarded the 2019 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance. In January 2022, Signum Classics will release its newest recording of compositions by acclaimed British composer Bob Chilcott. For this recording, the Houston Chamber Choir is joined by the Treble Choir of Houston directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson. The title work, Circlesong, is a 13-movement composition for two choirs, two pianos, and percussion based on First Nation poetry of North America.

About the Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage

The Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage brings choral music straight to your fingertips – anytime and anywhere. Enjoy yearlong access to all our concerts, dynamic original programming, favorites from the archive, and our podcast, With One Accord. The Digital Stage is accessible from the web and can easily be viewed on computers using most web browsers. It is also available on iOS and Android phones via the Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage App. 

A digital subscription for a season can be purchased at $80.

About the Treble Choir of Houston

The Treble Choir of Houston is a nurturing community of young women from grades six to twelve that provides them with exceptional interpersonal and musical experiences.

Through Treble Choir projects, participants from diverse cultural, educational and socio-economic backgrounds find their voices as singers, artists and women in a musical environment that empowers them. The Treble Choir was founded in 2006 by Marianna Parnas-Simpson and has flourished artistically since then. The philosophy that only the best is good enough has been a constant guiding principle.

This choral ensemble performs widely in the community and serves as the resident children’s choir at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston.

The Treble Choir’s repertoire is diverse, coming from many periods in the western classical tradition, sung in many languages, and includes world music, jazz and Broadway selections.

The ensemble’s mission is to help each singer realize her full potential as a person and a musician. Self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills are cultivated through the environment of love, respect and support.