HOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR PRESENTS ONCE UPON A TIME ON MAY 21 AT SOUTH MAIN BAPTIST CHURCH
Calendar Release
WHAT: The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, led by Robert Simpson, founder and artistic director, presents “Once Upon a Time,” created by Grammy®-nominated Skylark in collaboration with storyteller Sara Walker and young American composer Benedict Sheehan. Skylark, based in Boston, Mass., is one of the leading chamber choir ensembles in the country. “Once Upon a Time” concludes Houston Chamber Choir’s 2021-2022 season with an evening of enchantment to delight children and adults alike.
The work features the magical retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” by the Brothers Grimm and “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen as interpreted by composer Sheehan. Scored for choir and narrator, this is sure to be a perfect outing for the entire family. The choir is excited to welcome Courtney Zavala, KPRC 2’s Houston Life Co-Host and Emmy® Award-nominated journalist, as our narrator for this concert, which is sponsored in part by Vinson & Elkins, LLP.
WHO: The professional singers of the Houston Chamber Choir will perform Benedict Sheehan’s “Once Upon a Time” with Robert Simpson conducting and Zavala as guest narrator.
WHEN: Saturday, May 21 at 7:30 pm in person and Sunday, June 5 at 2 pm CT for the Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage Virtual Release
WHERE: South Main Baptist Church, 4100 Main St., Houston, TX 77002 COST: Tickets range from $10 (student) to $25 for regular admission. Go to https://houstonchamberchoir.org/once-upon-a-time to purchase tickets.
MORE: Parking is free; seats are first come, first served. Check out our website at HoustonChamberChoir.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Link to photos here. Photo credits: Jeff Grass Photography and Courtney Zavala
About 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 released 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.