HOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR PRESENTS RACHMANINOFF’S “ALL-NIGHT VIGIL“ ON APR. 23 AND APR. 24 AT RICE UNIVERSITY
WHAT: The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, Robert Simpson founder and artistic director, presents Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” on Saturday, Apr. 23 and Sunday, Apr. 24 at Rice University. Houston Chamber Choir was on the eve of presenting “All-Night Vigil” in March 2020 when the world abruptly shut down. The choir returns to unfinished business as it offers this masterpiece within the warm acoustics of the Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. It was the ideal location for the Houston Chamber Choir’s 2002 performances, and 20 years later, the public is invited back to experience this masterpiece.
Wisdom and understanding are gifts of inner contemplation often enhanced by surrounding darkness. The choir explores these gifts in a religious context in what is considered by many to be Rachmaninoff’s greatest work. The “All-Night Vigil” is an a cappella choral composition consisting of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox all-night vigil ceremony.
“All-Night Vigil” was written in 1915 during World War I. The sense of spiritual transcendence in the work was the composer's response to the chaos and suffering around him that he saw firsthand.
WHO: The professional singers of the Houston Chamber Choir will perform Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” with Robert Simpson conducting.
WHEN: In person on Saturday, Apr. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday Apr. 24 at 3:30 p.m., with virtual release on Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. CT
WHERE: Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ in the Alice Pratt Brown Hall, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005
COST: Tickets range from $10 (student) to $25 for regular admission. Go to houstonchamberchoir.org/all-night-vigil to purchase tickets.
MORE: The fee for parking on Apr. 23 is $5; guests can park in West Lot 2. The fee for Apr. 24 is still to be announced.
Check out our website at HoustonChamberChoir.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Link to photos here.
Photo credit: Jeff Grass Photography
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.