Rebecca Tavener | Choir & Organ magazine, Spring 2024
“Mercy-bearing visions granted to the Polish nun and mystic, St Maria Faustina Kowalska, are both inspiration and framework for this deeply thoughtful and moving cantata. Latin scriptural verses and liturgical texts weave around English translations of Faustina’s words, communicated superbly by professional choir and viscerally vivid soloists, supported by remarkably varied and rich strata of string colour from Kinetic.
Knaggs embraces many historical influences, powerfully and unapologetically evident in an instantly relatable work which offers, nonetheless, deeper insights with repeated listening to this immediate and immersive SACD recording. A classic for our time, perhaps?.”
Houston Chamber Choir Presents Rachmaninoff's Finest Work
Houston Chamber Choir will present Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” on Saturday and Sunday at Rice University. The choir will offer this masterpiece within the warm acoustics of the Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Houston Chamber Choir stays up ‘All Night’ with Rachmaninoff
The choir finally will be performing the composer's 'All Night Vigil,' a work they had been planning to showcase in 2020 before the world shut down.
Grammy-Winning Ensemble Hits a High Note, Honors Founders at its First Gala Since 2019
MORE THAN 150 supporters of the Grammy-winning Houston Chamber Choir filtered into the Petroleum Club for a magical, musical evening honoring founder and artistic director Robert Simpson and Marianna Parnas-Simpson.
Magic moment for the Houston Chamber Choir
Alli and Sean Bittner, Richard and Jan Kellogg and Winnie and Ben Powell enjoyed the Houston Chamber Choir’s 2022 gala, This Magic Moment, which honored founder and artistic director Robert Simpson and Marianna Parnas-Simpson for their service to the Houston arts community.
A Sneak Peak of the Sold-Out Concerts Celebrating Rothko Chapel’s 50th
TO COMMEMORATE THE 50th anniversary of Houston’s Rothko Chapel, Dacamera commissioned composer, multi-instrumentalist and conductor Tyshawn Sorey to compose a new work inspired by and attuned to the otherworldly aura of Mark Rothko’s 14 black and purple canvases. The huge, otherworldly paintings were completed for the chapel in 1967; Rothko hoped to create an atmosphere conducive to contemplation, meditation and prayer.
Houston Chamber Choir brings warmth and intimacy to chamber-ized Brahms Requiem
The sopranos’ pure, clear tone outlined the chords’ ascent, while the rest of the choir complemented that with its mellowness. That was all it took to create an air of intimacy, and the choir’s poise carried through even as the music blossomed.
By Steven Brown on November 7, 2021
Houston Chamber Choir honors area medical professionals Saturday
Seeking to honor the researchers and medical professionals who have put their lives on the line to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Chamber Choir founder and artistic director Robert Simpson decided to use the requiem as the centerpiece of Saturday’s “To Bring Comfort” concert, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at South Main Baptist Church.
By Chris Gray on November 5, 2021
Houston Chamber Choir's Living Requiem Gives Comfort
With so much of 2020 and 2021 bringing unparalleled death and loss, sometimes we need a reminder that we are still very much alive.
By Sam Byrd on November 4, 2021
Best Bets: Armstrong, Brahms, and Accordion Kings & Queens
Find a touch of solace in Johannes Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, which will be performed during the Houston Chamber Choir’s concert this weekend, To Bring Comfort, presented with the Houston Methodist Center for Performing Arts Medicine.
By Natalie de la Garza on November 4, 2021
Houston Chamber Choir Concert: To Bring Comfort
On Village News / Southwest News on November 2, 2021
CALENDAR: Sip and Stroll set for Oct. 30 at the Arboretum
By Houston Chronicle on Oct. 27, 2021
Encore Houston, Episode 171: Houston Chamber Choir
Encore Houston, Episode 171: Houston Chamber Choir. The Houston Chamber Choir performs world premieres by Mark Buller, Marcus Maroney, and Pierre Jalbert.
On Encore Houston September 16, 2021.