Houston Chamber Choir Announces Upcoming WHERE CLASS MEETS COOL Season

Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir announces the Choir's 18th season, Where Class Meets Cool. The 2013-2014 season includes masterpieces by Brahms, Handel, Palestrina, and Duruflé, along with works by today's leading composers including a newly commissioned piece by Jocelyn Hagen, recent winner of the McKnight award.

The Choir welcomes several special guests and collaborators in the coming year. World-renowned Venezuelan conductor María Guinand makes her Houston debut as guest conductor of the Chamber Choir for Todos Unidos - Todos Cantamos. In December GRAMMY-nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino joins the choir as guest artist for the holiday favorite, Christmas at the Villa; and the Choir presents the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah in collaboration with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. The season comes to a close with love songs from the 1860s and 1960s, featuring Brahms's Liebeslieder Waltzes, paired with hits by The Beatles.

Houston Chamber Choir introduces enhanced subscription benefits for the 2013-2014 Season, including a Premium Subscription with reserved seating and a free "Friend of a Subscriber" pass; a 3-concert Build Your Own Subscription; and a Bonus Concert, Favorites and Firsts - Hear and Now!, on June 7th, free to all subscribers. Season subscriptions for the Houston Chamber Choir's 2013-2014 Season, Where Class Meets Cool, are available by visiting the Choir's website at www.houstonchamberchoir.org or by calling (713) 224-5566. Single tickets go on sale to the public August 1, 2013.

Musica Divina
Sunday, September 15, 2013, 4:00 pm
Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts
823 Third Street, Rosenberg, TX 77471
theimperial.org or (281) 277-7444

Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 7:30 pm
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, TX 77002
The election of Pope Francis as head of the Roman Catholic Church inspires the Houston Chamber Choir's opening concert, with a program drawn from the wealth of works associated with the papacy. The Chamber Choir marks this historic occasion with Palestrina's timeless Pope Marcellus Mass, The Four Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi for men's voices by Francis Poulenc, and settings of Tu es Petrus, including Henri Mulet's majestic masterpiece for organ performed by Bruce Power on the Co-Cathedral's grand Opus 19 organ.
Sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Health System

Requiem for a President
Saturday, November 9, 2013, 7:30 pm
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue, Houston, TX 77002
Even at the distance of half a century, the assassination of John F. Kennedy remains a shocking and deeply felt tragedy to all Americans. The Houston Chamber Choir offers a 50th anniversary observance with three poignant works: the heart wrenching Adagio for Strings arranged for voices by Samuel Barber, associated with American loss since the death of Franklin Roosevelt; A Curse on Iron by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis; and Maurice Duruflé's sublime Requiem.
Sponsored by The Empty Vase

Messiah
With the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
Saturday, December 7, 2013, 7:30 pm
The Church of St. John the Divine
2450 River Oaks Boulevard, Houston, TX 77019
The Chamber Choir is proud to present the much-beloved Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah each year. This season, we are especially pleased to be doing so in collaboration with the extraordinary River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. Complementing Messiah this year will be Alessandro Scarlatti's charming Cantata Pastorale per la Nativita for soprano and string orchestra. Handel and Scarlatti are rare and gifted masters of the Baroque melody, and these works truly capture the peace and promise of the season.
Sponsored by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

Christmas at the Villa
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 3:30 & 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 15, 2013, 3:30 & 7:30 pm
The Chapel of The Villa de Matel
6510 Lawndale Street, Houston, TX 77023
The musicians in the Chamber Choir anticipate these annual holiday concerts as eagerly as our audience. The beauty of the Chapel of the Villa de Matel and the sparkle of fresh carols and beloved favorites combine in a way that has made this program a citywide favorite over the years. We are pleased to welcome GRAMMY-nominated guitarist and lutenist Richard Savino in his third guest performance with the Chamber Choir. The joyful Treble Choir of Houston, under the direction of Marianna Parnas-Simpson, once again joins us for the matinee performances.
Sponsored by Raymond James & Associates, Inc.

Todos Unidos - Todos Cantamos:
Music of The Americas with María Guinand, guest conductor
Saturday, February 8, 2014, 7:30 pm
South Main Baptist Church
4100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004

Sunday, February 9, 2014, 4:00 pm
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
906 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX 77840
Under the inspired direction of renowned Venezuelan conductor María Guinand, the Houston Chamber Choir and a group of Latin percussionists revel in the sacred and secular music of Central and South America. Ms. Guinand has long been associated with Venezuela's El Sistema, the nationwide music program for youth that produced the LA Philharmonic's conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel. ¡Viva la Musica!
With support from The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts

Love Me Do!
Love songs of the '60s
Friday, May 16, 2014, 7:30 pm
Lone Star College - Montgomery, Music Recital Hall
3200 College Park Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77384

Saturday, May 17, 2014, 7:30 pm
South Main Baptist Church
4100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004

Sunday, May 18, 2014, 4:00 pm
Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts
823 Third Street, Rosenberg, TX 77471
theimperial.org or (281) 277-7444

Roll over Beethoven: love songs of the '60s - the 1860s & 1960s, that is - brings our 18th season to a classic close with Brahms's ever-popular Liebeslieder Waltzes and The Beatles' chart-toppers in brilliant settings by famed arranger Yumiko Matsuoka. Leonard Bernstein quipped, "Three bars of 'A day in the life' still sustain me, rejuvenate me and inflame my senses and sensibilities."

SPECIAL EVENTS

Hear the Future
15th Annual Invitational School Choral Festival
Sunday, January 26, 2014, 4:00 pm
South Main Baptist Church
4100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77004
FREE ADMISSION
A highlight of our season is always the annual invitational school choral festival, "Hear the Future," which showcases three outstanding choirs from our region. This year's invitees are Flos Cantuum, directed by Benjamin Geier from St. Theresa's Catholic School in Sugar Land; the McCullough Junior High School Chamber Choir, under the direction of Connie Horton from Conroe ISD; and Christopher Fiorini's Langham Creek High School Chamber Choir in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

Scenes of Childhood
Presented by Da Camera of Houston
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8:00 pm
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
800 Bagby Street, Houston, TX 77002
Fairy tales from around the world are retold through music in this compelling program that features the Chamber Choir in the Houston premiere of David Lang's Pulitzer Prize-winning choral masterpiece, The Little Match Girl Passion, and the Da Camera debut of radiant mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke. Lang brilliantly and poignantly sets Hans Christian Andersen's fable in the manner of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Tickets can be purchased through Da Camera of Houston.
www.dacamera.com or (713) 524-5050

BONUS CONCERT

Favorites and Firsts - Hear and Now!
Saturday, June 7, 2014, 7:30 pm
The Church of St. John the Divine
2450 River Oaks Boulevard, Houston, TX 77019
We all have our favorites, but we also enjoy the excitement of something new. Well, in this case there is no need to choose; Both favorites and firsts will be found in this Special Bonus Concert as we sing audience requests and the world premiere of a brilliant new work by McKnight award-winning composer Jocelyn Hagen that the Chamber Choir commissioned just for this occasion. Past commissions by David Ashley White, Christopher Theofanidis, and Dominick DiOrio add to the mix of this spectacular concert FREE to season subscribers.

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