Houston Chamber Choir Welcomes Special Guest Conductor Barnaby Smith of VOCES8 for LOVE SONGS & SONNETS

The Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir has announced that VOCES8 Artistic Director Barnaby Smith will serve as special guest conductor at the upcoming Love Songs & Sonnets concert on Saturday, Feb. 22 at South Main Baptist Church. Love Songs & Sonnets is the Houston Chamber Choir's post-Valentine's offering, which will be conducted by Dr. Betsy Cook Weber, Artistic Director Designate.

During Love Songs & Sonnets, Smith will conduct two Gustav Holst arrangements from Six Choral Folksongs, Op. H. 136. “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Barnaby Smith to the stage for Love Songs & Sonnets,” says Weber. “Under his brilliant leadership, VOCES8 has become one of the most revered and respected choral ensembles in the world.”

“To have a British musician of Barnaby's stature conduct these two British pillars of the choral repertoire is an unbelievable gift to us and to our audience,” Weber continues. “We are grateful beyond words to Sid Davis, St. Lukes United Methodist Church Director of Music and Fine Arts and Houston Chamber Choir Board Member, for helping make this happen.”

VOCES8 is an internationally renowned British vocal ensemble which performs an extensive repertoire both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists across the globe. The group will perform two concerts at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, including Friday, Feb. 21 and Sunday, Feb. 23, both at 7 p.m. Find a link to tickets here for VOCES8 St. Luke's concerts.

VOCES8 has performed at St. Luke's United Methodist Church numerous times over the last several years, thanks to its close connection with Davis. The church is known for its music ministry, including the Chancel Choir, Pure Sound (Youth Choir) and the many guest artists it brings in for special programs, including VOCES8, Conspirare, Howard Goodall, Ken Medema, Christina Wells (The Voice) and many more.

“What a pleasure and an honour to have been invited to work with such a talented and prestigious ensemble,” says Smith. “I'm excited to share this wonderful repertoire with them and our audience. Houston feels like a second home to VOCES8, so it's particularly nice to be making this connection with the chamber choir.”

The Program:

The Houston Chamber Choir will take the listener on a romantic journey that begins in the Renaissance period, opening with two searing Monteverdi madrigals, Si ch'io vorrei morire and Quel augellin che canta.

Next, are two important pieces from the Romantic period — with the first being Brahms' Vier Gesänge for treble choir, horns, and harp, a staple of the repertoire. The second is Franz Schubert's Ständchen for tenor-bass chorus.

Following these are the Holst offerings conducted by Smith.

The two languid, 21st-century settings from Songs of Solomon, His Left Hand and I am the rose of Sharon,  are similar in tonality and affect. Written respectively by Swedish composer, Sven-David Sandström and Swiss/Italian composer, Ivo Antognini, the Scriptural texts explore the ways in which a lover's right and left hands are used to learn and embrace.

For a jazzy spin we turn to British jazz pianist George Shearing who wrote seven Songs and Sonnets on various Shakespearean texts. Finally, the choir closes with an example of the uniquely American genre, barbershop singing, with a clever arrangement of the partner song Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You from Music Man. 

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