IU Jacobs School of Music Contemporary Vocal Ensemble Perform in Chicago

The Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, under the direction of Carmen Helena Téllez, will present a program of works by Jewish composers on Jewish topics this Sunday, Dec. 5, in Chicago. The free concert will take place at the historic synagogue KAM Isaiah Israel in Hyde Park at 3 p.m.

The program includes the full version of Pulitzer Prize-winner Shulamit Ran's "Credo Ani ma Amin," a powerful composition that the CVE premiered in 2009. (The version sung by Chanticleer is abridged).

Also included are the premieres of "Three Jewish Aphorisms" by Yehuda Yannay and "For You Have Struggled with God and with Men" by Joshua Groffman. The latter is the winner of the 2010 CVE Choral Composition Competition.

The program also features a rare performance of Aaron Copland's "In the Beginning."

This is the third time Téllez has conducted the ensemble in Chicago.

The Jacobs School Contemporary Vocal Ensemble is one of the most progressive university-based performing groups in the United States and the world. Dedicated to the study and performance of vocal and choral repertoire written after 1900, it includes singers, composers, young scholars and instrumentalists chosen for their outstanding musical gifts and for their special interest in the music of our time. Depending on the repertoire, the ensemble adjusts its size to perform from solo and chamber choral works to larger oratorio-like compositions. After its foundation in 1980 by Alan Harler, the ensemble was directed by Professor Jan Harrington until 1992 and is presently conducted by Professor Carmen Helena Téllez.

The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble's concerts combine recognized compositions with première performances and special commissions. Recent projects have included the commission and premiere of James MacMillan's Sun-Dogs and the collegiate premieres of John Adams's oratorio El Niño and Osvaldo Golijov's opera Ainadamar. The ensemble also commissioned the Missa ad Consolationais Dominam Nostram by Mario Lavista and produced the premiere performance of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz's opera ¡Unicamente la verdad! in 2008.

 

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