Houston Chamber Choir Presents HEAR THE FUTURE Choral Festival

Join the GRAMMY-nominated Houston Chamber Choir on Jan. 26 for Hear the Future, an annual event in which the company invites three outstanding choirs (elementary, middle and high school) from the Greater Houston area to participate in its invitational choral festival. This also happens to be the day the GRAMMY Awards will be televised nationwide. Houston Chamber Choir is nominated for Best Choral Performance for "Duruflé: The Complete Works."

The featured choirs in Hear the Future serve to acknowledge and encourage high standards for all school choirs. Now entering the festival's 21st year, thousands of students from more than 40 of the area's finest school choral programs have participated in Hear the Future. The choral concert, to be held at South Main Baptist Church, is free and open to the public.

For Hear the Future 2020, Houston Chamber Choir presents the Parker Elementary Advanced Chorus from Houston ISD, Salyards Varsity Treble Chorale from Cypress Fairbanks ISD and Clements High School Concert Chorale from Fort Bend ISD. This event gives audience members a chance to show their support and appreciation for the outstanding work being done by music educators and their talented singers.

To further impact our local choral music education programs, the Houston Chamber Choir continues with the second year of its expanded festival featuring a special clinic on Jan. 25 for eight of Houston's most outstanding Title I high school choirs. Leading the clinic will be Dr. Kristina Caswell MacMullen, who will provide expert guidance and instruction to each of the participating youth ensembles. She is Associate Professor of Conducting and Ensemble at the University of North Texas in Denton.

The professional men and women singers of the Houston Chamber Choir will be led by Emily Jenkins, who has begun her first season with the Houston Chamber Choir as the Choral Conducting Intern. (Artistic Director Robert Simpson and his wife, Marianna Parnas-Simpson, will be participating in GRAMMY activities that day.) Emily is in her first year of doctoral studies at the University of Houston studying with Dr. Betsy Weber. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Choirs at the University of West Georgia.

Jenkins will also substitute in leading Parnas-Simpson's Parker Elementary Advanced Chorus; Amy Moore will conduct Salyards Varsity Treble Choir, and Janet Menzie and Ryan Bogner will lead Clements High School Concert Chorale.

WHEN:

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.

WHERE:

South Main Baptist Church, 4100 Main St., Houston, 77002

TARIFF: Free to the public. Please go to our website at houstonchamberchoir.org for more details. Plan to arrive early, since it is first-come, first-served on seating.

For parking: There is ample parking available to all patrons in the main parking lot of the church. For handicap access to the sanctuary: Enter through the Welcome Center, located to the right of the sanctuary. Go around the stairs and take the elevator up to level 2. Turn right after exiting the elevator and go through the doors and the sanctuary is located at the bottom of the ramp.

Check out their website at houstonchamberchoir.org.

The Houston Chamber Choir has established itself as one of the premier professional choirs in the United States, serving Houston through concerts and educational initiatives that enlighten, entertain, and educate people of all ages. The Chamber Choir released its fifth CD, "The Complete Choral Works of Maurice Duruflé," with organist Ken Cowan in April 2019, which has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the category of "Best Choral Performance."

Winner of Chorus America's 2018 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the Choir has been described by The Tallis Scholars founder Peter Phillips as "one of this country's leading ensembles." It also received The American Prize for best choral performance in the country and its Artistic Director Robert Simpson received the award in the conducting category in 2015. Additionally, Houston Chamber Choir was selected as one of 24 choirs to participate in the prestigious World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland, New Zealand in July 2020.

Led by Artistic Director Robert Simpson, the Houston Chamber Choir is composed of 25 professional singers, most of whom have studied at the top music schools and conservatories in the United States including Julliard, New England Conservatory, University of Houston, and the University of Texas. These musicians are selected through rigorous auditions from the finest singers in our region and are compensated for all rehearsals and performances. Simpson was honored by Chorus America with the Michael Korn Founders Award in 2015 for his contributions to developing the professional choral art.

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