Alvin M. Keeling 
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, conducted by Robert Simpson and now in its 28th season, will perform “Desert Island Playlist” on Saturday, November 19 at the South Main Baptist Church for its third fall concert. “Desert Island Playlist” acknowledges that there are certain tracks that touch us so deeply that we wouldn’t want to be without them even if we were stranded on a desert island.
In “Desert Island Playlist,” the Houston Chamber Choir will perform some of their all-time favorites, along with customer song requests, for an evening of music with special meaning for all.
“This is a concert designed to reconnect us with works that first sparked our love of choral music, and without which we would really feel stuck,” says Simpson. “We asked our audience and musicians for their favorites, and I’ve added a few. It’s a pleasure for me to anticipate that each track will have a special meaning for someone who hears it. “
The works will include:
- Motet No. 6, Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden by JS Bach
- Miserere – Gregorio Allegri, a closely guarded piece sung only by the Sistine Chapel Choir until a 14-year-old Mozart heard it twice during a visit to Rome and quickly transcribed the piece from memory, the thus giving the world
- Ave Mari Stella by Edvard Grieg
- O salutaris by Ēriks Ešenvalds
- Christus factus is by Anton Bruckner
- Popular hits from The King’s Singers, The Real Group and The Swingles
- The audience sings Mozart’s Ave verum
Tickets range from $10 (student) to $40 for regular admission. Click here to buy tickets or go to https://cloud.broadwayworld.com/rec/ticketclick.cfm?fromlink=2206335®id=77&articlelink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.houstonchamberchoir.org%2Fdesert-island -playlist? utm_source=BWW2022&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article&utm_content=bottombuybutton1.
Parking is free; First come, first served.
For more information, visit HoustonChamberChoir.org.
About the Houston Chamber Choir
Led by Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson, the Houston Chamber Choir is a Grammy Award-winning ensemble of 24 professional musicians selected from among the finest choral artists in our region. “One of the gems of the city’s cultural scene” (Houston Chronicle), the Houston Chamber Choir has brought Houston an array of choral works for 26 years from early music to Baroque masterpieces, including including Bach’s first performance of period instruments in B minor. Mass, at Duke Ellington’s rarely heard Third Sacred Concert, and performances and premieres of works by today’s leading composers, many with Houston ties – David Ashley White, Christopher Theofanidis, Dominick DiOrio, J. Todd Frazier, Mark Buller, Karim Al-Zand, Pierre Jalbert, Marcus Maroney and Daniel Knaggs.
Houston Chamber Choir awards include the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America and the American Award. They were among 24 international ensembles selected to participate in the World Symposium on Choral Music 2020 in New Zealand. The Houston Chamber Choir has performed at national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, and Chorus America. Tours have taken them to Mexico, Wales and the northeastern United States where they have performed at Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York and Yale University at the invitation from the Institute of Sacred Music.
The Houston Chamber Choir’s recording of the complete choral works of French composer Maurice Duruflé received the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. In January 2022, Signum Classics released their new recording of compositions by renowned British composer Bob Chilcott. For this recording, the Houston Chamber Choir is joined by the Treble Choir of Houston conducted by Marianna Parnas-Simpson. The title work, Circlesong, is a 13-movement composition for two choirs, two pianos and percussion based on indigenous North American poetry.
Photo credit: Ken Jones
