Houston Chamber Choir to Present DESERT ISLAND PLAYLIST in November

The Grammy Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, led by Robert Simpson and now in its 28th season, will perform "Desert Island Playlist" on Saturday, Nov. 19 at South Main Baptist Church for its third fall concert. "Desert Island Playlist" recognizes that there are certain pieces that touch us so deeply that we would not want to be without them even if stranded on a desert island.

In "Desert Island Playlist," the Houston Chamber Choir will perform some of its all-time favorites, along with song requests from patrons, for an evening of music with special meaning for all.

"This is a concert designed to reconnect us with works that first kindled our love of choral music, and without which we would truly feel stranded," says Simpson. "We asked our audience and our musicians for their favorites, and I've added a few of my own. It is a thrill for me to anticipate that each piece will have a special meaning to someone hearing it."

Works will include:

• Motet No. 6 , Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden by J. S. Bach
• Miserere - Gregorio Allegri, a closely guarded piece sung only by the Choir of the Sistine Chapel until a 14-year-old Mozart heard it twice on a visit to Rome and promptly transcribed the piece from memory, thus giving it to the world
• Ave maris stella by Edvard Grieg
• O salutaris by Ēriks Ešenvalds
• Christus factus est by Anton Bruckner
• Popular hits by The King's Singers, The Real Group and The Swingles
• Audience sing-along of Mozart's Ave verum

Tickets range from $10 (student) to $40 for regular admission. Click here to purchase tickets or go to https://www.houstonchamberchoir.org/desert-island-playlist.

Parking is free; seating is first come, first served.

For more information, visit HoustonChamberChoir.org.

About 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 the finest choral artists in our region. "One of the jewels of the city's cultural scene" (Houston Chronicle), the Houston Chamber Choir has brought Houston an array of choral works for 26 years ranging from early music and Baroque masterpieces, including the city's first period instrument performance of Bach's B Minor Mass, to the rarely heard Third Sacred Concert by Duke Ellington, 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.

The Houston Chamber Choir's awards include Chorus America's Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the American Prize. They were one of 24 international ensembles selected to appear at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music in New Zealand. The Houston Chamber Choir has appeared 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 performed at Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City, and Yale University at the invitation of the Institute of Sacred Music.

The Houston Chamber Choir's recording of the complete choral works of French composer Maurice Duruflé was awarded the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. In January 2022, Signum Classics released its newest recording of compositions by acclaimed British composer Bob Chilcott. For this recording, the Houston Chamber Choir is joined by the Treble Choir of Houston directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson. The title work, Circlesong, is a 13-movement composition for two choirs, two pianos, and percussion based on indigenous poetry of North America.

Photo Credit: Ken Jones

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