renaissance
voices

Renaissance Voices is in the midst of its 30th Anniversary year, a significant milestone that we intend to celebrate fully during our 2024-2025 performance season. From its founding in 1995, Renaissance Voices has numbered an average of 26 singers. We are distinct from other choral groups in the area due to:

• our being completely a cappella
• our concerts being structured around thematic readings that complement and/or deepen the message of the music; and
• the range of the repertoire we sing, ranging from 11th century Plainchant to popular classics by, for example, The Beatles.

We often feature music by Maine composers, such as John Newell, Erica Quin-Easter, Music Director Harold Stover, and others. Throughout our 30-year history, we have performed music by women composers of the past and present on almost every concert, including works by Maddalena Casulana, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Amy Beach, Ethel Smyth, Abby Betenis, Carlotta Ferrari, Angelina Figus, Faith York, Tamsin Jones, Patricia Van Ness, and many others.

Our concerts consistently draw critical acclaim. Allan Kozinn wrote in the Portland Press Herald: “Throughout the program, the group’s 26 singers, perfectly tuned and performing without accompaniment, produced the consistently seamless, velvety tone and rich blend that are hallmarks of Renaissance choral music, regardless of the provenance of the music at hand”. Christopher Hyde, in his Maine Classical Beat, wrote that “they filled the cathedral with glorious sound.”

Program for this concert:
Gloria in excelsis — Juan Esquivel (c1560-1625)
Ave Maria —Juan Esquivel
The Silver Swan —Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
The Morning Star —Traditional American, arr. Virgil Thomson (1896-1989)
O magnum mysterium — Sally Herman (b. 2001)
Sing we and chant it — Thomas Morley (1557-1602)

RUN TIME: 45 minutes, no intermission