Company Profile
Houston Chamber Choir
Company Overview
Our Mission
The Houston Chamber Choir is a professional ensemble dedicated to increasing the awareness, appreciation and esteem of choral music and musicians through performance, outreach and education.
About Us
The HOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR, founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Robert Simpson, is a professional ensemble at the forefront of choral music in the United States. Dave Brubeck, Peter Schickele, and Jamie Bernstein are just some of the world renowned artists with whom the ensemble has collaborated. The Chamber Choir has commissioned new works from Dominick DiOrio, Jocelyn Hagen, Christopher Theofanidis, and David Ashley White.
The ensemble has toured internationally from Mexico to Wales and appeared nationally at conventions of The American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and most recently at Trinity Wall Street in New York and Yale University.
The Houston Chamber Choir’s 2009 recording of 19th and 20th century Russian secular choral music, Ravishingly Russian, was greeted with glowing reviews: “Ravishing is right” (Gramophone) and “The singing is top-of-the-line” (American Record Guide). In 2012, the ensemble released the world premiere recording of Psalmi ad Vesperas by late 17th century Italian composer Giovanni Paolo Colonna described as “One recording that Baroque music lovers will need to have in their collection” (Fanfare).
Company History
1995
Founded by Robert Simpson
The Chamber Choir sings its first concert on June 25th
1999
Invited to perform in Orchestra Hall (Chicago) at the American Choral Directors Association national convention
2002
Wins medal at International Choral Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales
2005
Hosts Tallis at 500 marking the 500th birthday of English Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis, led by Peter Phillips, founder of Tallis Scholars, and American scholar and conductor Alex Blachley
Tours Southern states, performing in Atlanta and at Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina
2006
Joins Jazz legend Dave Brubeck and his quartet for his first Houston appearance in over 20 years
2007
Presents Houston’s first period instrument performance of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor
2008
National Endowment for the Arts selects Chamber Choir to host a national festival of American music with 2004 Musical America Conductor of the Year Joseph Flummerfelt and gospel music specialist Barbara Wesley Baker
Noted Dutch conductor Reinbert De Leeuw directs the Houston Chamber Choir in a performance of Stravinsky’s Les Noces in its first collaboration with Da Camera of Houston
Gives Southwestern premiere of Vivaldi’s recently discovered masterpiece Dixit Dominus with Bill McGlaughlin, host of Public Radio’s “Exploring Music” and “St. Paul Sunday”
Appears as featured choir at the Texas Choral Directors Association in San Antonio
2009
Stages Duke Ellington’s Third Sacred Concert, his last major work
Releases Ravishingly Russian CD on MSR Classics Label to strong reviews - "Ravishing is right.” - Laurence Vittes, Gramophone
2010
Hosts Chorus America’s national conducting Masterclass with Yale University professor Marguerite Brooks and renowned Swedish conductor Robert Sund
Accepts invitation to perform in Dallas at the national convention of the Organization of American Kodály Educators
Peter Schickele joins the Chamber Choir for “Bach in the Saddle, An Evening of P.D.Q. Bach”
Robert Simpson receives Chorus America’s Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art
2011
Drama Desk nominee Judith Blazer appears with the Chamber Choir in a Broadway-inspired evening at Alley Theater
Gives first modern day performance of Giovanni Paolo Colonna’s Psalmi ad Vesperas
2012
Tours Northeast with stops at Yale University and New York City’s Trinity Wall Street
Jamie Bernstein, daughter of Leonard Bernstein, hosts an evening of personal reminiscences and music by her father
Releases world-premiere recording of Psalmi ad Vesperas on MSR Classics Label with acclaim – “This is one album Baroque music lovers will need to have in their collection.” – Bertil van Boer, FANFARE
2013
Accepts second invitation to perform at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Dallas
Simon Carrington, founding member of The King’s Singers and Yale University professor emeritus, guest conducts the Houston Chamber Choir in an all British program
2014
María Guinand, world-renowned Venezuelan conductor, leads the Houston Chamber Choir in a program of Latin-American music