Britain’s VOCES8 sings Elegiac, Uplifting Songs from Album After Silence for March’s Presenting Series Concert
The eight-member British vocal ensemble VOCES8 makes their Presenting Series debut with selections from After Silence, a four-part online release and double album associated with the elements of earth, fire, air, and water. The evening of a cappella choral works finds inspiration in Aldous Huxley’s reflections on the essential force of music. VOCES8 performs on Thursday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Leighton Concert Hall. Regular tickets are $25, and student tickets are $15.
The program includes works by Nat “King” Cole, Arvo Pärt, Thomas Tallis, Mumford & Sons, Sergei Rachmaninov, Claudio Monteverdi, Sammy Cahn, and more. While these After Silence selections seem disparate, each piece showcased in the program builds on the evening’s thematic power. In Huxley’s words, which define the project and program, “After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”
Yet another Presenting Series artist residency engagement connects world-class artists with University of Notre Dame students. Strong proponents of music education, the ensemble plans to conduct a graduate student workshop on the “VOCES8 Method.” Developed by Paul Smith, co-founder of VOCES8, this distinguished teaching tool is available in four languages and adopts music to enhance numeracy, literacy, and linguistics development.
VOCES8 has performed at many notable venues in its 15-year career, including Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Cité de la Musique – Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo Opera City, NCPA in Beijing, Sydney Opera House, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, and the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, among many others.
The ensemble has premiered commissions from Jonathan Dove, Roxanna Panufnik, Roderick Williams, Paul Smith, Jocelyn Hagen, Melissa Dunphy, Ken Williams, Taylor Scott Davis, Alexander Levine, Alexia Sloane, Alec Roth, Ben Parry, Ola Gjeilo, Mårten Jansson, Philip Stopford, Graham Lack, Thomas Hewitt Jones, and Owain Park.
This event is made possible by the Marjorie O’Malley Sacred Music Series. Co-sponsored by Sacred Music at Notre Dame.
