Vocal Arts Ensemble’s upcoming 2024-2025 concert season includes a world premiere by a two-time Grammy nominee, an exploration of the artistic voices exiled by the Russian government and the return of a beloved holiday tradition, Candlelit Christmas.
“We are pleased to welcome three dynamic conductors, each presenting innovative programs, and to perform at two premier venues,” said John Earls, VAE board chair.
This upcoming season takes place while the VAE board conducts a national search for a new music director to replace Craig Hella Johnson, who left at the end of last season to co-direct the Oregon Bach Festival, in addition to leading his professional ensemble, Conspirare, based in Austin, Texas.
‘The Wounded Heart: Songs of Passion & Loss’
Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. Christ Church Cathedral
The season opens with the world premiere of “The Passion of Mary,” a new work by composer and conductor Benedict Sheehan. A two-time Grammy nominee, Sheehan is the artistic director and founder of Artefact Ensemble (Louisville) and St. Tikhon Choir. In a release, Sheehan described “The Passion of Mary” as “a new exploration of the Christian Passion narrative written from the perspective of Jesus’ mother, Mary.”
‘Candlelit Christmas’
Dec. 21-22, 7:30 p.m. Summit Country Day Chapel
VAE returns to the chapel at Summit Country Day School for two performances led by conductor Matthew Swanson, the newly appointed director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival.
Accompanied by pianist David Kirkendall, VAE will present a program of music that spans a 1,000-year history. The lineup includes medieval plainchant, Renaissance motets and classic holiday carols as well as works by several leading contemporary composers – Judith Weir, Morten Lauridsen, Roderick Williams, Richard Causton, and more.
Swanson will offer a pre-concert conversation at 7 p.m. prior to both performances.
‘Voices in Exile’
March 1, 7:30 p.m. Christ Church Cathedral
The season will close with a performance of “Voices in Exile” conducted by Elena Sharkova, who heads the Symphony San Jose Chorale and the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley.
“Throughout Russia’s tumultuous history, its government forced into exile scores of its best talent: composers, performers, writers, dancers and artists. Those who stayed were forced to work under brutal censorship and live in fear,” Sharkova said. She described the concert as illuminating and celebrating the “strength, ingenuity and faith that kept composers such as Schnittke, Sviridov, Chesnokov, Gubaidulina and Rachmaninoff working despite the heartache of immigration and the darkness of the brutal regime.”
The program includes both choral works and art song, featuring members of the VAE as soloists, intertwining songs of faith and laments with poems.
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