MUSIC

Houston Chamber Choir will perform Renaissance music celebrating the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary in their season opening concert, Ave Maria: Music of Devotion to our Lady at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, 77002 on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the internationally recognized Houston Chamber Choir said, “The Co-Cathedral is the perfect setting for this ethereal concert. The story of Mary has inspired some of the great music of Western culture. I have selected a variety of pieces for the Choir which illustrate Mary’s journey from a humble maiden, to joyful mother, and finally to a mother grieving for her son. The choral works express the love, joy, wonder and mystery of Mary. We are thrilled to share this transcendent experience with Houstonians in the Co-Cathedral’s acoustically superb setting.”

On the concert program are works that span 500 years from the triple-choir setting of the Franciscan poem, Stabat Mater by Renaissance composer Felice Anerio, the transcendent mysticism of Avro Pärt’s recent setting of the Magnificat, and John Taverner’s Song to the Mother of God. The beloved Ave Maria by Franz Schubert brings the concert and Mary’s story to a poignant close.