University Chamber Chorus
Course Number: Music 145
Marika Kuzma, director(on
sabbatical leave 2011-12)
Matthew Oltman, guest director
2011-12
Rehearsal: Monday and Wednesday, 5:30-7:30pm, Hertz Hall stage
Description and History
The Chamber Chorus of the University of California, Berkeley is the university's
premiere vocal ensemble and a musical treasure in the San Francisco
Bay Area. The ensemble of some 30 singers is particularly acclaimed
for its readings of both early and contemporary music. The chorus has
regularly performed with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, its collaborations
with the orchestra and the Mark Morris Dance Group meeting with sold-out
audiences and enthusiastic critical acclaim. It has also premiered and
recorded works by such noted American composers as Elinor Armer, Richard
Felciano, Morton Feldman, Lou Harrison, Jorge Liderman, and John Thow.
Its concerts have been featured in broadcasts of the Voice of America,
Public Radio International, and Austrian Radio.
Concert engagements have included appearances locally in Hertz Hall, St. Mark's Church, Zellerbach Hall, Oakland's Paramount Theater, Grace Cathedral, and Davies Symphony Hall and throughout California as well as concert tours to Canada, England, Germany (Goethingen Festival), Austria, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. In the 2005-06 year, the chorus performed the Bach St. Matthew Passion, sang a concert of Francophone Christmas repertoire, and toured the East Coast with repertoire from Eastern Europe and Latin America. In the 2006-07 year, it joined in performances of the St. Matthew Passion in Brazil under Kent Nagano, and performed in the American Premiere of Mark Morris Dance Group's King Arthur under Dame Jane Glover. Highlights from the 2007-08 season include the East Bay premiere of Steve Reich's Desert Music.
Critics from the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Opera News alike have praised the chorus as "excellent," "splendid," "electric." "The UC Chamber Chorus leaves no syllable unarticulated and no musical marvel unexplored" (San Francisco Examiner). Among Chamber Chorus recordings, its Handel's Susannah on the Harmonia Mundi label received a Grammy Award; Liderman Song of Songs was submitted for a Grammy award; and its Icons of Slavic Music is known in Eastern Europe as well as America.
Participation
The chorus is competitively selected from singer-musicians in the greater campus community: undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff. Some singers who are not directly affiliated with the University may also be admitted to ensemble. Singers in the chamber chorus are expected to have advanced musicianship skills and significant vocal/choral experience. Members of the chamber chorus typically regard music as their primary vocation or as a highly committed, passionate avocation.
Regular attendance at weekly rehearsals and participation in performances is required. The Chamber Chorus performs several times per semester, in Hertz Hall, as well as other venues such as the Berkeley Art Museum, Zellerbach Hall, and off campus.
Audition Information
Auditions take place in the weekend before classes begin each semester and include a prepared song and sight-singing. Audition information for all performance opportunities in the Music Department.
Sound Clips
- J. S. Bach,
Matthäus-Passion, Movt 4
With Alan Bennett, Evangelist, and baroque orchestra
Recorded live, Hertz Hall, 2006 - Brahms, Opus 62, no. 3 "Waldesnacht"
From CD Of Songs and Seasons
Recorded at Skywalker Sound, 2002 - Bortniansky, Choral
Concerto No. 1 "Vospoite Hospodevi", movt. 1
Recorded live, Hertz Hall, 2005 - Thow: Cantico Movt. 3 "Sora
luna"
from CD Eros and Dust, Palatino Records
Recorded in Hertz Hall, 2000
Discography
Liderman, Song of Songs, Bridge Records, 2005
Thow, Cantico, Chumash Songs, Of Eros and Dust, Palatino records,
2004
Of Songs and Seasons (Music of Johannes Brahms and Lesia Dychko) 2004
Dufay, Missa Ave regina celorum, Sanglier (a division of Wild
Boar Records), 2003
Malkin and Stillwater, Graceful Passages, Companion Arts, 2000
Gibbons, Anthems & Instrumental Works, Centaur Records,
1997
Icons of Slavic Music, Americdisc, 1996
Armer and Le Guin, Uses of Music in Uttermost Parts, Koch International,
1995
Handel, Judas Maccabaeus with Philharmonia Baroque Orch., Harmonia
Mundi, 1993
Handel, Theodora with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia
Mundi, 1992
Feldman, Rothko Chapel, New Albion Records, 1991
Handel, Messiah with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia
Mundi, 1991
Handel, Susanna with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia
Mundi, 1990
Harrison, Lou Lo Koro Sutro, New Albion Records, 1988
Upcoming Performances
- Friday, April 13, 8pm, Hertz Hall
Di Lasso: Missa 'Tous les regretz'
Debussy: Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orleans
And music by Gombert, Poulenc, and Daniel-Lesur - Saturday, April 21, 10:30am-4pm, Hertz Hall
Cal Day Performances: Excerpts from recent concert "La Chanson"
For more information, see our events calendar