I am delighted to welcome you to this new website and season of the great Houston Masterworks Chorus. It is our hope that these pages and links will help you to become even more aware of who we are and what we are doing.
It was a great joy for me to complete my first year with HMC this past musical season. We were a very active chorus, with much great music being learned and sung to the benefit of very appreciative audiences in Houston and elsewhere.
Of particular joy were the "Great Britten" concerts, the "Messiah" sing along at the glorious Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, and, of course the TWO different presentations of the masterpiece "A German Requiem" by Johannes Brahms.
The rapidly oncoming season will include a concert on 9/9/2012 at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in the Houston Heights neighborhood. The concert will offer the hauntingly beautiful "Requiem" and "Cantique de Jean Racine" by the great French master Gabriel Faure'. HMC will be joined by singers from Chapelwood United Methodist Church and other Houston Choruses as we musically pause to remember the terrible tragedies of 9/11/2001 together.
Later in the fall, we will present Leonard Bernstein's exciting and compellingly direct setting called "Chichester Psalms", as well as Arthur Honegger's towering choral work "King David". I am thrilled that HMC's distinguished and beloved founding director, Dr. Ara Carapeytian will be with us to narrate this timeless story of King David. Guest soloists and orchestral musicians will be with us for this performance in the BEAUTIFUL Sanctuary of Houston's First Presbyterian Church.
This coming Christmas season will begin in a new concert location for us: Sugar Land Baptist Church. We will offer Saint-Saens' "Oratorio de Noel" as well as a joyful sing along of portions of Handel's "Messiah". This performance will be a beautiful way for us to offer our talents to the thriving Houston suburb of Sugar Land. Among others, we will welcome to our soloist roster, tenor Scot Cameron for this concert.
We will then return later in the month to the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart for a repeat offering of the Saint-Saens "Oratorio de Noel", along with a wonderful Christmas Carol suite by John Rutter called "Joy to the World". We will also be joined by the internationally acclaimed Houston Childrens Chorus, under the direction of Stephen Roddy.
You will also be able to hear us in concert with the Houston Childrens Chorus in their annual seasonal concert at the magnificent Chapel of the Villa de Matel on Sunday, December 16th.
As I write this, I find myself feeling very fortunate indeed to be at the helm of such a great and diverse group of caring and gifted musicians.
The Houston Masterworks Chorus is one of THE great Houston artistic treasures. Please be with us for as many concert opportunities as possible. You will not be disappointed.
If you are a singer who would be interested in joining our chorus, please contact me directly through this website. I will be happy to arrange to hear you at your convenience, and to hopefully welcome you to our ranks. We are an ensemble that wants as many people as possible to catch the spirit of what we are doing.
The remainder of the 2012-13 season will be posted in the near future. However, we already know that it will include a wonderful performance opportunity as the Houston Youth Symphony celebrates its 60th anniversary. We will sing the Beethoven "Choral Fantasy" with them in Rice University's Stude Concert Hall...and, later in April, we will sing the stunning "Symphony No. 2" (The Resurrection) by the towering symphonist Gustav Mahler. This concert will also be presented in Stude Concert Hall with Maestro Larry Rachleff conducting the incomparable Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra.
Receive the JOY...Hear the MUSIC...Share the LOVE!
Sincerely yours,
Tom Jaber
Artistic
Director and Conductor - Houston Masterworks Chorus
Professor of Music - Rice University's Shepherd School of Music
Director of Music and Organist - Chapelwood United Methodist Church
|
