The ultimate chord of an period rang out on a heat spring evening because the Houston Chamber Choir marked the coda of its thirtieth season — and the retirement of its founding maestro, Robert Simpson — with a night wealthy in concord.
Titled “Collect ‘Spherical,” the live performance at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church was much less a program and extra a choral pilgrimage, main an viewers of music lovers by a time-spanning repertoire that echoed the ensemble’s inventive journey since its founding in 1995. From Palestrina’s Sixteenth-century Missa Papae Marcelli to modern gems by Daniel Knaggs and Rob Dietz, the Grammy-winning group turned reminiscence into melody.
Then got here the second that turned tissues into must-haves: Almost 40 alumni rose from the pews to hitch present members onstage for a lush rendition of Select One thing Like a Star. The sight of generations of singers reunited round their longtime conductor was sufficient to melt even the steeliest of baritones.
Following the ovation-filled send-off, about 150 supporters, singers, and buddies filed into Ouisie’s Desk, the place the postlude to the live performance performed out in celebratory tributes — and one pitch-perfect shock.
Houston Chamber Choir Board president Rick Kellogg set the tone.
“Maestro Simpson has given Houston a world-class treasure,” he mentioned. “We salute him and want him Godspeed.”
The room echoed with applause as tributes flowed, together with phrases from longtime good friend Philip Brunelle, who hailed Simpson as “shining and god-like,” and Jack Byrom, a board member and former singer who lauded the infrastructure Simpson constructed to maintain the ensemble’s inventive ambitions.
Ever the standard conductor, Simpson — joined by spouse and co-founder Marianna Parnas-Simpson — thanked household and longtime collaborators, acknowledging the early days when then-board president Frank Hood fairly actually housed the group, and the current years when Kellogg helped regular the ship by the pandemic’s dissonance.
And in a second that hit like a well-timed fortissimo, govt director Brian Miller took the mic to disclose that Simpson had been unanimously named Laureate of the Houston Chamber Choir. The celebration swelled additional with the announcement of the Simpson Society, a brand new donor circle, and the night’s true showstopper: A $1 million nameless reward, the biggest within the choir’s historical past.
Wanting forward, Betsy Prepare dinner Weber, described by Simpson as “a choral big in her personal proper,” will step to the rostrum as the brand new inventive director. Along with her on the helm, the ensemble appears to be like set to maintain its vocal flame alight and burn brighter nonetheless.
Earlier than the evening ended, Simpson raised a toast. And with it, a brand new chapter started.
The choir will subsequent embark on its Baltic Tour 2025, with live shows in Estonia, Latvia, and Sweden, providing Simpson one closing worldwide ovation as conductor.
Josh Langham, Allison Martin, Ashley Stouffer, Andreea Muţ, Keith Lathrom, Carol Brejot, Rachel and Warren Ellsworth IV, Cynthia and Sid Davis, Alli and Sean Bittner, Johanna and Richard Wolfe, Amanda and Jacob Malinoff, Amy and Brian Kerswell, Greg Goedecke, Wayne Ashley, Alphonso Seals, Josh Wilson, Deb Edquist, Jade Pañares, Jeff Ragsdale, Lauren Suchy, Penelope Campbell, Rebecca Castillo, Kolton Kruger, Emily Wolfe, Ava and Cordell Hayman, Sally Schott, Janice Bradshaw, Pat Bonner, Fredricka Brecht, Carl Cunningham, Linnet Deily, Pleasure Horak-Brown, Nancy Kruka, Ann McGinty, William McKenzie, Dorothy McLemore, Martha Palmer, Fairfax Randall, Grace and Jim Roman,and Justin Langham.
