Articles
Community choir wants to 'be somebody' in artistic community
Submitted by admin on January 8, 2012 - 10:29pmIf you’ve ever attended any kind of choral performance, you probably think you have a good idea of what they're always like.
The singers shuffle onto the stage, someone sits at the piano, the conductor stands before the group and they sing two hours away before shuffling off the stage, ending the concert.
Utah Voices has a different vision of what the choral experience should be for both choir members and audience.
“I think that Utah Voices has set a precedent that we do not ever have boring concerts. …We want the concept of choral singing to be something that is engaging,” said Juliann Peacock, managing director and one of the founders of the choir.
The formula seems to be working. According to its creators, the 180-member choir has already developed quite the following and has even been invited to perform in the Lincoln Center in New York this month.
Utah Voices is only in its third season.
The 2011-2012 season officially kicks off with a fall performance, “Hometown Praise” on Nov. 11 at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall in Salt Lake City.
The choir is currently under the direction of Dr. Michael Huff, a visiting professor at Utah State University. Among other accomplishments, Huff was associate conductor and principal accompanist for the Utah Symphony Chorus for more than a decade. He’s spent many years building a reputation as a conductor, arranger, composer, teacher and clinician.
Huff described a “blueprint” he had set aside years ago, a plan for how he would run a choir if he got the chance. The development of a brand new community choir gave him that chance.
Peacock and some other members of a community choir Huff had directed wanted to continue singing under Huff’s direction. Peacock said she approached Huff and he basically told her if she started pulling a choir together for him to conduct, he would conduct it.
“The Utah Voices plan was my plan for the ultimate community choir,” he said. He described a choir that exists to serve its members and the community, one that puts on concerts that are both interesting and entertaining, one that is inclusive. And, he says, Utah Voices is that choir.
The most important thing that sets the choir apart, both Huff and Peacock agree, is that Utah Voices is a non-auditioned choir.
Utah Voices sings ‘Messiah’ with spirit conviction
Submitted by admin on December 19, 2011 - 3:59pmBY CATHERINE REESE NEWTON
The Salt Lake Tribune
December always brings a full slate of “Messiahs” to the Wasatch Front, and Utah Voices — a relative newcomer to the state’s choral scene — made a noteworthy contribution to the ranks this year.
The 166-voice volunteer choir was founded in summer 2009; over this past Thanksgiving weekend, about half its members participated in a large-forces performance of the Handel oratorio in New York’s Carnegie Hall. This head start resulted in generally well-polished performances of the oratorio’s soaring choruses on Monday; the singers of Utah Voices followed conductor Michael Huff attentively, with only one miscue to speak of. All through the evening, from a buoyant reading of “And the Glory of the Lord” until the final “Amen,” they sang with spirit and conviction.
Monday’s performance in Libby Gardner Concert Hall was an interesting mix of old and new performance practices. A chamber-size pickup orchestra accompanied the large-ish chorus; Huff did an expert job keeping the forces balanced.
Many of the rhythms were smoothed out, recalling “Messiahs” of years past — and the continuo part was played on a synthesizer. The Handel score was trimmed in the interest of time, but only a couple of the transitions — such as the one between the baritone aria “Why do the nations so furiously rage together” and the tenor recitative “He that dwelleth in heaven” — were particularly jarring.
Of the soloists, tenor Robert Breault gave the most polished performance; his laser-focused pianissimos were most impressive, and his use of ornamentation was always tasteful.
But it was mezzo-soprano Mary Ann Dresher who seemed to make the most genuine emotional connection to the music and text, whether in her exuberantly ornamented aria “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion” or her deeply moving “He was despised.”
Soprano Cindy Dewey brought dramatic flair to the musical telling of the Nativity story and the ever-popular “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” and Shane Warby used his light, agile baritone to especially fine effect on the simmering “Why do the nations rage.”
Utah Voices: 'Carmina Burana,' a medieval love story
Submitted by admin on April 22, 2010 - 5:00pmUtah Voices presents the popular cantata — Catherine Reese Newton of the Salt Lake Tribune reports: Utah Voices made its debut in December performing Handel's "Messiah." For its follow-up concert, the community group will perform a work that represents a 180-degree turn: "Carmina Burana," Carl Orff's popular cantata based on somewhat-bawdy texts by medieval monks.
" 'Carmina Burana' is a little bit different from 'Messiah' in subject matter, tone and intention," understates music director Michael Huff. "It's a lot of different things to a lot of different people, depending on how you look at the world and at life." Huff sees it as "a celebration of what it is to be human, of the emergence of spring and all that portends."
"It's not a prurient sort of thing; it's a love story," he said. A love story, that is, that's framed by a rafter-rattling reminder of the fickleness of fate. The cantata's opening/closing chorus, "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi," forcefully drives home the point that "life sometimes kicks you around," Huff said.
The 170-voice chorus will be backed by two pianos and percussion. If you're accustomed to the full-bore choral/orchestral version, Huff says you may be pleasantly surprised at how well-balanced the voices and accompaniment are in this version...
Utah Voices sing out heartily in 'Carmina'
Submitted by admin on April 1, 2010 - 5:00pmBreault's 'roasting swan' is highlight of cantata — Catherine Reese Newton of the Salt Lake Tribune reports, Utah Voices, the new chorus on the block, seems determined to make a big splash. After introducing itself in December with Handel's "Messiah," the 170-voice ensemble followed up on Friday with another choral blockbuster, Carl Orff's celebrated secular cantata "Carmina Burana."
The chorus gave an enthusiastic and generally well-polished performance under the tag-team batons of artistic director Michael Huff and associate conductor Kelly DeHaan. Each conductor took his turn at the keyboard, joining assistant accompanist Natalie Campbell in the two-piano reduction of the score, when not on the podium; an impressive array of percussionists joined in at key moments.
Soprano Jennifer Larson and baritone Christopher Clayton were appealing as the young lovers in the cantata's third section, "The Court of Love." Clayton also had an amusing turn as the Abbot of Cockaigne in the tavern scene. But it was tenor Robert Breault who stole the show with his portrayal of the roasting swan. His disheveled appearance and hammy antics delighted the full-capacity Libby Gardner Concert Hall crowd -- but, most important, his singing was impeccable...
Utah Voices: Another chorus's Hallelujah
Submitted by admin on December 2, 2009 - 5:00pmNew choir starts its performing career with the "Messiah" — Catherine Reese Newton of the Salt Lake Tribune reports: "Michael Huff doesn't believe in starting small. Utah Voices, the choir he directs, makes its debut this weekend performing Handel's "Messiah" with one of Utah's leading orchestras, the Salt Lake Symphony.
Huff is a veteran of the northern Utah conducting scene. His résumé includes stints as music director of the South Davis Civic Chorale and Orchestra and associate conductor and principal accompanist for the Utah Symphony Chorus, and he currently teaches conducting and piano at the University of Utah
Marketing manager Bronwyn Evans said the Utah Voices board recruited Huff based on members' experience singing with him in various community and church choirs. Huff agreed on the condition that he not be the one assembling the singers. "It was their choir to put together," he said.
Before the new choir's first rehearsal in September, Huff remembers thinking, "I hope someone shows up." Around 130 singers did; that number has grown to 170....."
New choir already going strong
Submitted by admin on October 21, 2009 - 5:00pm
There are some new “Voices” on the Davis County music scene, and they plan on being heard for a long time to come.
Utah Voices, a new choir combining singers from Davis County and all over the Wasatch Front, is currently gearing up for their first season. Dr. Michael Huff, the director of the choir, is pleased that the group has already gotten off to such a solid beginning.
“When we put the choir together, we were like ‘I hope someone shows up for the first rehearsal,” said Huff. “We had 130 people show up, and we have about 170 on our rolls now. We’re just thrilled.”
The seed for Utah Voices came when Huff, who recently parted ways with the Salt Lake Symphonic Choir, had a group of singers ask him to lead them. Huff then suggested that they first form their own choir, and if they wanted him to still lead it he would.
“I wanted to make sure that the choir isn’t all about me,” he said. “If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, there will still be someplace where people could sing and have a good time.”
The key to this can be found in the group’s board of directors, which serves to balance the artistic direction, and the advisory board, which features notable figures who are willing to guide the choir and help it grow. The board of directors is currently guided by Juliann Peacock...
