In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Ars Nova Singers

Mixed Choral Chorus from Boulder, CO, United States.

Specializing in a cappella music of the Renaissance and the 20th and 21st centuries, the Ars Nova Singers of Boulder, Colorado are presenting their 25th concert season in 2010-2011. The professional-core vocal ensemble conducted by founding Artistic Director Thomas Edward Morgan is composed of 36 selectively auditioned choral musicians from the Denver/Boulder metropolitan region. In its history, the Ars Nova Singers has presented over 250 performances of more than 100 different concert programs.

The ensemble has received significant national recognition - the Aaron Copland Fund for Music selected the Ars Nova Singers for funding in 2003 and 2004 .The Performing Ensembles program of the Copland Fund supports organizations whose performances encourage and improve public knowledge and appreciation of serious contemporary American music. The ensemble has also been funded by the Chorus Program of National Endowment for the Arts.

The musical accomplishments of the ensemble range from performances of the complete Responsoria by the eccentric late Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo to the premiere of new works by many Colorado and other American composers. In September, 2002 the ensemble premiered a major new work, I Heard a Voice, composed by Thomas Edward Morgan and New York visual artist Lesley Dill. The project has subsequently been presented internationally: in June of 2003, the Ars Nova Singers performed the piece at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The choir has participated in numerous commissioning and new music projects, performing new works by Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Luis Jorge Gonzalez, Jan Gilbert, R. Anthony Lee, and Terry Schlenker. The ensemble has recently joined in a consortium commission of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky.

The Ars Nova Singers have been heard in radio broadcasts throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe, including such National Public Radio programs as The First Art, Music from the Hearts of Space, and locally on Colorado Spotlight and Colorado Matters.

Ars Nova has released ten independent recordings on compact disc, and performed on seven internationally released recordings with Boulder composer and instrumentalist Bill Douglas.

Discography

Displaying 1-5 of 5 items.

Ars Nova Singers : A Shadow and a Dream

Review: Founder Thomas Edward Morgan directs his talented, Boulder-based, mixed-voice ensemble in a program of classical a cappella religious pieces. These 12 songs begin with Hildegard of Bingen's (1098-1179) haunting "O viridissima virga," Carlo Gesualdo's (1561-1613) "Tristis est anima mea," and Robert Pearsall's (1795-1856) soaring "Lay a Garland." Following are contemporary works by Arvo Part, "Magnificat," Herbert Howells' beautiful 6-part "Requiem" and two wonderful pieces by John Tavener, "Ikon of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne" and "Song for Athene." Ars Nova has built their fine national and international reputation on performing beautiful, difficult Choral works like these, flawlessly!

Songlist: O viridissima virga, Tristis est anima mea, Lay a Garland, Magnificat, Requiem:, -Salvator mundi, -Psalm 23, -Requiem aeternam I, -Psalm 121, -Requiem aeternam II, I Heard A Voice From Heaven, Ikon of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Song for Athene

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Ars Nova Singers : Blue True Dream

Review: 40 mixed-voice, Boulder, CO-based ensemble Ars Nova, specializing in a cappella music of the Renaissance and the 20th and 21st centuries, bring us another strikingly different collection. The 17 tunes begin with Wm. Albright's 5-part "Chichester Mass," 4 by Arvo Part," "Prayer after the Kanon," "Bogoroditse Djevo," "Summa" and "Solfeggio;" the lovely "i thank you God" by Eric Whitacre, conductor and founder Thomas Morgan's "Two Poems of e.e. cummings, the Polyphonic "o purple finch" and "when god lets my body be;" Lars Johan Werle's 4-part "trees" and Bruce Stark's "Wind Song."

Songlist: Chichester Mass:, -Kyrie, -Gloria, -Sanctus, -Benedictus, -Agnus Dei, Prayer after the Kanon (from Kanon Pokajanen), Bogoroditse Djevo, Summa, Solfeggio, i thank You God, Two Poems of e.e. cummings:, -o purple finch, -when god lets my body be, Trees:, -!blac, -trees, -(sitting in a tree-), -now all the fingers, Wind Song

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Ars Nova Singers : Luminescence: Music for Many Voices

Review: Boulder, CO's 40-strong, mixed-voice Choral ensemble 8 works by 5 composers of Polyphonic works, two from the Renaissance, Thomas Tallis' "Spem in alium" and Alessandro Striggio's "Ecce beaatam lucem," both motets for 40 voices; Stephen Paulus' 3-part "Meditations of Li Po," conductor Thomas Edward Morgan's "Images from Thoreau" (for 40 voices); and Georgy Ligeti's "Lux aeterna" (for 16-part chorus). There is a stunning photo of the Northern Lights on the cover of "Luminescence," and what we hear is the musical equivalent of this beautiful, haunting show.

Songlist: Spem in alium, Meditations of Li Po, ...and even my soul remains quiet, I lift my eyes to watch the mountain moon, ...and now the last cloud drains away, Images from Thoreau, water into the earth, the hollow mansions, Lux aeterna, Ecce beatam lucem

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Ars Nova Singers : Rachmaninoff Vespers

Review: The Boulder-based 40 mixed-voice ensemble Ars Nova focuses on a sacred a cappella work by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1872-1943), the 15-part "Vespers (All-Night Vigil, op.37)." "Come, Let Us Worship," "Bless the Lord, O My Soul," "Gladsome Light," "Lord, Now Lettest Thou," "Rejoice, O Virgin"...these are all lovely, classic spiritual works, beautifully performed by the renowned Ars Nova. There are some church bells here, but mostly wonderfully harmonic a cappella!

Songlist: Come, Let Us Worship, Bless the Lord, O My Soul, Blessed is the Man, Gladsome Light, Lord, Now Lettest Thou, Rejoice, O Virgin, The Lesser Doxology, Praise the Name of the Lord, Blessed Art Thou, O Lord, Having Beheld the Resurrection of Christ, My Soul Magnifies the Lord, Glory to God in the Highest, The Troparion "Today Salvation Has Come", The Troparion "Thou Didst Rise from the Tomb", To Thee, the Victorious Leader

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Ars Nova Singers : Soundscapes: Music from Colorado and Beyond

Review: Ars Nova, 40 mixed-voice ensemble from Boulder, CO, directed by Thomas Edward Morgan, bring us a striking collection of 18 tunes. Favorites are 3 Polyphonic pieces written by director Morgan, "Three Haiku," followed by Antoine Burmel's "Agnus Dei," "Two Motets" by Terry Schlenker, R. Anthony Lee's "Jesu ducis memoria," Edwin London's "Bach (Again) Chorale: Wer hat dich so geschlagen," "Konstateringer" by Pelle Gudmundsen-Homgreen, "The Ash Grove" (arranged by Morgan), the 4-part "Suite de Lorca" by Einojuhani Rautavaara" and "Irish Tune from County Derry" arranged by Percy Grainger. A beautiful, varied collection by Ars Nova.

Songlist: Three Haiku:, I The moon passes wetward, II The moon in the water, III The temple bell stops, Agnus Dei, Two Motets:, -Sicut Rosa, -O magnum mysterium, Hear My Prayer, O Lord, Jesu dulcis memoria, Bach (Again) Chorale: Wer hat dich so geschlagen, Like This, Suo-Gan, Konstateringer, The Ash Grove, Suite de Lorca:, -Cancion de jinete (Song of the Horseman), -El Grito (The Scream), -La luna asoma (The Moon Rises), -Malaguena (Song of Malaga), Irish Tune from County Derry

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