In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument
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Musae San Francisco History
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Musae is a women's vocal ensemble based in San Francisco. The group takes its name from the original "ladies of song," the classic nine muses of Greek mythology. Since its founding in 2004, Musae has performed diverse and accessible music throughout the Bay Area, and continues to stretch the boundaries of traditional repertoire for women's voices. Musae functions as a musical collective in which each singer identifies as a leader and soloist contributing actively to the artistic process. The group's fourteen singers are trained in the choral tradition, but not bound by it. Each singer may sing a range of voice parts based on the aesthetic demands of the music, and the group performs largely without conductor. In its first six seasons, Musae established itself as an up-and-coming member of the Bay Area music community. The group collaborated with acclaimed vocal ensembles Kitka and Chanticleer, performed at charity events, hosted a series of open houses, and produced a full schedule of sold-out concerts. Whether in Berkeley, Marin, on the Peninsula, or at home in San Francisco, Musae offered its audiences a new experience of women's voices with a repertoire including sacred chants, baroque masterpieces, choral standards, chamber pieces with string quartet, spirituals, folk songs, jazz, bossa nova, and popular music from five continents. In 2005, Musae released its debut album, From Argentina to Appalachia, featuring music from North America, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Alegria y Placer: A Musae Christmas followed in 2007, showcasing local composer Conrad Susa's "Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest" for women's ensemble, harp, marimba, vibraphone, and guitar. Musae celebrated its 5th Anniversary Season in 2009 with the release of Five, a collaboration with San Francisco-based bossa nova band Bossa Five-O. The group's third studio album features the bossa nova classics of Baden Powell, North American folk music, and Musae's 5th Anniversary Composition Competition winner "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" by Graham Meyer. Under the new direction of interim artistic director Ryan James Brandau, Musae enters its seventh season fresh off the world premiere of Bay Area composer Dwight Okamura's masterful setting of Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Musae will continue to explore the vast repertoire for women's voices and collaborate with guest artists, including a quartet of viols in Nativities: Mother and Child, Then and Now and a group of local bluegrass musicians for Blue Skies, Bluegrass, and Beyond. |
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