FALL 2024
Synergy: When the Outstanding Outperform
This December, two of the Bay Area’s leading choirs come together to create a sensational tour de force of seasonal choral music. Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble and WomenSing, directed by Ofer dal Lal, will present Synergy, a varied program that will include works for double-choir, full choir, solo and other choral combinations. Allow the music to envelop you as you hear these stellar singers combine their voices into a unity of sound that will be more expressive and affecting than any single part.
Among several choral pieces of joy, Voci and WomenSing will perform Tarik O’Regan’s Alleluia, Laus et Gloria, a shimmering example. The work is a laudatory fanfare! The program will also feature Estonian composer, Urmas Sisask, who gathered inspiration for his music through astronomy based on the trajectories of the planets in our solar system. From this he created the Planetal Scale upon which Heliseb väljadel is based. This prayer to the Virgin Mary brings synergy between Music and the Heavens, and the Heavens and Man.
Through these pieces, and many more, we will discover the Synergy within this holiday season. Partake in our collaboration and hear both Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble and WomenSing as we sing together as one.
Concert schedule:
Saturday, December 7 – 4 pm – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Orinda
Sunday, December 8 – 4 pm – St. Mary Magdalen Church, Berkeley
For information about Voci’s mask and vaccination policies, see Concerts & Events.
VOCI PAST EVENTS
Come, Lovers, Follow Me: Madrigals of Love and Life
May 2024
Voci presented a concert of madrigals and related musical forms from the Renaissance, early Baroque, and 20th century.
Peace Be Within Thy Walls
March 2024
In this concert, through sounds that are not only soothing, but at times provoking, Voci presented a REAL peace — one that may require effort and even sacrifice.
Transitions
December 2023
For the 21st annual Voices in Peace concert, Voci embraced and explored some of the transitions that define our existence. Voci also premiered Edna Yeh’s setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Twilight.”
In the Time of Brahms: Music for Women’s Voices from the Master and his Friends
March 2023
Voci performed a special concert featuring favorites from Johannes Brahms and his dear friends, Robert and Clara Schumann. Voci was joined by two horn players, a harpist, and a second pianist.
We Rise! Songs of Overcoming
December 2022
In the fall concert titled “We Rise! Songs of Overcoming”, Voci featured settings of poetry about encouragement, acceptance, self-confidence, and kindness. Nine of the sixteen pieces on the program were composed by women. The music included settings of poetry by women poets including Maya Angelou and Susan B. Anthony. All the music was composed in the past 30 years. It encompasses an exceptionally broad range of styles from “She Rises,” an 8-part work for double a cappella chorus, to a simple choral setting of Lennon and McCartney’s “Blackbird,” to a powerful version of “Brave” by Sara Bareilles. This concert is part of Voci’s Voices in Peace Concert Series.
Voci was joined by Jon Weiner, drummer, and Tom Elliott, bass player.
