Contemporary Vocal Ensemble
Ainadamar
In 2009, the CVE performed the first university-based performance of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ainadamar".
UPCOMING CONCERTS:
Sunday, February 27, 8pm, Buskirk-Chumley Theater, downtown Bloomington, Indiana
CONCERTO IMAGINARIO-
Tenebrae Poems and Prayers for Modern Man
The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble presents a program of recent vocal and choral works addressing aspects of solitude, death, political repression, and the impetus of the poetic spirit to heal these wounds of modern life. Several compositions are classics of the 20th century, such as Iannis Xenakis’ ”Nuits”, written in Bloomington and Paris in 1967, and Ligeti’s ”Lux aeterna”, featured in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001 Space Odyssey.” Two works by IU student composers Gavin Duffy and Thanasi Aronis are also included. Nicholas Fitzer and Melody Eötvos contribute subtle staging and visual compositions to this “concerto imaginario.” The program also includes solo appearances by Soprano Sharon Harms, winner of the Joshi Fellowship; baritone Matt Opitz, recently heard in the opera “Little Women”, and guest pianist Liz Avery.
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ENSEMBLE DESCRIPTION AND SCHEDULE
Meeting Times
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 2:30-3:50 p.m.
Conductor
Carmen Helena Téllez
Auditions: Required
The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble at Indiana University is a progressive university-based ensemble dedicated to the performance of vocal and choral repertoire written after 1900. The group includes singers, composers, young scholars and instrumentalists chosen for their outstanding musical gifts and for their special interest in the music of our time. The ensemble's size is decided annual according to the programed repertoire. After its foundation in 1980 by Alan Harler, the ensemble was directed by Professor Jan Harrington until 1992. It is presently conducted by Professor Carmen Helena Téllez.The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble is noted for innovative programming that explores all significant styles of the last 110 years, from classic masterpieces to works at the forefront of the contemporary music scene. Concerts may combine recognized compositions with première performances and special commissions, including works by international and local Midwest-based composers, Indiana University faculty and students. The group often engages in collaborations with other artists for the development of interdisciplinary or music theater projects.
The Ensemble offers an annual series of concerts at Indiana University and performs as guest in outside concerts and festivals as well. Recent projects include the commission, performance and recording of James MacMillan's Sun-Dogs, for chorus a cappella; the Missa brevis by the noted Mexican composer Mario Lavista, and the premiere and recording of Juan Orrego-Salas's choral-orchestral cantata La ciudad celeste. Other notable projects are the first university performance of John Adams's El Niño; Karlheinz Stockhausen's choral opera "Atmen gibt das Leben...,", Steve Reich's Tehillim and Desert Music; Music/Theater Piece, a madrigal opera by Philip Glass; Arvo Part's Passio and Miserere, Gilles Swayne's Cry; James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross; and several world-premieres by Feliù Gasull, Aurelio de la Vega, and Jorge Liderman.
The Contemporary Vocal Ensemble recently recently premiered Gabriela Ortiz's video opera Unicamente la verdad! (Only the truth!) and gave the first university performance of Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar. Last season the CVE performed Stravinsky's Les Noces with the IU Ballet Theater in the Fall of 2009. Over the summer of 2010, members of the CVE traveled to Caracas, Venezuela to perform with insturmentalists of El Systema and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra for the 2010 Latino American Music Festival of Caracas.
