The Stanford Chamber Chorale is the Stanford University Department of Music’s most select chorale ensemble, comprised of 24 voices drawn from both graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford University. Hailing from across the United States and around the world, these singers represent a variety of academic disciplines and degree programs. As members of the Chamber Chorale, these Stanford students meet a rigorous schedule of performing, touring, and recording while maintaining their demanding academic programs. Over the years, the Chorale has toured in the United States, Japan, Israel, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, England, Wales and Scotland, and has appeared in a notable list of venues, including the great British cathedrals in Ely, Llandaff (Cardiff), Lincoln, Salisbury, Wells and York, and at St. James Piccadilly (London), Trinity College Chapel (Cambridge), New College Chapel (Oxford), Magdalen College Chapel (Oxford), the Berlin Philharmonie, Rikkyo University Chapel (Tokyo), Hakodate Geijutsu Hall, Kitahiroshima-shi Geijutsu Bunka Hall, the Shanghai Concert Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, the Great Hall of the People (Beijing), Benaroya Music Center (Seattle), BBC radio, the National Television of Austria, and the Armed Forces Television Network. The Chorale has also performed collaboratively by invitation with some of the most renowned performing organizations in the world, including England's Tallis Scholars, Joyful Company of Singers, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and St. Hedwig Cathedral Choir (Berlin), master flamenco guitarist Paco Peña, and the Kronos Quartet. Dedicated to the performance of literature best suited to the small choral ensemble, the Chamber Chorale has had the honor of receiving works from renowned composers Randall Thompson, Kirke Mechem, Howard Helvey, Takeo Kudo, Paul Crabtree, and Jiri Labruda.
Through its recordings and tours, the Chorale continues to gain recognition in the international choral community. Dr. John Bertalot, Choirmaster Emeritus at England's Blackburn Cathedral, praised the Chorale's performance on its CD Voices of Christmas as "a tour de force of choral technique [that] gives me unbounded delight." The Chorale's recent past and future touring activities (1998: England and Scotland, 1999: Seattle, 2000: Hawai‘i, 2001: Japan, 2002: Pacific Northwest & Canada, 2003: England and Wales, 2004: Hawai‘i, 2005: Germany and Austria, 2006: Southern California, 2007: England, 2008: China, 2009 Hawai'i, 2010 Washington DC) continue to heighten the visibility of both the ensemble and Stanford University's commitment to music performance and the arts.
7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond (2005) (Sample below)
Arsis Audio CD 403.
The first ever recording of the complete Christmas choral works of Kirke Mechem. Featuring: The Seven Joys of Christmas (version with chamber orchestra), Two Christmas Ballads, Christmas Past & Christmas Present, and much more. You may also visit the Arsis Audio website for additional information on this recording: http://www.arsisaudio.com.
Choral Reflections (2002) (Sample below)
Pictoria Records PR 11192.
A diverse program ranging from Byrd to Bruckner, Chen Yi to Crabtree, Biebl to Bárdos. As with all Stanford Chamber Chorale CDs, Choral Reflections was recorded in the magnificent acoustic of Stanford University's Memorial Church.
Voices of Christmas (1999) (Sample below)
Pictoria Records PR 11172.
A Christmas album in the British tradition with well-known and beloved arrangements of carols from David Willcocks, John Rutter, and Charles Wood, along with new carols by American composers Brian Holmes, Alf Houkom, and Morten Lauridsen. Performances of Bach Chorale Preludes by world-renowned organist Robert Bates round out the program. John Bertalot, Choirmaster Emeritus of England's Blackburn Cathedral calls the recording "...a tour de force of choral technique [that] gives me unbounded delight."
My Spirit Sang All Day: A Portrait in Song (1998) (Sample below)
Stanford University Records SUCD 102 (out of print).
A collection featuring a wide range of repertoire from the English part songs of Gerald Finzi that inspired the title, to works from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Hawai‘i.
Mechem: Seven Joys of Christmas: Din Don! Merrily on High, from 7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond
Mechem: Seven Joys of Christmas: Patapan, from 7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond
Mechem: Seven Joys of Christmas: Fum, Fum, Fum!, from 7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond
Mechem: Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord, from 7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond
Mechem: Let Us Break Bread Together On Our Knees, from 7 Joys of Christmas and Beyond
Bruckner: Os justi, from Choral Reflections
Crabtree: Homer (from Five Romantic Miniatures from The Simpsons), from Choral Reflections
Heitzig: little tree, from Choral Reflections
Parsons: Ave Maria, from a live recording
Hatzis: Heirmos, from a live recording
Goss: See Amid the Winter Snow, from Voices of Christmas
Houkom: The Rune of Hospitality, from Voices of Christmas
Trad., arr. Rutter: The Twelve Days of Christmas, from Voices of Christmas
Finzi: I praise the tender flower, from My Spirit Sang All Day: A Portrait in Song
Marshall: To L.H.B., from My Spirit Sang All Day: A Portrait in Song