CHOR LEONI, THE LEONIDS, EMERGING CHORAL ARTIST PROGRAM – ERICK LICHTE, CONDUCTOR
“Never before in Vancouver have we heard sounds like these coming out of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.” Stir Vancouver
In a purely a cappella program, experience the spine-tingling sounds of high harmony as The Leonids return to Vancouver and take the stage alongside Chor Leoni and the singers of our Emerging Choral Artist Program. Time travel across the past millennium in this joyous a cappella feast featuring Chant, Polyphony, folk songs, pop songs, and world premieres.
Tickets from $20-$75
35 and Under Ticket Pricing Available.
Immerse yourself in a tour de force sonic experience as The Leonids, Chor Leoni and the singers of the Emerging Choral Artist Program explore and celebrate a millennium of the power of the a cappella voice.
The Leonids is a new professional ensemble under the direction of Artistic Director Erick Lichte. The ensemble serves as the professional headline choir for Chor Leoni’s annual Big Roar Choral Festival and as an educational, inspirational, and aspirational force for this festival and beyond. Like the spectacular meteor showers after which they are named, The Leonids come together once a year to rehearse, record, perform and enrich the experience of the Big Roar festival participants.
Eric Alatorre is the Bass best associated with Chanticleer, where he was a member for nearly 30 years, and is well known for his deep and rich voice. During his tenure with Chanticleer he saw the ensemble grow from a group known best in the United States to an internationally acclaimed ensemble. He has performed in many of the world’s major concert venues on 6 continents, and made nearly 60 recordings which have garnered 3 Grammy awards. Since then he continues to be engaged with many exceptional groups such as Seraphic Fire, Skylark, Conspirare, the Thirteen, and the Leonids.
Known for his "mellifluous, pure tone” (New York Classical Review), Tomás Cruz is a regular in the NYC choral and new music scenes. After studying jazz in college, he began his career in the chorus of Philip Glass’ opera, ‘Einstein on the Beach.’ Since then, he has sung for many artists including Leon Bridges, Toshi Reagon, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Steve Reich, Anthony Braxton, Petr Kotik, Judd Greenstein, Damien Rice, Jonsi & Alex, Lyra Pramuk, and Trinity Wall Street, among others. Notable credits include an appearance on SNL and guest vocalist work on jazz composer Arturo O’Farrill’s GRAMMY® Award winning album Four Questions. Ongoing projects include: experimental ensemble, Ekmeles; pop a cappella group, Duwende; the St. Thomas Choir of Men & Boys; and Philadelphia-based choir, The Crossing. Tomás holds two degrees from The New England Conservatory of Music.
Brian Hinman has been a part of the GRAMMY® Award-winning classical ensemble, Chanticleer for fifteen years, giving as many as 120 concerts a year, as both Tenor and Road Manager. In addition to performing on seven studio and twelve live recordings since joining in 2006, Brian has been involved in the production of Chanticleer Records, and most notably was Co-Producer on Chanticleer’s pop/jazz album, ‘Someone New’ with the incomparable Leslie Ann Jones and friend Jace Wittig. Brian has served as Vice-President of the Board of Governors for the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy, the organisation that presents the GRAMMY® Awards, and also as the Chair of their Advocacy Committee. Before joining Chanticleer, Brian built a background in theatre, studied Vocal Performance at the University of Tennessee and studied jazz and acting in New York City.
Bass-baritone Sam Kreidenweis’ stylistic versatility, rich sound and engaging stage presence have gained him praise nationally and abroad. As a vocal chamber music artist Sam appears nationally with GRAMMY® Award-winning Conspirare (Austin, TX), Kinnara Ensemble (Princeton, NJ), Santa Fe Desert Chorale (Santa Fe, NM), Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Greater New England), True Concord Voices & Orchestra (Tucson, AZ), Vocal Arts Ensemble (Cincinnati, OH), and has sung previously with the GRAMMY® Award-winning Phoenix Chorale. Internationally, Sam works with the Dublin, Ireland based ensemble Anúna with whom he has toured throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, and Japan. While singing with the Phoenix Chorale he recorded the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil with Chandos Records alongside the Kansas City Chorale, which received two GRAMMY® nominations in 2016 and won for Best Choral Performance. Sam also sang for a season with the professional vocal ensemble Cantus.
Texas-born tenor, Matthew Newhouse, brings power, tenderness and evocative story-telling to the concert stage. Matthew’s professional ensemble collaborations include projects with Apollo’s Fire, The Thirteen, TENET Vocal Artists, Artefact Ensemble, Evergreen Ensemble, Ensemble Altera and Emmanuel Music. Matthew is a founding member of the New York based vocal ensemble, 4th Wall Ensemble.. Previous soloist opportunities have included performing with the Houston Masterworks Chorale, Emmanuel Music, Ars Nova Chorale and The New Mexico Philharmonic. Matthew has had the privilege to work intimately with esteemed conductors Grete Pederson, Masaaki Suzuki, David Hill, Richard Bado, Chris Allen, Steven Stubbs, Craig Hella Johnson, and Jeanette Sorrel. Matthew gave his Carnegie Hall debut as winner of the 2019 Semper Pro Competition. Matthew heralded the inaugural season of the American Voces8 Scholar Programme in 2018, an experience Matthew attributes with forming his small-ensemble singing technique. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Baylor University and a Master of Music in Voice: Early Music, Oratorio and Chamber Ensemble from Yale’s School of Music. When not performing, you can find Matthew in the kitchen crafting fresh pasta, bubbling curries or baking fresh bread.
Tenor Jacob Perry Jr., based in the Washington Metro Area, receives praise for his “gorgeous and stylish” interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire (ClevelandClassical.com). He has been featured as a soloist with Apollo’s Fire, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, Mountainside Baroque, Tempesta di Mare, The Thirteen, Washington Bach Consort and The City Choir of Washington. Jacob was selected as the tenor participant of the Virginia Best Adams Masterclass of the 2020 Carmel Bach Festival. Deeply immersed in vocal chamber music, Jacob enjoys active membership in Les Canards Chantants, a soloist-ensemble based in Philadelphia, as well as engagements with ensembles such as The Thirteen, the Art of Early Keyboard (ARTEK), New Consort, and Cathedra. Additionally, he can be heard singing with larger choirs such as Yale Choral Artists, The Clarion Choir, Washington Bach Consort, and the Choir of Washington National Cathedral. He has explored the vocal works by contemporary composers through engagements with Third Practice, hexa Collective, and Great Noise Ensemble, and co-directs Bridge, a genre-defying vocal ensemble based in Washington.
A Philadelphia native, Daniel has sung with the Opera Philadelphia chorus where he has performed a number of bit roles including The Foreman in the east coast premiere of Oscar. Daniel also sings with The Crossing, a two-time GRAMMY® winning new music choir. He is a founding member of nationally renowned vocal sextet Variant 6. Two years ago he made his debut as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for Pat Metheny and the American Beat. In addition to his singing career, Daniel holds the position of Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Voices of Pride.
Gregório Taniguchi crafts compelling performances of historical and new works alike for a modern audience. He has empowered narratives with an intuitive sense for storytelling as the Evangelist in Bach’s ‘St. John Passion’ and Miles Zegner in Missy Mazzoli's ‘Proving Up.’ He recently appeared in the Peter Sellars-staged production of Schütz’s ‘Musikalische Exequien’ with Los Angeles Master Chorale. He has worked with pioneers and next-generation scholar-interpreters of early music such as John Butt, Maria Guinand, Dana Marsh, Jane Glover and Matthew Halls. Gregório enjoys the alchemy of collaborative ensemble singing, especially with Clarion Vocal Ensemble, Bach Collegium San Diego, TENET, Washington Bach Consort, Tesserae, Santa Fe Desert Chorale and Oregon Bach Festival. Gregório is passionate about being an active part of the community of artists, coaching language and teaching. He also prioritises being part of his ecological community, germinating seeds and raising native wildflowers of the places he calls home.
from Wireless
©Chor Leoni 2024
