REFLECTIONS & REVIEWS
The VAE singers and I love creating music together and sharing it with our audiences, and it’s always especially gratifying when our listeners (and our singers) let us know how much our music has meant to them. Here are a few thoughts that have been shared with us recently.
“The VAE sings with a rich, warm tone that is never pushed, never out of control, and never heavy. The timbral spectrum from soprano to bass is seamless as evidenced by the incredible unison singing, not just within a single section but across sections and even across the entire ensemble… The balance and blend were impeccable. “
“The singing. There was so much singing then and this was my pleasure too.” These are the words of Fred Mitchell, an 85-year-old Welsh horseman, describing his youth, now the lyrics in Steven Sametz’s beautiful choral piece, “I Have Had Singing.” In my many years with VAE, I have felt something of what Mr. Mitchell describes, and I am so grateful for the gift of VAE.
I was blown away by the high quality of the performance and programming. I wept, listening to it; part of me wondered whether my terminally ill friend might be, at that moment, ascending. A soul could do far worse than to travel to such accompaniment.
The VAE chorus of thirty-four was perfect… the ensemble was light and nimble enough for busy, complex contrapuntal passages, yet there was enough power in reserve to turn up the amp to eleven when needed.
Beyond the work we pour into the music, VAE creates a nourishing feeling of community. In a world that seems increasingly divided, choral music has an almost mystical ability to enable us to lose ourselves into the collective moment of the music. I have felt my sense of self disappear into the sound and the moment of communal performance. I can’t tell what sound is mine, the singer next to me, or the emotional intention of Rodney Wynkoop before me.
It proved to be one of the supreme musical highlights of the year, thanks to superior voices, the superior leadership, and the astonishing—indeed, often breath-taking—precision of the execution, with every note fraught with meaning and emotion. It was a truly remarkable concert for a faithful description of which mere words are inadequate.
Tonight was just magical… Astounding level of musicianship, a capella singing, programming, pitch progression.
Wynkoop’s standards are in full force, including clarity of line, razor-sharp precision, clear enunciation and nuanced dynamics. The singing has a welcome warmth and spirit, often missing in other chamber choirs.
The concert was exquisitely executed, top drawer, first class.
Singing with VAE has taught me that the audience is the co-creator with us in making music. Beyond the obvious aural reasons, we face the audience to connect and draw energy and emotion. So many times we have looked out to see smiles and tears, closed eyes and bowed heads, and we draw from the audience even as we pour our energy into giving back to them our craft, passion, and art.
Most of us who love the expressive beauty of fine choral singing look forward to the once-a-year Vocal Arts Ensemble concert, and most of us who are fortunate enough to be able to attend that concert are bowled over by the quality of this group.This chorus under this conductor knows how to sing from a whisper to overwhelming intensity, how to shape a phrase, how to build to a climax, how to sing so well pitched that they take the audience into realms of possibility beyond the ordinary. The concert was simply choral music at its best sung as it should be sung: artfully, precisely, meaningfully.
It was a joy and pleasure to hear such splendid music… Brilliant. I honestly could feel the roof lift off the sanctuary… Superlatives fail me.
Whether during rehearsal or in front of an audience, it’s a thrill and an honor to make glorious music with other singers that have such discipline, musicality, sensitivity, and, to top it off, sincere camaraderie with each other.
Almost every piece the VAE sang produced sighs of appreciation and wonderment in the audience.
VAE is made up of some of the finest voices in the Triangle. They are chosen by Wynkoop based on ability, musicality, and the best possible blend of vocal qualities. His rehearsals are always focused and disciplined, a great pleasure, and often fun. Concerts of superior choral quality such as what was experienced in Duke Chapel this evening are the consequence of all of this. How fortunate we are!
The essence of VAE-ness: Breath-taking beauty of tone, superbly nuanced expression, the full range of dynamics (with all of it under control) in a chamber-sized group where the input of the individual is truly vital. This is a rare pleasure indeed.
This group sings with a lovely sense of balance and shading, perfect intonation, stylistic variety, intensity, and a very clear impression of truly listening to each other. I can recommend this [CD] to anyone who enjoys choral music.
I was sitting in the audience wondering what makes this group so special. The quality is unrelentingly high. They sing with great discipline and precision, but still manage to sing with love and heart and from a place of humanity. I sat there and cried.
Often when I drive home from a VAE rehearsal, I ponder what happened in the past 2 ½ hours. We have worked as a community to the intention of the composer to direct our energy a momentary, ephemeral work of choral art, measure by measure phrase by phrase.
If once in your lifetime you find yourself at a concert like this consider yourself among the most fortunate of people. It is not however as though it was unexpected. The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham under the direction of Rodney Wynkoop has long been acclaimed for their extraordinary performances, their precision of technical vocal skills as well as their keen interpretive aptitude. Wynkoop is a master conductor and, in addition, his artistic skill in choosing and ordering program selections often goes unmentioned but is no small thing. It was an emotionally overwhelming experience to hear this challenging music sung with such knowledge and skill.
Being part of VAE has been an enormous rush. It’s a rare ensemble that can sing such demanding music and at such a high level. Even less complex music becomes stunningly beautiful, in a sense elevated, because of the skill level of the group and the inspired leadership that Rodney provides.
The individual parts do not equal the sum of the whole. The musicianship of each member and their careful attention to detail, attentiveness to the ensemble, and decades of experience make the group so cohesive that it can bend and stretch to the moment.
Some rare and intensely beautiful fare that was almost without exception profoundly inspiring and moving, particularly given the magnificence of the singing… We may never take this art for granted, so it’s worthwhile reflecting on how much work goes into it… so what one remembers is the sheer beauty as each of the individual pieces unfold… so pure, so refined was the singing.
The levels of the presentation were so breathtakingly high that one listened in amazement at the care lavished on each piece to the extent the audience remained rapt and spellbound.
Complex, multi-layered, amazing to hear, and polished like a little gemstone.
“I love who you don’t even know you’ll be.” So much hope and tenderness and unconditional grace in those words.
Extraordinary. The nuances and sonic variety were beautiful and captivating.