Upcoming Events
The Brahms Requiem
Saturday, August 17, 2013 (7:30 pm)
Sunday, August 18, 2013 (3:00 pm)
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
7050 Village Center Drive, Austin TX
Who We Are
The Texas Choral Consort (TCC) is dedicated to providing a high-quality classical choral musical experience to our singers and our audience. We provide more than just a concert -- we invite singers to join our symposium chorus free of the stresses of audition. While we are a group of great friends that enjoy singing together, we also have a top-notch organization that develops a quality concert series with the best of traditional and contemporary classical music. This gives us all the enriched experience of practicing music to the performance level, and then actually singing it in concert along with the ever-amazing TCC orchestra. We encourage music afficionados of all walks to join our chorus. If you are qualified to sit in our audience, you are qualified to sit in our symposium.
Join Us!
In addition, TCC has a smaller auditioned chorus that performs other works at other times of the year. Singers are encouraged to sign up for an individual audition (it isn't as scary as it sounds) and gain yet more musical enrichment.
Listen to Us
Our Sponsors
TCC is pleased to recognize our newest 30/30 club member, Austin's TexaScapes, a 20 year expert in commercial grounds landscaping and maintenance. Founder Richard D. Fadal, ASLA, first brought commercial organic-based methods to Austin, and this remains a cornerstone of TexaScapes' landscape philosophy.
www.texascapes.com
This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.
www.austintexas.gov
TCC Presents The Brahms Requiem
Saturday August 17, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday August 18, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
7050 Village Center Drive, Austin TX
Purchase tickets
Past Performances
Once Below A Time: Choral Poems by Whitacre, Copland, Vaughan Williams, Corigliano and Reynolds
February 16, 2013
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
With February’s concert, we will mark and celebrate the five years that Artistic Director Brent Baldwin has held the baton for TCC, boldly leading us to new frontiers in choral music. The title Once Below A Time is taken from a Dylan Thomas poem, and this concert will feature works in which great poetry converges with exquisite music. Timeless poems by Octavio Paz, Dylan Thomas, and George Herbert in choral settings by Eric Whitacre, John Corigliano, Aaron Copland, and Ralph Vaughn Williams form the core of the evening’s program. The program will also include a world premiere by Graham Reynolds: the Confutatis movement from next year’s Mozart Undead Requiem project. TCC’s singers will be joined by guest artists David Small, Baritone; and Laura Mercado-Wright, Mezzo-Soprano.
The Sounding Joy: Navidad Nuestra
December 1, 2012
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
This year our December concert The Sounding Joy had at its center Navidad Nuestra, by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez, which tells the story of the Nativity through the music, rhythms and traditions of Hispanic America. Plus seasonal spirituals, traditional and favorite holiday music, sing-along carols, and premieres of two new works by Austin composers Russell Reed and Donald Grantham. Guest artists included tenor Soonchan Kwan, Austin Haller on piano and organ, and the transcendent sounds of flute and harp ensemble Chaski.
John Cage Centennial Celebration | |
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This year there were musical celebrations all over the world in honor of John Cage, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Here in Austin, Texas Choral Consort joined forces with Austin New Music co-op, the Austin Chamber Music Center, and line upon line percussion, to present a five-hour extravaganza of the music of the influential 20th Century composer at the Mexican American Cultural Center on September 8, 2012. In five one-hour segments, more than thirty works were performed by close to 50 musicians. The event made the news in an interview with the artistic leaders in the Austin American-Statesman. Read the article. Read a review in New Music Box. |
TCC Presents Viva L'Opera!
August 18 & 19, 2012
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
Viva L'Opera! is always popular with our audiences! Artistic Director Brent Baldwin gathered many of the best and most beloved opera choruses and put them together into one terrific and jam-packed program, a perfect little hot weather divertimento. There was something for everyone to enjoy – the rollicking and rousing, the sultry, the poignant, and the sweet. Luminary Austin baritone David Small lead the list of Guest Soloists, which also included mezzo-soprano Kathryn Findlen, tenor Soonchan Kwon, and soprano Kirsten Watson. The mood was lighthearted, accompanied by piano, with a soupçon of special percussion, and a bit of video, all tied together with a humorous narration by Austin stage veteran Ev Lunning, Jr.
TCC and ASO JOIN WITH JEANS 'n CLASSICS FOR LONG CENTER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On April 28, 2012 the Long Center celebrated its fourth anniversary, and Texas Choral Consort took part in the fun for the night of The Purple Party. The touring professionals of Jeans 'n Classics joined together with the Austin Symphony Orchestra for a performance of “Madmen Across the Water: The Music of Elton John.” TCC along with singers from the Ann Richards School had a great time providing the choral voices for a rocking, festive evening of “Classic Rock Meets Orchestra.” In the wake of the concert, ASO's maestro Peter Bay complimented the group in a letter to the City Cultural Arts Division, saying “Through their hard work they brought great joy to all who attended, reinforcing what I had believed all along about their value to the city of Austin.” See a clip of “Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me” from the performance here.
TCC REPRISES CARDEW PIECE AT NEW MUSIC CO-OP'S ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
The New Music Co-op had a two-night celebration marking their ten-year anniversary. Texas Choral Consort collaborated with NMC last year and for this special occasion was invited to reprise Paragraph 7 from Cornelius Cardew's The Great Learning as part of the Friday March 23 line-up. Andrew Sigler of newmusicbox.org was there to review and described TCC's segment as “a great performance” and “really thrilling.” The full report and photos can been seen here.
Plague, Famine, Pestilence, Music —
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Texas Choral Consort brought Handel's choral masterpiece Israel in Egypt to radiant life on February 18th. The double chorus with its eight vocal parts gave the rarely-performed masterpiece its complexity, richness and depth of sound, as a hundred singers, an orchestra, and a capacity audience filled Northwest Hills United Methodist Church with people and music. Our thanks to all our singers, musicians, and supporters, and to the audience who came to share it with us! |
TCC Presents The Sounding Joy
TCC rang in the holidays December 10, 2011 with an evening of festive seasonal offerings -- Holst's Christmas Day, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Pachelbel's Magnificat, and the world premiere of ¡Oh Llama de Amor Viva! by Austin composer Russell Reed. The concert was rounded out by holiday favorites, seasonal spirituals, and sing-along carols, all accompanied by brass, percussion, organ, and harp. Singers, instrumentalists, conductor and a near-capacity crowd all came together to create and share some beautiful holiday music. A big thank you to everyone who took part!
TCC Presents a sold-out REQUIEM concert
On August 20, 2011, TCC presented the Requiems of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gabriel Fauré to a packed house. The program also included William Grant Still's "Out of the Silence" and the world-premiere of "Lacrymosa" by Peter Stopschinski (which featured the stunning violin work of soloist Roberto Riggio). Congratulations to all of our singers and instrumentalists, and thanks to the 650+ of you who turned out for this special performance!
South American Tour 2011
TCC Artistic Director Brent Baldwin conducts the chorus at the Facultad de Derecho, Buenos Aires, Argentina
In July 2011, TCC joined forces with the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee to perform a series of concerts in Uruguay and Argentina. The touring group performed the Mozart
and Fauré Requiems and a set of American spirituals to packed houses in Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Colonia, and Mercedes.
“The Great Learning” by Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew |
Friday May 6, 2011 at 7 pm |
TCC presented Cornelius Cardew's 1970 masterpiece The Great Learning in collaboration with the Austin New Music Co-op. Performed over two evenings, this large-scale work involved 60 performers in incredibly varied sonic events such as pipe organ with whistling chorus, walls of percussive sound, theatrical happenings, and swirling clouds of a cappella voices.
This was the American premiere of the entire composition, and we are very proud to have played a part in sharing this important work with the Austin community.
Click here for more information about Cornelius Cardew.
TCC Presents a rare performance of “The Seasons” by Haydn
Artwork by www.silveryn.com
Following up on the success of last year's Haydn Creation performance, TCC presented its sequel—the composer's "other" masterpiece, The Seasons. Brent Baldwin led the TCC chorus and orchestra through a rousing interpretation of this rare classic, complete with stunning performances on the part of soloists Kirsten Watson (soprano), Jos Milton (tenor) and Chaz Nailor (bass).
KMFA's Dianne Donovan has a nice concert write up here.
Photo by Robert Kelly
The Sounding Joy - A Resounding Success
Photo by Robert Kelly
The Texas Choral Consort presented "The Sounding Joy" to a packed house on December 11, 2010. Accompanied by some of Austin's finest brass players and percussionists, the concert featured John Rutter's Gloria, Daniel Pinkham's Christmas Cantata, and On this Day, a Christmas Cantata by eminent UT composer Donald Grantham. The concert also featured sing-along carols for the audience, and a number of other holiday surprises.
KMFA has a nice concert write up here.TCC Celebrates Nature in Music
The Texas Choral Consort Chorus and Orchestra wrapped up its 2009-2010 season with "Nature in Harmony" on August 13 and 14, 2010, under the baton of Artistic Director Brent Baldwin. Audience members braving the Texas summer heat were rewarded with the timeless poetry of Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, and George Herbert in lush musical settings by master composers: Randall Thompson's Frostiana: Seven Country Songs; Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music and Five Mystical Songs; and Aaron Copland's Old American Songs. The concert also featured a new orchestral work by San Francisco composer Nancy Bloomer Deussen.
Photo by Robert Kelly
Chorus members were thrilled to work with guest artist, David Small. "What TCC is doing to build and strengthen community is priceless," says the renowned Austin baritone. "I'm delighted to be a part of that whenever I can."
The concert also featured Austin soloists Jos Milton, Kirsten Watson, Chaz Nailor, Kelan Latimer and Hilary Young. "It was a treat working with all the terrific singers and instrumentalists who contributed to this concert," says maestro Baldwin. "This was a gratifying finish to a rewarding season, and it makes me excited to leap into the terrific projects we have lined up for the coming year."