The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, Robert Simpson founder and artistic director, presents Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” on Saturday, Apr. 23 and Sunday, Apr. 24 at Rice University. Houston Chamber Choir was on the eve of presenting “All-Night Vigil” in March 2020 when the world abruptly shut down. The choir returns to unfinished business as it offers this masterpiece within the warm acoustics of the Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. It was the ideal location for the Houston Chamber Choir’s 2002 performances, and 20 years later, the public is invited back to experience this masterpiece.
Wisdom and understanding are gifts of inner contemplation often enhanced by surrounding darkness. The choir explores these gifts in a religious context in what is considered by many to be Rachmaninoff’s greatest work. The “All-Night Vigil” is an a cappella choral composition consisting of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox all-night vigil ceremony.
“All-Night Vigil” was written in 1915 during World War I. The sense of spiritual transcendence in the work was the composer’s response to the chaos and suffering around him that he saw firsthand.
WHO: The professional singers of the Houston Chamber Choir will perform Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” with Robert Simpson conducting.
WHEN: In person on Saturday, Apr. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday Apr. 24 at 3:30 p.m., with virtual release on Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m. CT
WHERE: Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ in the Alice Pratt Brown Hall, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005
COST: Tickets range from $10 (student) to $25 for regular admission. Go to houstonchamberchoir.org/all-night-vigil to purchase tickets.
MORE: The fee for parking on Apr. 23 is $5; guests can park in West Lot 2. The fee for Apr. 24 is still to be announced.
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Photo caption: The Grammy® Award-winning Houston Chamber Choir, Robert Simpson founder and artistic director, presents Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” on Saturday, Apr. 23 and Sunday, Apr. 24 at Rice University.
Photo credit: Jeff Grass Photography