Houston Chamber Choir announces release of The Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1 on Navona Records honoring the legacy of jazz great Dave Brubeck

Spearheaded by Producer Arthur Gottschalk and the Lago Vista Community Foundation and featuring the Brubeck Brothers and Paul English Quartets, Horace Alexander Young and a 19-piece orchestra

Houston, September 11, 2024 – The Grammy® Award winning Houston Chamber Choir, in a stunning collaboration with the Brubeck Brothers and Paul English Quartets, Horace Alexander Young and a 19-piece orchestra, announces the release of the new album The Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1, Song of Hope and Peace on Navona Records, honoring the legacy of jazz great Dave Brubeck. The album shines a light on the legendary pianist and composer’s body of work so that future generations may enjoy the music for years to come.

The Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1 showcases the legendary artist’s contributions to symphonic, chamber, and sacred vocal music, and explorations of new musical forms, and the album features sons Chris Brubeck and Dan Brubeck. Spearheaded by producer Arthur Gottschalk and the Lago Vista Community Concerts Foundation, this album offers a diverse palette of celebrated and previously unrecorded choral and orchestral works that Brubeck regarded as some of his finest.

From the iconic groove of his “Take Five” to the infectious melody he composed in “Blue Rondo à la Turk” and beyond, Brubeck was an innovative musical figure who left an indelible footprint on the history of jazz. However, his groundbreaking approach to composition stretched far beyond the barriers of genre, as is evident with the music presented on The Voice of Brubeck, Vol 1.

The Houston Chamber Choir presented Brubeck! A Celebration as the final concert of the 2023-24 season on June 1, which was sold out. From June 2-5, the album was recorded with the Choir and musicians in Stude Concert Hall at Rice University.

“To be able to lend our voices to such a momentous undertaking was an honor,” says Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the Choir. “It has been a thrill to collaborate with Art, Chris Brubeck, Horace and Paul on this unique artistic venture. We are incredibly proud of the finished product, which enlightens people about Dave Brubeck’s legacy, including his choral and orchestral material.”

Simpson believes that The Voice of Brubeck, Vol 1 is award-worthy. The Choir’s recording of the complete choral works of French composer Maurice Duruflé received the 2019 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance.

The Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1 is available to stream or buy on several platforms. Go to www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6668/ or click here.

Link to photos here

Jeff Grass Photography

About Houston Chamber Choir

Led by Founder and Artistic Director Robert Simpson and Artistic Director Designate Dr. Betsy Cook Weber, the Houston Chamber Choir is a Grammy® Award-winning ensemble of 24 professional musicians selected from the finest choral artists in our region. “One of the jewels of the city’s cultural scene” (Houston Chronicle), the Houston Chamber Choir has brought Houston an array of choral works for 28 years ranging from early music and Baroque masterpieces, including the city’s first period instrument performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass, to the rarely heard Third Sacred Concert by Duke Ellington, and performances and premieres of works by today’s leading composers, many with Houston ties — David Ashley White, Christopher Theofanidis, Dominick DiOrio, J. Todd Frazier, Mark Buller, Karim Al-Zand, Pierre Jalbert, Marcus Maroney, and Daniel Knaggs.

The Houston Chamber Choir’s awards include Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the American Prize. They were one of 24 international ensembles selected to appear at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music in New Zealand. The Houston Chamber Choir has appeared at national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, and Chorus America. Tours have taken them to Mexico, Wales, and the Northeastern United States where they performed at Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City, and Yale University at the invitation of the Institute of Sacred Music.

The Choir’s recording of the complete choral works of French composer Maurice Duruflé was awarded the 2019 Grammy® Award for Best Choral Performance. In January 2022, Signum Classics released its newest recording of compositions by acclaimed British composer Bob Chilcott. For this recording, the Houston Chamber Choir is joined by the Treble Choir of Houston directed by Marianna Parnas-Simpson. The title work, Circlesong, is a 13-movement composition for two choirs, two pianos, and percussion based on indigenous poetry of North America.