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Te Deum’s Sunday performance at Village Presbyterian Church was attended by an appreciative audience of approximately 150 people of all ages. Beginning with J.S. Bach’s complex and somber motet Jesu, meine Freude, Te Deum initially stunned with their excellent blending and richness of sound. The second movement’s contrapuntal lines, strong bass voices in the fifth movement, tight fugal layering in the sixth movement, and forward momentum in the ninth movement especially impressed. Collectively, the singers of Te Deum conveyed the solemnity of the work with much sensitivity and attention. Only a few moments of wavering intonation were heard in more exposed sections.

Britten’s rarely performed A.M.D.G. (Ad majorem Dei gratiam) followed. This is a difficult and demanding piece, with stark tonal contrasts, wide ranges, and multiple rhythmic, repetitive passages. It was the most challenging for the ensemble, but they performed it admirably with energy and enthusiasm. Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poems are passionate and profound, but unfortunately, due to the wide vocal ranges in Britten's setting, sometimes the lyrics were not clearly understood. Part of this issue is the room as well—the hall in Visitation tends to pull sound upwards instead of outwards. The movements became successively more accessible, ending with a dexterous, ascending chordal figure on the second-to-last “Amen” before a final lovely and peaceful ”Amen.”

The last work on the concert was James MacMillan’s Te Deum. My favorite piece of the afternoon, Te Deum began with the basses laying a mysterious foundation and soprano Cory Ganshow delivering a quivering, potent, and clear-ringing solo. This dark work featured an excellent soprano trio in the first verse, a mesmerizing passage of monophonic female voices in their low registers in the second verse, and an intense build up of tension in the penultimate verse. Compositionally, I am not certain the organ clusters worked to enhance the piece in every instance, and during unison parts, the organ overwhelmed the low voices (perhaps also due to the acoustic limitations of the room).

With many talented individual vocalists and plucky programming, Te Deum is another rising choir in Kansas City worth hearing. Their spring concert will feature seventeenth- and eighteenth-century motets by Schütz and Lotti, Górecki’s Totus Tuus (1987), and more.

REVIEW:
Te Deum Chamber Choir
God’s Grandeur
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
11th St and Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, November 13, 2011 (Reviewed)
Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS
For more information, visit www.te-deum.org

Top Photo: Men of Te Deum

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.