An a cappella Legacy of Thirty Years and Counting

Renaissance Voices is about to enter its 30th Anniversary year, a significant milestone that we intend to celebrate fully during our 2024-2025 performance season. From its founding in 1995, Renaissance Voices has numbered an average of 26 singers. We are distinct from other choral groups in the area due to:

1. our being completely a cappella,
   
2. our concerts being structured around thematic readings that complement and/or deepen the message of the music; and
   
3. the range of the repertoire we sing, ranging from 11th century Plainchant to popular classics by, for example, The Beatles.

We often feature music by Maine composers, such as John Newell, Erica Quin-Easter, Music Director Harold Stover, and others. Throughout our 30-year history, we have performed music by women composers of the past and present on almost every concert, including works by Maddalena Casulana, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Amy Beach, Ethel Smyth, Abby Betenis, Carlotta Ferrari, Angelina Figus, Faith York, Tamsin Jones, Patricia Van Ness, and many others.

Our concerts consistently draw critical acclaim. Allan Kozinn wrote in the Portland Press Herald: “Throughout the program, the group’s 26 singers, perfectly tuned and performing without accompaniment, produced the consistently seamless, velvety tone and rich blend that are hallmarks of Renaissance choral music, regardless of the provenance of the music at hand”. Christopher Hyde, in his Maine Classical Beat, wrote that “they filled the cathedral with glorious sound."

Renaissance Voices was founded in 1995 by a group of Maine singers on tour in London. Today, we still are an a cappella 26-voice ensemble that performs concerts twice a year in the greater Portland area. The 2024-2025 season marks Renaissance Voices 30th anniversary, and our Music Director, Harold Stover, already is working on his “Director’s Cuts,” selections from his twenty plus years directing the ensemble, to be performed at our December 2024 Christmas with Renaissance Voices concerts and our Spring 2025 concerts. 

The descriptor “New Old and Unexpected” was borrowed by Harold for our twenty-fifth spring season concert from Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize music critic, and the title of his much-loved and eclectic daily radio show that aired in the late 70’s through early 90’s on WNYC, New York City. As one Renaissance Voices performance critic noted, “new, old, and unexpected” is a descriptor that synthesizes perfectly the repertoire that Renaissance Voices has performed for thirty years: our programs always offer a combination of rare, unfamiliar works from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, interspersed with more familiar works from the the 19th century, the 20th century Great American SongBook, modern-day rock musicians, as well as premières of original contemporary works by American and international composers.

Renaissance Voices concerts are structured around musical performances interspersed with poetry and literary readings designed to add context and perspective to the works, and to deepen both the audience and singers’ connections with the music. The tradition of no applause between pieces adds to the exquisite immersive experience of being “unplugged” and removed from the hustle and bustle of modern life.