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The 2024-2025 Season

CHORAL CLASSICS

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NOBUNTU 

Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 4:00pm

Nobuntu, the female a cappella quartet from Zimbabwe, has drawn international acclaim for its inventive performances that range from traditional Zimbabwean songs to Afro Jazz to Gospel. The ensemble’s concerts are performed with pure voices, augmented by minimalistic percussion, traditional instruments such as the Mbira (thumb piano) and organic, authentic dance movements.

The word Nobuntu is an African concept that values humbleness, love, unity and family from a woman’s perspective. The ensemble represents a new generation of young African women singers who celebrate and preserve their culture, beauty, and heritage through art. The ensemble’s mission is the belief that music can be an important vehicle for change, one that transcends racial, tribal, religious, gender, and economic boundaries.

NEW YORK POLYPHONY

Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 4:00pm

Critically acclaimed for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts,” (NPR) and as “singers of superb musicianship and vocal allure” (The New Yorker), New York Polyphony is one of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles active today. Their innovative programming spans Gregorian chant to contemporary commissions, and their focus on familiar and rare works of the 12-17th centuries has helped bring early music to modern audiences.

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Founded in 2006, the quartet’s growing discography includes two GRAMMY-nominated albums, and many of their releases have topped the “best of” lists of The New Yorker, Gramophone, and The New York Times. Their release And the sun darkened (2021, BIS) received accolades from publications worldwide: BBC Music Magazine hailed it as “imaginatively programmed” and “immaculately sung,” Early Music America called the disc “radiant,” and Klassik Heute applauded the album’s “flawlessly pure sound that amazes the listener.” Lamentationes (2019, BIS) was a finalist in the 2020 Gramophone Awards and praised by Classics Today as “perfect ensemble singing, ideally recorded.” 

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CHANTICLEER

Sunday, May 11, 2025 at 4:00pm

Join GRAMMY®-Award winning ensemble Chanticleer for a jubilant celebration of choral singing! From Renaissance masterworks to Romantic part-songs, contemporary commissions, vocal jazz, and everything in between, Chanticleer is at home in every genre. Featured on Billboard Magazine’s top 10 list of best-selling classical artists, Chanticleer has been declared by Classics Today as “America’s a cappella pride and joy.” An annual favorite, we are proud they call the St. James Music Series their home in San Diego.

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