Renaissance Voices: Love Songs Old and New

Renaissance Voices will perform at the Brunswick Unitarian Universalist Church on Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 pm as part of the Concerts for a Cause series. All proceeds will be donated to Oasis Free Clinics and Midcoast New Mainers Group.

Renaissance Voices was founded in 1995 by a group of Maine singers on tour in London.  The original idea for an auditioned, Portland-based, a cappella ensemble still guides their choices today.  Although their emphasis is the a cappella performance of early European music, in recent years they have broadened their repertoire to include other origins and periods from the Middle Ages to the present day, including many works by women composers. Concerts also feature short readings that complement the themes of the musical selections. Renaissance Voices is comprised of both professional and experienced amateur musicians and enjoys an ever-widening fan base throughout Maine.

Harold Stover has been their conductor since 2001. He is a Julliard graduate, a distinguished composer, and an organist / choirmaster of one of the most respected choirs in NYC. From 1968 to 1992 he served as Organist and Choirmaster of Second Presbyterian Church in NYC, where he directed the church’s amateur and professional choirs and was founder and director of the “Music at Second” concerts. In 1986 the church’s music program was the subject of an hour-long profile on the nationally syndicated radio program IBM Salute to the Arts.

He also served on the faculty of the New York School of Liturgical Music, where he taught organ, choral conducting, sight singing, music theory and church music history. In 1995 he was appointed to the faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music, where he teaches organ and music theory.

He has played organ recitals to critical acclaim in both the US and Europe, appearing in many distinguished church recitals series and concert hall organ recitals including Merrill Auditorium at City Hall in Portland.

His compositions include keyboard music, choral and vocal music, chamber and orchestral music, electronic music, and two film scores. His liturgical music has been widely performed by choirs across America.

For this spring concert, the theme will be “Love Songs, Old and New.”  Renaissance Voices will be playing works by John Dowland, Thomas Morely, Edward Elgar, Selections from the Great American Songbook and more.

“Bravo, bravo! When music-making is so technically mastered, the beauty offered is Grace; one is not sure where or when she is going to be had. I was had many times.”
—Audience feedback, Portland Press Herald

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at door, Students & Children: $5

Available at the Church office, at Gulf of Maine Books, or online at  https://ticketstripe.com/renaissance.