Calgary’s Professional Chamber Choir
Luminous Voices, Calgary’s professional chamber choir, was founded in 2012 by conductor and Artistic Director Timothy Shantz. We unite local, national, and international artists and organizations to illuminate choral music of the past and present, spanning cultures and traditions. We engage audiences in Calgary and beyond through exceptional sonic experiences encompassing live and virtual performances, recordings, workshops, new commissions by contemporary composers, and community education and development.
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Luminous Voices Poised for an Enhanced Future with Community Services Recovery Fund Support
A Message from Artistic Director Tim Shantz:
Dear friends, patrons & supporters,
Welcome to our 2024-25 Season! Thank you for planning your social calendar around the Luminous Voices season of performances. We love that you make us a priority in your musical and cultural activities. Whether you have been with us from the beginning or are new to the Luminous Voices family, there is something for everyone! Our four-concert subscription series at Mount Royal’s Bella Concert Hall is a must for music lovers and choral aficionados alike.
Opening the season is a “cannot miss” event: Monteverdi’s rarely performed 1610 Vespers. Considered groundbreaking and a masterpiece of the early Baroque, it includes virtuosic vocal and instrumental writing and ornamentation in combination with opulent antiphonal choruses and intimate solos, duets and trios. The Bella will be reverberating in this unforgettable season launch.
A Luminous New Year’s Eve returns with the choir singing a stunning array of unaccompanied works. Punctuated by sparkling wine and chocolates at intermission, this concert is a perfect choral tradition in Calgary to share with family and friends during the holidays.
New works by Southern Alberta composers Jesse Plessis and Sonny-Ray Day Rider are featured alongside a reprise of Zachary Wadsworth’s The Far West with tenor Lawrence Wiliford and the Luminous String Ensemble. This work on the topic of HIV/AIDS was first premiered by Luminous Voices in 2014. Tim Dlugos' texts for The Far West inspire rich and powerful music from Wadsworth, who describes them as charting “a trajectory from disease and darkness to reconciliation and light… The ending is not a happy one, but it’s a hopeful one.”
Our intimate performance for Good Friday highlights monumental choral works by Tallis, Bach & Howells. You’ll hear Tallis’s stunning Lamentations of Jeremiah, Bach’s motet Jesu Meine Freude along with Howells’ Requiem. This program exploits the full range of vocal harmonic colours that are a signature of your Luminous Voices. We look forward to seeing you!
Yours in song,
Timothy Shantz
“Few musical experiences are more beautiful than a choir that sings as well as this one.”
- Calgary Herald (2012)
SUPPORT US
Find out how you can help our voices continue to shine with season subscriptions, general donations, joining our Donors Circle, sponsorship opportunities, or by volunteering.
Join us
Interested in singing with Calgary's professional choir? Email us at info@luminousvoices.ca to request more information and to express your interest to audition. Join our roster of choristers, and be part of our innovative season!
“Luminous Voices do exactly what the name suggests.”
Choir & Organ (2016)
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