Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Organization <br />Description <br />VOICES, founded in 1981, is one of the Triangle’s largest and most well- <br />established choral organizations. Our mission is to foster, sustain, and <br />share the art and joy of choral music, and to enrich the community through <br />excellent performance of music from diverse cultures and historical periods. <br />W e are a “community chorus” in the best sense: an inclusive, supportive <br />circle of vocal music enthusiasts striving each year to improve our <br />musicianship and provide valuable live performances to our local audience. <br />VOICES has an all-volunteer member-elected Board of Directors, all of <br />whom sing with VOICES. Our Artistic Director is Dr. Stephen Futrell, DMA, <br />who joined VOICES in 2018. Our accompanist is Shoko Abe, DMA. W ithin <br />our VOICES organization, Voices is our large symphonic chorus of 130+ <br />auditioned singers. Cantari is a smaller ensemble of strong singers drawn <br />from the main Voices chorus. Currently, we have about 30 singers in <br />Cantari. In age we range from twenties to eighties with a skew towards our <br />older members. W e typically have about 6-9% students and about 7% <br />people of color. W e produce two major concerts a year, in December and <br />May. Our concerts include both the full Voices chorus and a separate set or <br />pieces featuring Cantari alone. W e relish opportunities to learn music from <br />different eras and genres, to collaborate with artists from varied cultural <br />traditions, and to support local musicians and composers. For nearly all of <br />our concerts, VOICES hires local musicians. W e feature professional <br />singers to lead us as soloists. W e also hire supporting instrumentalists <br />based on the particular desired emphasis or orchestration for a <br />composition, such as supplemental percussion (winter 2022), string quartet <br />(spring 2023) and small orchestra (spring 2024). <br />Over the past several years Voices and Cantari have mastered a <br />remarkably diverse and challenging repertoire. Selections for the upcoming <br />year’s concerts are under discussion currently. Our winter concerts always <br />incorporate celebratory repertoire and generally honor a wide variety of <br />winter traditions. For our December 2024 concert, we performed Daniel <br />Pinkham’s renowned Christmas Cantata, a suite of W inter Songs based on <br />the poetry of Sara Teasdale, and Ballad of the Brown King by Harlem <br />Renaissance composer Margaret Bonds from text by Langston Hughes, <br />among other selections. At our spring concert, we usually pursue a theme <br />or topic of interest that frames our musical selections or we present a <br />beloved choral work often from classical repertoire. At our May 2025 <br />concert, we performed “Shadow and Light,” a cantata of sixteen <br />movements by composer Joan Szymko, which explores the lives of those <br />touched by Alzheimer’s disease at different stages in its progression and <br />from multiple perspectives. <br />At least every other year, we offer the non-auditioned Summer Voices <br />program, featuring repertoire that is intentionally more relaxed and <br />accessible. Summer Voices is open to any singer who wishes to <br />experience the joy of choral singing, regardless of experience level. This <br />summer, Summer Voices is presenting “Mix Tapes,” featuring classic hits <br />from Abba, The Carpenters, Stevie W onder, Bob Dylan and others, and <br />Motown and Beatles medleys. <br />Docusign Envelope ID: 07544190-1278-4B7D-88D0-425195859546