The Cathedral of the Madeleine will resound with women's voices when Viva Voce! holds its annual concert there on Monday at 8 p.m. As usual, the program promises to be varied, with something for everyone's taste.
The concert will be heavy on sacred music, although there will also be a large dose of folk music. Called "Tune My Heart," the program features American and Hebrew folk songs, three movements from the "Missa Brevis" by Edward Gregson, and settings of Psalms 23 and 100.
"We're also doing 'Piece of Sky' from 'Yentl,' which has become one of the signature pieces for Viva Voce!" artistic director Jean Applonie told the Deseret News.
"There will also be a couple of guest artists on the program. Katie Porter, who plays clarinet, will be doing a solo, and she'll also be performing on the Hebrew folk songs. And baritone Gene Summers, who is an apprentice in Utah Opera's young artists program, will be singing with us."
Even though Applonie and her women's choir will be continuing with three or four concerts per season, the future has some new things in store for Viva Voce! "We're expanding our horizons," she says with some pride.
"We're going to be making a commercial CD of this (spring) concert. This will be our first recording, and it's going to be released next season. And we're also making plans for a tour next year.
"We've been getting several invitations to participate in choral festivals, and I think we're probably going to be attending the first-ever women's festival in Seattle. This is a festival that will have women's choirs coming from all around the world. We've already begun raising money for the tour, but we still have a long way to go. We figure that we'll need somewhere between $45,000 and $50,000 to take all of our members to Seattle."
Monday's concert by Viva Voce! is free. The Cathedral of the Madeleine is located at 331 E. South Temple.
The same program will be presented twice more. On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the choir will be singing in the Museum of Art on the BYU campus. Admission for this concert is $5 for the general public and $3 for senior citizens and students.
The final concert will be Saturday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 200 in Gardner Hall on the U. campus. Tickets for this program cost $7 for general admission, $5 for senior citizens and students and $25 for a family pass.
Tickets for these last two evenings are available at the door.
For further information about these concerts, contact Viva Voce! at 801-486-7995.
You can reach Edward Reichel by e-mail at ereichel@desnews.com