OKC's Canterbury Voices chorus closing 55th season with 'Crescendo!': What you need to know

Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman
·3 min read

For the third year, Canterbury Voices is closing its season with a "Crescendo!"

An add-on concert to the nationally recognized symphonic chorus' subscription season as well as a fundraising event for the Oklahoma City nonprofit arts organization, "Crescendo! An Evening with Canterbury" is set for 6:30 p.m. May 30 in the Civic Center's Meinders Hall of Mirrors. The event previously took place at the Oklahoma History Center.

"We've changed venues, and we're excited to be there, because the Civic Center is our home," said Canterbury Voices Executive Director Pam Mowry.

"Crescendo!" not only will cap the debut season for Canterbury Voices' new artistic director, Julie Yu, but also will conclude a momentous 2023-2024 run for the chorus.

"It's been great," Mowry said. "This season, but especially this spring, has been the heaviest collaboration season that we've done, ever, from performing "Carmina Burana" on Oklahoma City Ballet's 'Shorts' program just a few weeks ago to 'Tosca' just this last week with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. It's been a lot, and we've loved every minute of it."

Canterbury Chamber Voices will perform May 30 during "Crescendo! An Evening with Canterbury" at the Meinders Hall of Mirrors at the Civic Center.
Canterbury Chamber Voices will perform May 30 during "Crescendo! An Evening with Canterbury" at the Meinders Hall of Mirrors at the Civic Center.

What will Canterbury Voices perform at its 'Crescendo?'

Canterbury Voice's May 30 "Crescendo!" will begin with a cocktail hour from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. featuring music by the Mike Turner Jazz Trio. The concert will follow from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Conducted by Yu, the concert will spotlight the Canterbury Chamber Voices, featuring about 30 members of the organization's flagship adult chorus.

The ensemble will perform an eclectic program, including Benjamin Britten's "Hymn to St. Cecilia," Gioacchino Rossini's "I Gondolieri (The Gondoliers)" and Billy Joel's "And So It Goes," arranged by Bob Chilcott.

The concert also will include pieces by Canadian composer Katerina Gimon, Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds and the late Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016).

Proceeds from this year's event will benefit the organization's Canterbury Youth Voices Education Program, which is in its 27th year.

"We have kids from 90 different schools across the greater metro area. We have about 160 kids in our youth program, and we have a lot of kids that need scholarships, along with all kinds of program needs," Mowry said.

Which Canterbury Voices singer will receive the Visionary Award at the event?

As Canterbury Voices wraps up its 55th season, the organization will honor one of its original members who is still singing with the chorus.

Mowry will present soprano Patricia Dennis with the Myles Criss Visionary Award, named for Canterbury Voices' founder, during intermission of the May 30 concert.

"She has served as president of the chorus committee in our early days and in other leadership roles throughout the years. She still sings in Canterbury, and she has a beautiful soprano voice. We're just lucky to still sing next to her every Monday night at rehearsals," Mowry said.

An Oklahoma City attorney, Dennis was a singer with the choir at All Souls Episcopal Church in 1969 when Criss founded Canterbury Choral Society.

In her more than a half-century of performing with Canterbury Voices, she has traveled to China and Ireland, performed with the chorus on the stage at New York's fabled Carnegie Hall and sung Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" in 2018 under the director of OKC Philharmonic Maestro Alexander Mickelthwate.

“It's just a warm, communal feeling that you get when you're participating with these events. … I'm very blessed to have had these opportunities, and as long as the opportunities are there, so am I," Dennis told The Oklahoman in 2018.

“It's a very important part of my life. I love it and I do everything I can to promote it and make it better. My life just wouldn't be what it is without Canterbury.”

'CRESCENDO! AN EVENING WITH CANTERBURY'

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's Canterbury Voices closes 55th season with 'Crescendo!' concert