A national leader in undergraduate and graduate choral studies.
Moores School Concert Chorale
Dr. Kaitlin DeSpain, director
Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays
2:00–3:20 pm
Audition and previous UH choral experience required
The Moores School Concert Chorale is the University of Houston’s premiere large choral ensemble. The group has been under the direction of Betsy Cook Weber since 2002. Since that time the group has appeared as an invited choir before the 2004 national convention of the American Musicological Society, the 2005 and 2008 Texas Music Educators Association conventions, and the 2007 American Choral Directors Association national convention in Miami. The choralnet.org blog described their Miami performances as “absolutely outstanding” and “stunning.” Chorale members traveled to compete at the Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales this past summer, and were invited to represent the United States at this prestigious festival's opening night concert. At that world-renowned festival, Chorale won or placed in every category in which they entered, including a first price in the most coveted category of all, Chamber Choir.
The goal of the Moores School of Music is to prepare singers who are strong musicians possessed of a secure vocal technique that will enable them to succeed wherever vocal opportunities presents themselves. Recently, in addition to numerous concerts of standard choral repertoire, Chorale members have sung in productions of The Saint of Bleecker Street (Menotti), The Ghost of Versailles (Corigliano), Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach), and Grapes of Wrath Gordon), Carmina Burana, Verdi's Requiem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection). They have sung in masterclasses with Joseph Flummerfelt, Charles Bruffy, and for the men’s vocal ensemble, Cantus. A number of singers were featured in the NBC television show Clash of the Choirs, filmed in New York City December, 2007, and Chorale members were featured at the Latin Grammys Lifetime Achievement Awards in November, 2008. Because of the school’s enviable location in one of the country’s most active musical and cultural centers, these students are active as paid soloists, section leaders, and directors of church choirs, and they often teach voice privately in the public schools. When schedules permit, they may be seen singing with the Mercury Baroque, Cantare, the Houston Symphony Chorus, and the Houston Chamber Choir.