Seraphic Fire – CONCERT REVIEW
— Lori Dana, Chicago Stage Review, 1/23/11
Seraphic Fire: it sounds like something raining down from the heavens on the heads of unfortunate sinners. But for a small, appreciative Sunday afternoon crowd at St. Paul’s Church in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, the sounds of this Miami-based chamber choir were more like breathtaking celestial harmonies.
Formed in 2002 by Artistic Director Patrick Dupré Quigley, (a graduate of both the Notre Dame and Yale University colleges of music and the youngest-ever recipient of the prestigious Robert Shaw Fellowship for young conductors), Seraphic Fire has garnered a well-earned reputation for dynamic and diverse performances. Despite the absence of Mr. Quigley on the ensemble’s current swing through the Midwest (due to illness), such was the still the case on this frigid Chicago day while most of the city was glued to its television screens watching the Bears go down in defeat at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. Ironically, in the course of their four engagement “mini-tour” the ensemble has performed in both cities, in addition to engagements in Milwaukee and at Notre Dame University.
Quigley had left his group in the most capable hands of conductor James K. Bass, who normally sings baritone and acts as chorus master of Seraphic Fire. A witty and engaging speaker, he not only led this phenomenal choir through a sophisticated and varied repertoire with extraordinary skill but also entertained and enlightened his audience along the way. The ensemble began their concert with four sacred pieces, the devotional tones floating down from Saint Paul’s choir loft and filling its sanctuary with Byzantine splendor. The set also included a Russian Orthodox Our Father, a missa by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and a Renaissance processional that brought the vocalists into the sanctuary. One of the many surprising aspects of Seraphic Fire’s performance was the way in which their music was enhanced by creative staging throughout the course of the program. On several occasions, the ensemble divided themselves into smaller groups that not only served the music well, but also allowed the singers to move around their performance space in a way that kept their audience engaged.
In keeping with the group’s commitment to musical diversity, their second set featured what Mr. Bass referred to as “poetic settings”, sacred themes rendered in the form of a madrigal, a contemporary interpretation of a traditional English folk song, and two other contemporary pieces: John Tavener’s The Lamb (based on the poem by William Blake), and the lovely, lyrical Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree by English composer Elizabeth Poston. What followed, was by far this concert’s most ambitious and compelling piece. Originally conceived by American composer Ingram Marshall as a studio creation combining tape loops with electronic processing, Hymnodic Delays captivated Patrick Dupré Quigley. He believed that the abstract tonal textures of Ingram’s piece, woven through with traditional harmonies, would make a totally original and challenging piece for human voices. He requested the composer’s permission to adapt the piece for Seraphic Fire. Ingram demurred, but his enthusiasm undiminished, Quigley persisted. Eventually, the composer gave in and Hymnodic Delays has become a groundbreaking piece for this conceptually fearless ensemble.
The third set, a nod to founder Quigley’s Southern roots and the small group portion of the program, consisted of traditional hymns and spirituals, including a moving solo by countertenor Reginald Mobley and a female quartet singing in a gospel style familiar to fans of the Coen brothers’ film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? A final set of pieces commissioned by Seraphic Fire reflected the cultural heritage of their Miami home base with pieces by Hispanic and Haitian composers. Although at times, the strain of touring and performing in harsh winter conditions was evident in a few individual voices, the overall effect of this remarkable performance was one of vocal excellence and overwhelming joy. By the time the choir filed out of the sanctuary to the sweet strains of In The Sweet By and By, there was nary a dry eye in the house.
According to their web site, Seraphic Fire currently has no tours scheduled outside of Florida. But if Chicago is fortunate, the ensemble will return in the near future to a bigger venue and a larger crowd. In the meantime, they have eight CDs in circulation including their latest, a collaboration with the Western Michigan University Chorale that knocked Lady Gaga out of the number one spot on the iTunes top 200. They have also launched a brand new education initiative, the Miami Choral Academy, which is committed to creating a Little League-style network of choirs in Miami’s inner-city schools. Already established as a local cultural force, Seraphic Fire will no doubt continue to grow in stature as one of the country’s most exciting arts innovators.
