Daniel Blaze

Samuel Jones

Graham Ross

Duke Performances

Choir of Clare College

The distinguished Choir of Clare College, Cambridge is headed stateside for a celebration of masterpieces old and new from the flourishing choral tradition of the 20th and 21st centuries. At the heart of the program is the US premiere of a new commission by Héloïse Werner, one of the UK classical music scene’s fastest rising stars. Her Magnificat sits alongside works by other leading contemporary voices from the UK and US. Roderick Williams’s reimagining of Byrd’s Ave verum corpus and James MacMillan’s colorful setting of a Latin text represent the British contingent, while and the swallow by Carolina Shaw, the youngest ever recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Eric Whitacre’s bold dreamscape showcase some of the best examples of contemporary American choral writing.
These new works are paired with other similarly short works by the great and the good of 20th-century choral music, with several more religious works: a festival anthem by Finzi, a motet by Howells and a Jewish prayer by Bernstein.