University of Chicago Motet Choir to perform in Austinat St. Austin’s Catholic Church on Sunday, March 19

The University of Chicago’s Motet Choir, one of the country’s outstanding university choral groups, will perform in Austin at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 19, at St. Austin’s Catholic Church,

2010 Guadalupe Street. The concert is free; a free will donation is requested. For more information, call (512) 323-0575.

The Motet Choir will present a concert of sacred “a cappella” music of the 16th through 20th centuries. The Choir, directed by Bruce Tammen, consists of 32 select singers drawn from throughout the University of Chicago, including undergraduates and graduates alike.

This year’s concert will include: a work by Henry Purcell in honor of the 300th anniversary of the English composer’s death; works by three of the great composers of the Renaissance: Josquin des Pres, Orlando di Lasso and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina; a motet by Johannes Brahms and a piece for double choir by Johann Christoph Bach; and three pieces performed in Hebrew, including one composed by University of Chicago Ph.D. recipient Rami Levin, commissioned specifically for the 1995 Motet Choir tour.

In addition, almost one-third of the concert will consist of music composed and arranged by 20th century Americans, including an African American spiritual arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw.

The Motet Choir was founded in 1960 by Chicago musicologist Howard Mayer Brown.

It presents a broad repertoire of unaccompanied choral pieces with an emphasis on stylistically accurate performances of Renaissance and Baroque music. The Music Department of the University of Chicago is well-known for its programs in music history, theory and composition.

Bruce Tammen, Director of Choral Activities in the University of Chicago’s Department of Music, has led the Motet Choir for eleven years. He holds performance degrees from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as well as a degree in English from the University of Chicago. He is an active recitalist and oratorio soloist in the Chicago area.

This is the Motet Choir’s ninth tour. It has performed throughout the United States.