University of Chicago Motet Choir to perform in Detroit/Ann Arbor, Toronto, Rochester (NY), New York City and Washington D.C. in March

The University of Chicago’s Motet Choir, one of the country’s outstanding university choral groups, will perform in Detroit/Ann Arbor, Toronto, Rochester (NY), New York City and Washington D.C. in mid-March. For more information, call (773) 702-4195.

The Motet Choir will present a concert of sacred “a cappella” music of the 16th through 20th centuries. The Choir, directed by Scott C. Lehmkuhl, consists of 37 select graduate and undergraduate singers drawn from throughout the University of Chicago.

This year’s concert will include: a motet for double chorus by Johann Sebastian Bach; works by some of the noted composers of the Renaissance including William Byrd, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Heinrich Schütz and Tomas Luis de Victoria; a multi-movement motet by Johannes Brahms; and other works by composers such as Maurice Duruflé and Randall Thompson.

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.

This is Scott C. Lehmkuhl’s first year at the University of Chicago, where he is the director of both the Motet Choir and the University Chorus. He holds degrees in vocal performance and choral conducting from the University of California, Los Angeles. His professional singing credits include the Robert Shaw Chorale as well as roles in opera and oratorio.

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