The William Baker Festival Singers & Chamber Orchestra presents the 12th annual Kenneth Babcock Memorial Masterworks Concert in the splendor of St. Mary's Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Featured works include Benjamin Britten: FESTIVAL TE DEUM; William W. Dreyfoos: SONGS OF THE HOLOCAUST; Leonard Bernstein: CHICHESTER PSALMS; Ralph Vaughan Williams: DONA NOBIS PACEM, and Ed Frazier Davis' AT OUR LAST AWAKENING. Wine and Cookie Reception following the concert.

Music Director Lynn Swanson leads The New South Festival Singers, soloists and orchestra musicians in Leonard Bernstein's thrilling "Chichester Psalms" and other works of Jewish composers. This is the annual Andrew Cain Memorial Masterworks Concert. In the 39 seasons of the Festival Singers, the Atlanta-based ensemble has performed an impressive array of choral-orchestral classics.

Vox Venti under the direction of Ed Frazier Davis presents an emotional concert exploring these two titular themes, both central to the human condition, through repertoire full of moving and inspiring choral art.

The chorus will perform works by Calixto Álvarez, Kim André Arnesen, Bob Chilcott, Ed Frazier Davis, Adolphus Hailstork, Gabriel Jackson, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and John Tavener, plus Herbert Howells' funereal masterpiece Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing (composed for a memorial for John F. Kennedy) and a new commission from Vox Venti’s own Bass II section leader Tabes Bridges.

Each February The William Baker Festival Singers present an outreach concert in the Heartland region. Our 2024 performance will be a joint concert with the St. Joseph Community Chorus, Timothy Jon Tharaldson, Artistic Director. Each chorus will perform highlights from their own repertoire before joining in thrilling mass choir selections led by Mr. Tharaldson. The program will be a special tribute to music of black composers and of the African-American song tradition.

Since its founding in 1985, The New South Festival Singers has championed the music of black composers and the folk songs and spirituals of the black experience. For our annual "Tribute to the American Black Composer" concert in 2024, Music Director Lynn Swanson has chosen the deeply moving cantata, "Changed My Name" by Linda Twine. Using traditional songs and composed music the cantata tells the story of seeking freedom through the words of 19th century heroes Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Dr. Norma Raybon plays the role of Sojourner Truth, and the Reverend Henrietta Andrews plays the role of Hariett Tubman.

Join The Institute for Healthy Singing & Voice Research (IHS&VR) and the William Baker Choral Foundation for an incredible evening of music and philanthropy at the Carriage Club in Kansas City, MO! The Kenya Music Education Benefit Gala is a not-to-be-missed event where you can make a difference while enjoying talented musicians, as they take the stage to support music education in Kenya. This in-person event promises a night filled with soulful melodies and heartwarming stories of the IHS&VR's work in Kenya. Come and show your support for this noble cause. Be a part of something extraordinary!

Candlelight, Carols & Cathedral has become of the city's most beloved holiday traditions, celebrating the beauty and wonder of Christmas. The William Baker Festival Singers join with Organist John Schaefer and guest choir Kansas City, Kansas All-City Children's Chorus, Donna Johnson, Director, to perform timeless classics, beloved carols in traditional forms, and the story of Christmas in scripture and song. See the beauty of Kansas City's glorious cathedrals. Hear the words of the story and rousing choral singing. Raise your voice in treasured carols with the voices of the Festival Singers and a magnificent pipe organ. Early arrival recommended for best seats.

Wolcum for whom we sall sing!

The annual Christmas concert of Vox Venti under the direction of Ed Frazier Davis is named after the eponymous work for chorus and harp by Benjamin Britten, the SATB version of which will be the evening’s centerpiece.

Featuring special guest Jordan Thomas, one of Chicago's most distinguished and celebrated harpists. In addition to Britten, we will perform holiday delights by Ed Frazier Davis, Jessica French, Ola Gjeilo, and Dale Trumbore, plus the Illinois premiere of Winter Ride by Mari Ésabel Valverde.

Candlelight, Carols & Cathedral has become of the city's most beloved holiday traditions, celebrating the beauty and wonder of Christmas. The William Baker Festival Singers join with Organist John Schaefer and guest choirs to perform timeless classics, beloved carols in traditional forms, and the story of Christmas in scripture and song. See the beauty of Kansas City's glorious cathedrals. Hear the words of the story and rousing choral singing. Raise your voice in treasured carols with the voices of the Festival Singers and a magnificent pipe organ. Early arrival recommended for best seats.

Voces Festivas & Friends, under the leadership of Music Director Leilani Velasco Vaughn, presents our second annual Navidad Con Voces Festivas in the splendor of the All Saints Catholic Church in Kansas City, Kansas. The voices of Voces Festivas perform joyful folk music and compositions from our Hispanic heritage.

Christmas With Kansas City Bronze has quickly become one of the community's most anticipated holiday events. In the form of a Lessons and Carols Service, the hour of song and story includes traditional readings of the Christmas season interspersed with classical music for bells, chimes and organ, along with beloved carols in traditional forms for everyone to sing. The concert will be followed by a Wine and Christmas Cookie Reception. Early arrival recommended for best seats.

Kansas City Bronze rings 72 Mallmark handbells and 60 choirchimes in works and arrangements by Cathy Moklebust, Arnold Sherman, and other leading composers of bell music.

Carols by Candlelight with The New South Festival Singers is a beloved Atlanta holiday tradition. Music Director Lynn Swanson leads the 40-voice a cappella choir in beloved carols, creative works and the traditional classics treasured across the globe. The Festival Singers will be joined by The Georgia Youth Choir, under the direction of Alyssa Gangarosa and Due West Carillon Ringers, director Barry Taylor. Early arrival is recommended for best seats.

The first-ever public performance of The William Baker Festival Singers was a benefit concert for Front Porch Alliance on the Friday before Thanksgiving in 1998. Each year the Festival Singers celebrates the holiday by raising funds for a worthy charity that brings help and hope in our community. Kansas City Bronze, called "...one of Kansas City's elite handbell ensembles" will join the Festival Singers for a gala concert.

Our 2023 concert will support the work of the Institute for Healthy Singing and Voice Research in the village of Kapkemich, Kenya, begum by Fellows of the Institute in March 2023.

100% of funds donated will support the next visit by our Healthy Singing team.

The William Baker Festival Singers open their 2023-2024, 26th concert season at the historic St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where the beloved choir is Chorus in Residence. The performance includes classic works by Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner and Maurice Durufle; along with modern works by Knut Nystedt, Eriks Esenvalds, and Sean Sweeden. The program includes the Kansas City premiers of Edmund Jolliffe's "Wessobrunn Prayer" and Zachary James Ritter's "The Sometimes Joy of Reminiscing." The concert culminates with the Festival Singers signature American spirituals and gospels. Wine and Cookie Reception following the concert. Early arrival recommended for best seats.

Music Director Lynn Swanson leads the 40-voice New South Festival Singers in the choir's 39th Season Opening Concert. Entitled Changed My Name the performance will include the Festival Singers signature classics, innovative new works and American spirituals and gospels.

The William Baker Festival Singers presents a preview of our 2023-2024, 26th concert season in Kansas City, with an informal concert expressing love and appreciation to the members, staff and community of Countryside Christian Church in Mission, Kansas, which has provided a rehearsal home for the choir since 2021. The concert will include selections from our upcoming subscription season performances, including early American hymns and spirituals. along with works by Vaughan Williams, Anton Bruckner, and Williametta Spencer.

Voces Festivas, under the direction of Leilani Velasco Vaughn, is a featured performance ensemble at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, Overland Park, Kansas.

Voces Festivas, bajo la dirección de Leilani Velasco Vaughn, es un conjunto de actuación destacado en la Celebración del Mes de la Herencia Hispana en el Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, Overland Park, Kansas.

Vox Venti, Ed Frazier Davis, artist director, is one Chicagoland's exciting new choral ensembles. Vox Venti is hosting a festival concert celebrating its emergence on the Chicago musical scene and the work of Chicago composer Ed Frazier Davis. Guest ensembles include La Caccina, Carling FitzSimmons, artistic director; Chicago Choral Artists, Michael D. Costello, artistic director; and Spirito Singers, Carling FitzSimmons, artistic director.

Dr. William O. Baker, head of the Choral Foundation, will be guest conductor with Vox Venti, leading the ensemble in compelling works by Ed Frazier Davis. La Caccina, Chicago Choral Artists, and Spirito Singers will perform works previewing their upcoming concert seasons. The performance will culminate as composer/director Ed Frazier Davis leads the combined choirs and audience in his lovely setting of How Can I Keep From Singing?

The William Baker Festival Singers offer Choral Evensong in the nave of the historic St. Mary's Episcopal Church in downtown Kansas City. The Festival Singers is Chorus in Residence at the magnificent c1880 church. Associate Music Director Christine Freeman leads an extended choral prelude of anthems, along with liturgical settings of Vaughan Williams and hymns. Featured works include Durufle: UBI CARITAS; Bruckner: CHRISTUS FACTUS EST and Esenvalds: O SALUTARIS HOSTIA. This is a public service of Christian worship.

Founder & Music Director Lynn Swanson leads the 80-voice Cobb Summer Singers with distinguished soloists and the Cumberland Chamber Orchestra in Johann Sebastian Bach's famous Magnificat, along with Camile Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio.

Music Director William Baker conducts the 100-voice Summer Singers of Kansas City & Chamber Orchestra in The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn, in an English translation by Robert Shaw. Soloists are Soprano Victoria Botero, Tenor Zachary Devin and Bass Joshua Markley.

Founded in 1990, The Summer Singers of Atlanta is the city's original summer chorus. Annual performances of choral-orchestral masterworks draw hundreds of listeners. For 2023 Music Director Andrew Schmidt conducts the 80-voice chorus, distinguished young soloists and professional chamber orchestra in Franz Schubert's Mass in Eb. The work is the great composer's final choral work.

Music Director Jennifer Lahasky leads the Summer Singers of Lee's Summit, soprano Megan Moore, baritone Joshua Markley and guest artists in Donald McCullough's deeply moving "Holocaust Cantata." The program also includes musicologist and composer Amy Thropp's Kaddish for the Six Million. Ms. Thropp will be present to conduct her composition and give a brief pre-concert talk about the works. There will be an exhibition from students from the Hyman Brand Academy in Overland Park, Kansas. A wine and cookie reception will follow the concert presented by the Friends of St. Paul's Music. This concert is sponsored, in part, by the Arts Council of Lee's Summit and the Louis and Frances Swinken Supportng Foundation.

Music Director Jennifer Lahasky leads the Summer Singers of Lee's Summit, soprano Megan Moore, baritone Joshua Markley and guest artists in Donald McCullough's deeply moving "Holocaust Cantata." The program also includes musicologist and composer Amy Thropp's Kaddish for the Six Million. Ms. Thropp will be present to conduct her composition and give a brief pre-concert talk about the works. There will be an exhibition from students from the Hyman Brand Academy in Overland Park, Kansas. A wine and cookie reception will follow the concert presented by the Friends of St. Paul's Music. This concert is sponsored, in part, by the Arts Council of Lee's Summit and the Louis and Frances Swinken Supportng Foundation.

Since their first appearance at Charleston's Piccolo Spoleto Festival in 1989, the New South Festival Singers have performed annually to capacity audiences. Previously known as Gwinnett Festival Singers (1985-1998) and the William Baker Festival Singers Atlanta (1998-2015) the Atlanta based a cappella choir has delighted festival audiences with their signature diversity of classics from across the globe, their early American hymns and spirituals, and their rousing gospel selections. Now under the direction of Music Director Lynn Swanson the 40 singers will celebrate 34 years in Charleston with one of their most exciting concerts ever! Please arrive early for best seats.

Music Director Ed Frazier Davis lead's Vox Venti in the culmination of the semi-professional ensemble's Inaugural Season, showcasing anthems of nature, beauty and love. The performance of classics and new works includes selections by Juhi Bansal, Ysaye Barnwell, Benjamin Britten, Gabriel Jackson, Carols Jimenez, Bobby McFerrin, Stephen Paulus, plus winners of Institute for Choral Creativity 2022 Barnard Award for new music. Special features include Ed Frazier Davis' arrangement of Gravity by Sara Bareilles, and the world premier of a work by Saunder Choi.