Ars Nova Singers

Ars Nova Singers is an a cappella choral group based in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Founded in 1986 by Artistic Director Thomas Edward Morgan, Ars Nova is comprised of forty selectively auditioned all-volunteer singers from the greater Denver metropolitan area. Ars Nova has achieved significant national recognition, recording eight critically-acclaimed solo recordings as well as performing on seven recordings with Boulder composer and instrumentalist Bill Douglas.

Technically and programmatically innovative, Ars Nova performs a variety of music, ranging from significant works of early Renaissance masters to contemporary works by 20th and 21st century composers. The ensemble's musical accomplishments include historically informed performances of the music of Hildegard of Bingen, concerts of the complete "Responsoria" by the late-Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, critically acclaimed performances of the "a cappella" masterpieces of Rachmaninoff (the "Vespers" and "Liturgy of St. John"), and the commissioning and premiering of new works.

Honors and Recognition

Ars Nova Singers has been featured on radio broadcasts throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe, including such National Public Radio programs as "The First Art", "Music from the Hearts of Space", and locally on "Colorado Spotlight" and "Colorado Matters".

Honors include an invitation-only performance on National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. (2006); an upcoming performance at the National Performing Arts Convention (2008); performances at the national conventions of Chorus America (2002) and The American Guild of Organists (1998); and support from the Chorus Program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Performing Ensembles program of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Collaborations

Ars Nova has collaborated with some of the finest musicians and arts organizations in the Rocky Mountain region, including: the Kronos Quartet; Boulder Philharmonic; Colorado Music Festival; Colorado MahlerFest; Frequent Flyers Dance Company; St. Martin’s Chamber Choir; Denver Chamber Orchestra; Colorado Mormon Chorale; and the newly formed Lafayette Pro Musica chamber orchestra.

The choir has participated in numerous commissioning/new music projects, performing new works by Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, Luis Jorge González, Jan Gilbert, R. Anthony Lee, and Terry Schlenker. In September 2002 the ensemble premiered "I Heard a Voice", a major new work composed by Thomas Edward Morgan and New York visual artist Lesley Dill and subsequently performed internationally at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam, British Columbia (2003). In 2007, the ensemble premiered a commissioned work by composer Steven Stucky, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

Thomas Edward Morgan, Artistic Director

Thomas Edward Morgan, Artistic Director and founder of the Ars Nova Singers, is recognized as a significant choral conductor and composer in the state of Colorado. Morgan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music summa cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Colorado. Morgan currently holds an ongoing invitation-only fellowship in the Lucas Artists Program at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California.

Ars Nova Singers | 22nd Season Roster (2007-08)

Estee Baldwin / Juliette Bartsch / Jan Botwinick / Aaron Brockett / Evanne Browne / Tana Cochran / Gary Crow-Willard / John Davies / Donna Deininger / Kathryn Donaldson / Brian du Fresne / Brant Foote / Amy French / Kathryn Hallor / Jeff Harris / Emilyn Inglis / Shannon Johnson / Kathe Lujan / Stephanie Moore / Paul Munsch / David Nesbitt / Julie Poelchau / Geoffrey Quelch / Karen Ramirez / Jack Rook III / Lorienne Schwenk / Glenn Short / Bruce Smith / Donald Stikeleather / Robert Sussuma / Tara U’Ren / Rhonda Wallen / Louis Warshawsky / Steve Weaver / Rick Wheeler / Don Wilson / Steve Winograd

Discography

olo Recordings:

* "Blue True Dream" (2006)
* "Rachmaninoff Vespers" (2005)
* "Luminescence" (2004)
* "I Heard a Voice" (2002)
* "All Sky" (2000)
* "Midwinter: Carols in Concert" (2000)
* "A Shadow and a Dream" (1997)
* "Soundscapes" (1995)
* "A Floweret Bright: Christmas Music of the Renaissance and the 20th Century" (1993)

Featured on:

Recordings by Bill Douglas:
* "Sky" (2005)
* "Homeland: A Prayer for Peace" (2002)
* "A Place Called Morning" (2001)
* "Eternity's Sunrise" (2000)
* "Earth Prayer" (1999)
* "Songs of Earth & Sky" (1998)
* "Deep Peace" (1996)

External links

* [http://www.arsnovasingers.org Ars Nova Singers]
* [http://www.mrgn.mine.nu/ Thomas Edward Morgan]