Bella Voce has announced its 2026-27 season, celebrating Artistic Director Andrew Lewis’s 20th season. The season opens with “How to Fold the Wind,” a program of contemporary works featured throughout Lewis’s tenure, including Caroline Shaw’s “How to Fold the Wind,” a Bella Voce co-commission, and Veljo Tormis’s “Curse Upon Iron,” alongside new works by Ed Frazier Davis, Matthew Recio, and {…}
Bella Voce will present “Star of the Sea: Music for Mary from Colonial Guatemala” on May 2 in Chicago and May 3 in Evanston. The program, which is presented as part of the “Expanding the Canon” series, features Tomás Luis de Victoria’s “Missa Ave maris stella,” alongside “Marian motets” by Francisco Guerrero, Hernando Franco, and Pedro Bermúdez. Audiences will also {…}
Bella Voce will present Christmas with the “Baroque Masters,” a two-city collaboration with Madison Bach Musicians on Dec. 13 and 14, 2025. The concert features choral works by Heinrich Schütz and Guillaume Bouzignac, Isabella Leonarda’s Magnificat, Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso “Christmas Night,” and Handel’s Concerto in B-flat Major for Organ and Strings with Trevor Stephenson as soloist. The centerpiece will {…}
Chicago’s Bella Voce will feature complete performances of Händel’s “Messiah” in Milwaukee on Nov. 22 and Evanston on Nov. 23, 2025. The showcases will be led by Artistic Director Andrew Lewis. Joining the 24-voice Bella Voce will be the 20-player period-instrument Bella Voce Sinfonia. Soloists include Orna Arania, Anna Joy Buegel, Oliver Camacho, Mark Haddad, Kimberly Jones, Amanda Koopman, Luke {…}
Bella Voce has named Matthew Recio to the position of managing director. Recio, who takes over for Betsy Hoats, is a vocal composer whose works include the opera “The Puppy Episode.” That work was the winner of the American Prize Award for Opera. He has also worked with such organizations as LYNX Project, Rush Hour Concert Series, Stare at the {…}
The Ear Taxi Festival’s “The Composer’s Voice,” has announced that it will return to Chicago in fall 2025. This article only features classical voice events. The chamber vocal ensemble, Bella Voce opens the 2025 Festival with the oratorio, “Lost Objects.” The work by Bang on a Can combines choir, electronics, and modern themes. Hannah De Priest, Ryan Belongie, and Luke {…}
Chicago-based Bella Voce has announced its 2024–2025 season: Odysseys, a musical expedition of evocative and enduring works of the early music repertoire. The season opens with “Iberia and the Americas.” The program is a sacred polyphony from new-world peninsulares as well as composers indigenous to the Americas. The a cappella program features works by Vicente Lusitano, Francisco López Capillas, and {…}