Upcoming Events
Announcing VAE’s 2026 summer and holiday concerts!
“HEAR MY VOICE”
Sunday, June 14, 4 pm
Duke University Chapel, Durham
Free Admission
Thomas Tallis Spem in alium
motet for 40 voice parts
James MacMillan Cantos Sagrados
a choral drama about political oppression
Reena Esmail She will transform you
an immigrant’s prayer for her child
Every voice deserves to be heard. In the music of this concert by the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, one can hear the voices of people who are overlooked and oppressed as well as voices of those who embody determination and hope. MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados is an anguished choral drama depicting the brutality suffered by the “disappeared” Latin American political prisoners and indigenous people, told through the words of Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman and others. Indian-American composer Reena Esmail’s She will transform you, written in a modified raga style, offers a mother’s prayer that her daughter would be able to bridge the divide between the culture of her heritage and that of her new homeland. Cecilia McDowall’s Standing as I do before God presents the final words of Edith Cavell, a World War I nurse wrongfully convicted of treason and executed by a German firing squad, as she reflects on the limitations of patriotism and expresses hope for an end to hatred. In Thomas Tallis’ colossal Spem in alium, 40 individual voices can be heard, each sustaining its own unique musical line, coming together to offer a united prayer of hope for all people.
Annual Holiday Concert
Saturday, December 12, 4 pm
Trinity United Methodist Church, Durham
Free Admission
Some rare and intensely beautiful fare that was almost without exception profoundly inspiring and moving, particularly given the magnificence of the singing… We may never take this art for granted, so it’s worthwhile reflecting on how much work goes into it… so what one remembers is the sheer beauty as each of the individual pieces unfold… so pure, so refined was the singing
About VAE
The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham was founded in 1996 by Rodney Wynkoop to provide superior choral performance opportunities for outstanding singers in North Carolina’s Triangle region (Durham, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh). Its 32 members are selected mainly from among musicians who have sung in other choral groups under Dr. Wynkoop’s direction.
VAE sings two concerts each year: a summer concert in June and a holiday concert in December. They have also frequently been chosen to perform at national and divisional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). The group sings music of many different styles and eras, much of it unaccompanied, ranging from simple folksongs to highly complicated works like Tallis’s Spem in alium, Schoenberg’s Friede Auf Erden, Martin’s Messe, and MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados. The group has released two CD recordings: My Spirit Sang All Day (on the Arsis label) and O Holy Night, a collection of Christmas music from past VAE concerts.
YouTube Channel
Visit the VAE’s YouTube channel to see professionally recorded past live performances, including the 25th Anniversary Concert in Duke Chapel and the 2021 Holiday Concert at First Presbyterian Church.