Founded in 2008, Dolce Voce “sweet voice” (in Italian) has emerged as an exciting new choral group from Macau, China, dedicated to promote the art of choral singing and to enrich the choral musical culture of Macau. They were formed and are currently led by Maria Vanessa Leão.
The choral group are known for performing diverse repertoire from traditional and contemporary classical choral music, but also have an edgy side with their arrangements of popular songs and Broadway show tunes.
It is the 7th anniversary of Dolce Voce. Since 2012, they have an annual tour during each summer, and for 2015 it is in Britain.
Conductor Maria Vanessa Leão said: “We selected to tour the UK this year because I studied at the Royal Northern College of Music for my postgraduate program many years ago and I always longed to bring my beloved choir here, a country which I like very much and enjoyed during my time as a student. The repertoire is specially selected for this tour. For the past years, we’ve tried many different periods and genres of choral music, from renaissance madrigals to contemporary and pops. This time we’ve chosen a repertoire which is a favourite of our Choir.”
About the program she added: “It starts with some religious atmosphere. Including; Spanish composer, Busto’s Ave Maria, which was beautifully written and the composer himself likes our interpretation as well. Famous English composer, Chilcott, a composer I like very much. His music is always beautiful with effective harmonies and melodies. We’ll sing the whole Missa Cantate this time. Pater Noster is also a very nice piece written by Philippine composer Calalang. Maestro Calalang is a versatile musician who composes, teaches and conducts the renowned UST singers. This piece includes 10 parts and has a very nice musical contour. We’ll sing in our own native language, Cantonese, a piece by Hong Kong composer Victor Chan. Hearts that Yearn for Zion / Joy Cometh in the Morning is from Dr. Chan’s cantata My Heart Longs for Thee. Chen Yi’s Spring Dreams is a setting of a Chinese poem written in the 7th century. This music is very popular and the interpretation by Chanticleer is stunning. We love this piece very much and brought it to Beijing during our performance in the Beijing Modern Music Festival. Two folk pieces, O Danny Boy from Ireland and Beautiful Praire, my Hometown from China, will surely be familiarized and loved by the audience. We’ll add some movements and visual entertainment on the last two pieces, On My Own from Les Miserables and Tequila Samba. We hope you all have fun! We’ll surely bring you an unforgettable afternoon/evening in our concert!”
Dolce Voce are embarking on their debut concert tour of the UK in August 2015 and will be performing in:
Edinburgh – 4th August 2015 at Stirling Castle-Chapel Royal. Time 14:00
Chester – 7th August 2015 at Parish Church of St. John the Baptist. Time 19:00pm
London – 12th August 2015 at Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge. Time 15:00
All CONCERTS ARE FREE
All travel and concert arrangements are being handled by Classical Movements