Our most recent recording on the Cedille Records label celebrates the holiday season with Christmas songs from Africa, France, Denmark, Canada, and America, as well as two works on Hebrew texts for Chanukah.
“moving, superbly sung performances of beautiful music…The singing is polished, committed, and fresh….Chicago a cappella [has] a full, expressive tone …one is left to marvel at how these singers sound like a single voice one moment, and separate-but-equal solo voices the next.”
—American Record Guide
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This a unique celebration of texts by William Shakespeare, all set to music by world-class composers of our own time, includes the recorded premieres of seven works and several songs written especially for Chicago a cappella.
“[A] charming, beautifully sung collection….Chicago a cappella sings with clarity, well-balanced tone, and deep emotional involvement.”
—Washington Post
“pure intonation, beautiful blend and clear diction”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“ a unique, unstuffy, beautifully sung enterprise.”
—American Record Guide
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This sparkling studio recording features an exciting collection of beloved music from the ensemble’s first decade, including brilliant new choral works, familiar favorites, and vocal jazz.
"It’s an overflowing cornucopia of choral delights… A lot of what Chicago a cappella sings, and how they sing it, reminds you of the male vocal ensemble Chanticleer. Pretty good company to be in, I would say."
—Chicago Tribune
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This recording of live performances from the ensemble’s first ten years of holidays programs includes Christmas spirituals, Chanukah songs, familiar carols, and new music from around the world. It’s a collection of music you won’t hear anywhere else!
“This delightful, gorgeously sung collection is well worth your time and money."
—American Record Guide
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Tracing the history of the African-American spiritual, this disc includes early call-and-response and “Dr.Watt’s” style hymns, classic settings by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and virtuosic contemporary arrangements by Moses Hogan, Jester Hairston, Peter Saltzman, and others.
"This collection of 16 African-American spirituals is wonderful, boasting technical prowess tempered with the expressive emotionalism inherent in the genre. … an informative and entertaining overview of the spiritual style."
—A-Cappella.com
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Chicago a cappella presents the debut recordings of two mass settings by the neglected French Renaissance composer Mathurin Forestier (fl. c. 1500) as well as the Josquin chanson on which one is based. The recording received glowing reviews and will be prized by lovers of Renaissance vocal music.
"...the performances on this disc are attention-getting. The nine voices that make up the group display all the professional attributes of world-class ensembles....This is an unexpected find, and I urge collectors to search it out."
—Fanfare
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Chicago a cappella‘s debut recording presents works from one of Renaissance Italy’s best known composers, the Roman choirmaster Palestrina, including his rarely heard masterpiece Missa O magnum mysterium. Also included are several of Palestrina’s Christmas hymns, which alternate between verses of polyphony and verses of Gregorian chant, and the six-voice motet “O magnum mysterium,” on which Palestrina based his mass of the same name.
"the ensemble shows great sensitivity in phrasing and choice of articulation....Choral aficionados will be grateful that these wonderful works have been recorded so successfully.."
—Choral Journal
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