A world premiere of Remembered Love, Unforgotten Dreams, American composer Jackson Hills setting of two 7th-century Japanese poems, was the concerts centerpiece. The work was written for the Kings Singers, who deftly navigated its swooping lines, haunting harmonies and Japanese-language text. Along with a set of songs by Estonian composer Cyrillus Kreek, the premiere showed the groups incredible skill as a classical chamber ensemble of the highest order.
At the same time, the Kings Singers also included enough pop tunes and novelty songs to entertain a crossover following. Rowdy Spanish renaissance pieces were spiced up with choreography and sight gags to keep the audience engaged, and the program ended with a suite of favorite pop chestnuts, including their beloved arrangement of the Beatles Penny Lane. This is an ensemble that has figured out how to please, wrote the Posts Joan Reinthaler, describing the range and versatility that continues to keep the Kings Singers in the limelight.
COMING NEXT: In June, the Kings Singers joined forces with the ensemble Sarband to record Sacred Voices, an album of Muslim, Christian and Jewish psalms. It sounds magic, and will be released by Harmonia Mundi in the USA, and Signum records everywhere else in early autumn. The programme will tour the United States this fall, the Kings Singers report on their website.
The group has an active touring and recording schedule and has released three albums over the past two years: Gesualdo, featuring music by the murderer-composer of the same name; 1605 Treason and Dischord, featuring a mass by William Byrd and other period music, and Six, an EP of pop tunes and other light fare.
Rebecca Christie is a longtime CASA volunteer and former editor of the Contemporary A Cappella News. She is has contributed to the Recorded A Cappella Review Board since 1995 and sings in a variety of classical and contemporary ensembles.
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