“Bach’s B Minor Mass was among the finest performances I have ever heard, and I have traveled the world to hear great music. It was as though I was hearing them for the first time! A remarkable achievement!”
Paul Pattison, KC Arts Beat 2020
“Spire distinguishes itself each year for what can quite honestly be described as one of the most bracing versions of Handel’s Messiah one can hear anywhere in the nation.”
Paul Horsley, KC Independent 2019
“The orchestra and chorus displayed a massive, all-consuming sound with elegant phrasing, precise diction, and elaborate ornamentation. I felt honored to be in the presence of such consummate performers. Each of the soloists possessed superb voices and thorough knowledge of Baroque performance practices. The orchestra exhibited fine musicianship and an exquisite sound.”
Paul Pattison, KC Arts Beat 2019
“Spire’s performance in these sections was exemplary. ‘For unto us a child is born’ had the urgent excitement of a stage whisper, touching on the rhythms like skipping stones across the pond.”
Libby Hansen, KC Studio 2018
“Performed a cappella and conducted by artistic director Ben Spalding, the music extolled the glory of Christ in English and Latin, with voices of purity and resonance filling the vaunted arches.”
Libby Hansen, Kansas City Star 2017
The following article from The New York Times speaks about the emotional impact of the Spire Chamber Ensemble's Messiah performances:
The following article from The New York Times speaks about the emotional impact of the Spire Chamber Ensemble's Messiah performances:
“In 2014 I [Reginald Mobley, countertenor] was singing the aria [‘He was despised’] in Kansas City. This was the year of the Ferguson riots following the killing of Michael Brown. As I was singing, I thought of him and all the others who have been murdered by an unjust system. I thought, I get to be a survivor and tell the story of my brothers, my sisters, who were scorned and shamed and spited and spat upon. And I have to carry that shame: of what Americans should feel allowing the system to go on as long as it has.”
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times 2020
“I [Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone] performed “Messiah” in Kansas City in December 2016. The recent election was on everyone’s mind. In between the dress rehearsal and the concert, I read about a politician who, speaking about the Obamas, said something about Michelle returning to the Serengeti to live as a man. I read it on my phone, and it broke my heart. In performance that day, what I was really doing was asking the people in the audience: Why do we hate each other, mistrust each other, dehumanize each other? I look around the world that we live in where we continue to treat people terribly. When Handel sets these rage arias, I get the sense that he understood that also. The world he lived in was not any less tumultuous than the one we live in today. I hear it in the music, in the intensity of the string figures, those 16th notes. I hear that angst.”
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times 2020
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