sacred music | Carmen-Helena Téllez

Two oratorios sing the trials of our society and prayers of reflection

May 5, 2019 by carmen helena tellez

I am delighted to announce that Ensemble Concept/21 has invited the Euclid Quartet, Kosmologia, and the Notre Dame Children’s Choir to premiere the oratorios The Tower and the Garden by Gregory Spears and Beatitudes by Jorge Muñiz, under my direction, next Friday, May 10, at 7 pm, in the Campus Auditorium of Indiana University South Bend. This project joins together two important sponsors of creativity in this country– The New Frontiers Program at Indiana University, and the Ann Stookey Fund […]

Categories: art and religion, art and society, gesamtkünstwerk, intermedia, music composition, new choral music, new forms of presentation, new opera and music drama, postclassical music, sacred music • Tags: CARMEN HELENA TELLEZ, Denise Levertov, Gregory Spears, Jorge Muñiz, Notre Dame Vocale, Thomas Merton

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Notes from a recent performance of Mozart’s Requiem

November 4, 2013 by carmen helena tellez

Last September 14 I had the opportunity to conduct Mozart’s Requiem in the Decio Theater of Notre Dame, with the Notre Dame Festival Chorus and Orchestra and the wonderful soloists Jessica McCormack, soprano; Julia Bentley, mezzo-soprano; Nick Fitzer, tenor; and Stephen Lancaster, bass. Given that the hall is designed for drama and the spoken voice, I thought we would connect with our audience’s expectations better through a slightly unconventional approach, and instead of presenting a pre-concert talk, we delivered the […]

Categories: art and religion, art and ritual, Carmen's work, sacred music • Tags: Mozart's Requiem

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CD Reviews are In…

January 7, 2013 by carmen helena tellez

The critics have enjoyed the Cds produced and conducted for the Latin American Music Center. Read them (with other reviews) here

Categories: conducting, music composition, my work, new choral music, sacred music

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Sharing the news of our new DMA at Notre Dame

December 30, 2012 by carmen helena tellez

On December 11 the University of Notre Dame approved a new Doctor of Musical Arts program with specializations in Choral Conducting and in Organ. The approach to training the new conductors includes deep study of the relationship of music with other arts and other disciplines. Although conductors will study the broad choral repertoires, it is inevitable to study Western sacred music, which lies a the foundation of most Western art music. After all, in my personal view, liturgy is one […]

Categories: art and religion, art and ritual, gesamtkünstwerk, interdiscipline, new choral music, new conductor, new opera and music drama, sacred music, scholarship • Tags: DMA at Notre Dame, James MacMillan

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A thrilling new conference on Sacred Music ….

July 8, 2012 by carmen helena tellez

…with James MacMillan and a stellar panel of guest composers and scholars. Check the site here It was a privilege to be part of it!

Categories: art and religion, art and ritual, art and society, my work, new choral music, new conductor, sacred music

The reviews of PASSION with Tropes are as variegated as the work itself

May 30, 2011 by carmen helena tellez

Composer Jeremy Podgursky has just published his review of Don Freund’s PASSION with Tropes in the excellent online journal Sequenza21.com. His full account and considered opinion teach us how an interdisciplinary presentation of a musical work originally conceived for concert oratorio format may provoke surprising revelations about the work itself. The layers multiply beyond the performance through the reception and critique of viewers. Podgursky’s impression of PASSION was affected by his experience of important films by Fellini and Godard. This […]

Categories: art, art and religion, art and ritual, art music video, contemporary music, gesamtkünstwerk, interdiscipline, meta-composition, multimedia, music composition, my work, new choral music, new conductor, new opera and music drama, postclassical music, sacred music

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The work on PASSION with Tropes continues…

May 14, 2011 by carmen helena tellez

Assistant Conductor Greg Geehern testing images for Passion with Tropes by Margaret Dolinsky and Susanne Schwibs …and Don Freund has left these notes in the Event’s Site. For him, it is about the friction of several scriptural and poetic texts as well as musical styles. For me it has been to find an unexpected message that the audience takes away from the conflict of ideas. My assistant, the brilliant young conductor and interdisciplinary artist Mark Doerries expresses it as this: […]

Categories: contemporary music, gesamtkünstwerk, interdiscipline, meta-composition, multimedia, new choral music, new conductor, new opera and music drama, sacred music, Uncategorized • Tags: CARMEN HELENA TELLEZ, DON FREUND, Greg Geehern, MARGARET DOLINSKY, MARK DOERRIES, PASSION WITH TROPES, ROBERT A. SHAKESPEARE, Susanne Schwibs

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Carmen-Helena Téllez

Conductor – Creative Producer – Interdisciplinary Artist • A site with notes about music, art and the occasional paradox

Category Archives: sacred music

Two oratorios sing the trials of our society and prayers of reflection

Notes from a recent performance of Mozart’s Requiem

CD Reviews are In…

Sharing the news of our new DMA at Notre Dame

A thrilling new conference on Sacred Music ….

The reviews of PASSION with Tropes are as variegated as the work itself

The work on PASSION with Tropes continues…