by Daniel Hathaway
Contrapunctus Early Music, a vocal project launched in Cleveland by British countertenor David Acres, has been absent from the local musical scene for four years now.
The high-voice chorus of sopranos, altos, and countertenors will reanimate itself this weekend to join The King’s Counterpoint from Charleston, S.C. in a joint performance on Friday, March 25 at 7:30 pm at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Cleveland.
In February 2018, before Contrapunctus’ last concert here, Acres told this publication that his involvement with King’s Counterpoint had kept him so busy that Cleveland had temporarily fallen off the calendar.
“A series of Baroque Messiahs and the inaugural concert in our exploration of Handel’s Oratorios, commencing with Judas Maccabaeus — both with members of the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, a critically acclaimed performance in the Piccolo Spoleto Series and an invite to return, together with over 16 performances in South Carolina, have stopped us from returning to Cleveland to explore more high-voice repertoire with Contrapunctus.”
David Acres began his career in England as a boy chorister at Exeter Cathedral. He was singing there as a lay-clerk when Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral Chamber Singers crossed the pond to sing a week’s residency at Wells Cathedral in 2012. “They were down one countertenor and a friend in the Trinity group recommended me,” he said. Acres and the Cleveland singers got on splendidly together. “Within 24 hours we were like long-lost chums!” During that period, Acres also met his future wife, Judith Overcash, who was a member of the Trinity choir.
Acres moved to Cleveland, singing at Trinity Cathedral and with Quire Cleveland while setting up Contrapunctus. That ensemble made its debut in March of 2014 as a mixed-voice choir in “The Life and Times of Mary, Queen of Scots.” Other themed programs followed, including “The Remarkable Mr. Henry Purcell,” and “The Glories of Spanish Polyphony from the 13th to 17th Centuries.”
Alongside the mixed-voice programs he planned for Contrapunctus before he relocated to Charleston, Acres also began giving concerts in Cleveland devoted to high-voice repertoire. That body of choral literature obviously has a special appeal for a countertenor-turned-conductor, and Acres said he was thrilled to return to it. Then, COVID blew in.
The King’s Counterpoint, like all choral groups thought to be superspreaders of the virus, transferred its activities online. “We sang remotely for twelve months with varying degrees of success,” Acres said in a recent phone conversation. “We went live in a homecoming concert in early October 2021, singing to masked audiences until this past weekend.”
For the Cleveland performance, Acres consulted with St. John’s Cathedral music director Gregory Heislman, and a plan for distancing singers was developed. Fortunately, that wasn’t a big issue for the joint choirs. “We’re used to singing six feet apart.”
The performance on Friday at St. John’s Cathedral is titled “Lenten Reflections: Sacred Choral Music from Six Centuries.” The first SATB (four-voice) program he’s conducted at St. John’s features some of Acres’ favorite selections, including Allegri’s Miserere and John Sanders’ The Reproaches. “Lent has such glorious, maudlin, reflective music. Probably everything in this program means something to me.”
Contrapunctus’ concert is part of St. John’s Cathedral’s Helen D. Schubert Concert Series. A freewill offering will be received during the evening.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com March 25, 2022.
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