by Mike Telin

How do you describe a vocal ensemble made up of three sopranos and one mezzo that is dedicated to the commissioning and performance of contemporary vocal music? “If I only had ten seconds I’d say that we’re a string quartet for voices,” Amanda DeBoer said during a telephone interview. On Wednesday, March 22 at 7:30 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art will present Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble (Amanda DeBoer, Elizabeth Pearse, and Carrie Henneman Shaw, sopranos, and Kayleigh Butcher, mezzo-soprano) at Transformer Station.

DeBoer said that when Quince was first formed, it was a battle to differentiate themselves from other a cappella groups. “We realized right away that there was not a lot of repertoire for unaccompanied treble voices. You have a lot of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque choral traditions, but we weren’t trying to be an early-music ensemble — we wanted to sing contemporary repertoire.” [Read more…]