artistic director
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
DONALD MEINEKE
Hailed as a “fresh voice on New York’s musical scene” (The New Yorker), Donald Meineke is an organist, conductor, tenor, and the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Ensemble VIII. He maintains an active career as a recitalist, lecturer, conductor, and singer performing with local, national, and international ensembles.
Meineke serves as the Director of Music and organist for the historic Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal) on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, known fondly as the birthplace of the Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” composed as a collaboration between the priest and organist in 1868. He has served as Cantor of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City where he led the twice Grammy®-nominated Bach Choir and Players in the internationally renowned Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity series. His Bach Choir’s recording of Samuel Capricornus’ Jubilus Bernhardi, in collaboration with string ensemble ACRONYM, received critical acclaim and was on Colorado Public Radio’s December 2017 “Top 5 Must Have New Recordings” list. His recordings of Capricornus and Bach Vespers have been featured on classical music stations nationally and internationally, including KMFA’s Ancient Voices and WXXI’s With Heart and Voice, and he has appeared as a guest artist on Columbia University-WKCR’s Bachfest.
He was the Co-Founder and Director of the 2014 Early Music Festival: NYC which featured over thirty concerts by dozens of local and national ensembles to critical acclaim. Meineke served as a choirmaster for Maestro Helmuth Rilling for many years, preparing choirs across Europe and South America for performances of the major choral and orchestral works by Bach, Mozart, and others.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EMERITUS
JAMES MORROW
Most recently, James Morrow served as Director of Choral Activities at The University of Texas at Austin where he conducted the Chamber Singers and directed the graduate program in choral conducting. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the Bach Cantata Project at the Blanton Museum of Fine Arts and is also Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Ensemble VIII, a professional early music ensemble devoted to historically informed performances of Renaissance and Baroque vocal works.
Under Dr. Morrow’s direction, the UT Chamber Singers recorded two compact disks of American choral music on the Naxos label, and on the Koch International Classics label they recorded Sweet Music of Christmas, as well as Great Hymns of Faith with organist Gerre Hancock. He led the Chamber Singers in a modern-day premiere and recording of Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia’s Missa de Nossa Senhora da Conceição of 1810, and their latest disc of American folksongs is in post-production.
Dr. Morrow and the Chamber Singers performed Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with period instruments in celebration of the works 400th anniversary, as well as the complete Tenebrae Responsories of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Dr. Morrow’s choirs have toured internationally, singing for audiences in England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. The UT Chamber Singers’ most recent international concert tour was to Brazil where they performed with the University of Saõ Paolo Chamber Orchestra in historic venues in São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, and they toured the Northeastern U.S. in spring 2011, performing in major venues in Boston, New Haven, New York City, and Washington DC.
Dr. Morrow performed as a choral singer with Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in France and in the United States, participating in several recordings for TELARC, as well as performing in concert as baritone soloist under Mr. Shaw’s direction. He is a featured soloist on a TELARC compact disc with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. A student of the late Gérard Souzay, he has also performed as a baritone soloist with orchestras in a variety of repertoire, including Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Arvo Pärt’s Passio, and the passions of J. S. Bach. He was twice selected as an Artist/Fellow at the Bach Aria Festival and Institute in Stony Brook, New York. Prior to his appointment at UT, he served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Florida and at Hope College in Michigan.