Sacred Concert by the Simon Bolivar National Choir of Venezuela

Wow! I can finally say that the choir is back 🙏 Following our first gala concert last weekend, this Saturday, March 21, we sang at the Nuestra Señora del Rosario Cathedral in La California, Capital District. Once again, I dare say that in addition to the music, the secret to our success was the passion of the audience, which filled every seat in the church at 3 p.m. The invitation came through one of our sopranos who attends this church, and it was a truly heartwarming experience for both the parishioners and us singers. I invite you to watch the video that kicks off this post.

The music you can hear in the video is the classic spiritual “My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord,” originally by Moses Hogan, and it was the encore requested by the audience at the end of our hour-and-a-half performance. This concert is also part of the planning for our 20th anniversary, which will be officially celebrated in May. The young man you can hear in the video is one of my fellow tenors; his name is Gabriel Hernández, the soprano accompanying him is Mariana Camacho, another of the great voices in our choir. The acoustics in the church were phenomenal, and we didn’t have time to do a sound check beforehand, so the first piece we performed was a surprise even to ourselves...

As for the repertoire, this concert was similar to last week’s, but there were a few differences. For example, this time we opened with a piece by the Australian composer Daniel Brinsmead, Spiritus Sanctus. We then continued with three pieces we had already performed at the Simón Bolívar Hall: “Denn er hat seinen engeln befohlen,” “Abendlied,” and “O Vos Omnes” by Paul Casals. We revisited “Ubi Caritas” by Ola Gjeilo, “Tu Es Petrus” by Robert Pearsall, and “In Paradisum” by Joseph Vila. We then performed “Kvalite Imya Gospodne,” “Even When He Is Silent,” “Lux Aurumque,” and “Deo Gratias” once more, the latter of which gave our concert its name.

To wrap things up, we performed two spirituals: the one you can hear in the video and “Witness” by Stacey G. Gibbs. The choral arrangements were the perfect way to cap off a great concert, leaving everyone—both the audience and the singers—feeling satisfied. It was a unique afternoon filled with so many emotions, the kind that only music can make so special. We have a lot of repertoire and surprises in store for our 20th-anniversary celebration in May—and, in fact, for the rest of the year—since there’s so much repertoire and so many places where we simply must share the fruits of all our hard work and years of study... Every day I fall more in love with being part of this group ❤️