Category: Lux Events - LUX

Cole Reyes Named Composition Contest Winner

12/14/2020

After reviewing 44 submissions from 11 countries, totaling over 3 hours of music, Lux's panel of judges for their first-ever composition contest has named a winner: Cole Reyes. The winning piece, Alleluia (The Rose), is a fresh and evocative setting of the famous text There is No Rose.

Lux Manager Emily Shallbetter, a judge of the contest, was "so impressed by so many of the submissions [Lux] received," and hopes that "all of our applicants enjoyed writing their pieces as much as I enjoyed listening to them."

On his winning piece, Reyes said, "I decided to use a classic Christmas text, There Is No Rose mostly because of its juxtaposition of English and Latin. We have, standing side-by-side, the old and the new." This contrast of old and new seems wholly fitting as the final part of Lux's Christmas From Home program, made up of both ancient chant and a newly-composed chant from local composer Christen Holmes, commissioned by Lux.

"This piece seeks to symbolize the current state of the winter season," Reyes says, "The month of December is a time full of holidays, religious and secular — a time filled with loved ones and gifts. We create traditions that we stand by year after year. This piece is a tribute to the evolution of traditions."

Cole Reyes's Alleluia (The Rose) will be premiered virtually as part of Lux's audience-interactive Winter Season, Christmas From Home.

Our First-Ever Composition Contest

10/18/2020

...is here! We're all very excited to announce Lux's first venture into composition contests, and we can't wait to see your submissions! Open to choral composers of all ages, the winner of this contest will have their piece premiered in our Winter 2020-2021 season, which will run through December and parts of January. Aside from inclusion in our program, the winner will receive $750, a live premiere in a future Lux concert, and a studio recording in a future recording session!

For more information, read below, or contact [email protected] with any further questions.

submit your piece

Lux Virtual Choir

6/5/2020

Earlier this week, in conjunction with our Education Initiative, we released our first-ever Virtual Choir! In the midst of the COVID-19 Crisis this year, we wanted to create a performance opportunity for some of our local high school choirs, so we teamed up with three amazing HS choirs in the state of Maryland to sing one more song before the end of their school year. Over the course of three weeks, students used Lux practice tracks, and participated in recorded mini-masterclasses to describe how our singers would prepare a piece like this for rehearsals, performances, and recording projects.

Many thanks to all those who helped us celebrate these amazing choirs and their hard work this year both in person and online as we premiered our first collaboration with these schools! A special thanks, of course, goes to directors Mrs. Kelly Butler (Walter Johnson HS, Montgomery County), Mr. Robby Napoli (Chesapeake HS, Anne Arundel County), and Ms. Amy Vanek (Clarksburg HS), as well as all of their singers for collaborating with us on this project.

See the video right here on this post to hear the final product and continue supporting Maryland's young choral artists!

Lux at Chesapeake High School!

1/21/2020

Last Friday, we spent the day meeting and working with the wonderfully talented choral program at Chesapeake High School, in Pasadena, MD! Throughout the day we ran sectionals and masterclasses with Cheseapeake's Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and we were also able to give an informal concert and Q&A at the end of the day! We were so impressed with their talent and the hard work they put in during rehearsals, and it was such a joy to sing for them and talk about all aspects of choral music with them! Not only did the kids at Chesapeake High enjoy our work together, but our singers had so much fun inspiring the next generation of young choral singers and getting to meet the wonderful students at Chesapeake! Check out some of our work together below.

Christmas Offering Concert

10/9/2018

Lux is very excited to announce that we will be a featured ensemble in Music, Gettysburg!'s Christmas Offering concert on Dec. 16 at 7pm! Music, Gettysburg! is a premier concert series featuring international, regional and local musical artists for the greater south central Pennsylvania region. Lux will perform some pieces alone, and some alongside the Gettysburg Children's Choir and High School Chorale and artistic director Dr. Brent Talbot, with whom soprano Eby Buscher is an intern, following Robby Napoli, who worked with Dr. Talbot and the children's choir just last year.

On the program, Lux will perform Paul Mealor's A Spotless Rose, which can be heard on our most recent album, and Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, as well as performing Daniel Elder's Elegy with the High School Chorale. To round out the program, Lux will join the Gettysburg Children's Choir on two more pieces: Nos Galan by Frank Ferko, and a newly commissioned piece specifically for the occasion. Between the event, the repertoire, and the performers, this will surely prove to be an especially exciting collaboration!

The concert is free and open to the public, and will be held on December 16, 2018, at 7pm at the United Lutheran Seminary Chapel, at 147 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA. For more information, click the button below.

Thank you, Gettysburg!

7/24/2018

As we begin to close out our season, we'd like to extend our thanks to Christ Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA, Gettysburg College, and our entire audience last Sunday. What a wonderful way to end our season! Audience members traveled from as far as Washington, D.C. to gather for a wonderful afternoon of music, and for the final performance of our Journey of Life program. We hope you enjoyed experiencing it as much as we did performing it! Enjoy some photos from the day captured by our own singers below:

Featured Choral Album!

7/6/2018

We're incredibly proud and excited to announce that we will be featured as Classical MPR's Featured Choral Album of the Week! Lux now stands alongside other winners such as Voces8, Tenebrae, The Sixteen, Blue Heron, The Crossing, and more. Tune in at 12 pm EST (using the "Read More" button below) to listen to selections from our newest release Now Ye Heavenly Powers.

See you soon, Hannah!

7/1/2018

Last weekend, we continued our goodbyes by watching as Hannah left town from her administrative internship at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. She enjoyed her time in the Nation's capital thoroughly, and hopes to come back in the near future. While she goes back to her home in New Jersey now, we can't wait to see her again for our concert in Gettysburg. Below you'll find a slideshow of a few pictures from her internship. Thanks for a wonderful season, and see you soon, Hannah!

Relive the Moment

6/29/2018

Missed our Hyattsville, MD concert? Just want to relive the moments? We've got you covered! We've updated our Photos page, newly equipped with photos from our June 17 performance of A Journey of Life. Thank you again to all who attended, who supported us in every way, and who gave such wonderful compliments afterwards. We had a wonderful time, and we hope you did, too. Enjoy some scenes from the night here.

Encore!

6/25/2018

Sad you missed our June 17 concert? Well have we got news for you! Lux is excited to announce that we will be performing A Journey of Life once more on Sunday, July 22, at 4pm, featuring works by Tavener, Whitacre, Trent Reznor, Dave Matthews, Mealor, Forrest, and our very own Robby Napoli! Follow our protagonist from birth, to marriage, to the bitter end - joy, tragedy, love, loss, life, death. Admission is free, though voluntary donations are much appreciated. Add it to your calendar, see what people are saying, and keep up on the latest news by clicking the "Get Tickets" and "Facebook Event" buttons below.