Returning for its 16th annual appearance, the "Voices of Angels" sacred classical Christmas concert series by The Muses Project spans four concerts in Garland County Dec. 8-11.
Starting with a free show for students, teachers and artists at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Muses Cultural Arts Center, the series continues at 7 p.m. at the Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village Friday with the final two performances at the Muses Cultural Arts Center at 6 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11.
The first show is sponsored by the Windgate Foundation to allow free admission to students, teachers and other artists to help "refill that well with beautiful, inspiring activities," Deleen Davidson, founder and general director of The Muses Project, said. Those wanting to attend the performance should call 501-609-9811 to request a seat.
"That is designed to make sure that a ticket price would not be a detriment to someone who really wanted to come and experience the arts," she said. "I'm from New Orleans and grew up in a musical household and with musical friends, and so we were constantly being invited to one another's performances. That's so much how young artists and musicians learn about the industry is by going to other people's thing, and if you had to pay for every ticket, you would never get to see what you need."
Davidson said about half the seats for the first performance are already reserved, but if someone is unable to attend the concert -- either due to a lack of seating or scheduling conflicts -- they should ask about attending Friday's performance at the 654-seat Woodlands Auditorium.
"We typically have much larger audiences there," she said. "But as a matter of fact, we do allow any students, artists and teachers who may not be able to make the Thursday concert, they're also welcome to ask about the Woodlands concert, and they could join us there, as well. So that's kind of an overflow venue. The Hot Springs Village audience, they love cultural activities, they love the music, and that is a pleasure for us to run out and do the concert there. It's a beautiful stage and lovely lighting, and you get to spread out a little bit."
The Muses Cultural Arts Center holds approximately 100, Davidson said, noting they do not pack the building like they did prior to the pandemic.
"It's pre-COVID and post-COVID," she said with a laugh. "We really consider about 100 seats. We can do 120 if we need to kind of pack them in, but about 100. I have 30 people in the cast, so it's a pretty full house."
The annual series of concerts wraps up The Muses Project's "four seasons in art and song," Davidson said.
"December we dedicate to a sacred classical Christmas concert series, and we title it 'The Voices of Angels,' and we take that very seriously because there's a sense that God loves music," she said. "And the angels come with the sounds of wonder and proclamation and glory, and if we are allowed to stand at that moment and blend our voices with a heavenly chorus, that's truly what we're trying to do.
"So we select literature that spans 500 years. Basically, we use things from the 15th-century Gregorian chant tradition, all the way up through the Romantic and the Classical, and then some contemporary pieces, all of them telling the nativity story, the narrative of Christmas. It's a bunch of different composers, a bunch of different poets, but all really painting that picture of wonder and joy and mystery and celebration."
While many performance houses were forced to cancel their seasons during the pandemic, The Muses Project was able to keep their shows alive, performing their Christmas series in 2020 virtually and hosting other concerts with both virtual and in-person shows the last two years.
"The Christmas program, the Voices of Angels 2020, we recorded here in an empty hall, and made it available online to our subscribers," Davidson said. "That was the only one that we had to do that for. We were able to do distancing and spacing and masking and stuff for all the others, but that one we did choose to do remotely. And then starting in the spring, we kind of went back to a mixed format."
Davidson said she wanted to make sure the performers were able to continue to display their craft during a difficult time.
"We pay our performers. ... We have contracts with them," she said, "and we didn't want to be one of the employers that said to these talented craftspeople, 'Your work is not essential and you need to go find another way to make ends meet.' So, we wanted to maintain our commitment to all of the musicians, and so we were able to sustain all of the seasons."
Soprano Anna Montgomery and Little Rock-based mezzo-soprano Erica Shoelkopft, who were featured performers last year, will return for this year's performances, as well.
"Anna Montgomery is ... from Colorado; she's flying in this week," Davidson said. "She'll be our principal performer for this, but we have a group of seven girls who make up the primary female voices. And then it's paired with a mixed chorus of 20 voices made up of students, graduate students and Arkansas working professionals. In other words, they're coming from Russellville and Texarkana and Arkadelphia, so a lot of them from across the state."
There will also be two other performances by The Muses Project on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Center and on Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, 800 Scott St. Tickets and information for the show in Texarkana can be found at https://trahc.org, and those interested in the Little Rock performance should call 501-609-9811.
Tickets for the shows are $35 and can be purchased online at https://www.themusesproject.org or by phone at 501-609-9811.