Quire Cleveland is a professional choral ensemble, founded in 2008 to perform the glorious choral masterpieces of the late Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras, and beyond. Members of the ensemble are soloists and choral leaders at many of the major churches in the greater Cleveland area. Quire Cleveland brings to northern Ohio a new professional ensemble of unaccompanied voices.

 — Dec 24, 09

On the heels of Carols for Quire, the triumphant series of Christmas concerts at Trinity Cathedral, Quire Cleveland regrets to announce the departure of our founding music director, Peter Bennett. Having been with us through the planning stages, auditions, and concerts of our first season and a half, he now leaves to pursue other personal and professional commitments. We are grateful to Dr. Bennett for helping Quire reach so high, and wish him well. The board of directors is now taking steps to ensure the healthy continuation of the ensemble in 2010 and beyond.

Daniel Hathaway, ClevelandClassical.com — Dec 21, 09

Only now in its second season, Quire Cleveland has already achieved a high level of corporate vocal polish under the tutelage of its British founder and conductor Peter Bennett. The nineteen member professional vocal ensemble sang nineteen pieces in five languages in the first of three ‘Carols for Quire’ concerts at Trinity Cathedral on Friday evening, demonstrating an inspiring mastery of blend and intonation and sounding very much like the American version of an English cathedral or Oxbridge chapel choir (sure, Quire uses female sopranos and altos plus one countertenor, but things are changing across the pond these days).

Quire’s program featured some well-known carols from England, Spain & Mexico, Germany and the US and Canada as well as a few charming rarities — and four motets which gave weight to a program otherwise tilted toward short, strophic pieces. Continue reading »

Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer — Dec 19, 09

Music for the Christmas season has been around for more centuries than our ears usually acknowledge. Most of the memorable pieces reverberating through heads this time of year tend to hail from recent times.

So it was a pleasure to encounter such an outpouring of glorious and unfamiliar Christmas works from the golden throats of Quire Cleveland on Friday at Trinity Cathedral. The professional chorus, which largely performs a cappella, was in resplendent form offering four centuries of “Carols for Quire,” as the program was called.

While Quire’s name comes from an ancient spelling of the word choir, the ensemble’s performances are freshly and purely alive. Under music director Peter Bennett, the 19 voices emerge in crystal-clear balance, whether they’re singing in pristine unison or traversing a multitude of lines. Continue reading »

With WCPN's Dee Perry — Dec 16, 09

Dee Perry considers the local harmonies of Quire Cleveland which recently recorded variations on the theme for NPR’s All Things Considered. The acclaimed a cappella group performs Carols from the Old and New Worlds this weekend at Trinity Cathedral. More at WCPN.org.

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