KANTOREI.ORG
JOEL M. RINSEMA
Artistic
Director
I’m very excited to share our 25-26 season with you! As always, there’s a little bit for everyone!
We begin with a big birthday bash, celebrating two of the most influential composers of sacred/spiritual music -Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s 500th and Arvo Pärt’s 90th. We’ll perform Palestrina’s famed Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli (Mass for Pope Marcellus) which is rumored to have saved polyphonic choral music in the 16th century church. We’ll perform the Colorado premiere of Pärt’s
O Holy Father Nicholas composed for the opening of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center Ground Zero site among others.
In December we will feature world-renowned (and Cherry Creek High School graduate!)
guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan in seasonal works for Choir and classical guitar plus a world premiere by composer Zanaida Robles, commissioned by Kantorei member Scott Horwitz and his wife Leah Weinberg. Collaborative pianist, Alicia Rigsby will be featured in March on Morten Lauridsen’s Mid-Winter Songs along with Shakespeare songs and sonnets to help usher in the springtime. Finally, in May we welcome our sister choir from Guatemala, Vocalis Camerata as we perform music of Latin America in our season finale concerts “Voces del Sur” (Voices of the South).
Additionally, we will perform our annual Winter’s Night concert with the Meistersingers of Cherry Creek High School and will join with St. Martin’s Chamber Choir and Ars Nova in the first ever Colorado New Music Festival. Each acclaimed ensemble will present a solo set before joining forces in the World Premiere of Terry Schlenker’s new work The Bird of Vision (based on a poem by 13th-century Sufi mystic, Rumi) written for this festival. And we will celebrate the release of our newest recording “Song Offerings - Choral Music of Christopher Tin” on the Decca Classics label in the Fall!
I hope you are able to join us on this incredible journey this season! There’s nothing quite like being a part of the Kantorei community.
Welcome to the 2025-2026 Kantorei season!
I’m so excited to introduce myself as Kantorei’s new Executive Director! After nearly two years working behind the scenes with this incredible ensemble, it’s a joy to step into this new role and help lead Kantorei into its next chapter. This choir means a great deal to me—I am deeply committed to our values: musical excellence, community, inclusion, joy, and innovation, and I’m honored to help carry that mission forward through the music we share. Whether you are a longtime supporter or joining us for the first time, thank you for being part of the Kantorei family. Your presence and support help us share powerful music that inspires, connects, and uplifts. I look forward to welcoming you to a season filled with beauty, discovery, and joy.
Warmly,
Courtney Huffman Executive Director, Kantorei
COURTNEY HUFFMAN Executive Director
- Joel
AUDIENCE TESTIMONIALS:
"You can really gain an appreciation for voices as instruments - it's amazing what they can do!"
"Kantorei's performances are a rich, multi-layer experience of choral music--a treat for the ears."
"Kantorei selects unique music that touches my soul, with gold standard performances."
Kantorei is a Denver-based, choral ensemble comprised of volunteer singers under the direction of Artistic Director Joel M. Rinsema
Formed in 1997 under the leadership of six friends and the artistic direction of Richard Larson (Conductor Emeritus), Kantorei has established itself as one of the nation’s premier choral ensembles. Our choral artists have studied at schools with strong music programs across the United States such as Baylor University, Brigham Young University, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, St. Olaf College, Wartburg College, and Westminster Choir College. Kantorei’s singers reside throughout the greater Denver area. Some serve as choral music educators, church choir conductors, and vocal instructors. Others are doctors, social workers, optometrists, counselors, clinical psychologists, accountants, realtors – all brought together in weekly rehearsals for shared artistic excellence and community.
Kantorei has performed for major choral conventions across the U.S. and with The Aspen Music Festival, toured the world, and has commissioned and premiered new choral works from such renowned composers as Kim André Arnesen, Eric William Barnum, Abbie Betinis, René Clausen, Ola Gjeilo, Jocelyn Hagen, M. Roger Holland, II, Sarah Quartel, Jake Runestad, Christopher Tin, and Eric Whitacre. In the summer of 2022, Kantorei performed the Central American premiere of Jake Runestad’s “El Último Hilo” in Guatemala City and Antigua, Guatemala, along with Guatemalan choir Vocalis.
Kantorei has released two recordings on the Naxos label. “Sing, Wearing the Sky” (2020) choral music of Jake Runestad reached the #3 best-selling classical album on iTunes, #4 on the Traditional Classical Billboard Charts, and the top ten in both the best-selling classical album and new classical release categories on Amazon. “Infinity: Choral Works of Kim André Arnesen” (2018) climbed to the #2 best-selling classical album on iTunes, #6 on the Traditional Classical Billboard Charts and #19 on the overall Classical Billboard charts. Santa Barbara Music Publishing Inc. publishes the Kantorei Choral series. In early winter 2025, Kantorei once again joined forces with Grammy-winning producers Soundmirror to record choral works of Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin, with an anticipated release in the fall of 2025, this time on the Decca label.
KANTOREI 2025-2026 CONCERT SEASON
OCTOBER 4 & 5: SACRED THREADS
Saturday, 10/4: First Plymouth UCC
Sunday, 10/5: Wellshire Presbyterian Church
DECEMBER 5: A WINTER’S NIGHT
Friday, 12/5: Bethany Lutheran Church
DECEMBER 6, 7, 19-21: SILENT NIGHTS
Saturday, 12/6: First Plymouth UCC
Sunday, 12/7: Parsons Theatre
Friday, 12/19: Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral
Saturday, 12/20: Augustana Lutheran Church
Sunday, 12/21: Wellshire Presbyterian Church
FEBRUARY 28 & MARCH 1: SEASONS IN SONG
Saturday, 2/28: First Plymouth UCC
Sunday, 3/1: Wellshire Presbyterian Church
MAY 16 & 17: VOCES DEL SUR
Saturday, 5/16: First Plymouth UCC
Sunday, 5/17: Wellshire Presbyterian Church
MAY 30: COLORADO NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
Saturday, 5/30: Central Presbyterian Church
Kantorei’s vision is “to elevate the human experience through choral excellence.”
"Music has a power to bring us together in some magical, unexplainable way. Kantorei feels a bit like home to me. The coming together of the music, singers, the conductor and the audience reminds me that we are stronger together. "
OCTOBER 4TH & 5TH, 2025
SACRED THREADS
Celebrating Palestrina’s 500th& Pärt’s 90th Birthdays
Experience how sacred music flows through centuries as we honor two remarkable anniversaries in 2025: the 500th birthday of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) and the 90th birthday of Arvo Pärt (b. 1935). This unique program intertwines Palestrina's diaphanous Renaissance polyphony with Pärt's mystical minimalism, revealing how threads of spiritual expression connect across time.
These two masters, separated by centuries but united in their spiritual quest, show how sacred music continues to shape new patterns while honoring ancient traditions. Join us for this historic celebration of music that threads its way through time, touching hearts across centuries and cultures.
DECEMBER 6TH & 7TH, 2025
DECEMBER 19TH, 20TH & 21ST, 2025
