About Seraphic Fire

Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director Patrick Dupre Quigley, Seraphic Fire has garnered critical acclaim locally and nationally. Lauded by the Miami Herald as "one of the best choirs anywhere", Seraphic Fire has gained a reputation for dynamic, cutting-edge performances. In an exciting crossover collaboration in 2004, Seraphic Fire was invited to record with international pop star Shakira on a track for her album Oral Fixation II, which ultimately went platinum on the Billboard Pop Charts.

Seraphic Fire's programming is broad, including classical and contemporary, sacred and secular choral works. This programming has won the organization awards and earned wide-ranging praise. Over the past seven seasons, the organization has commissioned and premeired works by up-and-coming young composers. In 2005, Seraphic Fire commissioned The Road From Hiroshima: A Requiem, a 50-minute work from 28-year-old composer Shawn Crouch. It was subsequently nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

In recent years, Seraphic Fire has made significant organizational and artistic strides. Recent seasons have experienced record-breaking ticket sales with many sold-out performances. In 2007, Seraphic Fire was awarded a Knight Foundation grant for the formation of the Firebird Chamber Orchestra, which debuted in 2008. Seraphic Fire currently performs full seasons at several South Florida venues in Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Fort Lauderdale. In 2007, the ensemble began touring nationally. Seraphic Fire has eight CDs in circulation, including the critically acclaimed Monteverdi Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610.

In 2010, Seraphic Fire has started its education initiative, Miami Choral Academy. The Choral Academy is a program designed to create a Little-League style network of choirs in Miami's inner-city schools. In partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the Choral Academy seeks to make positive academic and social change through participation in choral singing and an integrated academic enrichment program.

Thursday Night Event

"Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc" by Richard Einhorn

Performed by The Bel Canto Company and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Chamber Singers - Welborn Young, conductor; Greensboro Youth Chorus Cantabile - Ann Doyle, conductor.

VOICES OF LIGHT is a stunning evening of music theatre. The critically-acclaimed event has brought sold-out houses to their feet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival; at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center; at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap with the National Symphony; and in dozens of major concert halls across the country. It has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning; on NPR's Performance Today and All Things Considered; and in numerous national publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

VOICES OF LIGHT merges the legendary silent film masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc with a live performance of a beautiful new work by composer Richard Einhorn. An incredibly moving and popular composition for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, VOICES OF LIGHT has been hailed as "a triumph" (Los Angeles Times) and "an overwhelming experience" (Chicago Tribune).

The Film is considered by critics to be simply one of the 10 greatest films ever made. Though t to have been destroyed in warehouse fires, a perfect copy was discovered recently and lovingly restored. With its raw emotional power, its naturalistic acting and an utterly contemporary visual style, The Passion of Joan of Arc looks like it was made only yesterday. It is a haunting, extraordinary film.

The Music - praised as "lush," "brilliantly effective" and "moving" by the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Sun Times - has attracted a huge audience on its own. The Sony Classical CD of VOICES OF LIGHT, featuring the famous medieval vocal ensemble Anonymous 4 http://www.anonymous4.com/ , is an international bestseller and has spent over 7 weeks on the Billboard charts.

VOICES OF LIGHT With over 100 performances to date and 10 more planned for the next 12 months, VOICES OF LIGHT has a proven popular appeal and a special ability to deeply touch the hearts of its audiences.