Verdigris Ensemble

Verdigris Ensemble

Verdigris Ensemble is a theatrical vocal band based in Dallas, TX. The group was founded in 2017 by conductor and artistic director Sam Brukhman with a focus on exploring choral music boundaries through new music, composer commissions, and collaborations with interdisciplinary arts organizations and artists.

Reviewed consistently in North Texas publications, Verdigris Ensemble has been hailed as "impressive" by Dallas Morning News, "transformative" by D Magazine, and "among the most creative and effective storytellers in North Texas" by TheaterJones.

History

Verdigris Ensemble performs Anthony J Maglione's Dust Bowl at AT&T Performing Arts Center's Hamon Hall.

Formed to address the problem of steadily decreasing classical music audiences, Verdigris Ensemble was created out of a need to reach a wider spread of audiences by creating performances that intertwine vocal music with dance, theater, instruments, projections, and staging.

In March 2018, Verdigris Ensemble performed Kile Smith's Consolation of Apollo at the UTArlington Planetarium in collaboration with scientists at the university to simulate for audiences what the Apollo 8 astronauts would have seen as the choir sang their words. The performance drew widespread attention and sold out for the first time in the organization's history. In his critical review for TheaterJones, Gregory Isaacs said that Verdigris Ensemble was "one of the most innovative chamber choirs I’ve heard.”

In April 2018, Verdigris Ensemble began an ambitious commissioning project called Faces of Dallas, which would commission local visual artists and set texts and poetry of Dallas poets and residents to music, culminating in several collaborative performances that highlighted the diverse make-up and history of the city of Dallas. The project premiered in Spring 2019.

In 2019, Verdigris Ensemble Texas-premiered Julia Wolfe's Anthracite Fields in collaboration with Bang on a Can All-Stars, presented by the Dallas Symphony's SOLUNA Festival. Since then, the choir has been named a community partner in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's South Dallas Initiative, and was slated to Texas premiere Missy Mazzoli's Song From The Uproar during SOLUNA Festival 2020. Because of the widespread effects of COVID-19, the performance was subsequently rescheduled.

Verdigris Ensemble has world-premiered over 20 works by composers such as Anthony J. Maglione, Blake Henson, Kirsten Broberg, David Ross Lawn, and Kevin Shoemaker. Its world premiere of Maglione's Dust Bowl, presented by the AT&T Performing Arts Center, was reviewed as "daring" and "convincing" by Richard Oliver of TheaterJones.

Verdigris Ensemble has sung in venues such as Moody Performance Hall, Hamon Hall at the Winspear Opera House, and Arts Mission Oak Cliff.

1.1 Outreach Residency at W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy

File:Verdigris.Greiner.Fall2019-47.jpg

Verdigris Ensemble's artistic director Sam Brukhman introduces voice teachers and vocalists Katrina Burggraf and Derrick Brown before a W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy concert in Fall 2019

In 2019, Verdigris Ensemble started a 4-week residency with the students at W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy, culminating in a final performance at their spring concert called The Poet Sings. Twice a week, Verdigris vocalists visited students to facilitate masterclasses, teach private voice lessons, and provide music mentorship at no cost to the students. Meanwhile, Verdigris Ensemble commissioned composer Meredith Tompkins to write a 3-minute composition for the students to premiere. Her work, How I Learned To Fly, was premiered during The Poet Sings concert.

1.2 ION Composer Competition

ION Composer Competition was founded to cultivate a thriving composer population in Dallas, TX, and to give Dallas composers opportunities to perform and promote their music. Open to any composer in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and surrounding area, ION encourages music submissions once a year. Winners receive a financial reward and have their music performed throughout Verdigris Ensemble's season.

In 2019, Verdigris Ensemble awarded first place to Julia Durbin's The Universal Language, with honorable mentions to Noah Salem's Hope Is The Thing With Feathers and Drew Vandeventer's Overload. The choir world premiered one movement of The Universal Language and Hope Is The Thing With Feathers during 3 Faces of Dallas performances in April 2019 at Arts Mission Oak Cliff.

In 2020, Noah Salem's Hope Is The Thing With Feathers was published by Choristers Guild and chosen as an Editor's Choice piece by J.W. Pepper Sheet Music

1.3 Drink & Sing

Verdigris Ensemble tenor Alex Bumpas leads a Drink & Sing at White Rock Alehouse in Fall 2019.

Started in 2019, Drink & Sing is a community singing program that teaches participants how to sing drinking songs from around the world at bars and breweries across the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex.

Verdigris Ensemble

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