The mission of Bella Voce is to entertain, inspire, and educate through the performance of choral chamber music. We are committed to giving historically informed, professionally polished performances in original languages, and to keeping the art of polyphonic, a cappella singing alive and flourishing. Bella Voce places a special emphasis on bringing little-known pieces and neglected composers to our audiences. Our wide-ranging repertoire includes a cappella literature of the mid- and late-twentieth century, works commissioned from American composers, and sacred music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
BIOGRAPHIES Click on the names bellow for biographical details
Anne Heider, Artistic Director Emeritus
Bella Voce's artistic director, Anne Heider, was a founding singer of the group and became its leader in 1989. In the words of Chicago Tribune classical music critic John von Rhein, "Having a musician-scholar at the helm makes a huge difference. Heider has built Bella Voce into the area's top chamber chorus, a group distinguished by its purity of timbre, finely focused intonation, and tightly disciplined ensemble." Heider is also Resident Choral Conductor at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. She is active as a choral consultant and guest conductor, and serves on the board of the national service organization Chorus America. Click here for Anne Heider's bio.
For 20 years, we have been devoted to creating programs that uplift the spirit and engage the mind. We were founded in 1982 by countertenor Richard Childress under the name "His Majestie's Clerkes" with the intent of performing music of the English Tudor period. We became known for a clear, beautiful tone - what audiences and critics came to call simply "that sound." Soon the repertoire broadened to include pieces from both earlier and later times, and from places other than England. As a result, our name reflected less and less the music we were performing. As we grew and reached out to new audiences, we found that the meaning of the name could even be confusing to those who did not know the group from its inception.
And how we have grown! Since 1982, the number of concerts per season has increased from 5 to 12. We have gone from volunteer chorus to professional ensemble, fostering collaborations with other choral groups, featuring world-renowned guest conductors, commissioning major new works, and releasing critically-acclaimed CDs. Now our concerts may include music from the Middle Ages to music of today, from the well known to the newly rediscovered, from works of famous masters to those by ordinary folks, and from around the world to right next door.
We are dedicated to performing these works with the historical and cultural integrity they deserve, and we always give you information to understand their context as well. Although the repertoire may change from concert to concert, one thing has remained the same - our trademark singing style, elegant and pure: that sound. In this, we have not changed. But we have grown as the city has grown, as the musical world has grown, and as people's tastes and ideas have grown. Today, our new name marks this growth and celebrates our longevity.
We are reinventing the choral repertoire by bringing you music you cannot hear anywhere else. Whether by breathing new life into forgotten gems, uncovering a secret treasure from another land, or commissioning tomorrow's masterpieces, we will continue to make music that moves you - as the beautiful, human voice should: bella voce.
Bella Voce is a member of Chorus America, Early Music America, and the Chicago Music and Dance Alliance. Bella Voce is partially supported by greatly appreciated grants from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, and the CityArts Program of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Bella Voce is an Ensemble in Residence at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and Principal Guest Ensemble at St. James Cathedral.
Anne Heider has been singing professionally and conducting choral ensembles since her undergraduate years at Wellesley College. After graduating, she earned a master's degree in musicology at New York University, sang in early music ensembles in New York and California, directed Presbyterian church choirs, and studied and taught Tai Chi at Esalen Institute. She eventually found a program at Stanford University where she could pursue her twin interests in scholarship and performance, and she earned her doctorate there in 1981.
Settling in Chicago, she was one of the founding singers of His Majestie's Clerkes and became its co-director in 1983, assuming the position of Artistic Director in 1989. In 1988, she became Director of Choral Ensembles at Roosevelt University, where she is now Associate Professor in the College of Performing Arts and where, in 1993, the Chicago Tribune named her to its All-Star Professor team.
Her research in early music has been supported by Chicago's Newberry Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the resulting editions of early music have been published by A-R Editions and by the Gregorian Institute of America. Dr. Heider is active as a guest conductor and choral consultant and serves on the board of directors of Chorus America, the national service organization for professional and volunteer choruses.