Holy Family Parish will host Sotto Voce; the quartet will offer a concert with a variety of seasonal music

Friday, Nov. 28, 2014

OGDEN — Sotto Voce will present a concert in a variety of musical styles ranging from early to modern compositions, at Holy Family Parish in Ogden on Dec. 6, and the public is invited.

“The singers of Sotto Voce, one of Utah’s premiere vocal quartets, are known for their versatility and ability to blend, creating a distinctive choral sound,” said Myron Patterson, Holy Family Parish music director. “They captivate audiences wherever they perform.”

Sotto Voce will perform traditional and secular music “for the fun side of Christmas,” said Brent Carter, spokesperson for the quartet. “It will be everything from ancient music to modern music; we do a broad range of music.”

The repertoire will include Holst’s “Four Old English Carols,” Parker/Shaw’s “Fum Fum Fum” and “Holly and Ivy;” as well as Visioli’s “Hodie Cristus Natus Est” and Poulenc’s “O Magnum Mysterium,” Carter said.

The quartet consists of Iris Nixdorf, soprano; Julie Maughan, alto; Carter, tenor; and Jerry Parkstone, bass, who started singing in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir in the early 1990s. Brett Patterson, Myron Patterson’s son and former Holy Family music director, sang with the Madeleine Choir School in the 1990s, said Carter, and “during our days in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir, Myron Patterson also sang with the Cathedral Choir, so our connection with the Pattersons goes back more than 15 years.” 

The four in Sotto Voce formed the quartet following their years with the choir. They were inducted into the Order of Saint Cecilia through the Catholic Church in the early 2000s, for their dedication to the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir, Parker said.

The quartet also has a connection with Father Patrick Elliott, pastor of Holy Family Parish, from the 1990s when he was the parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Madeleine and when they were members of the choir. 

“Iris was also a cathedral cantor and was the cantor at my ordination Mass,” said Fr. Elliott. “Jerry Parkstone also worked in the office at the Madeleine Choir School; Julie Maughan taught and still teaches at the Madeleine Choir School; and Julie’s son sang with the Madeleine Choir and is now getting a doctorate degree, but will be a cantor during Mass at Holy Family Parish on Christmas Day.”

The quartet got together because they like to sing, said Fr. Elliott. “They sang for a Mass we had at the cathedral during the time when Saint Pope John Paul II was dying; the Cathedral Choir was out of town at that time,” he said. 

The quartet has been singing at Holy Family Parish for the last few years during Advent, said Fr. Elliott.

“They have a wonderful blend and they are delightful because they have such a wide range of repertoire,” he said. 

Sotto Voce performs during the Advent and Christmas seasons and during Lent and Easter, and they do charity benefits concerts for a pet food-bank benefiting the Utah Aids Foundation. 

“We mostly wanted to continue singing together because we have been together more than 20 years and it is nice to have others who care about good music and we like keeping the tradition going,” said Carter. 

 

Who: Sotto Voce

What: Concert of Seasonal Music

When: Dec. 6, 7 p.m.

Where: Holy Family Parish,

1100 East 5500 South, Ogden

Admission is free. For information, call Myron Patterson, 801-479-1112