By Victoria Reyna Varville, MBA ’21
If music is the universal language, then to study music is to learn how to build bridges, connect with those who are different from oneself, and explore what bonds people rather than what divides them. These lessons were on full display when Grammy-nominated vocal chamber ensemble VOCES8 visited the University of the Incarnate Word to work with the UIW Cardinal Singers and two guest high school choirs.
VOCES8 is known around the globe for their gorgeous harmonies, sung in straight tones to ensure perfect tuning and chord locking. In 2023, the ensemble was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Classical Compendium category. The group tours globally, and thanks to the work of the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, they returned to San Antonio this fall for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. After a stunning concert held at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday, Oct. 13, the musicians visited UIW the next day to lead a once in a lifetime Masterclass for UIW vocal students and choristers.
Professor William Gokelman, longtime director of choral activities and past department chair, received the invitation for the Cardinal Singers to work with VOCES8 months ago. The call came from Emily McChesney, a member of the San Antonio Chamber Music Society’s (SACMS) educational outreach committee. The mission of SACMS is to address "diversity, equity and inclusion in its artistic planning and programming, in its professional policies and practices, and in support of all of its varied constituencies,” and it was this organization that arranged for VOCES8 to perform and instruct students in San Antonio.
“The UIW student body represents the demographics and culture that SACMS attempts to include in their educational offerings,” McChesney explained. “Giving our local music students the opportunity to work with world-class music ensembles is an important focus of SACMS. A masterclass can be a unique and positive opportunity for students to receive instruction, particularly when it's conducted by an internationally known educational team like VOCES8.”
SACMS had two requests for Gokelman: would the Cardinal Singers like to participate in the masterclass and can UIW host this event? He said yes to both.
“Of course, you say yes,” said Gokelman when reflecting on the moment he received the invitation. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’ve been a VOCES8 fan forever.”
The Cardinal Singers were just as floored when they learned they’d been selected to work with the ensemble.
“There were a couple of students who just gasped when I told them,” remembered Gokelman. “They couldn’t believe it.”
One such student was senior Music major Lizeth Razo.
“Why is this happening here?” she asked with a smile and laugh. “It could be happening at a bigger school, so it’s nice to see that we’re able to get those opportunities at a smaller university.”
Each member of the Cardinal Singers went into the masterclass wanting to take various key lessons away from the experience.
Eric Lange, a soon-to-be music educator, hoped to gain feedback that he could adapt for use in his future classroom for the benefit of students.
Annamaria Massie wanted to learn about how to listen more intentionally in a group performance setting.
Dhazir Walker, a Music Industries student, hoped to learn more about how as a bass singer, he could support the other singers in the group for the benefit of the entire Cardinal Singers ensemble.
As for Lizeth, she most wanted to walk away with a better understanding of how VOCES8 achieves their impeccable blended tone, making eight unique voices come together as one pure sound.
Their answers carried a common theme – I hope that I can take away how to better contribute to the good of the group.
VOCES8 delivered.
On the day of the masterclass, the UIW Cardinal Singers watched as choirs from two Northside Independent School District high schools – Warren and Brennan – took the stage to perform for and receive feedback from VOCES8. The moment was especially meaningful for Cardinal Singers member Abel Pedraza – a Brennan High School Choir alumnus – and Lange, who is currently fulfilling observation hours with the Brennan Choir.
With each high school ensemble, Barnaby Smith, VOCES8 countertenor and founder, worked to inspire the students to sing beyond the notes written on the page by tapping into their personal emotional ties to the music, allowing it to inform their artistry.
Then it was time for the Cardinal Singers to take the stage. The high school students and VOCES8 settled in to listen as the group performed an exciting, rhythmic piece titled, Duo Seraphim. The song tells a story not only through its Latin lyrics, but through musical choices made by composer Andrew Steffen. Two angels begin singing in praise to the Lord, but soon, their worship becomes a competition, with each angel trying to praise louder and more enthusiastically. The competition is made clear with the different voice parts, representing each angel, attempting to out-sing one another in melodies that sometimes clash both rhythmically and tonally. Towards the end of the piece, the angels realize they have been singing the same thing the whole time: Holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth. The whole earth is full of thy glory. Alleluia!
Upon this realization, the angels stop competing and join their voices as one. The song ends with a unified sound, all voice parts united in praise. It’s a piece that encourages listeners to reflect on how much more people can do if they focus on what brings them together, instead of what divides them.
That, to Gokelman, is what music is all about.
“I tell the choirs every semester, you’re in choir, but it’s not primarily about music,” he explained. "It's primarily about community. Music is going to be the side effect of what we do in this community, and it's a thing of beauty that we can only create what we do as a community.”
Though a side effect of a much grander picture, the music the Cardinal Singers performed at the masterclass impressed everyone who had the pleasure of listening.
“They were so amazing,” gushed Lorenzo Ramirez, a junior Warren High School Choir student. “Their piece was very percussive. It was nice to hear the diversity in the voices and how they came together as one to create that music.”
Warren Choir Director Colin Varville shared his student’s sentiment.
“Absolutely phenomenal singing,” he shared of the Cardinal Singers’ performance. “Very, very impressive. I’m just blown away.”
The members of VOCES8 were equally impressed.
“How long did it take to learn that?” asked Smith as he took the stage to work with the singers. “I can hear all the practice.” Smith encouraged the Cardinal Singers to connect with the music on a deeper level, reminding them that the true essence of performance lies in conveying emotions and
stories. He then asked the Cardinal Singers to listen as VOCES8 performed a song in two different styles – the first time, focused intently on the technicality of the piece, the second time, allowing for more fluctuations in tempo, letting the ebb and flow of the rhythm tell the story.
“Your technical aspects of this were just perfect,” Smith told the singers, who quietly beamed. “But let’s leave that to one side. What are your opportunities in this piece to do something that’s interestingly different?” He pointed out that the composer of the piece intentionally wrote the music so that the most notable word sung is “clamabant,” which means to call out. He asked them to change the way they sang every other word, making those lyrics more legato, a musical term for smooth and flowing, while keeping “clamabant” sharp and rhythmic so that, by contrast, it would stand out as the composer intended. This small change took their performance to the next level.
When they were done performing it with all their new feedback accounted for, Smith applauded them and said, “You’ve done the practice that enabled you to do what you just did.”
Without missing a beat, the Cardinal Singers smiled and pointed to Gokelman, crediting him for their success and conveying a message that needed no words... he brought us to this mountaintop.
“It’s the reason why I teach,” said Gokelman of the experience watching his students thrive at the masterclass. “I tell my students, remember that you don’t teach music, you teach humans. Music is the tool we use to teach humans. When we have a mountaintop experience like this, and I know that they were only able to get to that mountaintop experience because of their involvement in music, for me, that’s the reward.”
“Your passion is infectious,” Walker said to Gokelman following the event. “And it reverberates with us. Every day that you bring that passion to us, we can reciprocate it back so that we can give it to an audience.”
Following the performance, VOCES8 sat for a question-and-answer session with all students from each of the three ensembles they worked with that day. Hands shot up, with participants eager to learn more from the world-renowned performers.
Do you still get nervous before performances?
What advice do you have for those of us who want to perform professionally?
What exercise do you use to learn to listen to one another?
The final question that the group took was a simple one.
“Why music?”
“I think I could be an accountant,” Smith answered. An eruption of laughter followed. “But I think there are fewer accountants who could do what I do. And I think it has a really positive impact on society.”
“We think our job is not to take, but to give,” he shared with the students.
As the day drew to a close, the Cardinal Singers and the visiting high school choirs reflected on their transformative experience, and what they can give to others through music. For the UIW Cardinal Singers, hearing about how they inspired the next generation of musicians was a powerful reminder of the impact that giving back can have.
“It was surreal,” shared Camila Alonso, Brennan Choir senior. “I grew up indecisive about where I wanted to go to college. I think oftentimes, young people think we don’t have opportunities, but when you put yourself in programs like these, you get these experiences like we had today at UIW, so being able to be here has shown us that doors are going to open.”
“It’s extremely valuable for students to see that these kinds of opportunities do exist, right here in their hometown,” said Varville of his high school singers. “Even for those who don’t want to major in music – one of my students asked a member of the Cardinal Singers if she can be a Nursing major and continue to sing in choir at UIW.”
“It takes them out of the box that they live in right now,” added Garrett. “They’ve been exposed to a lot more today - getting to see, ‘wow, this is possible in my town,’ was really valuable for them.”
In a world often divided by differences, the transformative power of music shined through as a unifying force inside the Bennack Concert Hall. The masterclass was not just an opportunity to learn about technique, but a celebration of connection, empathy and shared passion. The interaction between the seasoned artists of VOCES8, the collegiate-level singers of UIW, and the eager young high school students created an atmosphere of discovery and growth. The experience became a reminder that every note played, and every lyric sung holds the potential to foster understanding and compassion among individuals from all walks of life.
“Acknowledging that we do have a gift, and it should be used with care and shared with others is what I’m going to take away from today,” said Razo as her classmates trickled out of the hall. “Our gift, used with care, can affect a lot of people in a positive way.”
As participants departed, the sentiment was clear: the lessons learned from VOCES8 – and from one another – would resonate long after the masterclass ended, fostering a commitment to giving back through song.