|
Cutting Edge Choir
Miami’s Seraphic Fire Puts a Fresh Spin on
Classical Music
By Natalia Maldonado
|
|
|
Patrick Dupre Quigley, founding artistic director of Seraphic
Fire |
For most people, the words “classical music” and “cutting edge” don’t usually go
together. But it’s exactly those words that are synonymous with Seraphic Fire,
Miami’s first professional chamber choir. The group, which was recently named by
The Miami Herald as “one of the two most outstanding music institutions”
in Miami, along with the New World Symphony orchestra, is only in its fourth
season and has already created a buzz.
Drawing audience members that are anywhere from in their 20s to 80s, Seraphic
Fire makes a point of bringing a certain youth and vitality to classical music.
The choir was started in 2005 by founding artistic director Patrick Dupre
Quigley with the vision of putting together music that isn’t necessarily performed
in Florida.
“I try to look and see what everyone else is doing that year and then do the
complete opposite,” Quiqley says. “If it’s been done in the city, we just won’t do
it.”
Quiqley tries to make sure that there is a Miami, Florida or United States
premiere in each concert. This includes performing pieces from as early as
pre-Mozart eras or as contemporary as the 1990s to today. Not only is their
sound young, but their singers as well; most range anywhere from 21 to 35 years
old, while the average is between 35 and 55. Quiqley is only 28. Young, however,
does not mean inexperienced.
“I may be 28 but I’ve been doing this for 14 years,” says Quiqley, who was the
2004 recipient of the Robert Shaw Conducting Fellowship. He studied at the Yale
School of Music, the Institute of Sacred Music and the University of Notre Dame.
In addition, he has conducted choirs and orchestras across the United States,
Europe, China, and Israel including the National Opera of China, the Xi’an
Symphony Orchestra, the Yale Camerata and Pro Musica, and the University of
Notre Dame Men’s Glee Club.
The Seraphic Fire singers have all been studying most of their lives, and
have at least a master’s degree in music. Currently, there are about 16 singers
in the group that draws from a roster of 25. Half of them are locals, and the
other half come from all across the country: New York, Michigan, Chicago, Texas,
Gainesville and Tallahassee. As opposed to most choirs, which are
semi-professional, Seraphic Fire is the only fully professional choir south of
Atlanta.
 |
|
Members of Seraphic Fire performing |
|
“It’s the difference between having a high school football team and a
professional football team,” Dupre says.
And it’s still growing, expanding the number of concerts, doing bigger works
and trying to and increase the quality and visibility of their work.
“When you’re young you’re on the cutting edge of pop culture and bringing it
into classical music is exciting,” says Gabrielle Tinto, who has been singing
with the group since its start in 2003.
Recently, Seraphic Fire was featured on “How Do You Do?,” the opening track
of Shakira’s newest album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 and became the first classical
music ensemble to be featured on a pop album since 1990.
“It was tremendously exciting,” Tinto says. “For a classical music group to
be asked to do something like that was incredibly flattering. [It gave us] the
chance to bring a young classical group to the attention of [Shakira’s]
audience. Maybe some young people will say, ‘Oh, that’s kind of cool.’”
Dupre and Tinto make up the entire administrative staff of Seraphic Fire,
taking care of the business side of the choir, while being involved artistically
as well. For example, Dupre designs the group’s posters and tickets while Tinto
takes care of public relations.
“The most challenging aspect has been making the transition into a major
organization with a small organization budget,” Dupre says, adding that other
groups may have multi-million dollar budgets while theirs is $150,000 a year.
Aiding their growth is Seraphic Fire’s location.
“In a lot of ways Miami in 2005 is what New York City was in 1905. It’s a
city on the verge of explosion,” he says. “This is the place for me to be.”
Tinto agrees.
“Visual arts is starting to take off in Miami and there is still a lot of
growth to come for classical music,” she says. “We’re hoping to lead that
growth.”
They’ve already made an impact, and were named three times by The Miami
Herald in the top 10 standout performances of 2005. Tinto insists that it is
Quiqley’s ambition, skill and vision and Seraphic Fire’s youth, vigor and passion
that makes them stand out.
“People come up to us after the concert and say, ‘You really love it, don’t
you? You can see it on your faces,’” she says. “And it’s true.”
| 
Front page
