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PHOENIX IN THE PRESS

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"Sonic splendor...technical perfection."

The Georgia Straight



"This diminutive choir weaves brilliant aural tapestries."

The Georgia Straight



"The choir carried the audience into a magical, enthralling world. "

Lüdenscheider Nachrichten, Germany



"The end of the Proms concert was highlighted by the Phoenix Chamber Choir, an ensemble of such brilliance rarely heard in Trier."

Trierischer Volksfreund, Germany



"A virtuosic choir of remarkable quality, both technically and musically."

2002 CBC National Choral Competition
­ Jury comments



"There are few Christmas concerts that feel as genuine a gift to their audience as the one that Phoenix Chamber Choir give each year."

The Vancouver Sun



"One of the most elegant and heart-warming evenings of choral music I have experienced."

The BC Catholic



"They make a beautiful and perfectly blended sound...[and] are capable of singing the most demanding music. Rhythmically difficult works are sung with natural ease, but even more impressive is the group,s ability to deal with harmonically challenging music. Cole Porter's Let's Do It, which the choir delivers with classy aplomb, is dazzling, and it quite rightly brought the house down."

Classical Music Magazine, September, 1997



I congratulate you for the high quality of the performance of the entire programme. Above all, I appreciate the great sensitivity and the perfect understanding of the subject in my two pieces [Gondolar; Le jardin d'antan]. I can tell you that I have not often heard my vocal music sung with such results. Bravo and thank you!"

Jacques Hétu, composer


"I must say, your group has a fine blend, marvelous intonation and they certainly seem to enjoy taking on rather challenging material!"

Gene Puerling, composer



"Bravo! Very sensitive and musical approach…Masterful sense of styles. High level of control and expressivity…Beautiful sonority. Wow!"

2000 CBC National Choral Competition
- Jury comments



"Lovely blended, controlled sound...very musically sensitive" Impressive interpretation…Excellent sound and expression...virtuosic!"

1998 CBC National Choral Competition
- Jury comments



"Superb sense of style...elegant, refined, highly sensitive singing."

1996 CBC National Choral Competition
- Jury comments

"Sonic splendour ... technical perfection. This choir weaves brilliant aural tapestries"
- Georgia Straight

The following is a review of our 2003 CD, LIVE FROM EUROPE, taken from the Russian magazine, St. Petersburg Scene. The CD review is followed by two reviews from the live concerts.

Phoenix Chamber Choir
Director, Ramona Luengen
LIVE FROM EUROPE

Recording of choral concerts in churches of Germany and Luxembourg. Self released.

This double album will introduce you to one of the best chamber choirs in North America, the Canadian choir Phoenix. Seven-time winners of the CBC National Choral Competition and other presitigious competitions, this choir, created in 1983, has sucessfully recorded (during its 2002 European tour) chamber and sacred music of the last nine centuries in the cathedrals of Trier and Mainz.

Especially convincing is the choir's interpretation of sacred music based on Gregorian chant and music of the 20th century, such as Rakhmaninov's Bogoroditskye Dyevo and folksong arrangments by Schoenberg, Ligeti and Ellington. This choir is conducted by director Ramona Luengen, composer and theorist, who demonstrates a virtuosic mastery of the choral forces, a precision in achieving appropriate timbres while maintaining the integrated blend and exactness of the ensemble.

Ekaterina Blajkova
St. Petersburg Scene, April 2003

St. Petersberg Scene scan

Monday, August 12, 2002

Trierischer Volksfreund

Local newspaper of Trier, Germany

The following is an excerpt from a review of a LAST NIGHT AT THE PROMS concert which featured Phoenix and the Deutsche Bläserphilharmonie (August 10). Due to inclement weather, the outdoor courtyard venue was changed shortly before the 8:30pm curtain call, causing a much-delayed start to the programme. Luckily the capacity audience of 2000 waited most patiently in the St. Maximin Basilika until the last timpani and music stand had finally been put in place - um…around 10:30pm!

The end of the Proms Concert was highlighted by the Phoenix Chamber Choir, an ensemble of such brilliance rarely heard in Trier. The Canadians, under the direction of Dr. Ramona Luengen, delivered artfully-arranged folksongs, Spirituals and Jazz standards - a performance of choral music of ultimate sophistication and polish. The next required assignment of the Mosel-Festwochen (the sponsoring organization) is to engage the Phoenix Chamber Choir again and have them perform in a more intimate venue.

August 19, 2002

Lüdenscheider Nachrichten

Local newspaper of Lüdenscheid, Germany

Chamber music doesn't require instruments - it impresses with the quietest of notes and intoxicates with brilliant voices. So it was with the concert of the Phoenix Chamber Choir - a most gratifying trip to an entirely different world. On Sunday evening the 20 singers of this Canadian choir transported the audience to another place where the quietest of singing made an impressive impact.

The venue for the concert could not have been chosen better. While the evening sun shone through the stained glass windows of the Erlöserkirche, the voices of these musical artists rose reverentially in the nave. Under the direction of Dr. Ramona Luengen, the ensemble captivated the audience from the very first seconds. The concert began quietly with O süsses Licht, composed by the conductor herself, and the listeners was quickly overcome by the magic of the music. During the pause which followed each piece one could detect a hush of amazement. Even more contrasting was, therefore, the roar of applause which deservedly followed the masterful performance of each work. With Latin works such as Ave Verum Corpus and O Quam Amabilis, the choir carried the audience into the world of the Middle Ages, a magical world so enthralling that one didn't even hear the rustling of a handkerchief. "After every piece I get goose-pimples," whispered an enthusiastic spectator.

The choir did not distinguish itself solely through sacred music, but through an especially wide spectrum of musical styles.

After a rousing end to the first half with two American Spirituals (I Got Shoes and the Deep River), the choir presented a very international second half. In the Hungarian folksong Hortabagy the life in a village is praised. Shenandoah made the audience familiar with a beautiful American folksong and Dat du min Leevsten büst proved that these Canadian virtuosi were equally successful singing in the German language.

The singers were responsible for creating goosepimples not only as an ensemble but as individuals, especially Danielle Hoskins-Hamilton, with her fantastic solo in Deep River, and Rob Hollins and Mark Metzger for their work in the well- known George Gershwin tune Somebody Loves You. Small wonder then, that the audience, after their enthusiastic final applause, needed a few moments to remove themselves from the magical world of these quietest of sounds and re-enter into the noise of everyday life.