Musikanten, and Kerry Krebill, conductor, released a CD of sacred music by Robert Evett on the Innova label 15 years ago. This group is preparing to reprise it on an upcoming tour to Berlin and Gdansk on the Baltic coast in September 2016. In case you missed it, the recording is still in print at many fine outlets.
Musikanten was founded in June of 1979 as a lab chorus for the Masters degree work of director Kerry Krebill. It is the oldest choral chamber ensemble in the nation's capital, with nearly a thousand appearances, including concerts at the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian galleries, the Kennedy Center, and performances on concert series at embassies, churches, universities, museums and historic homes throughout the Washington DC area. The group has also travelled to Richmond, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Annapolis and many Eastern Shore venues; members of Musikanten have performed on ten European tours since 1990, including Maestra Krebill's 1997 50th birthday celebration singing two SRO performances of the Monteverdi Vespers in Venice. Their first three solo recordings, in 1990, 1993 and 1997, received international acclaim; Musikanten Sings Music of Russell Woollen was nominated for the 1991 Choral CD of the Year by Chorus! magazine, and has! been featured on the national radio program "The First Art." Awards won by Musikanten include the 1992 Louise Goucher National Memorial Prize for a concert of Renaissance madrigals, Chorus America's American Performing Works grants and the National Endow-ment's Choruses grants and Heritage and Preservation grant. The ensemble was the first American choir to perform on the Krakow Music Festival (1990), was invited to sing the closing services for the 30th annual Bruges Festival van Vlaanderen (1993) and received the Alexander Nevsky Award of Excellence from St. Petersburg Conservatory (1995).
Robert Evett (1922-1975) was a highly esteemed American composer whose works were performed regularly during the 26 years that he lived and worked in Washington DC. He was prolific, numbering among his works three symphonies, six piano sonatas, seven concertos, chamber music for various combinations and many choral works ... He was known nationally and his works were commissioned with frequency by major local arts organizations. He was one of only two Washington composers chosen to create works for the United States Bicentennial Celebration. In addition, he was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in composition by Washington's most respected music critics Paul Hume and Irving Lowe ... As eloquent with words as he was with music, it was literary editing and writing that financially sustained him. Here too, he reached the highest levels of his craft ... [H]e received a second Pulizter prize nomination for literary commentary ... Evett contributed significantly to the richness and diversity of 20th century music in America and to the cultural life of Washington in particular.
