From 2011 to 2020 Andrew Shenton was the Artistic Director of Boston Choral Ensemble, one the area’s most innovative and highly regarded choirs. BCE is an auditioned chamber choir of about 40 mixed-voices that seeks to enrich the choral art through innovative programming, artistic excellence, and creative collaboration. BCE is dedicated to performing a wide range of repertoire with stylistic integrity, promoting new music, and educating its audience and singers. In November 2013 the Ensemble was voted one of Boston’s Best Choirs by CBS news. See the article here.
During Dr. Shenton’s tenure the choir sang at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, held a series of concerts in the Hayden Planetarium in the Museum of Science (which resulted in a collaborative and interactive video which can be seen here [flat version for fixed screen] or here [interactive version for tablet]), continued an annual commission competition, sang numerous world and North American premieres by composers such as Judith Weir and Arvo Pärt, and held concerts in diverse venues such as Mission Church, Lilypad in Cambridge, and Oberon (a stage of the American Repertory Theater). Our annual holiday concert in Old South Church is one of the highlights of the calendar and is always a popular concert. Details of our original Christmas recording Still, still night can be found here.
BCE has collaborated with many local institutions. Recently we presented Annelies a cantata with music by James Whitbourn and a libretto by Melanie Challenger, based on The Diary of Anne Frank in 2019 in cooperation with Boston’s historic Vilna Shul.
For a list of commissions and premieres during Dr. Shenton’s tenure see here.