The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham was founded in 1996 by Rodney Wynkoop to provide superior choral performance opportunities for outstanding singers in the Triangle region. Its members are selected mainly from among musicians who have sung in other choral groups under Dr. Wynkoop’s direction. VAE performed by invitation at the at the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in 2005 and has performed at numerous ACDA Southern Division Conferences and NC-ACDA Fall Conferences. The group has released two CD recordings: My Spirit Sang All Day (on the Arsis label) and O Holy Night, a collection of holiday music from past VAE concerts. The choir’s mostly a cappella repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the present and has included such diverse and challenging works as Tallis’s Spem in Alium, Poulenc’s Mass in G, Martin’s Messe, Penderecki’s Agnus Dei, MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados, and Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine. They have presented world premieres of works by Imant Raminsh, Daniel Elder, and, in June 2024, Mark Kilstofte.
