Allison, Amy, Karen, Celeste, Phoebe
In 2010, director Karen R. Clark (contralto) founded Vajra Voices to develop a deeply embodied approach to ensemble singing, with a particular focus on the works of Hildegard von Bingen. Since then Vajra Voices has had the honor and pleasure to work with Garret-Moulton Dance Company's productions Speak, Angels and The Luminous Edge; the conception and premiere of composer and Guggenheim recipient, Theresa Wong's To Burst To Bloom, the Oakland Ballet, and for the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Women's Ministry in the Episcopal Church. Vajra Voices recordings of music of Hildegard von Bingen have been featured on Reverend Matthew Fox's Shift Network classes; and for the movie soundtrack for Vajra Films new release, OUTERLANDS which premieres in the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2025.
Each member of Vajra Voices - Allison Zelles Lloyd, Amy Stuart Hunn, Caroline Jou Armitage, Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist, and Celeste Winant - contributes an extraordinary level of vocal artistry as well as individual areas of expertise in conducting, education, comparative literature, vocal pedagogy, physics, and historically informed performance practice. Together, these musicians form a “robust, heartfelt and elegant ensemble” (San Francisco Chronicle). The ensemble's repertoire continues to expand since its first performance at the Berkeley Early Music Festival in 2010. Its early music repertory now includes the florid chant of Hildegard von Bingen, early polyphony from the St. Martial de Limoges, and Las Huelgas manuscripts; songs of the troubadours and trouvères; and motets, formes fixes, and lais of Guillaume de Machaut. The ensemble's 2016 recording with multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen, O ETERNE DEUS: Music of Hildegard von Bingen (Music & Arts) is acclaimed worldwide. The U.K.’s Choir & Organ hailed the CD as "the most convincing Hildegard disc yet from the USA”. A concert review in 2018, hailed an ensemble that "moves, breathes and sings as one, with a striking level of vocal artistry, unbelievable accuracy and precision, and...obvious delight" (San Francisco Classical Voice). Vajra Voices expanded its ambit into new music in 2018 with the development and premiere of Theresa Wong’s improvisatory composition To Burst To Bloom, a collection of six songs setting the poems on inner alchemy of the 12th Century Chinese Taoist Immortal, Sun Bu’er. After months of collaborative rehearsals between composer and ensemble, the full work was premiered in January, 2019 at "The Eve of the March," a Vajra Voices-produced concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, held the night before the 2019 national Women's March.
Vajra Voices is sincerely grateful for the support we’ve received over the years from:
The San Francisco Early Music Society, The California Arts Council, The InterMusic San Francisco Musical Grant Program (MGP)
And, our generous individual contributors.
Each member of Vajra Voices - Allison Zelles Lloyd, Amy Stuart Hunn, Caroline Jou Armitage, Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist, and Celeste Winant - contributes an extraordinary level of vocal artistry as well as individual areas of expertise in conducting, education, comparative literature, vocal pedagogy, physics, and historically informed performance practice. Together, these musicians form a “robust, heartfelt and elegant ensemble” (San Francisco Chronicle). The ensemble's repertoire continues to expand since its first performance at the Berkeley Early Music Festival in 2010. Its early music repertory now includes the florid chant of Hildegard von Bingen, early polyphony from the St. Martial de Limoges, and Las Huelgas manuscripts; songs of the troubadours and trouvères; and motets, formes fixes, and lais of Guillaume de Machaut. The ensemble's 2016 recording with multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen, O ETERNE DEUS: Music of Hildegard von Bingen (Music & Arts) is acclaimed worldwide. The U.K.’s Choir & Organ hailed the CD as "the most convincing Hildegard disc yet from the USA”. A concert review in 2018, hailed an ensemble that "moves, breathes and sings as one, with a striking level of vocal artistry, unbelievable accuracy and precision, and...obvious delight" (San Francisco Classical Voice). Vajra Voices expanded its ambit into new music in 2018 with the development and premiere of Theresa Wong’s improvisatory composition To Burst To Bloom, a collection of six songs setting the poems on inner alchemy of the 12th Century Chinese Taoist Immortal, Sun Bu’er. After months of collaborative rehearsals between composer and ensemble, the full work was premiered in January, 2019 at "The Eve of the March," a Vajra Voices-produced concert at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, held the night before the 2019 national Women's March.
Vajra Voices is sincerely grateful for the support we’ve received over the years from:
The San Francisco Early Music Society, The California Arts Council, The InterMusic San Francisco Musical Grant Program (MGP)
And, our generous individual contributors.
Ready to Sing! Members of Kitka, Vajra Voices with composer Theresa Wong. Back stage before The Eve of the March, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA.