Previous Seasons
2019-2020 Season
Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy
Symphony Hall, Phoenix
September 7, 2019, Saturday 8:00 p.m.
Solis is excited to join the Phoenix Symphony under the direction of Arnie Roth and with vocalist Susan Calloway for this videogame extravaganza.
Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience
October 1, 2019, Tuesday 8:00 p.m.
Comerica Theater, Phoenix
Solis will join Emmy-Award Winning Composer of Game of Thrones, Ramin Djawadi, and members of the Phoenix Symphony for the third Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience in Phoenix.
A Sacred Celtic Christmas
Sponsored by Catholic Phoenix: A Sacred Music Series Concert
December 20, Friday 7:00 p.m.
St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church
3801 E Greenway Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85032
Solis and Catholic Phoenix present “A Sacred Celtic Christmas,” a concert featuring chants, carols, and religious works from the ancient and modern Celts. From Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, to Brittany, Catalonia, and the Basque regions of Spain, the gorgeous Celtic Christmas melodies will warm your heart and fill your soul with the blessed spirit of the season.
A Celtic Holiday
December 21, Saturday 2:00 p.m.
Episcopal Church of the Nativity
22405 N Miller Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
Join Solis and other guest artists as they bring the nostalgic melodies of Celtic Christmases and the toe-tapping dances of the holiday season to you! Bring your family and friends to this lively event to sing along, enjoy some nibbles and snacks, and fill your holiday spirit with Christmas tunes from the old country.
The Celtic Spirit of Christmas
December 22, Sunday 5:00 p.m.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish
700 N. Bill Gray Road Cottonwood, AZ 86326
928-634-2933
Purchase tickets at the Parish Office or at the door the day of the concert
This evening program captures the spirit of Christmas through old-world carols from the ancient and modern Celtic regions. From Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, to Brittany, Catalonia, and the Basque regions of Spain, the gorgeous Celtic Christmas melodies will warm your heart and fill your soul with the blessed spirit of the season.
2018 - 2019 Season
Game of Thrones with composer Ramin Djawadi
Live Concert Experience
September 12, Wednesday 8:00 p.m.
Gila River Arena
Glendale, Arizona
Sing Phoenix Chorale Festival 2019
Celebrating the Music of Morten Lauridsen
Morten Lauridsen, clinician & guest of honor
Church of the Beatitudes
Saturday, October 20, 2018
7:00 p.m.
*Solis will present three newly-composed scores for comments and workshopping with Mr. Lauridsen, and one will be performed in concert.
Mary, Star of the Sea
A Christmas concert dedicated to Mother Mary
Sponsored by Catholic Phoenix: A Sacred Music Series Concert
December 2, Sunday 7:00 p.m.
Veritas Preparatory Auditorium, Phoenix
Solis Camerata and Catholic Phoenix present “Mary, Star of the Sea,” a sacred concert featuring chants, motets, and carols in honor of the Blessed Virgin. For generations, composers have birthed glorious works inspired by the most beloved and ancient Marian prayers of the Church, principally the Ave Maris Stella, Magnificat, Ave Maria, and Alma Redemptoris Mater. Alongside such masterpieces, this program will include an array of Advent and Christmas carols—both fresh and familiar—that illumine Mary’s essential role in the Incarnation and invite the faithful to expectantly ponder, with the Virgin-Mother, the timeless mystery of Emmanuel: God with us.
Spotless Rose: Our Lady at Christmastide
A Christmas concert in the Mountains
December 23, Sunday 5:00 p.m.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel, 16 W Cherry Ave, Flagstaff AZ
Come to the Flagstaff mountains, just days before the solemn celebration of Jesus’ birth, for an intimate Christmas concert of motets and carols dedicated to Our Lady, altogether spanning over a thousand years of composition. Professional choral ensemble Solis Camerata collaborates with San Francisco de Asis Parish and seminarian Harold Escárcega to perform “Spotless Rose: Our Lady at Christmastide.”
2017-2018 Season
Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses
Featuring Solis Camerata and the Phoenix Symphony
November 6, Monday 7:00 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Phoenix
Voyage: From Spain to Colonial Latin America
Sponsored by Catholic Phoenix: A Sacred Music Series Concert
November 19, Sunday 7:00 p.m.
Xavier Chapel of our Lady, Phoenix
Orchesographie: The Renaissance Dances
Featuring Solis Camerata and the early music instruments of Bartholomew Faire
March 11, Sunday 2:00 p.m.
Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Scottsdale
2016 - 2017 Season
Distant Worlds: Music from the Final Fantasy Video Game
Featuring Solis Camerata and the Phoenix Symphony
September 10, Saturday 8:00 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Phoenix
Songs of the Wandering Minstrel
Featuring Solis Camerata and Bartholomew Faire
September 30, Friday 7:00 p.m.
Paradise Valley Methodist Church, Paradise Valley
Sounds of the Cathedrals
Sponsored by Catholic Phoenix: A Sacred Music Series Concert
November 20, Sunday 7:00 p.m.
Xavier Chapel of our Lady, Phoenix
Resonant Mysteries
Arts at Ascension Concert Series
February 10, Friday 7:00 p.m.
Catholic Church of Ascension, Fountain Hills
Game of Thrones with composer Ramin Djawadi
Live Concert Experience
March 26, Sunday 8:00 p.m.
Talking Stick Resort Arena
Phoenix, Arizona
2015-2016 Season
ASU Chaucer Celebration
March 18, 2016
Solis Camerata is excited to return to the ASU English Department’s Chaucer Celebration in 2016. A quartet of four singers will perform beloved musical gems from Chaucer’s 14th century. This festive program will include Douce Dame Jolie, a virelai by Machaut, and Angelus Ad Virginem (anon), which Chaucer himself mentioned in his writings. As a highlight of the event, Solis Camerata and Bartholomew Faire will join forces for a few jovial numbers (Director: Kira Rugen).
ACDA Western Division Conference
February 27th, 2016 10:45 a.m.
The First United Methodist Church, Pasadena
We have been invited to perform at the 2016 ACDA Western Division Conference to be held February 24th – 27th in Pasadena, California! We are excited perform and hope to see all our choral friends there!
Origins – Tracing Ancient Harmony
Saturday, February 20, 2016 7:30 p.m.
Christ Church of the Ascension
Solis Camerata will present a moving program exploring the polyphonic and melodic developments as imagined by composers from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Repertoire presented at Origins originate from Byzantine, Russian Orthodox, Georgian, Greek, and Hebrew traditions, as well as the Western tradition originally founded in the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, works include compositions by local composers, Tom Peterson, and Solis Camerata’s artistic director, Dr. Kira Zeeman Rugen.
Help ‘send us off’ as we embark on a tour to represent Arizona at the American Choral Directors Conference in Pasadena, California. A freewill offering will be accepted supporting Solis Camerata. (Suggested Donation: $20)
Origins – Tracing the Ancient Liturgical Rite
Presented by Catholic Phoenix
November 22, 2015 7:00 p.m.
Xavier Chapel of our Lady
Catholic Phoenix is proud to present its fourth annual Sacred Music Concert, Origins- Tracing the Ancient Liturgical Rite, featuring Solis Camerata. Repertoire for this concert exhibits the oldest forms of liturgical chant from the early Church and its continued development over the centuries. Christian liturgy has its roots in ancient cultures, customs, and worship dating back to the first centuries after Christ, but evidence of ancient music is obscure. Although historians uncovered manuscript fragments believed to represent early musical notation, scholars’ debate possible transcriptions and authenticity. Liturgical chant, however, experienced preservation due to its regular use in Christian worship as an oral tradition. As Christianity spread, each liturgical tradition held flavors representing the local culture and diverse language of worshipers, creating an enduring multi-cultural liturgical treasure.
For Origins, Solis Camerata will perform polyphonic and melodic developments as imagined by composers from antiquity to the twenty-first century, including commissioned works by local composer, Tom Peterson, and Solis Camerata’s artistic director, Dr. Kira Zeeman Rugen. Repertoire presented at Origins reflects the diversity of the early church as well as common threads across religious cultures throughout history. Examples come from the Byzantine rite, Chaldean rite, Russian Orthodox tradition, Georgian liturgy, ancient Greek extants, the Hebrew heritage, and the Western tradition in the Roman Catholic Church.
2014-2015 Season
Classical Revolution Teams up with Solis Camerata
Classical Revolution Phoenix brings you a FREE concert with two local chamber groups: Solis Camerata and Paradise Winds hosted by the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix!
Location: Humanist Community Center
Solis Camerata is: Kira Dawn Zeeman Rugen & Carmel Groenwald on vox, Scott Saari on lute
Paradise Winds is: Tiffany Pan, oboe; Joshua Gardner, clarinet; Joey Kluesener, bassoon
Timeless Harmony
Friday, January 30th, 2015 2:00 p.m.
Location: Camelback Bible Church
Great Hearts Annual Faculty Meeting
Solis Camerata Solis Camerata presents a program of choral music, drawn from ancient sacred, secular and musical/textual sources in three parts: 1- Saintly Tomes, 2- Shakespearian Melodrama and 3- Ancient Folk.
Songs of the Saints
Presented by Catholic Phoenix
Xavier Chapel of our Lady
Thursday, November 6th, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
In Solis Camerata’s third year on the Catholic Phoenix Sacred Music Concert series, they will present “Songs of the Saints.” Hear the words, music and honorary compositions about the Saints of the Church in a journey that envelopes the listener in the visionary theology of St. Hildegard von Bingen, philosophies of St. Thomas of Aquinas and the intimate, yet mystifying relationship between God and man by St. John of the Cross. The program includes works spanning the ages by composers such as Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Josef Rheinberger and Benjamin Britten. To honor this event, Catholic Phoenix commissioned two compositions, one by director Kira Zeeman Rugen, D.M.A, and another by guest composer Joshua Ian Elder, M.M. In celebration of All Saints Day, this concert recognizes the beatific vision and influence of the Saints through musical and spiritual enlightenment. Please join us for this Sacred Music Concert.
2013-2014 Season
Noël Á L’Acienne: An Ancient French Christmas
Presented by Catholic Phoenix
Saturday, December 7th, 2013
Location: Chapel of our Lady Xavier College Preparatory
Experience France’s ancient Christmas melodic traditions with the Valley of the Sun’s early music choir, Solis Camerata. Listen as Solis Camerata unveils legendary French carols which originated as 8th-century chants, Medieval folk melodies, courtly dance tunes or in Renaissance passion plays. Some of the old familiar carols included on this program are Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel), Noël Nouvelet, and Les Anges dans nos campagnes (Angels We Have Heard on High).
This concert finishes with Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noël. Originally intended for Christmas Eve services in Paris’ Jesuit community, this 1690 Mass exhibits several of France’s then-celebrated, but now lesser-known carols. Charpentier interweaved these borrowed melodies seamlessly into an original Mass setting that juxtaposes imitative polyphony alongside simpler textures. With a score that calls for choir, soloists, baroque flutes, strings and continuo, this festive work is sure to begin the advent season with a reminiscent, yet joyful spirit.
2011-2013 Season
Singing the Mass: A Sacred Music Concert
Location: Chapel of our Lady Xavier College Preparatory, Tuesday, November 27th, 2012
Presented by Catholic Phoenix
This concert featured the Mass for Five Voices by William Byrd (1540–1623). This is Byrd’s most densely textured and ambitious setting of the Mass ordinary. The Mass will be sung by Solis Camerata, under the direction of Kira Zeeman Rugen. Solis Camerata is a professional early music ensemble, originating from Arizona State University. The performance repertoire of this choir spans centuries of sacred and secular music, from the 12th century to the high baroque of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Shakespeare in the Desert with Arizona ProArte
Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, Friday, April 26th, 2013
Solis Camerata will collaborate with Arizona ProArte for this season finale. Join us as we hear music from Shakespeare’s time, excerpts from “Julius Caesar” and Faure’s “Shylock Suite” performed with monologues by Shakespearean actors.
ASU Choral Concert Songs of Love
Valley Presbyterian Church, Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Ensembles: ASU’s Solis Camerata, and Concert Choir
Arizona Bach Festival
All Saint’s Episcopal Church, Tuesday, January 8th, 2013
As a featured guest of the distinguished Arizona Bach Festival, Solis Camerata performed Bach’s famous motet, Jesu Meine Freude. This concert will highlight ASU vocal soloists and instrumentalists.
A Celtic Christmas
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Saturday, December 15th, 2012
Solis Camerata, the Phoenix Irish Cultural Center’s Celtica!, performed Christmas melodies and carols derived from Celtic culture.
Second Sunday Concert Series
ASU Herberger Institute School of Music Community partnership, February 12, 2012
Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley
Contemporary Music in Ancient Architecture
St. Barnabus of the Desert Episcopal Church, Feb. 21, 2012
D.M.A. Lecture-Recital and Concert: Vespers of 1610, Claudio Monteverdi
Presented by Kira Rugen and Solis Camerata, April 22, 2012
Pinnacle Presbyterian Church