Release Date: August 1, 2012
Catalog #: NV5877
Format: Digital & Physical
21st Century
Vocal Music
Choir

Seeking & Finding

Hans Bakker composer
Howard Richards composer

Kühn Choir | Marek Vorlícek conductor

Natural beauty, emotion, and enlightenment. These are but a few of the common threads of SEEKING & FINDING, an album of choral works by two composers whose pointed explorations of humanity resonate in perfect pitch. Working with texts from ancient Sanskrit literature and the poetry of Gibran and Joyce, Hans Bakker (b. 1945) and Howard Richards (1927-2010) share an ability to steer the chorus through the sea of human emotion and experience, artfully portraying the epiphanous, the spiritual, and the joyous with unmatched profundity and depth.

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Artist Information

Hans Bakker

Composer

After he finished his studies piano, church organ, and choral conducting at the Dutch Institute for Church Music in Utrecht, Hans Bakker (b. 1945) worked as a teacher at two music schools in the Netherlands. He also conducted two choirs and was active in the improvisational music scene. His career in music was followed by the study of Sanskrit. After obtaining his master's degree at the University of Amsterdam, he returned to music, becoming completely occupied by teaching at Globe Center for Art and Culture in the city of Hilversum.

Howard Richards

Composer

Howard L. Richards Jr. received his first piano lesson when he was six years old and began studying popular piano and trumpet at the age of eight. He attended high school at Culver Military Academy in Indiana and was a member of the Infantry Band for four years. Upon graduating high school, Richards spent one year at the University of Michigan to study Physics, but switched at midyear to major in Music Composition.

Kühn Choir of Prague

Choir

The Kühn Choir of Prague is one of the largest Czech choirs and has been part of the musical world for over 60 years. It devotes itself to the choral repertoire of all periods, and its activities include significant performances of contemporary music, performances of large vocal-instrumental works in collaboration with leading Czech orchestras and, last but not least, projects for the performance and recording of film music.