2026 Summer Choral Festival
Featuring the American premiere of Taylor Scott Davis’s Requiem with full orchestra
Quintessence presents our 14th Annual Summer Choral Festival! This weeklong event is open to singers high-school age through adult, and includes rehearsals, workshops, voice lessons, and other events.
Join us on Sunday, July 19 at 3:00 PM for the Festival Concert at V. Sue Cleveland High School!
The 175-voice Festival Chorus will present the U.S. premiere of Requiem by Taylor Scott Davis, accompanied by professional orchestra and conducted by Matthew Greer. This powerful and deeply moving work explores themes of remembrance, hope, and renewal through choral and orchestral music.
Opening the concert, our Choral Scholars will perform works of contemporary composers, including the premiere of a new piece by Taylor Scott Davis written especially for this year's Summer Choral Festival.
Don't miss this extraordinary afternoon of music, featuring two premieres and the culmination of a week of musical collaboration, learning, and community. Tickets on sale June 10th.
FESTIVAL REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.
Please plan to attend the Festival Concert on July 19!
Click the video to hear a movement of Taylor Scott Davis's Requiem, performed by the VOCES8 Foundation Chorus and Orchestra.
Festival Chorus Schedule
Festival Chorus Rehearsal Schedule
July 11-19, 2026
Saturday, July 11: 2-5 pm
Sunday, July 12: 2-5 pm
Monday, July 13: 6:30-9:30 pm
Wednesday, July 15: 6:30-9:30 pm
Friday July 17: 6:30-9:30 pm
Mandatory Dress Rehearsal
Saturday, July 18, 2-5 pm (with orchestra)
Performance Day
Sunday, July 19, Call time and Concert Time in the afternoon TBA
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Any singer high school age or older.
-
Most of the rehearsals will occur at St. John's United Methodist Church (2626 Arizona Street NE in Albuquerque). Stay tuned for the location of the concert venue!
-
The mass choir will perform the US premiere of Taylor Scott Davis's Requiem.
Scores are included in the registration fee. They will be available for pickup no later than June 15.
-
Singers may miss no more than one of the six scheduled rehearsals. The rehearsal on Saturday, July 18 is mandatory. (Note: there may be special exceptions for singers who are traveling in from out of town.)
-
Black. Simple, dressy black. All black. Black dress, black top, black skirt, black suit, black shirt, black pants, black onesie: all acceptable. Just wear black. Black. Questions of sleeve length, type of material, style of shoe will be resolutely ignored. Just. Wear. Black.
ABOUT TAYLOR SCOTT DAVIS
Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as penning “dreamy vocal lines” that “overlap and intensify to stunning effect”, Taylor Scott Davis is much in demand by both orchestras and vocal groups around the globe. His music has been described as “sonically luxurious”, memorable and inspiring of hope, and his belief in supporting collaboration, diversity and creating musical opportunities at all levels underpins all. From “full filmic blockbuster technicolour” to soulful and glorious orchestral textures and melodies, Taylor’s music has a unique and timely voice.
Recent premieres of Taylor’s works have been at Carnegie Hall (Magnificat), Sydney Opera House (Effortlessly), the Barbican, and Cadogan Hall (A Mosaic Mass). This current season includes further premieres at Sydney Opera House (by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Sydney Symphony) and twice at Carnegie Hall including Taylor’s The Poetry of Psalms which he’ll conduct himself. BBC Scottish Symphony gave the Scottish premiere of Magnificat to close Sir James MacMillan’s Cumnock Tryst festival this autumn. To Sing of Love will receive its concert world premiere and the Requiem its US premiere. Taylor will appear conducting, speaking and leading masterclasses as Composer-in-Residence across many choral institutions in the US and Europe in this upcoming season.
When not writing or conducting, Taylor Scott Davis serves as the Director of Music and Worship Arts at St. Andrew Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. He is a 2003 graduate and notable alumnus of Centenary College of Louisiana. Taylor earned a Bachelor of Sacred Music degree while studying conducting with Dr. Julia Brasher Thorn, as well as intensive courses with Dr. Sandra Willets, Dr. Ann Howard Jones, Paul Oakley, Alice Parker, and Jane Marshall. He has also studied composition with Dr. Eric McIntyre, Ms. Parker, and Ms. Marshall.