Vox Femina Finds an Accessible Choral Avenue

Women’s choirs were very popular in the 19th century. But it’s unlikely that Victorian literature would satisfy such a choir today, especially Vox Femina Los Angeles, which describes itself as “a family of women who are lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual.”

So to solve the problem of repertory, the group, founded in 1997 by conductor Iris S. Levine, has commissioned a number of new works as well as arrangements for women’s voices.

Under Levine’s direction, the chorus sang premieres of three multipart works in its “Celebrating Women--Celebrating Our Diversity” program Saturday at Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

The new works were Roger Bourland’s “The Alarcon Madrigals (Book II),” three writers’ contributions to “The Tolerance Project,” and an arrangement by Kevin Robison of Randi Driscoll’s “What Matters,” a song written in response to the murder of Matthew Shepard.

All three works are miniatures that are easily accessible. Bourland’s six a cappella madrigals are nicely crafted settings of poems by Francisco X. Alarcon.

Joan Szymko, Dave Kopplin and Karen Hart each wrote one effective song in musical-theater style for “The Tolerance Project.”

The effort also included two spoken narratives published by the Tolerance Group at Culver City High School.

Driscoll’s “What Matters” is an inspirational soft-rock song that should have wider currency.

It was evident that few choirs are as engaged as Vox Femina. The 29 singers showed that singing and texts mattered to them, collectively and individually.

Rarely does so much individual personality shine through a choral group as the singers responded to the subject matter in a personally committed way.

They have different vocal strengths and techniques, however, as revealed by numerous soloists. Levine is able to blend all that into a honed musical-theater style, but it has limits in dynamic, focus and color.

Lisa Edwards, Ida Bodin and Megan Foley were the discreet pianist, bassist and percussionist, respectively.

As the single encore, the chorus sang Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s “Kiss the Girl” from Walt Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” as singers Elizabeth Swenson and Liesl Scalzitti acted out a delightful scene of two women finding each other, which neither Disney nor the Victorians might have envisioned as an element for a women’s chorus.