Surprise $1 Million Gift Lifts Up Houston’s Sweet Music Makers — Inside a Chamber Choir Finale to Remember

What: Houston Chamber Choir season finale party

Where: Ouisie’s

PC Moment: As the Houston Chamber Choir’s celebratory post-performance party came to a festive high note, the choir’s executive director Brian Miller revealed that the Grammy Award winning chorus had received a $1 million anonymous gift, a generous investment in its future. The evening also had its poignant moment as it marked the retirement of Robert Simpson, who 30 years ago founded the chorus and has since served as artistic director.

For the emotional finale to the concert at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Simpson invited nearly 40 former choir members to join current singers onstage for “Choose Something Like a Star.”

More than 150 board members, donors, staff, and choir, including choir co-founder Marianna Parnas-Simpson, joined the post-performance party. Simpson’s longtime friend Philip Brunelle, the artistic director of VocalEssence who flew in from Minnesota to offer his praise and congratulations, was the very welcome special guest.

“Today, the Houston Chamber Choir is celebrated for its technical brilliance and mastery of a vocal repertory spanning seven centuries,” board president Rick Kellogg told the throng. “Above all, it is cherished for the beauty of its sound.

“Maestro Simpson has given Houston a world-class treasure, and it has been our honor to support his vision. We salute him and wish him Godspeed.”

Under Simpson’s leadership, the choir has earned national acclaim, highlighted by a 2020 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for its recording of Duruflé: Complete Choral Works.

Choir executive director Brian Miller announced that Simpson has been named Laureate of the Houston Chamber Choir and revealed the launch of the Simpson Society, a new donor circle for Houston Chamber Choir supporters who contribute $100 or more.

PC Seen: Incoming artistic director Betsy Cook Weber and Rick Weber, Linnet Deily, Fairfax Randall, Drs. Rachel and Warren Ellsworth, Cynthia and Sid Davis, Johanna and Richard Wolfe, Carol Brejot, Alli and Sean Bittner, Carl Cunningham, and Grace and Jim Roman.