De Profundis

 

The dream of de Profundis began with the dream of a sound. It was the warm, silken sound of male voices in harmony. It was the intimacy of a few voices, a small group of listeners, a modest hall. It was a dream of many colors, from Palestrina alabaster, to Brahms violet, to the steel gray of Stravinsky. " The name de Profundis was visited upon us. Latin for out of the deep, it seemed at once to play on the distinctiveness of the male voice, while at the same time bespeaking the conviction that music has the capacity to reveal the profound, that which is concealed within our own depths."

In May of 1994 the dream began to take tangible form. They formed a board of directors and became a nonprofit corporation. On August 23, 1994, twelve men, along with their director, David Poole, met for the first time to begin making music, to embark together on a voyage of exploration and discovery.

Now in their fifteenth season, de Profundis continues on that voyage. And as on any such voyage, the horizons have only expanded. From the stage of the Hiland Theatre on Central Avenue, where they performed with jazz legend Dave Brubeck, to the ancient walls of the Quarai Ruins in the Manzano Mountains, they continue to seek out new venues and new audiences.de Profundis has tried to reach beyond an audience as well, to foster interest and enthusiasm among the younger male singers in our community. They have sponsored workshops for high school tenors and basses and have shared programs with the Albuquerque Boy Choir. In the spring of 2002 they sang a joint concert with Quintessence - Choral Artists of the Southwest. In the fall of 2002 they sang in Grants, NM, for the Cibola Arts Series.

In the spring of 2000 de Profundis recorded their first CD, With a Heart of Longing, now sold out. Their second CD, The Green Man was released in the Fall of 2003 and in the Fall of 2008, they released their third CD, Tidings, a collection to celebrate the holiday season.

To celebrate their ten years of existence, in 2004, they hosted noted composer and arranger Alice Parker, who spent a weekend with de Profundis and then conducted a concert, which included a piece commissioned from Ms. Parker entitled de Profundis, based on Psalm 130.Generous donors enabled de Profundis to establish an endowment fund with the Albuquerque Community Foundation in 2007. This permanent fund will provide a steady income to allow de Profundis to meet its goals of providing unique music to the community and to involve young singers in their concerts.

 

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