Lakewood plays crucial part in Orpheus Chamber Singers’ concert
“A Shining Star: Mozart Mass in C”
Performed by the Orpheus Chamber Singers
Monday, Feb. 20, 8 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 6306 Kenwood
$25-$35; $20-$30 for seniors; $10 for students
214-546-1252 or orpheuschambersingers.org
Many of Dale Rhodes’ patients know him only as Dale E. Rhodes, DDS. They visit his Lakewood office when they need a checkup, a root canal or a cavity filled, and unless they notice the literature at the front desk promoting the Texas Choral Artists or the Orpheus Chamber Singers, they probably don’t realize their dentist is also a talented tenor.
“I love dentistry, and I love what I do, but in my soul, music is probably my true passion,” Rhodes says.
His next performance will be at his church, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Lakewood, when the 24-member Orpheus Chamber Singers celebrate Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 250th birthday with “A Shining Star: Mozart Mass in C.” This 55-minute unfinished masterpiece, written to celebrate Mozart’s marriage to Constanze, is rarely performed. Though Rhodes has regularly participated in choral music since college and sung a number of Mozart masses, this one is uncharted territory for him. He’s also excited that the chamber singers, who normally perform a capella, will be accompanied by an orchestra.
“It’s a big deal for us,” says Linda Ray, president of the Orpheus Chamber Singers board of directors. “Occasionally we’ll have an organist, or maybe an oboe player or harpist, but this is a full orchestra.”
Ray, who also is a Lakewood resident, heaps lavish praise on the vocal talents of the chamber singers, and jokes that she wishes she were “that kind of good.” She describes her own voice as good enough to sing in the regular choir at church, but she also plays the violin and performs locally.
“I go from Orpheus, which is the highest of the high renaissance church music, to playing bluegrass in Deep Ellum,” Ray quips.
Though admittedly biased, both Ray and Rhodes agree the chamber singers dominate the local choral scene — “by far the ultimate musical experience,” Rhodes says.
“A lot of people think it’s just stale, format choir music that you would hear at a church,” he says. “It’s apples and oranges. The only connection is we have our concerts at churches, but it’s just a venue.”
They choose the churches according to their acoustics, which are “fabulous” at St. Thomas Aquinas, Ray says.
“They’re the kind of choir you would hear in Europe, so you need that kind of a church,” she says.
Most people in the Orpheus Chamber Singers have classical music training and pursued degrees such as conducting, vocal performance or music education. Rhodes is often the odd one out in groups such as this, shocking his fellow singers by revealing he is a dentist.
“I grew up very interested in medicine, and I didn’t really want to teach music and don’t have the type of voice for a solo career,” he says. “I go once a week and rehearse, and it’s a joy for me because it’s an outlet, not a vocation.”
