Press
Read Clarion's feature articles in The New York Times & BBC Music Magazine.
"It seems to have fallen to Steven Fox and his excellent choirs to tend to Rachmaninoff’s motley but treasurable body of choral works. The sacred ones, particularly – with their flowing yet restrained lyricism and none of the bombast or sentimentality often associated with the composer – represent the very best of Rachmaninoff…
Fox has since made specialties of Russian Orthodox music in general and Rachmaninoff in particular. He and Clarion have presented the Vespers often at New Year in New York and recorded it beautifully for Pentatone.”
– James Oestreich, The New York Times
'Illuminating Rachmaninoff's Vespers, a Pinnacle of Russian Sacred Rep'
""In Handel's Solomon, elegantly performed on Sunday by the English Concert and Clarion Choir under Harry Bicket, the chorus is the star... The Clarion Choir, directed by Steven Fox, was superb in the score’s many moods."
– Zachary Wolfe, The New York Times
'A Handel Oratorio Filled With Lyrical Grace'
"Since their formation under Fox in 2006, the Clarion Choir and Orchestra have been building their reputation as first-class performers of Russian repertoire throughout the US and Europe…"
– Charlotte Smith, BBC Music Magazine
'The Clarion Choir: East Meets West'
"The Clarion Choir has become my favorite NYC-area vocal ensemble not only because of their great skill but because of the vast range of repertoire they plumb and make their own. Under the leadership of Steven Fox the choir has recently performed Handel, Rachmaninoff, and brand-new music too."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"In sum: the interpretation [of Solomon] was exquisite, with the pre-eminence of the choir..."
– Eduardo Torrico, Scherzo (Spain)
"Singing Bach’s Mass in B Minor can be terrifying. You’re holding your own, and then, the page turns to reveal something that looks barely singable. You’re teetering like a novice downhill skiier on a slope with pathetically inadequate skills. No turning back. And that’s just a matter of vocal technique. Why is this monumental piece the way it is? That’s a lifelong quest that found a provisional answer from all-professional Clarion Choir and Orchestra under Steven Fox May 1 at the Park Avenue Christian Church…
The final “Amen”…had the most luminous homophonic vocal blends in the Clarion performance that I’ve heard in years."
– David Patrick Stearns, ArtsJournal
'Clarion’s Bach Mass in B Minor: Summit Achieved'
"From beginning to end of the afternoon, the drama depended upon Handel’s spectacular choral writing and the accomplished singing of The Clarion Choir. Here was God’s plenty: stirring fugues, grand double-choir accolades, and eight-part songs of praise; a gentle evocation of the cedar grove where Solomon and his queen were to have their afternoon “nap”; and a stormy, high-romantic picture of unnamed lovers caught in some scenario of “death and wild despair.” The Clarion Choir never faltered even in the fastest and wordiest of passages. Bravo to the choir’s artistic director, Steven Fox, who also joined the tenor section, for his scrupulous attention to detail and insight into the musical heart of these remarkable numbers."
– Nicholas Jones, San Francisco Classical Review
"Under Fox’s leadership, and with the benefit of excellent acoustics and top-notch recording and production, the Clarion Choir makes a crowning statement with this release."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"Clarion Choir Soars in Spiritual Rarity to Open Rachmaninoff 150 Year."
– David Wright, New York Classical Review
"The Clarion Choir’s concerts brought out Rachmaninoff’s revelatory fusion of old and new - or what was new in the 20th century. I suspect the composer would have been pleased with this performance, held just across town from his old digs on West End Avenue."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
"It used to be that Russian choirs had the edge in recording material from that country, but New York's Clarion Choir has gotten the drop on them with a world premiere of music by Alexander Kastalsky. The sound, from New York's St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, is all that could be desired."
– James Manheim, AllMusic
"The Clarion Choir, led by Artistic Director Steven Fox, provided episode after episode of luxuriant and richly hued singing...These artists conjured up a stirring air of triumphalism in the powerful showpieces that frame the piece and recur throughout... Elsewhere too the chorus rose nobly to the occasion. The first of the oratorio’s three acts ends with a sumptuously beautiful lullaby, as nightingales (that would be two flutes and a solo violin) and a murmuring assemblage of voices lull the royal couple to sleep; the chorus gave this piece a shimmery, quiet depth. When Handel asked for precisely etched counterpoint, the chorus obliged. When he wanted vigorous power, that too was in supply."
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
'Clarion Choir Shines in Berkeley Oratorio Performance'
"The New York-based Clarion Choir sang with exacting precision and admirable fervour... the Choir were again magnificent."
– Tim Ashley, The Guardian (UK)
“Levine’s east-to-west background put him in a unique position to write this piece, whose harmonies had less of a British Anglican tinge than some of his works. Levine inhabited the Russian liturgical manner as a first language – not a throwback but a look back – occasionally exercising the option to use more spare modern chords and to have ideas grow out of each other in a way that liturgical music from this world seem not to permit.
The all-professional Clarion Choir under Steven Fox of course played a key role here, being perhaps the best choir in New York and one that is able to summon the kind of vocal richness needed for this music with a linguistic authority that offered great clarity to those following on the text. In more chant-like moments, the vocal inflections highlighted the dips and turns that some more liturgical-based vocal groups might take for granted. And does this choir have some sort of volume knob that allows quick, seamless changes in dynamics?
Such effects were particularly heard in the concert’s all-Rachmaninoff first half. Smart programming there. The audience ears were warmed to the Russian choral sound and manner, but the music itself was not top-drawer Rachmaninoff and thus wasn’t going to make Levine suffer by comparison. In fact, one could ask if there’s a compelling reason to bring out the lightweight Six Choral Songs for Treble Voice Op. 15. Answer: The performances struck just the right balance of tidy ensemble and moderate tempos, allowing the music to reveal an unpretentious charm – and one that illuminated Rachmaninoff’s larger works in a way that Brahms’ similar Op 17 choral songs give one an entry point to his larger works.”
– David Patrick Stearns, ArtsJournal
'Russian liturgical choral music supports the Ukraine in an NYC Clarion Choir world premiere – without irony'
"Every time I've heard them, The Clarion Choir's timbre and precision impress with their consistency through loud and quiet passages alike. More generally, their jewel-like musicality is always at the highest level."
– Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
'Clarion Choir Sings Rachmaninoff and World Premiere of ‘Vigil for Peace’ by Alexander Levine'
"… the performers made their mark, most of all Bicket’s bright-toned American imports, the Clarion Choir... in a climactic chorus the Clarion singers left us with a stirring sense of Old Testament justice."
– Neil Fisher, The Times (UK)