Reginald Mobley, countertenor (reginaldmobley.com)
The lauded ensemble opens its 15th-anniversary season with a performance highlighting traditional African American spirituals, curated and sung by a leading interpreter of the genre
Spire Chamber Ensemble, which has earned its reputation for authentic period performance and choral masterworks, celebrates its 15th anniversary this season.
They open it Sept. 15 with “My Lord, What a Morning: Reginald Mobley, countertenor,” a performance highlighting traditional African American spirituals featuring renowned countertenor Reginald Mobley, who also curates the program.
While this is not Spire’s first time performing spirituals with Mobley, including their 2017 concert with him, “The Spiritual: America’s First Art Form,” it is nonetheless a rare presentation of the genre.
“You don’t typically hear spirituals sung by countertenors,” said Ben Spalding, founder, artistic director and conductor for Spire. “Reggie’s voice has a pure, crystal tone to it that is a little different than you might hear from baritones or tenors. It’s a little bit more edgy.”
Mobley has been involved with Spire since the ensemble’s first season, both as a chorister and a soloist. He is a sought-after interpreter of Baroque music, performing nationally and internationally. (Among his many roles, Mobley is programming consultant for the Handel and Haydn Society.) Ever versatile, he also performs classical and modern repertoire in recital and with choirs and orchestras.
“There are not many like him,” said Spalding.
“Mobley’s vocal range may be exceeded by the broadness of his musical horizons,” wrote Hannah Edgar in the Chicago Reader. “If Baroque arias are a countertenor’s daily bread, then Mobley’s repertoire builds a meal around them: his programs and recordings slot Bach next to 20th-century and contemporary art songs, Motown hits, tunes from the Great American Songbook, and arrangements of spirituals.”
Raised in Florida and based in Boston, Mobley divides his time between the United States and Europe. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2022, as a soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He performed with the Monteverdi Choir, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardener, for the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey in 2023. He spent much of this summer performing in London, France and Brussels.
Last year, Mobley released his first solo album, “Because,” with French pianist Baptiste Trotignon, which won the 2024 Opus Klassik Award for “Klassik ohne Grenzen” (Classic Without Borders) and was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
“‘Classic Without Borders’ couldn’t be a more appropriate and on the nose category for me,” shared Mobley on Facebook. “My entire life has been opposed to the idea of borders, labels, and boxes. As a Black man. As a Christian. As a gay Asexual person. And most importantly, as a musician. As long as there isn’t a box that can fit every genre of music and allow it to be respected and appreciated equally, then no box should exist.”
Mobley has often been a featured soloist with Spire, including performances for G.F. Handel’s “Messiah” and J.S. Bach’s B minor Mass. “He’s certainly been an absolute favorite of our period group,” said Spalding. “He’s also one of the country’s leading authorities on interpreting the spiritual.”
What Spalding finds fascinating is how Mobley brings in the influence of genres like jazz, gospel and reggae. “It’s really kind of a culmination of a lot of styles, but it’s historically accurate because all of that throughout America’s history influenced the spiritual. And it was all working in tandem together, the music of the Black experience. He’s curating a program that really traverses all of these styles in a powerful, interwoven way,” Spalding said.
In the last decade and a half, the ensemble has secured a following due to its range of repertoire and high performance standard.
“What we’ve heard most over our 15 years is, ‘Is there anything you guys can’t do?’” Spalding said.
Spire started in fall 2010, when Spalding put together a choir for performances at Community of Christ Church (The group gets its name from the church’s silver spiral spire that dominates the Independence, Missouri, skyline.) In 2012, the group “went solo” as a nonprofit organization, starting its first concert series.
“One of the big goals starting out with Spire is that we wanted a malleable organization,” said Spalding. “We wanted something that was flexible and that could do a lot of different styles of music but have a couple specialties.”
Instead of a standing ensemble with regular rehearsals, Spire’s programming is project based. “The number of musicians is tailored to the repertoire. I handpick depending on the sound we want for certain things,” said Spalding. Some musicians are local, but many come from around the country, particularly period performance specialists on instruments like basset horn or sackbut.
There are two guiding pillars that propel Spire’s mission into this 15th-anniversary season.
Authentic period performance is one factor of Spire’s identity, Spalding said. “It gives this very pure, almost haunting quality that you can’t really replicate with modern instruments just because of the way they sound, a much more muted darker color, which is so fascinating and gives a really fresh take.”
The other tenet reflects the ensemble’s role in the 21st century, as they take on the call of diversity, equity and inclusion, and the intersection of art and social justice.
After all, art does not exist in a void.
“We really feel this call to honor the great masterworks, but also the intersection of how art can respond to our society and ask important questions,” said Spalding. “We believe that choral music, since we have text, can open up some beautiful conversations about how we make this a more just world that is of, by, and for all people.”
Spire continues its 15th-anniversary season with their annual period performance of “Messiah” in December, as well as selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. In the spring, Spire presents Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem along with the rarely heard “Dixit Dominus” by classical contemporary Marianna Martines. “She was potentially one of the most famous female composers of her time,” said Spalding.
Spire Chamber Ensemble concerts invite audiences to revel in the beauty of the music, yes, but also consider how the art reflects our present struggles and passions.
Spire Chamber Ensemble performs “My Lord, What a Morning: Reginald Mobley, countertenor,” at 3 p.m. Sept. 15 at Atonement Lutheran Church, 9948 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. For information, www.spirechambersensemble.org.
