Sneak Peek: Vox Olympia presents “Midsummer”
Published July 6, 2026
Local audiences are in for a real treat as the South Sound's premier professional chamber choir “Vox Olympia” makes it’s way to the stage again! Performing both sacred and secular works, Vox has built a reputation for taking audiences to divine places through practically perfect performances of stunning works.
I feel honored that I have been able to write about this amazing group of people in my JOLT column, both through the lens of Vox and through each of their own projects throughout town. This group of merry music makers exist in our community in a variety of spaces and continue to do the work each day to shine light in our community.
Featuring both a cappella and instrumental pieces, this concert promises to take your ears on a joyous vacation away from the chaotic sounds of today’s world and into an enchanting and peaceful place filled with pure delight.
Mark your calendars for Vox Olympia’s “Midsummer” Concert this Saturday July 11th at 7:30pm being held at Saint Michael’s Parish 1055 Boundary St, Olympia, WA. Tickets by donation at the door, and please be sure to donate so that this fabulous organization can continue to bless us with these beautiful performances.
You can also donate by clicking here.
Want to stay up to date on all Vox Olympia happenings or make an online donation? Visit their website and follow them on Facebook.
Now for the moment you have been waiting for — the sneak peek of the “Midsummer” Concert. Enjoy my correspondence with Vox Olympia Director and Conductor John Guarente!
On Midsummer
Benton: Tell me more about your theme, Midsummer and what it means in the context of this concert? Could you tell me about your process in creating this program this round? What are the things that make this concert special? What is the message you want audiences to leave with?
Guarente: “For this program, we wanted to give our audience a rich variety of windswept melodies to evoke the feeling of relaxing by the seaside and enjoying the summer breeze. Every piece on this concert is pure ear candy, and we hope for our listeners to have a meditative experience as the music washes over them over the course of the evening.”
Benton: Tell me more about the Cascadia Chamber Players and your connection to them.
Guarente: “The Cascadia Chamber Players are led by two incredible violinists—Rosalie Romano and Patricia Krafcik—with whom I have had the pleasure of working on several occasions at SPSCC. Most recently, they played for SPSCC’s performance of Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, an oratorio written as the soundtrack to Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc. Rosalie and Pat are both marvelous musicians and have been supporters of Vox Olympia for years now. Rosalie performed with Vox Olympia last year in our performance of Durante’s Magnificat under the direction of Roupen Shakarian.”
Benton: What are some of the pieces that will be featured in this program? Will it be a mixture of sacred and secular?
Guarente: “Our Midsummer program is a mix of sacred and secular music. On the secular side of things, we have a couple of melodies from Irish and Finnish traditions, and a lovely setting of a Paul Laurence Dunbar poem by Marques L.A. Garrett called The Lesson. We’ll be performing the very popular Northern Lights, by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, as well as some beautiful sacred works from the Renaissance era.”
Benton: Anything interesting about the composers or the selected pieces that you would like to share?
Guarente: “The centerpiece of the concert is John Tavener’s Song for Athene, which was performed at the funeral for Princess Diana in 1997. Although the work was most likely intended for a larger choir, the twelve voices of Vox Olympia are able to cover the parts with relative ease, and their sound is positively massive in the big crescendo towards the end of the piece. This work will be rather effective in the live acoustic space of Saint Michael Parish.”
Benton: The audience can feel that everyone in this group is friends with one another. Could you either tell me a fun/rememberable story from rehearsals or share a statement about just the friendship that exists amongst this group?
Guarente: “Being good friends with everyone is one of the things that makes performing with Vox Olympia so gratifying. It is actual easier to made good sound and blend when everyone enjoys and respects one another. One interesting fact about this concert is that some of the works on the program were selected via Music League, which with is essentially an online game that you can play with friends. The group was given a prompt to pick one piece that they’d like to perform with Vox Olympia on a future concert, and then the group voted on their favorites without knowing who submitted which piece. The top vote-getter was Song for Athene, now featured on this concert.”
Benton: What are some other things coming up in Vox's future?
Guarente: We have just booked a performance at Panorama Auditorium in late August, and we are in talks with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra to possibly do some kind of holiday concert in late 2026.