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The mission of VoxAmaDeus is to bring to life through performance and education the music of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods.
ANNOUNCEMENTS

Important Rehearsal date change!

Mozart Requiem rehearsal originally scheduled for Saturday, Oct 1, 2011 has been CANCELLED.



Dear friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the news that our dear friend, Lewis DuPont Smith, passed away on Friday August 12, 2011. Lewis succumbed to septic shock from an infection while waging a courageous battle with stage-four pancreatic cancer, diagnosed less than three short months ago.
Lewis was an amazing human being, a true gentleman and a scholar, an old-fashioned Renaissance man, a deep and spiritual thinker, a passionate man with a profound appreciation of classical musical, literature, art, history and politics. Lewis served on our Board of Directors for many years, always with a spirited presence, and showed an unwavering support and commitment to Vox Ama Deus, and me as Maestro. His glowing public and private praises were heart-felt, genuine and always beautifully crafted. They challenged, uplifted and humbled me.
Lewis was a devoted and dearly beloved husband to his wife Andrea, who, like Lewis, has served on our Board of Directors for many years, and who, in addition to that, has contributed her time, talent, enthusiasm and friendship as a soprano singer in both the Ama Deus Ensemble and Vox Renaissance Consort. Lewis was a dedicated and beloved father, who encouraged his daughters? love of music, bringing them as the youngest audience members present to many Vox concerts. Our hearts go out to Andrea, and their daughters, Martha, Claire, and Sarah.
Lewis consistently pushed us all to hold to the highest ideals and to seek the sublime, especially through music. His "larger-than-life" presence and influence will be greatly missed.
Quoting Ron Petrou (Lewis and my dear friend):

As many of you know Lewis passed away in the early hours this morning, August 12, 2011. At the center of his existence was his wife, Andrea; his children, Martha, Claire, and Sarah; his whole family; his friends; and his home, which he and Andrea transformed into a salon, where all the classical graces mingled with the guests: music, poetry, conversation, hospitality, good cheer, humor, and courtesy. ... He nourished his ever expanding mind and soul by his love of classical music and the intimate relation he had with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven etc., through his dedication to Vox Ama Deus, and his deep friendship with Valentin Radu, the director and conductor of this orchestra and chorus. I remember looking at Lewis? noble head in a few rows in front of mine at the Pearlman Theater in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia while Valentin conducted music by Mozart. Lewis? gaze and total attention was directed toward the orchestra and the music. He entered wholly into the music which fed and nourished his evolving spirit. Lewis has now died to this world but he is born again into the realm of the spirit. He is now with the angels and the spiritual beings who will receive him lovingly, just as we, filled with tears at the thought of him, feel his beautiful presence (for he was one of the beautiful souls he spoke so movingly about in his February 12th talk on Schiller: the Poet of Freedom.) For those of us lucky enough to know him, we, through him, have had moments where we in our souls touched the sublime.
- Ron Petrou [CaringBridge, Journal entry, August 12, 2011]

Andrea has graciously requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Vox Ama Deus in memory of Lewis.
Valentin Radu


2011-2012 REHEARSAL SCHEDULES
Vox Renaissance Consort (pdf)
Ama Deus Ensemble Chorus (pdf - legal size paper)
Ama Deus Ensemble Chorus (pdf - letter size paper - smaller print)
Ama Deus Ensemble Orchestra (pdf)
Camerata Ama Deus (pdf)
Ama Deus Ensemble Chorus - Conflict Sheet (pdf)