Twenty years of singing together.
Kinnara started in a church in New Jersey, with singers who showed up because they loved the music. Since then we've moved to Atlanta, changed how we're organized, made it through a pandemic, and more than once asked ourselves whether we should keep going.
Every time, we've decided to keep going. We think being willing to ask that question is part of why we're still here.
We sing music from every era, and not all of it is familiar or easy. What we're after is what can happen when a group of excellent singers and an audience that's ready to listen end up in the same room. It doesn't happen as often as it should, and we'd like to help it happen more.
Atlanta's motto is Resurgens, "rising again." It fits where Kinnara is right now, so we've borrowed it for this chapter.
About Kinnara
-
Grounded in the belief that communal singing is inherently connective for singers and listeners, Kinnara crafts exemplary musical experiences that speak to the modern soul and creates space for professional ensemble work in America.
-
We believe live choral singing gives people something a recording can't. It's voices in a room, together, and each performance happens only once. We think everyone should get to experience that, and we want to make it easier to find.
-
Generosity. Our singers are professionals who could be singing anywhere. They choose to sing with us and give it everything, and we work hard to be worth that choice.
Honesty. In the music we choose, the commitments we make, and how we talk about ourselves.
Excellence. For us it's the starting point, not the goal. Singers, conductor, and audience all hold each other to it.
Stewardship. We take care of the money people give us, the music we're trusted to perform, and the time our audiences spend with us.
Love. For each other, for the music, and for the people who come to hear it. It's why we do this.
-
Praised as "luxurious, lush, and verdant" (New York Classical Review) and "breathtakingly beautiful" (ArtsATL), Kinnara is one of America's premier professional chamber choirs. Led by J.D. Burnett, the ensemble sings repertoire from every era, and audiences know it for thoughtful programming and singing that connects. Kinnara's debut album, Provenance (2017), is distributed internationally by Naxos Records. Choral Journal called it "a jewel that combines appealing, varied programming with sterling musical qualities and direct, memorable artistic communication." Kinnara is based in Atlanta, GA.
-
When you give to Kinnara, you help bring professional singers and a live audience together for music that stays with people long after the concert ends. We can't do it without you, and we're grateful you're here.
-
"CONSISTENTLY TOP NOTCH"
— ArtsATL"KINNARA REVELS UNABASHEDLY IN LUXURIOUS SOUND...LUSH AND VERDANT."
— New York Classical Review“...YOU'D BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND A CHOIR THAT CREATES A LOVELIER SOUND.”
— American Record Guide"EXACTING STANDARDS AND DEEP-FELT MUSICALITY, WHERE EVERY PHRASE, EVERY BLOCK OF SOUND, WAS BALANCED AND PERFECTLY POLISHED."
— ArtsATL"PROVENANCE (2017) IS A JEWEL THAT COMBINES APPEALING, VARIED PROGRAMMING WITH STERLING MUSICAL QUALITIES AND DIRECT, MEMORABLE ARTISTIC COMMUNICATION."
— Choral Journal"A PERFORMANCE THAT SOUNDED LIKE ABSOLUTE PERFECTION."
— Jon Sobel, blogcritics.org“BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL.”
— ArtsATL"YOUTHFUL ENERGY AND FRESH PERSPECTIVE…A SENSE OF EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT AND SHARED MUSICAL IDEALS…EFFORTLESS SINGING, LYRICAL IMPULSE, AND THOUGHTFUL INTERPRETATION."
— Choral Journal