VOX 3 Collective educates both performers and audiences through varied performances of vocal music. Formed in 2007, the group quickly instituted one of Chicago’s only regular art song recital series. Its members are graduates of some of the country’s finest conservatory programs and have appeared with major opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. Pairing standard and obscure repertoire—whether Renaissance motet, Baroque opera, Romantic lieder or contemporary art song—VOX 3 concerts and recitals feature thoughtful programming and provide intimate interaction between singer, accompanist, and audience. Featured on WLUW radio, WOCH television and recommended by critics and publications throughout Chicago, VOX 3 concerts are entertaining and educational. Beyond musical performance, VOX 3 builds bridges between branches of art, culture and history, with its educational efforts through original essays, lectures and other events. “Spirit Within” shows the intellectual curiosity inherent in all VOX 3 projects. Specifically, this album explores the sacred feminine, finds new ways to set scriptural texts, and reflects on what it means to believe in something beyond oneself. This album features the premiere recording of Frank Ferko's "Merton Songs" (2009), along with new music by several Chicago composers. Randall West and Amos Gillespie present their dramatic depictions of the Apocryphal heroine Judith. Myron Silberstein's darkly despairing "Psalm 13" burns with a radiant intensity. Sarah J. Ritch's "Zen Koans" for tenor, violin, alto flute, and piano alternate between ravishing melody and spare sonorities. Selections from Brian von Rueden's "Nameless" duet cycle portray women of the Old and New Testament. The final two pieces of Seth Boustead's "Songs of Love and Transience" layer longing vocal lines over finely spun piano phrases. Adam Gustafson's brief, charming song cycle on five Rumi texts meditates on the power of nature, music...and wine. The project is bookended by two new choral compositions by James Morehead. Featured performers are vocalists Gretchen Adams, Meghan Guse, Ashlee Hardgrave, Catherine Huggins, Alexia Kruger Rivera, Laura Pinto, Nicholas Pulikowski, Sara Salas, and Brian von Rueden; James Morehead and Myron Silberstein, piano; Thomas Oswald, violin; Scott Metlicka, alto flute; Andrew Elliot, cello.