There is much more to the Utah Baroque Ensemble than Baroque music, and the 35-voice choir will travel to England this summer to help teach the art of singing. The ensemble will perform its tour repertoire Saturday in Salt Lake's Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The ensemble grew out of another choir 18 years ago. The Utah County-based ensemble includes something from the Baroque period (1600-1750) on every concert.

"We also do a lot of contemporary music," director Martha Sargent said. "It fits better with the sound we cultivate -- a straight, clear sound -- than Classical or Romantic works. They generally call for a bigger choir than we are or want to be." Because most of the works the choir performs have organ accompaniment, most performances are in LDS meeting houses, which in turn leads the group to specialize in sacred music.

"This season we have a little more variety," Sargent said. For example, there are folk hymns, because the International Kodaly Symposium at which the choir will perform focuses on folk music. There also are settings of Shakespeare texts, because the choir will sing in the church where he is buried. The choir also will premiere "Praise Ye Him," a new setting of verses from Psalm 148. It was written for the ensemble by David Sargent -- a professor of composition and music theory at Brigham Young University and Martha Sargent's husband. The Baroque element is the Bach motet "Lobet den Herrn (Praise Ye the Lord)," with longtime accompanist Jerri Bearce at the organ.

Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) was a Hungarian composer, educator and ethnomusicologist. Like his friend and colleague Bela Bartok, "he was concerned that the Hungarian people were losing their cultural heritage, that folk songs were not being passed down," Sargent said. "He felt strongly that every person should have the opportunity to become musically literate."

The Kodaly movement is similar to the Carl Orff approach, and the two often are paired in teaching children music. But the Orff method emphasizes instruments, while Kodaly is singing-based.

Kodaly instruction is "very, very carefully sequenced," said Sargent, who started learning and teaching it 11 years ago. "They learn to sing in tune and use their voices correctly; the purpose is not so much to perform as to develop musicianship."

During the symposium, members of the Utah ensemble will help teach other teachers about singing.

The Utah Baroque Ensemble joins two choirs from Hungary and two from the United Kingdom at the August symposium in Leicester, England. The choir built an 11-day trip to England and Wales around the symposium and has planned seven performances, including a recital in the Bath Abbey, a performance in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, a concert in St. Paul's Cathedral in London and an Evensong service in London's Westminster Abbey.

"It's turned into a very exciting combination of opportunities," Sargent said.

Tour repertoire

The Utah Baroque Ensemble will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 331 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Suggested donation is $10; $5 for students and seniors. Proceeds will help defray travel costs of the upcoming tour.