The Vocal Arts Ensemble's choice of Plum Street Temple to end its season Saturday seemed ideal, as the program featured several works by Jewish composers.

        The ensemble performed with the Percussion Group Cincinnati, an acclaimed group with residency at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. Earl Rivers, music director for the Vocal Arts Ensemble, told the audience that CCM is one — if not the only — music college to have percussion ensemble in residency.

        Mr. Rivers' remark that the Vocal Arts Ensemble singers perform “at the highest standards of artistry” certainly rang true on this night. From the first work, Steve Barnett's Three Songs from Hebrew Poetry, which was performed with clarity, precision, and a little humor to the passionate execution Leonard Bernstein's textural “Sanctus” from Mass - the Vocal Arts Ensemble proved they are one of the best ensembles in the city.

        Although most of the pieces performed were by composers of the same religion, the works themselves were diverse, and the ensemble showed this beautifully.

        Prayer Before Sleep, from Sid Robinovitch's Talmud Suite, opened with only men's voices, singing a simple, delicate melody. Female voices subtly joined in, and the effect was uplifting.

        Not the same for Three Madrigals of Six Parts by Thomas Weelkes. The edgy work, faster in tempo, may have seemed more contemporary than Mr. Robinovitch's, but it was composed in 1600. In “Thule, the Period of Cosmography,” the vocalists roared and whispered, as unpredictable as the elements and love — the work's subjects.

        Percussion Group Cincinnati joined the vocalists for I Hate I Love — A Cycle for Mixed Chorus and Percussion by Dominick Argento.

        The percussionists introduced the audience to various pitch and non-pitch percussion instruments — like woodblocks from a Buddhist temple and a Chinese tam-tam — used throughout the composition to mirror the emotions of the work. In “I Hate, I Love,” wood chimes coveyed tenderness and an airy illusiveness, similar to the lyric, about the changing nature of relationships.

        The Percussion Group Cincinnati returned after intermission to play Mbira Music, Book One, by former Cincinnatian, now Atlanta-based composer Alonzo Alexander.

        Also called “thumb pianos,” the mbira is a small, African instrument often played on laps during evening storytelling sessions in Africa.

        Mr. Alexander's piece weaves simple rhythmic patterns together into a melody as soothing and relaxing as listening to rain. The effect of the piece — its placing in the program between intense vocal works — was profound.

        The Vocal Arts Ensemble sounded like a bunch of frogs — seriously — in Norman Dinerstein's Frogs. The former CCM dean and composer's work was inspired by haikus about, well, frogs. “Hop out of my way” ended with a chorus of “ribbits.”

        The concert ended with Mr. Bernstein's “Sanctus” from Missa Brevis and his “Sanctus” from Mass.

        Rejoined for these pieces by Percussion Group Cincinnati, the ensemble performed the finale with precise phrasing and a powerful dynamic range.

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