Conducting & Performing

Chorus America advances the artistry of choruses by providing masterclasses for choral conductors, sessions on repertoire and performance practice, convenings of artistic directors, research on conducting careers and transitions, information on performance trends and innovations, and forums for discussion of artistic issues.

Articles

A Capital Farewell for Norman Scribner

A Capital Farewell for Norman Scribner

Robin L. Perry | Conducting

DC's "dean" of choral conductors steps down and reflects on a career that spanned a half century in the U.S. capital Read more

  • Views (1,225)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
When Only Some Singers Are Paid

When Only Some Singers Are Paid

Don Lee | Management/Leadership, Performance, Professional, Singing, Volunteer

The experience of several professional core choruses demonstrates there are ways to gracefully handle the inherent tension that arises when paid singers are brought on board in a mostly volunteer ensemble. Here are eight tips from managers, conductors, and volunteer singers who have been through this process. Read more

  • Views (1,825)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Transitioning to a Professional Core Chorus

Transitioning to a Professional Core Chorus

Don Lee | Management/Leadership, Performance, Professional, Singing, Volunteer

Adding paid professional singers to a volunteer chorus raises issues of fairness, finances, artistic prowess, and culture. We offer advice for managing the process from those who've been through it. Read more

  • Views (1,164)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (1)
Member Spotlight: KellyAnn Nelson and Christopher Eanes & the Young Professionals Choral Collective, Cincinnati

Member Spotlight: KellyAnn Nelson and Christopher Eanes & the Young Professionals Choral Collective, Cincinnati

Kelsey Menehan | Civic Engagement, Impact/Value, Participation, Performance

Many young professionals lose the choral experience they loved in school. KellyAnn Nelson and Christopher Eanes hit on a surefire draw: Invite 20- and 30-somethings to rehearse and perform in a local bar. Read more

  • Views (1,848)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
How To Maintain the Quality of Your Chorus from Year to Year

How To Maintain the Quality of Your Chorus from Year to Year

Kelsey Menehan | Conducting, Management/Leadership, Performance, Recruitment

Musical excellence attracts and retains excellent singers. If the choir never gets better, the best ones will find someplace else to sing. Here are seven strategies for maintaining and enhancing the quality of your chorus. Read more

  • Views (1,344)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Creating a Conducting Video

Creating a Conducting Video

An Essential Part of a Conductor's Portfolio

David Hayes | Careers, Conducting, Education, Performance, Professional, Technique/Tool, Technology

Videos play a vital role in advancing the careers of conductors today, both as self-evaluation tools and as a way to easily showcase skills to others. We explore two types of conducting videos, the guidelines to create them, and how to use them to enhance your career. Read more

  • Views (1,538)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Choral Music on the Radio

Choral Music on the Radio

A New Blend

Don Lee | Audiences, Impact/Value, Performance, Repertoire, Technology

Today's radio programmers are moving past the bad rap of early research and experimenting with a richer mix of choral and vocal music. Read more

  • Views (1,922)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Chicago a cappella: Leveraging Repertoire To Build a Brand

Chicago a cappella: Leveraging Repertoire To Build a Brand

Matthew Sigman | Community Outreach, Marketing/Public Relations, Repertoire

A journey through the history of Jewish liturgical music alters a chorus’s path to the future. Read more

  • Views (1,089)
  • Favorites (1)
  • Comments (0)
Music To Die For: Why We Love Requiems

Music To Die For: Why We Love Requiems

Kelsey Menehan | Composing/Commissioning, Repertoire

From the sweet lyricism of Fauré to the populism of Brahms to the theatricality of Verdi, requiems remain the favorites of singers, conductors, and audiences alike. We talked with Kathy FitzGibbon, director of choral activities at Lewis and Clark College and head of faculty at the Berkshire Choral Festival, about the enduring appeal of requiems and the modern interpretations they have spawned. Read more

  • Views (1,241)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (2)

Resources

Choral-Orchestral Engagements

Choral-Orchestral Engagements

Survey Results and Best Practices

Chorus America Staff | Community Outreach, Legal/Licensing, Operations, Performance, Research/Data, Sample/Template, Symphonic, Technique/Tool

This 2004 whitepaper provides practical guidance on the unique issues choruses face in working with orchestras for concert engagements. Based on data gathered from Chorus America's symphonic chorus members, it also provides a sample contract and budget to use when negotiating your engagement. Read more

  • Views (684)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Choral Conductors Today: A Study

Choral Conductors Today: A Study

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Management/Leadership, Recruitment, Research/Data

Chorus America interviewed more than 700 conductors about their career paths, levels of education, salary, job satisfaction, and more in 2005. The resulting data provides a profile of the "typical" choral conductor that may be surprising. Read more

  • Views (1,128)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Additional content: Ambassadors of Peace

Additional content: Ambassadors of Peace

Kelsey Menehan | Community Outreach, Impact/Value, Profile, Repertoire, Singing

Examples of concert programming that are designed on themes of peace or reconciliation. Partner piece to "How Choruses Have Become Ambassadors of Peace." Read more

  • Views (702)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
28 American Master Choral Composers

28 American Master Choral Composers

A Repertoire and Recording Listing to Support NEA's American Masterpieces

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Government/Policy, Repertoire

Celebrating America's greatest choral composers, this publication provides repertoire and recording lists for 28 composers from Billings to Whitacre. Read more

  • Views (994)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Commissioning Timeline

Commissioning Timeline

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Operations, Sample/Template

Commissioning a new work? Follow this two-year timeline to help plot out which steps you should take when. This timeline is appropriate for a work that does not involve complicated instrumental requirements or multiple movements. Read more

  • Views (546)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
'Music Director Transition' Tool: Sample Search Timeline

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Sample Search Timeline

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Governance, Operations, Sample/Template, Strategic Planning

A sample timeline to help with music director search planning. Read more

  • Views (569)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
'Music Director Transition' Tool: Readiness Quiz

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Readiness Quiz

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Governance, Operations, Strategic Planning, Technique/Tool

Is your chorus ready for a founder transition? This 9-question quiz will help you determine the answer. Read more

  • Views (538)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)

Events

CPC Sings Lang and Faure

CPC Sings Lang and Faure

Ellicott City, MD

Columbia Pro Cantare | Audiences

Columbia Pro Cantare will perform David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion and the Requiem by Gabriel Faure, Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 3 pm. Read more

  • Views (160)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
KEN DAVIS CHORALE CONCERT

KEN DAVIS CHORALE CONCERT

12521 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX 75244

kdc | Performance

St. Rita Fine Arts is proud to present the Ken Davis Chorale in concert, Saturday, January 19, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. as part of their concert series.  The concert is to feature the Durufle Requiem.  Admission is FREE.  For more information, visit www.kendavischorale.com or call (940) 600-7459. Read more

  • Views (296)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Vivaldi Virtuosi

Vivaldi Virtuosi

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Community Outreach, General, Performance, Repertoire

H&H harpsichordist Ian Watson returns to lead a dynamic program of Vivaldi and other Baroque luminaries. Discover the vituosity of H&H's principal players in a breathtaking chamber music concert of 18th-century music from Italian masters both at home and abroad. Read more

  • Views (192)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Haydn In Paris

Haydn In Paris

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Audiences, Civic Engagement, Performance

Under Harry Christophers’ expert hands, Haydn comes to life in a program that showcases one of his Paris Symphonies, The Bear, a festive and jubilant work commissioned by a Parisian orchestra in the 1780s. H&H’s fiery and expressive Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky returns to the spotlight after the smashing success of her Vivaldi The Four Seasons performances in 2012. Read more

  • Views (153)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Haydn In Paris

Haydn In Paris

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Audiences, Civic Engagement, Performance

Under Harry Christophers’ expert hands, Haydn comes to life in a program that showcases one of his Paris Symphonies, The Bear, a festive and jubilant work commissioned by a Parisian orchestra in the 1780s. H&H’s fiery and expressive Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky returns to the spotlight after the smashing success of her Vivaldi The Four Seasons performances in 2012. Read more

  • Views (167)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Haydn In Paris

Haydn In Paris

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, General, Professional, Repertoire

Under Harry Christophers' expert hands, Haydn comes to life in a program that showcases one of his Paris Symphonies, The Bear, a festive and jubilant work commissioned by a Parisian orchestra in the 1780s. H&H's fiery and expressive Concertmaster, Aisslinn Nosky, returns to the spotlight after the smashing success of her Vivaldi The Four Seasons performances in 2012. Read more

  • Views (153)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Purcell The Indian Queen

Purcell The Indian Queen

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Conducting, General, Performance

H&H presents a program of comedy, romance, intrigue, and beautiful music with this dramatic semi-opera and scenes from other Purcell works. Read more

  • Views (153)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Purcell The Indian Queen

Purcell The Indian Queen

Boston, MA

Handel and Hayd... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Awards, Careers, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Diversity, Education, Families, General, Impact/Value, Performance, Singing, Symphonic, Venue

H&H presents a program of comedy, romance, intrigue, and beautiful music with this dramatic semi-opera and scenes from other Purcell works. Read more

  • Views (299)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Susquehanna Chorale "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi

Susquehanna Chorale "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi

500 Walnut St., Harrisburg, PA

Susquehanna Cho... | Audiences

Hear the drama as the Susquehanna Chorale appears with Stuart Malina and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra to bring this popular Italian opera to life in a passionate concert performance. Read more

  • Views (134)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Susquehanna Chorale "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi

Susquehanna Chorale "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi

500 Walnut St., Harrisburg, PA

Susquehanna Cho... | Audiences

Hear the drama as the Susquehanna Chorale appears with Stuart Malina and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra to bring this popular Italian opera to life in a passionate concert performance. Read more

  • Views (174)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)

Dialogue

Questions During Rehearsal?

Questions During Rehearsal?

Anonymous | Rehearsal, Singing

Conductors, do you let your singers ask questions during rehearsal? What are the pros and cons? Read more

  • Views (690)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)