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 (1,233)
  • 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 (1,835)
  • 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 (1,174)
  • 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 (1,856)
  • 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 (1,353)
  • 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 (1,546)
  • 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 (1,933)
  • 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 (1,093)
  • 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 (1,242)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (2)

Resources

The Choral Arrangements of Gene Glickman: Part II

The Choral Arrangements of Gene Glickman: Part II

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Repertoire, Research/Data

Research Memorandum Series No. 191 Read more

  • Views (428)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
The Choral Arrangements of Gene Glickman: Part I

The Choral Arrangements of Gene Glickman: Part I

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Repertoire, Research/Data

Research Memorandum Series No. 190 Read more

  • Views (370)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part III

The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part III

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Repertoire, Research/Data

Research Memorandum Series No. 189 Read more

  • Views (345)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)

Events

Amens and Alleluias

Amens and Alleluias

367 State Road 344, Edgewood, New Mexico 87015

PatriciaAFairchild | Performance

Soli Musica presents "Amens and Alleluias" Read more

  • Views (103)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Pacific Boychoir March Open Rehearsal

Pacific Boychoir March Open Rehearsal

Oakland, CA

Pacific Boychoi... | Children/Youth

Observing a choir at work can be very illuminating. PBA offers YOU the chance to attend an open rehearsal for FREE each month throughout the year in their theatre. This March, see Pacific Boychoir prepare for their upcoming performances of Bach's Magnificat and Rachmaninoff's Vespers. This is a PBA Open Rehearsal, and the pieces rehearsed are at the Artisitic Director's discretion. Please RSVP through Eventbrite at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5594429088 Read more

  • Views (105)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Pacific Boychoir Performs Rachmaninoff’s Vespers at Grace Cathedral

Pacific Boychoir Performs Rachmaninoff’s Vespers at Grace Cathedral

San Francisco, CA

Pacific Boychoi... | Children/Youth

Every three years, the Grammy-winning Pacific Boychoir presents Rachmaninoff's epic All-Night Vigil, or "Vespers". First premiered by a boys choir in Moscow in 1915, the Pacific Boychoir became the first choir to reproduce the original performing forces in 2007, when the San Francisco Classical Voice said “The sheer sonic experience was chilling.” Along with Wesley Rogers as tenor soloist, the Bay Area’s finest choral tenors and basses augment the choir, which will number 90+ male voices to present Rachmaninoff ’s masterpiece. Also on the program is Arvo Pärt's The Beatitudes, with guest organists Ben Bachmann (May 24), and Rudy de Vos (May 25). Read more

  • Views (120)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Pacific Boychoir Performs Rachmaninoff’s Vespers at Cathedral of Christ the Light

Pacific Boychoir Performs Rachmaninoff’s Vespers at Cathedral of Christ the Light

Oakland, CA

Pacific Boychoi... | Children/Youth

Every three years, the Grammy-winning Pacific Boychoir presents Rachmaninoff's epic All-Night Vigil, or "Vespers". First premiered by a boys choir in Moscow in 1915, the Pacific Boychoir became the first choir to reproduce the original performing forces in 2007, when the San Francisco Classical Voice said “The sheer sonic experience was chilling.” Along with Wesley Rogers as tenor soloist, the Bay Area’s finest choral tenors and basses augment the choir, which will number 90+ male voices to present Rachmaninoff ’s masterpiece. Also on the program is Arvo Pärt's The Beatitudes, with guest organists Ben Bachmann (May 24), and Rudy de Vos (May 25). Read more

  • Views (110)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: Beethoven; A Sea Symphony: Vaughan Williams

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: Beethoven; A Sea Symphony: Vaughan Williams

57th Street and 7th Avenue

New York Choral... |

Experience the power and majesty of the sea through the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Each turned to a great poet, Goethe and Whitman, respectively, to depict the sea as a symbol of the unity of the world’s peoples and ocean travel as a metaphor for mankind’s journey of self-discovery. Award-winning stage and screen star Kathleen Turner will introduce Ralph Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony. Read more

  • Views (135)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
San Gabriel Valley Choral Company Presents "Mystic Voices"

San Gabriel Valley Choral Company Presents "Mystic Voices"

101 Foothill Blvd., Monrovia, CA 91016

San Gabriel Val... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, CA News, Community Outreach, Conducting, Diversity, General, Performance, Repertoire, Singing

"Our 'Mystic Voices' concert explores themes of mysticism and spirituality in three parts,” said SGVCC’s Artistic Director Zanaida Robles. “Part one serves as an invocation, featuring music of various composers that invite listeners to be still, to be open, and to be transported. Part two features 'Five Mystical Songs' by Ralph Vaughan Williams - the main course in this feast of music and mysticism.  Part three is an affirmation of the spirit in a mix of African American spirituals and gospel music." Read more

  • Views (150)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Feel the Spirit: Spirituals from African-American and other traditions

Feel the Spirit: Spirituals from African-American and other traditions

2121 Harrison St Oakland, CA

Dale Engle | Performance, Singing

Performance of African-American Spirituals has become a cornerstone of PME’s identity. Reflecting the full range of spiritual music, this concert will be full of contemplation, stillness, and shouting for joy! Read more

  • Views (143)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Feel the Spirit: Spirituals from African-American and other traditions

Feel the Spirit: Spirituals from African-American and other traditions

401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA

Dale Engle | Performance, Singing

Performance of African-American Spirituals has become a cornerstone of PME’s identity. Reflecting the full range of spiritual music, this concert will be full of contemplation, stillness, and shouting for joy! Read more

  • Views (110)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
Coro Allegro ... in time of war

Coro Allegro ... in time of war

Cambridge, MA

Coro Allegro |

Coro Allegro, a chorus for members and friends of the LGBT communities, affirms, strengthens, and enriches the lives of its members and the broader community through the presentation of outstanding performances of classical choral music. Read more

  • Views (148)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)
ProMusica Arizona presents "A Night with Stradivarius"

ProMusica Arizona presents "A Night with Stradivarius"

Phoenix, Arizona

yvonne dolby | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Children/Youth, Families, General

ProMusica Arizona Chorale & Orchestra(PMAZ) is partnering with celebrated violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn to present “A Night with Stradivarius.”  The signature artist performs in partnership with one of the world’s most legendary instruments, the Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius of 1720, said to have inspired the Academy Award-winning film “The Red Violin.” The event is a milestone for PMAZ—the group’s first concert in Phoenix’s beautiful and historic Orpheum Theatre, as well as its first collaboration with an artist whose performance credits include the great concert halls of the world. The concert is also the first appearance by the artist in Arizona.            Read more

  • Views (127)
  • 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 (693)
  • Favorites (0)
  • Comments (0)