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

Masterclass in Motion: The Making of a Choral-Orchestral Conductor

Masterclass in Motion: The Making of a Choral-Orchestral Conductor

Matthew Sigman | Conducting, Education

Early- and mid-career learning for choral conductors is hard to find and requires a public process that demands courage and stamina. Read more

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Member Spotlight: Anne Sears and Westminster Choir College

Member Spotlight: Anne Sears and Westminster Choir College

Chorus America Staff | Audiences, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach

Anne Sears, director of external affairs at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, tells Chorus America's president & CEO Ann Meier Baker about a special audience participation project during this year’s choir tour. Read more

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What Happens After the Premiere?

What Happens After the Premiere?

Don Lee | Composing/Commissioning, Performance, Repertoire

To commission and premiere a new piece of music can garner a chorus and a composer media attention, industry recognition, and a concert hall full of audience members. We explore the strategies that choruses have employed to keep their programming fresh and their commissioned works evergreen. Read more

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The Rewards of Adventurous Programming

The Rewards of Adventurous Programming

Don Lee | Composing/Commissioning, Conducting, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire

Chorus America/ASCAP Award winners describe their commitment to new music and share strategies for building programs, cultivating audiences, collaborating with composers, and bringing new music to life. Read more

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The Power of "With"

The Power of "With"

Ann Meier Baker | Civic Engagement, Diversity, Performance, Singing

Choruses bring diverse people together to make beautiful music and offer us a much-needed antidote to the "i" epidemic. Read more

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Singing in Tune

Singing in Tune

Chloe Veltman | Audiences, Health, Performance, Rehearsal, Science, Singing

The anatomy of choral intonation and techniques for improving it. Read more

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From Score to Seat

From Score to Seat

A Composer and Her Audience

Gabriela Lena Frank | Audiences, Composing/Commissioning, Diversity, Families, Innovation, Profile

Composer Gabriela Lena Frank explores the evolving relationship with her audience, beginning with her doting parents. Read more

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The Rise of the Professional Chorus

The Rise of the Professional Chorus

Matthew Sigman | Careers, History, Innovation, Management/Leadership, Professional

We look back on the emergence of professional choruses in North America and the role of professional singers in bringing them public acclaim. Read more

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Rach On! Performing Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil

Rach On! Performing Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil

Grant Gershon | Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Technique/Tool

An a cappella masterpiece of staggering beauty and power, Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil (or Vespers) presents many challenges for the choral singer. Grant Gershon, music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, chose the piece to open his 10th Anniversary season with LAMC. We talked with him about the work and how he prepared his singers to perform it. Read more

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Verdi's Requiem: Under the Influence

Verdi's Requiem: Under the Influence

Jeffrey Baxter | Composing/Commissioning, History, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

Composers don't exist in a vacuum; they are continually influenced by their predecessors and peers, their culture and society. Here, we look at some of the influences (and influencers) reflected in Verdi's Requiem. Read more

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Resources

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Orientation Materials Checklist

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Orientation Materials Checklist

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

A checklist of documents and organizational background to prepare for the incoming music director. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: Developing a Communications Plan

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Developing a Communications Plan

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Governance, Marketing/Public Relations, Sample/Template, Strategic Planning, Technique/Tool

A worksheet to help choruses communicate to all constituents in the event of an artistic founder transition. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: Determining Your Organizational Direction

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Determining Your Organizational Direction

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

Thirteen questions to help determine the future of the chorus when an artistic founder transition is imminent. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: Building Your Search Budget

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Building Your Search Budget

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

Searching for new artistic leadership requires its own budget. This list of income and expense considerations will help. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: Annual Employee Performance Evaluation Guidelines

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Annual Employee Performance Evaluation Guidelines

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

Ten helpful guidelines to help establish a healthy annual performance review process for the music director of your chorus. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: Action Plan Matrix

'Music Director Transition' Tool: Action Plan Matrix

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

A worksheet to help choruses plan for founding artistic leadership transitions. Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: 4 Tips for Building Your Board

'Music Director Transition' Tool: 4 Tips for Building Your Board

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Conducting, Governance, Recruitment, Strategic Planning

A founder transition requires strong leadership from the board. Is your board ready? Read more

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'Music Director Transition' Tool: 3 Key Transition Questions

'Music Director Transition' Tool: 3 Key Transition Questions

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

Questions to answer as you begin a founding music director transition. Read more

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The Choral Music of Ruth Watson Henderson

The Choral Music of Ruth Watson Henderson

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

Research Memorandum Series No. 198 Read more

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Events

Sound Imaginarium

Sound Imaginarium

1717 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004

Master Chorus E... | Audiences

  An imaginarium is a place devoted to stimulating and cultivating the imagination.  Master Chorus Eastside explores the amazing and creative sound worlds of other cultures, other eras, and our own innovative age with Sound Imaginarium, a concert devoted to inspiring the imagination through the choral art.  Come enjoy a Mongolian rendering of their love affair with horses, the otherworldly sound of aboriginal overtone singing, the kaleidoscopic intricacies of a Bach fugue, and an exploration of the mind of Leonardo da Vinci as he dreams of a flying machine, and more, accompanied by the mighty organ at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue.  You’ll have to hear it to believe it!   Read more

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Essence of Joy Alumni Singers Concert

Essence of Joy Alumni Singers Concert

22nd and Spruce St.

bluelyric7 | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Community Outreach

For one night only, we've got a choir of over 70 singers who are traveling in from all over the country, some straight from Broadway, Off-Broadway and National Tours for a special evening celebrating inspiring choral works and gospel music!  Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased here: http://eojas.eventbrite.com/ or at the door.For more information about our mission, visit eojas.org Read more

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Festival Chorale Oregon Presents Two Magnificats

Festival Chorale Oregon Presents Two Magnificats

Salem, Oregon

diltis | Performance

In the second of three concerts following its 2012-2013 theme, "Ancient Texts, Contemporary Voices," Festival Chorale Oregon will present two contrasting settings of the traditional Magnificat text, both by living composers, on Saturday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Salem’s First Presbyterian Church. Read more

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Handel's Messiah

Handel's Messiah

Williamsville, NY

HGrant | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, General, Performance, Singing, Symphonic

 The Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus (BPC) is known for its annual December presentations of Handel's Messiah. This year, the BPC is extending the telling of this magnificent story by performing the rarely heard Easter movements from Messiah.           Read more

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“Music of the Three B’s”

“Music of the Three B’s”

Ingomar United Methodist Church, 1501 W Ingomar Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237

PCCsing | Audiences, Community Outreach, Conducting, Performance

Tickets: Adults- $20 advance, $22 at the door; students-$8; children (under 12)-$0   Description: In addition to Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, the concert will include Bach’s classic Cantata No. 4, Christ lag in Todesbanden, and Brahms’ stunning Schicksalslied.  Further details, including ticket ordering, can be found at www.PCCsing.org Read more

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HICKORY CHORAL SOCIETY 35TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION CONCERT

HICKORY CHORAL SOCIETY 35TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION CONCERT

HICKORY, NORTH CAROLINA

HICKORY CHORAL ... | Performance

HICKORY CHORAL SOCIETY WILL BE CELEBRATING 35 WONDERFUL YEARS OF BRINGING FINE CHORAL MUSIC TO OUR COMMUNITY.  THEY WILL BE PREMIERING A COMMISSIONED WORK "REQUIEM FOR THE LIVING" BY COMPOSER, DAN FORREST.  THE SECOND HALF OF THE PROGRAM WILL FEATURE SEVERAL SELECTIONS WHERE THE CHORUS WILL BE JOINED BY FORMER SINGERS TO CELEBRATE THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY. www.hickorychoralsociety.org     Read more

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The Heirs of Tantalus

The Heirs of Tantalus

41 Broad Street, NYC, NY 10004

salonsanctuary | Performance

The Heirs of Tantalus From the House of Atreus to the Palace of Nero Read more

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A CENTURY OF NEW YORK PSALMS

A CENTURY OF NEW YORK PSALMS

316 East 88th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues New York City, 10128

Manhattan Chora... | Composing/Commissioning, Conducting

Three new works commissioned by the Manhattan Choral Ensemble from James Bassi, Christian Carey and Martha Sullivan will be premiered alongside illustrations by New York artist Brett Helquist (best known for the children's books Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events), bringing to life these ancient poems in one of New York’s most beautiful churches. Following music by John Corigliano, Virgil Thomson, Bobby McFerrin and Nico Muhly, the program will conclude with Leonard Bernstein’s luminous Chichester Psalms. Read more

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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

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