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

What Every Chorus Should Know About Its Singers

What Every Chorus Should Know About Its Singers

Chorus America Staff | Impact/Value, Management/Leadership, Participation, Singing, Volunteer

What do choral singers wish their chorus managers and music directors knew about them? What would make singers' experience in the chorus more enjoyable, more meaningful, more fun? Read more

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Boys to Men: Singing Through Voice Change

Boys to Men: Singing Through Voice Change

Chloe Veltman | Children/Youth, Education, Health, Participation, Schools, Singing

An influx of new programs are beginning to recognize the value of keeping boys singing—through changing voices and for a lifetime. Read more

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Keeping Singers Well: Exercise and Sleep

Keeping Singers Well: Exercise and Sleep

Matthew Sigman | Health, Singing

When your body is the instrument, it's imperative to keep it in tip-top shape with good exercise habits and the right amount of sleep. Read more

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Keeping Singers Well: Hydration

Keeping Singers Well: Hydration

Matthew Sigman | Health, Singing

While it is ultimately the responsibility of the singer to stay properly hydrated, it's not always so easy. Read more

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Why the Bach Passions Are Problematic

Why the Bach Passions Are Problematic

Tom Hall | History, Performance, Repertoire

What is our responsibility as singers and as choruses when historic choral works are offensive, even hostile, to a whole group of people? Tom Hall, music director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, discusses Bach's St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion. Read more

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Spotlight on Eric Whitacre

Spotlight on Eric Whitacre

Kelsey Menehan | Composing/Commissioning, Innovation, Profile, Repertoire, Singing

We take a look at the man behind the cluster chords: how Eric Whitacre arrived at a life in music, and the ups and downs he's encountered along the way. Read more

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Selecting Music for Diverse Audiences

Selecting Music for Diverse Audiences

An Interview with Julian Wachner

Chorus America Staff | Audiences, Conducting, Innovation, Profile, Repertoire

With so many music directors juggling multiple podiums, choosing repertoire that meets the specific needs of each chorus and the audience in that community takes on special significance. Read more

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The Rise of A Cappella

The Rise of A Cappella

An Interview with CASA Founder and Sing-Off Producer Deke Sharon

Chorus America Staff | Careers, Community Outreach

Choral music—especially a cappella choral music—is more popular than ever it seems. Chorus America sat down with Deke Sharon, founder of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA) and a producer of NBC's The Sing-Off, to get the inside scoop behind the a cappella choral music movement and its current place in pop culture. Read more

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The Art and Science of Good Sound Design

The Art and Science of Good Sound Design

Michael Shaughnessy | Audiences, Performance, Technology

Whether your needs are as simple as amplifying announcements from the podium or as complex as balancing voices with instruments in a large space, paying attention to sound design can make or break your concert. Read more

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5 Tips for Performing Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil

5 Tips for Performing Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil

Alexander Ruggieri | Rehearsal, Repertoire, Singing, Technique/Tool

The All-Night Vigil doesn't last all night anymore, but doing what it takes to perform it well certainly can keep conductors and singers up nights. Here are five tips for conquering this masterpiece: Read more

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Resources

Two Composition Lessons from Handel

Two Composition Lessons from Handel

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

Handel’s practice of borrowing from other composers allows us the opportunity to probe into the great composer’s style and creative thought processes. A number of scholars have shown without question that the majority of Handel’s borrowings transform his source materials into new creations entirely his own. But what does “entirely his own” really mean? Read more

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Choral Music from Jewish Tradition: Bibliography

Choral Music from Jewish Tradition: Bibliography

Joshua Jacobson | Composing/Commissioning, Diversity, Repertoire

A bibliography of important resources from the Jewish choral tradition prepared by Joshua Jacobson. Read more

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Choral Music from Jewish Tradition:  Music You Should Know and How to Perform it Well

Choral Music from Jewish Tradition: Music You Should Know and How to Perform it Well

Joshua Jacobson | Composing/Commissioning, Diversity, Repertoire

A comprehensive repertoire list prepared by Joshua Jacobson. Read more

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Events

Song of Norway

Song of Norway

New York City

emilymt | Performance

96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} The Collegiate Chorale announces Song of Norway by Robert Wright and George Forrest on April 30, 2013 Read more

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Breath of Spring

Breath of Spring

1010 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903

Jackie Foorman | Performance

  Please join Maestro Donald P. Jenkins in his final performance at Shove Chapel, preceding his retirement in 2014.   March 23, 8:00 pm.  Shove Chapel, Colorado College 1010 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs 80903       A seasonal celebration of Wonder, Love, Joy, and Hope -Handel, Mozart, J.S. Bach, Ives, and Vaughan Williams -The Colorado Springs Chorale with the Springs Camerata Read more

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SA Choral Society presents POPS - On the Red Carpet: Hollywood Movie Classics

SA Choral Society presents POPS - On the Red Carpet: Hollywood Movie Classics

6070 Babcock, San Antonio, TX 78240

Gustavo Rios Jr | Adults/Seniors, Children/Youth, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Conducting, Diversity, Education, Families, Fundraising, Participation, Performance, Singing

Season Pops Concert featuring “On the Red Carpet: Hollywood Movie Classics”. Come join us for an entertaining afternoon!  Read more

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Divine Light

Divine Light

Staten Island, NY

Richmond Choral... | General

On Saturday, May 18 at 8 p.m. the Richmond Choral Society will present their spring concert entitled Divine Light at St. Clare’s RC Church in the Great Kills section of Staten Island, under the leadership of Marina Alexander, Music Director. Read more

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The Children's March

The Children's March

1904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA

Lauren Anderson | Performance

With Singing City and The SC Children's Choir Charlotte Blake Alston, narrator Read more

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Amens and Alleluias

Amens and Alleluias

367 State Road 344, Edgewood, New Mexico 87015

PatriciaAFairchild | Performance

Soli Musica presents "Amens and Alleluias" Read more

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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