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

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín

Thomas Sheets | History, Innovation, Performance, Profile, Repertoire, Singing

Performances of Verdi's Requiem by Jewish prisoners at the Terezín concentration camp inspire a present-day concert drama that explores the profround relationship between music and its performers. Read more

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Final Thoughts Before A Concert

Final Thoughts Before A Concert

An Interview with Craig Jessop

Chorus America Staff | Conducting, Rehearsal, Technique/Tool

Do you ever wonder what choral conductors think about after the last orchestra rehearsal before the big performance? Chorus America contributor Kelsey Menehan sat down with Craig Jessop at the Berkshire Choral Festival to find out. Read more

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Why People Who Hate Choral Music Love Carmina Burana

Why People Who Hate Choral Music Love Carmina Burana

Conductor Tom Hall on Why Its So Exciting

Chorus America Staff | Innovation, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

Since its premiere in 1937, Carl Orff's bawdy rollick through the fields and swamps of Love, Lust, and Booze has commanded the kind of following that rock bands dream of. Among the zipped up, stiffly starched giants of the choral repertoire, Carmina Burana is the bad girl who can't seem to keep her blouse buttoned. Read more

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Women in Choral Conducting: A Level Playing Field?

Women in Choral Conducting: A Level Playing Field?

Vivien Schweitzer | Careers, Children/Youth, Diversity, Governance

Men vastly outnumber women in orchestral conducting, but choruses tell a different story. What issues do women choral conductors face today? Read more

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When To Speak About Your Performance

When To Speak About Your Performance

Eric Booth | Audiences, Conducting, Performance

The goal of a concert is not to perform great music well, but to co-create personally relevant experiences together inside the music. Read more

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Marilyn Horne's Second Act

Marilyn Horne's Second Act

Kelsey Menehan | Community Outreach, Education, Profile

Marilyn Horne, one of America's most celebrated opera stars, decided to shine the spotlight on the next generation. Read more

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Choral Masterworks: Is Any One Version "The Best"?

Choral Masterworks: Is Any One Version "The Best"?

Chorus America Staff | Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

Choral conductor Tom Hall pulls back the veil on several well-loved choral works in this interview. Read more

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Singing with an Aging Voice

Singing with an Aging Voice

How Choristers and Choruses Can Address the Challenges Together

Kelsey Menehan | Adults/Seniors, Evaluation, Singing, Technique/Tool

As singers age, what used to be easy becomes harder—sustaining the high notes, singing through a phrase on one breath, doing a smooth crescendo and decrescendo. Here's a look at several strategies for overcoming the challenges of an aging voice. Read more

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Richard Westenburg: An Appreciation

Richard Westenburg: An Appreciation

Tom Hall | Conducting, Profile

Richard Westenburg, the founder of New York's famed chorus and orchestra, Musica Sacra, died of colon cancer on February 20, 2008. Westenburg had been an important fixture on the New York scene for more than 40 years. Read more

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David Lang on Hearing Music with Fresh Ears

David Lang on Hearing Music with Fresh Ears

David Lang | Audiences, Composing/Commissioning, Innovation, Performance, Profile

Composer David Lang tells about the creative vision of Bang on a Can: Take concerts apart and put them back together again so that music can be heard with fresh ears. Read more

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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

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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

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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

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Events

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Community Show Choir "Hitmakers" Performance, June 15

Community Show Choir "Hitmakers" Performance, June 15

2707 Buffalo Speedway, Houston, TX 77098

Houston Choral ... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Civic Engagement, General, Participation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Venue, Volunteer

  The Houston Choral Showcase "Hitmakers" Spring Show will be June 15, featuring choral arrangements of hits from the 1950s to the present day and including some hot-off-the-press 2013 Oscar winners. Read more

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An American Tapestry

An American Tapestry

400 Squaw Creek Rd., Olympic Valley, 96146

Truckee Tahoe C... | Performance

The Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus is celebrating the rich history music plays in the fabric of America with their spring concert series titled “An American Tapestry.”  The concert will feature folk, dance, music theatre, and spiritual music depicting the diversity of music in American culture, both past and present.  www.singttcc.org Read more

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An American Tapestry

An American Tapestry

400 Squaw Creek Rd., Olympic Valley, 96146

Truckee Tahoe C... | Performance

The Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus is celebrating the rich history music plays in the fabric of America with their spring concert series titled “An American Tapestry.”  The concert will feature folk, dance, music theatre, and spiritual music depicting the diversity of music in American culture, both past and present.  www.singttcc.org   Read more

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New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Red Bank

New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Red Bank

Red Bank, NJ

New Jersey Cham... | Performance

Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem stands among the most respected masterworks in the canon of choral repertoire.  Drawing inspiration from Gregorian chant, this requiem evokes a profound depth of human emotion that is timeless yet still speaks to the modern soul.  We invite you to surrender all that is out-of-reach and immerse yourself within the lush harmonic colors and generous textures of French romanticism.  Join us on this musical quest for healing as we explore both our human frailty and our spiritual immortality. 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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