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

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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Your Desert Island Discs

Your Desert Island Discs

Chorus America Staff | Impact/Value, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

If you were stranded on a desert island, what choral music recording would you take with you? When we asked this of some 600 choral singers, many of them thought the question was—how to put this delicately?—ill-advised. Read more

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Alice Parker: Finding the Music in the Text

Alice Parker: Finding the Music in the Text

Alice Parker | Composing/Commissioning, Profile

Which comes first—the melody or the lyrics? Composer Alice Parker explains her creative process. Read more

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Singing Seniors

Singing Seniors

Good for the Body, Good for the Soul

Kelsey Menehan | Adults/Seniors, Community Outreach, Health, Impact/Value, Participation, Singing

Senior choruses are springing up all over, and singers are reaping the benefits of meaningful community involvement, increased social interaction, and better health. Read more

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Brazeal Dennard Celebrates 60 Years

Brazeal Dennard Celebrates 60 Years

Chorus America Staff | Conducting, Diversity, Profile

Sixty years ago Brazeal Dennard stood up before the Angelic Choir of the Peoples Baptist Church in Detroit for the first time as its conductor. We profile the life and career of this champion for African-American music and composers. [Editor's note: Brazeal Dennard sadly passed away in July 2010.] Read more

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New Voices on Composing and Commissioning

New Voices on Composing and Commissioning

Chorus America Staff | Composing/Commissioning, Technique/Tool

Are more composers increasingly looking to the choral genre as a means for expression? We explore the issue in this roundtable discussion featuring Heather Hitchens of Meet The Composer, John Nuechterlein of the American Composers Forum, and Joanne Hubbard Cossa of the American Music Center. Read more

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Working with the Music Director

Working with the Music Director

Chorus America Staff | Conducting, Governance, Management/Leadership

Artistic leadership of a chorus is both an individual balancing act and a highly collaborative endeavor. Read more

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Choral Music: Worth Listening To

Choral Music: Worth Listening To

Tom Hall | Audiences, Impact/Value, Marketing/Public Relations, Performance

When choruses take the time to really sing the text—be it biblical or poetic, somber or silly—we demonstrate the moral consequence of lives that are animated by beauty, passion, and love. Read more

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How to Choose Chorus Apparel

How to Choose Chorus Apparel

Lawana Holland | Marketing/Public Relations, Operations, Performance

Finding the right look for your chorus is no easy undertaking. Here's a look at the questions you should consider before making a decision on what your chorus should wear on stage. Read more

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Learning for Life: A Conducting Masterclass

Learning for Life: A Conducting Masterclass

Karen Deans | Careers, Conducting, Education

Cellists hang out with the other cellists, singers hang out with other singers, but conductors—who do they hang out with? Stephen Czarkowski and 31 other conductors hung out together for four days in May 2006 to share with each other, explore some of the great works in the choral-orchestral repertoire, and learn from some of the nation's finest choral conductors. 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

An All-American Independence Celebration

An All-American Independence Celebration

Issaquah, WA 98027

Master Chorus E... | Families

www.masterchoruseastside.org Read more

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Spring Choral Concert in Santa Barbara

Spring Choral Concert in Santa Barbara

1535 Santa Barbara St. (in the Sanctuary)

MediaPro | Children/Youth

The SantaBarbara Children's Chorus will present their Spring Repertoire featuring songs about the study of the Emancipation Proclamation. Read more

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Great River Chorale (St. Cloud, MN) Announces Auditions for the 2013-2014 Concert Season

Great River Chorale (St. Cloud, MN) Announces Auditions for the 2013-2014 Concert Season

St. Cloud, Minnesota

Great River Chorale | Adults/Seniors, Community Outreach, Education, General, Networking, Participation, Performance, Professional, Rehearsal, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic, Volunteer

Great River Chorale is a select, auditioned 45-voice choral ensemble based in St. Cloud. The chorale rehearses Sunday nights and holds extra rehearsals prior to concerts. Members (ages 18 and up) are skilled professional and avocational musicians and choral enthusiasts who desire to sing high quality repertoire at the highest level of excellence. Read more

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Conductor Judith Clurman conducts a reading of  Rappaccini’s Daughter:  A Music Theater Piece

Conductor Judith Clurman conducts a reading of Rappaccini’s Daughter: A Music Theater Piece

New York, NY

amandascoleman |

  Judith Clurman conducts a reading of Rappaccini’s Daughter: A Music Theater Piece by Michael Cohen (music) & Linsey Abrams (book & lyrics), based on a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, at the Pearl Studios , 519 8th Avenue (Studio C-12th floor), NYC, in New York City  on Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at 7:00 PM. Seating is limited. Read more

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Conductor Judith Clurman    conducts a reading of  Rappaccini’s Daughter:  A Music Theater Piece  As part of The Composer Speaks Series

Conductor Judith Clurman conducts a reading of Rappaccini’s Daughter: A Music Theater Piece As part of The Composer Speaks Series

New York, NY

amandascoleman |

  Judith Clurman conducts a reading of Rappaccini’s Daughter: A Music Theater Piece by Michael Cohen (music) & Linsey Abrams (book & lyrics), based on a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, at the Pearl Studios at 519 Eighth Avenue, Studio C, 12th Floor in New York City  on Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at 7:00 PM. Seating is limited.   This event is being performed under the auspices of The Composer Speaks series, which is sponsored by Clurman’s Essential Voices USA. At each Composer Speaks event, choral and vocal musical selections are presented, followed by a discussion with each composer/librettist about musical choices and compositional techniques with conductor Judith Clurman. Audience members are encouraged to be a part of the conversation and ask questions.  EVUSA has presented workshops with numerous composers, including Larry Hochman, Bruce Ruben, Joshua Schmidt, Shulamit Ran, and Paul Schoenfield. EVUSA will present Composer Speaks events during the 2013–2014 concert season. Read more

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¡Figaro! (90210), In Concert

¡Figaro! (90210), In Concert

151 Bank Street, New York, NY

GBFpress | Performance

Figaro! (90210) showcases Mozart’s celebrated music from The Marriage of Figaro note-for-note with a new English libretto by Vid Guerrerio.  Read more

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Figaro! (90210), In Concert

Figaro! (90210), In Concert

151 Bank Street, New York, NY

GBFpress | Performance

Figaro! (90210) showcases Mozart’s celebrated music from The Marriage of Figaro note-for-note with a new English libretto by Vid Guerrerio.  Read more

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Pacific Chorale presents "The Moon, the Sea and the Stars"

Pacific Chorale presents "The Moon, the Sea and the Stars"

Costa Mesa, CA

Ryan McSweeney | Performance

Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony perform music invoking rivers, seas, and starry nights, featuring the world premiere of Frank Ticheli's first choral-orchestral work, "The Shore," on text by poet David St. John. Read more

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A Tribute to William Appling: The Celebration Continues!

A Tribute to William Appling: The Celebration Continues!

296 Ninth Ave (at West 28th St), New York, NY 10001

21C Media Group |

      A Tribute to William Appling: The Celebration Continues! (A program of music & readings) Date & time:  Saturday, June 29, 2013, 1:30pm Venue:Church of the Holy Apostles, 296 Ninth Ave (at West 28th St) Artists:  William Appling Singers & Orchestra; Jim Hall, guitar; Ian Frazier, writer; Matthew Oltman, conductor; a choir of Appling’s students, colleagues & friends Program: Includes “Have Ye Not Known?” and “Ye Shall Have A Song” from Randall Thompson’s The Peaceable Kingdom Tickets:$25 general admission; available at http://www.muzen.com/waso.html  or by calling 201-854-7483 A reception with food and beverages immediately follows the program in the church Read more

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Figaro! (90210)

Figaro! (90210)

151 Bank St, New York, NY 10014

GBFpress | Performance

The debate over immigration reform takes center stage in this multi-cultural adaptation of Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro” set in present-day Los Angeles. Figaro! (90210) also makes the opera more accessible to contemporary audiences by distilling the action of the show to two and a half hours, including a fifteen minute intermission.   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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Please visit the 2013 Conference Website for information.
King FM Choral Music Channel

Enjoy Seattle’s First Online Choral Music Channel

In celebration of Chorus America’s Annual Conference coming to the Pacific Northwest, Classical KING FM has launched Seattle’s first all-choral music channel online at www.king.org. Listen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for music from top choral groups, including winners of Chorus America’s Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence.

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