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

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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Vance George: My Life in Choral Music So Far

Vance George: My Life in Choral Music So Far

Vance George | Conducting, Impact/Value, Profile, Repertoire

Vance George, former director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, reflects on a lifetime of musicmaking. Read more

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Resources

The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part II

The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part II

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

Research Memorandum Series No. 188 Read more

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The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part I

The Choral Music of Healey Willan: Part I

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

Research Memorandum Series No. 187 Read more

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The Choral Music of R. Murray Schafer

The Choral Music of R. Murray Schafer

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

Research Memorandum Series No. 184 Read more

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Events

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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New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Manasquan

New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Manasquan

Manasquan, NJ

New Jersey Cham... | Performance, Repertoire

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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New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Neptune

New Jersey Chamber Singers performs the Duruflé Requiem in Neptune

Neptune, NJ

New Jersey Cham... | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Diversity, Families, General, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Venue

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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The Washington Chorus Presents "Comin' Up Shoutin'"

The Washington Chorus Presents "Comin' Up Shoutin'"

Washington, DC

The Washington ... | Performance, Singing

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Masterworks at San Roque - Mozart and Beethoven

Masterworks at San Roque - Mozart and Beethoven

3200 Calle Cedro, Santa Barbara, CA

John A. Lynn | Audiences

  ·         JoAnne Wasserman, Conductor ·         Alexander Wasserman, Guest Artist, Piano ·         Mozart: Grand Mass in C Minor ·         Beethoven: Choral Fantasy Read more

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Time Zones ~~ Bach and Chaplin Merge!

Time Zones ~~ Bach and Chaplin Merge!

Pittsburgh, PA

BriGuySinger | Adults/Seniors, Audiences, Children/Youth, Conducting, Diversity, Families, History, Impact/Value, Innovation, Performance, Repertoire, Singing, Symphonic

The season of examining time and travel finishes with a juxtaposition of two distinct Time Zones, the first being that of our forebear and namesake, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the second being that of a writer, star and legend of the silent screen, Charlie Chaplin. In combining the musical genius of Bach with the brilliant silent narratives of Chaplin’s films, the Bach Choir bridges these two bountiful eras, creating a thought-provoking connection between artistic genres. 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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