EDMONTON - The position of artistic director at Pro Coro Canada was finally announced Friday night, and the winner is: Michael Zaugg.

The sixth person to hold the job since the choir was founded in 1980, the Montreal-based Zaugg beat out some fairly stiff competition in San Francisco’s Magen Solomon and Yale Russian Chorus conductor Mark Bailey to replace Richard Sparks, who left last year for a position at the University of North Texas.

• Reasonably intuitive to use: click on a name, then click where you want it to go (can't drag). Entering the names in the first place is kind of a pain, but that's true for any system. Fast.
• Flexible section names (in case you have baritenors or other "transsectionals")
• Switch two singers' seats easily (something hard to do in Word)
• Move groups of singers at once (for example to add a singer in the middle)
• Browser-based; print directly from browser (a mixed blessing)
• Did I mention it's free?

• Can't save to file; you have to do a complicated workaround to save charts from one session to the next
• Row width is limited to 15 seats (really?)
• Name length limited to 10 characters
• Fixed cell width (although you can change it manually)
• Can't edit singer or section names within cell; have to create a new cell and discard the old one if you change somebody's section designation

"Let All the World in Every Corner Sing!"

February 10, 2012
7:30 pm
Anderson Chapel
Free admission

The School of Music presents a celebration of world Christianity through hymns performed by multiple North Park musicians. Selections will also be complemented by guest speakers Tony Zamble, Maria Vastis, Dean Terry Lindsay, Rajkumar Boaz Johnson, and Terrance Smith.

Musicians

• University Choir, directed by Julia Davids
• Chamber Singers, directed by Julia Davids
• Women's Chorale, directed by Tom Tropp
• Brass Ensemble, directed by Joseph Lill
• Leslie Michele Moore
• Margaret Wilson, piano accompanist
• Michael C. Gagne, organist

Selection Highlights

• Nigra Sum - Pablo Casals
• The Lord's Prayer - Maurice Durufle and David Fanshawe
• Salmo 150 - Ernani Aguiar
• Hold On - Jester Hairston
• And many other congregational hymns from various cultures

• 1-2 public performances of all program participants with a pianist
• 1 individual voice lesson per week
• 2-3 coaching sessions per week with a professional opera coach/pianist in interpretation, diction and style
• participation in 1-2 vocal Master Classes
• 2 language classes per week

Opera Chorus Program: 

• Rehearsal – 1st Sunday of each month at 9:45 a.m. (unless otherwise specified)

• Performance – 1st Sunday of each month 11:00 a.m. and High Holy Days

• Salary – $100.00 (Rehearsal and Performance)

• 3 confidential letters of recommendation directly from the referee
• 3 additional names of references with phone numbers and e-mail addresses
• A DVD recording of the candidate’s performance work and/or a sample of published scholarly work.

(Ref. LSW14/33/0112)

The Department of Music is the oldest institution of its kind in South Africa and proud of its tradition of more than a hundred years of service to music education, music performance, creative work and research. Today this tradition is continued in a dynamic and innovative way, to the extent that currently the Department is recognised as a leading institution in the promotion of art music in the inclusive sense of the word. 

Duties: Teaching and training in Choral Conducting at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels • supervising postgraduate students • full responsibility for the Department’s programme in Choral Conducting • functioning as conductor and artistic director of the departmental academic choir, Schola Cantorum • working closely with the lecturer in Orchestral Conducting • contributing positively towards the aims of Department at all levels. 

Requirements: , Master’s degree in Music or equivalent • a proven record as successful choral conductor at an advanced level. 

Recommendations: Doctorate in Music • Ability to teach Music Education subjects • the ability and positive attitude to function with ease in a multilingual environment • an established profile as a university lecturer. 

Commencement of duties: 1 July 2012 or as soon as possible thereafter 

Closing date: 29 February 2012 

Enquiries regarding this post: Prof. Winfried Lüdemann on 021 808 2336 or wl@sun.ac.za 

Enquiries regarding remuneration and benefits: Human Resources Client Services Centre on 021 808 2753 

Please note that the actual interviews will be preceded by a public presentation on your professional expertise of approximately 20 minutes as well as by a public choir rehearsal of approximately 60 minutes. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The University will consider all applications in terms of its Employment Equity Plan, which acknowledges the need to diversify the demographic composition of the staff corps, especially with regard to the appointment of suitable candidates from the designated groups. 

The University reserves the right not to make an appointment. 

Your application, comprising a comprehensive curriculum vitae (including the names and contact details of at least two referees), must reach the University before or on the closing date of the advertised post. 

Apply online at http://www.sun.ac.za/vacancies 

It is important that applicants request their referees to forward confidential reports by the closing date to vacanciesHUMAN@sun.ac.za 

Candidates may be subjected to appropriate psychometric testing and other selection instruments. 

Written by Military Wives composer Paul Mealor, the choral work De Profundis includes a low E, which lies more than two octaves below middle C.

It is six semitones below the lowest note found in a mainstream choral work - a B flat in Rachmaninov's Vespers.

The search for the bass voice will take place via trade magazines and online.

"My setting of De Profundis calls for a rich and powerful voice; a voice that can not only touch the heart with its sincerity and truth, but also make every fabric of the human body resonate as it plunges into the very lowest parts of the vocal spectrum," said Mealor.

(Ed. note: the current Guiness World's Record for lowest note is F#, a whole step above this target, sung in 2011 by US gospel quartet singer Roger Menees)

Forty-five members of Indianapolis Children's Choir will sing the national anthem along with recording artist Kelly Clarkson at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday, the local not-for-profit announced Thursday.

The choir members will be conducted by ICC founder Henry Leck and Assistant Artistic Director Joshua Pedde.

“Grant has become a critical member of our artistic team, and I am delighted that he has agreed to take on additional leadership responsibilities in the coming seasons,” said Mr. Domingo. “He is a beloved colleague and a superb conductor, with memorable performances at LA Opera and other major U.S. opera companies.”

The ladies of the choir celebrated the society’s 175th anniversary last season by investing in new two piece blue outfits which they wear at concerts.

But what to do with the old dresses that are still in good shape since they are only worn when the Choral appears on stage.

The answer was to see if another country which has a reputation for its singing could make use of them. And yes, please, two groups in Africa said they could.

Now the dresses and some spare fabric are going to projects in Malawi and Uganda. One has a community choir and the other a tailoring school.

Goodwill and thought for others clearly travel well too.

Artistic Director Wanted for The Charlotte Chorale. Concert season is from Oct. to April with Monday night rehearsals, 3 major concerts, 3 church concerts and 3 workshops. Responsibilities include directing rehearsals/performances, auditioning/selecting member, conducting workshops, attending board and committee meetings, serving as liaison with school & community. Send resume to The Charlotte Chorale: PO box 494451; Port Charlotte, FL 33949 or thecharlottechorale@yahoo.com.

The American Choral Directors Association is pleased to announce that Mary Hopper has been elected the national President-Elect Designate.  Mary will have a wide range of responsibilities along the presidential track and will assume the Presidency of the Association in July, 2015.

“It is an honor to be asked to serve ACDA in this way, and to have a part in continuing the tremendous work of our Association on behalf of the choral art,” said Mary.

Dr. Mary Hopper is professor of Choral Music and Conducting at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Wheaton, Illinois).  She has served as the President of the ACDA Central Division and her choirs have appeared on divisional and National ACDA Conferences.

CAMDEN, NJ -- A high school choir from Camden is rehearsing for a European competition.  Although they'll sing a selection in Latin, language is hardly the biggest barrier for 25 students from Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy who want to attend the Young Prague festival.

"We have to raise $45,000, and we're not halfway there yet," says Suzzette Ortiz, conductor of the concert choir. The school's gospel choir and string section will compete as well.

Gospel choir director Benita Farmer, like Ortiz an accomplished musician and teacher, passes out the sheet music for "Sapientia IV."  It's part of a sacred song cycle written in Latin by Czech composer Jiri Teml. The strong, young voices seem at home in the language, just as the string quartet under the direction of Patricio Acevedo seems comfortable with its classical repertoire.

When My Pop Choir started up in Oakville last fall it drew about 60 people, a turnout that prompted owners to add six new locations: two in Mississauga, one in Burlington and three in Toronto, all of which opened this week. Like Choir! there is no audition and no musical training needed. All that’s required is a love of singing. Even the tone-deaf are welcome.

These ensembles — unlike church choirs that sing sacred songs and performance choirs that require auditions — are part of a growing cultural phenomenon attracting downtown hipsters and retired suburbanites. But why the surge in popularity?

• accompanying rehearsals on Tuesday evenings from 7:00-10:00 in Matawan, NJ
• leading sectional rehearsals
• playing for coachings with with soloists, and for dress rehearsals
• accompanying for performances as repertory requires

My piece Waiting..., a roughly 24-minute work for chorus, string quartet and piano, based on wonderful poetry by Alameda writer Elisabeth Eliassen, will be premiered this Saturday in San Francisco by the Sanford Dole Ensemble.  The concert also includes local premieres of works by David Conte and Peter Scott Lewis, as well as a world premiere of a piece by Sanford Dole.

"All New - All Local"

Saturday, February 4, 2012
8:00pm
San Francisco Conservatory Recital Hall
50 Oak St., San Francisco

Featuring four new works by Bay Area composers receiving their local premieres:

David Conte: The Nine Muses with text by John Sterling Walker
Peter Scott Lewis: The Changing Light sets three poems about the light in California by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Michael Kaulkin: Waiting... sets various poetry by Elisabeth Eliassen
Sanford Dole: Gertrude and Alice songs from a work in progress about the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas with text by Brad Erickson

Tickets are $30 at the door or via PayPal at www.sde.org.

1. Assures an effective fund development program; helps the Board of Directors design, implement and monitor a viable fundraising plan, policies and procedures.
2. Assures all legal and regulatory documents are filed in a timely manner and monitors compliance with relevant laws and regulations pertaining to non-profit organizations.
3. Works with the Board to monitor and evaluate RMAA’s relevancy to the community, its effectiveness and its results.
4. Maintains a work environment that recruits, retains and supports quality staff and volunteers.
5. Facilitates the integration of RMAA into the fabric of the community by using effective marketing and communication activities.
6. Serves as chief spokesperson for RMAA; assures proper representation of RMAA to the community.

1. Bachelor’s degree in business management or related field required. Master’s degree in business management (MBA) or certification as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) preferred.
2. Five years in an Executive Director or senior management position required. Non-profit experience, especially in the performing arts arena, strongly preferred.
3. Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Therees Hibbard, the director of the Chamber Singers, began her schooling in Virginia and then earned another degree in Colorado, followed by a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal music education and choral conducting in Oregon.

Hibbard then moved to London for 12 years, where she was a choral conductor, singing tutor and senior lecturer at a series of colleges and universities, including the London College of Music.

"London is a wonderful place for the performing arts," Hibbard said.

The 17-movement work for chorus and orchestra features texts by some of the most famous advocates of peace and compassion in the 20th century, including Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and Anne Frank, the 15-year-old who died while incarcerated by the Nazis in the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.

Passages from the Bible and the Qur’an also feature in the piece, together with new texts by Terry Waite, who was held captive by the Islamic Jihad Organization in the Lebanon for 1,763 days (four years 
of which were spent in solitary confinement) before his release in November, 1991.

In Elliot Eisner’s book The Arts and the Creation of Mind (2002, Yale University Press), Eisner states, “The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.” In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows, Eisner outlines Ten Lessons the arts Teach:

• The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.

• The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.

• The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.

• The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.

• The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.

• The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.

• The arts teach students to think through and within a material.

• All art forms employ some means through which images become real.

• The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.

• The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.

• The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) gives reprint permission for the above 10 lessons, with proper acknowledgment.

Michael Gossen has been named the new director for the Ankeny Community Chorus. Gossen replaces Steve Carstenson, who had directed the Ankeny Community Chorus since its inception in June of 2001. Carstenson recently accepted a position as worship minister at Grinnell Christian Church in Grinnell, making it impossible for him to continue with the chorus, according to a press release.

Gossen served as guest director for various performances in 2011, including the annual holiday concert in November and performances at Catholic Charities’ No Room at the Inn and the Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas luncheon in December. In addition to serving as director of the Ankeny Community Chorus, Gossen is the secondary-level Bible instructor for Des Moines Christian School. Besides extensive study in music education, Gossen’s background includes six years as secondary vocal music instructor for Des Moines Christian School, where he led choral groups in many superior ratings at festivals and competitions.

Karen Grylls ONZM, Artistic Director of Choir Aotearoa New Zealand, has been selected as a 2011 NZ-UK Link Foundation Discretionary Award winner.

She is Associate Professor of Music at Auckland University and one of New Zealand's most experienced and distinguished choral educators.

She is heading for England next month to study current best practice in UK choral education, helped financially by the NZ-UK Link Foundation.

She is going to explore the choral education programmes of Ex Cathedra in Birmingham and other institutions involved in the training of singers, particularly at the start of their careers. Karen Grylls explained "As we aspire to create a professional profile for Voices NZ Chamber Choir, it is very clear that choral education will play a large part.

By Helson Hernandez

HAVANA -- Mailan Avila is the director of the “Solfa” children’s choir of the Schola Cantorum Coralina. As she commented, “This year we’re again on a CD that has been nominated for a Latin Granmy. The album is “Reir y Cantar,” together with the legendary songstress Omara Portuondo.”

HT: Have you always been linked to the choral movement?

Mailan Avila: As a child I was a founder of the “National Choir of Pioneers of Cuba,” and later when I was in my mid-level music studies I sang in the women’s choir of Professor Maria Felicia Perez. Also, along with other professors, I founded the Cantoria Escenica of the “Grand Theater of Havana.”

But when his cue from the conductor arrives, in the form of a graceful and rhythmic finger-point, the few words Walker does speak march out in a low, deep bass that resonates through the chairs, the music stands and the rib cages of those around him.

Smith, 14, a freshman at Concord High School, is a member of The Choral Academy, a group of young singers who have found joy in singing choral music. That art is sometimes lost in schools, and now, with the increase of contemporary praise bands, in churches.

Associated Press:

Organizers of the Palestinian version of “American Idol” said Thursday the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers have banned residents from participating in the popular reality show.

 

The organizers said Hamas told them the program is “indecent,” in what appears to be a new attempt by the fundamentalist militant Muslim group to crack down on behavior it sees as contrary to its conservative interpretation of Islam.

Hamas permits male barbershop style singing groups that do not use musical instruments and sing of the glory of Islam and to fighting Israel. Young, prepubescent girls also perform in their own singing groups, but teenage girls and women are never seen singing in public. Many devout Muslims believe singing by women is provocative.

At Boydbrain Music, we are introducing the powerful new SATB Anthem and Modern Hymn,  called  "A Prayer for the Saints" !  

This incredible message has been brilliantly arranged for your choir.  You'll love the recurring motif in the piano accompaniment and marvel at the smooth harmonic transition in the second modulation.  Even more importantly, the lyric content is a profound prayer, expressing the heart cry of every Christian. The melody is beautiful and singable, making this modern hymn very appropriate for congregational worship.  As a result, "A Prayer for the Saints"  is currently available in two formats on our Boydbrain Music website:

**  The powerful SATB Anthem PDF is available for $15.00, with permission to make an unlimited number of copies (for your choir and accompanists only).

**  A Worship Pak for  "A Prayer for the Saints"  is available for $10.00.  It includes a lead sheet for rhythm section, a reproducible hymn sheet (bulletin or hymnal size), and a Vocal/Piano score.

Subtitled  "Your Saving Grace,"  "A Prayer for the Saints"  is in the current repertoire of  The Sons of Jubal, a large mens' choral group sponsored by the Georgia Baptist Convention and consisting primarily of Ministers of Music and Worship (and others who faithfully participate in local church worship ministry) from all over the state of Georgia.  The Sons of Jubal Director, Dr. Jon K. Duncan, chose  "A Prayer for the Saints"  as the theme for the group's annual Rehearsal & Renewal Retreat in early January, 2012.  The men in this amazing choral group will be sharing this anthem in monthly concerts throughout the year, and the piece will be included in the concert repertoire for a trip to Korea (not South!) in a April.  The Sons of Jubal have been invited as a featured group at a large choral festival.  Prayers for this endeavor are greatly appreciated! 

Ministers of Music and Worship from all over the state of Georgia, who have heard  "A Prayer for the Saints"  as a result of their involvement in The Sons of Jubal, have ordered this powerful prayer anthem for their choirs.  At our home church, it was first introduced as a vocal solo.   Our wonderful Adult Choir has also sung the SATB anthem version of   "A Prayer for the Saints,"  and our congregation has shared in this message as a worship hymn.  In the local church environment, many of our members have commented on the lyrics of this Kingdom message.  Our prayer is that this piece could have an impact all over the world, expressing the deepest longings of God's people everywhere.

Your Choir could begin learning  "A Prayer for the Saints"  at your next rehearsal.  Or, if you do not have a choral group at your church, you can introduce this modern prayer hymn as a vocal solo and then use it for congregational worship.  Our Worship Pak contains everything that you will need. 

To listen to the computer demo and view the music for  "A Prayer for the Saints", go to our Boydbrain Music website.  Click demo link, minimize media player, and then click "view anthem" link for best results.  You'll find  "A Prayer for the Saints"  on our Home Page, as a featured anthem, and on our "Adult Choir"  music page.  Here's the link to the website:  http://www.boydbrainmusic.com

COMING SOON:  The TTBB arrangement, as sung by The Sons of Jubal, will be added to our website.  A full orchestration is also in the works!

The Midwest Motet Society,

The Chamber Choir for Chicago’s Southland

Announces

Auditions for their Spring 2012 concert cycle

Beginning February 1, 2012 and continuing through March 13, 2012.

All voice parts are welcome and encouraged to audition, however we need altos and low basses.

Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings in Flossmoor and begin March 13.

“From Venice to Vienna: Music from the Salon”

Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 4:00 pm

at Trinity Lutheran Church

2901 Western Avenue,

Park Forest, Illinois

Repertoire to be sung includes:

Italian Madrigals by O. Vecchi, C. Gesualdo, G. Gastoldi and Orlando di Lasso and German Partsongs by F.J. Haydn, F. Mendelssohn, J. Brahms and F. Schubert

The Midwest Motet Society
P.O. Box 706
Flossmoor, IL 60422
(708) 206-0380
marie@midwestmotet.org
midwestmotet.org
Marie Grass Amenta, Founder and Music Director

Quotes from Current Midwest Motet Society Members

"Marie Amenta has a rich knowledge of the composers who truly love the choral instrument.  She programs gems of pieces that are as fun to sing as they are to listen to."-- Ruth Hansen, MMS Mezzo-Soprano

“Rep is key. Many groups repeat much of the repertoire from year to year, but I look forward to each MMS season and being presented with new music to challenge and thrill me.”-- Kari Coventry Smith, MMS Soprano

"I haven't sung music at this level, with this attention to detail and professionalism, since college. Everyone on the South Side, and beyond, should get out and hear it, because it's an incredible treat when it's performed at this level, and it simply isn't done very often at all these days." --Russell Hansen, MMS Baritone

For the 2012 David L. Strickler Series concert, Albion College will host S.O.U.L. (Singers of United Lands) – a touring group of four professional singers from four different continents. The concert is in Goodrich Chapel on Sunday, February 12 at 4:00 PM. Albion College’s own choirs will be joining S.O.U.L. for some pieces. S.O.U.L.’s mission is developing international and cultural relationships through vocal music from around the world. S.O.U.L. provides workshop, presentations, performances, and lessons for audiences of all ages during a 6-month tour throughout the USA and Canada.  The singers focus on international vocal music, world history, and linguistics from their four native countries.  The 2012 S.O.U.L. Team is:

Paola Granado- Bolivia
Virgil Sequeira- India
Engelhardt Unaeb- Namibia
Zuzanna Rybińska- Poland

 Admission to the performance is free, and the concert is open to the public. For more information about music department events, email music@albion.edu or call (517)-629-0481. More details about S.O.U.L. are available at www.singersofunitedlands.org.

The David Willcocks Oral History collection includes several interviews with Willcocks, as well as those with family and colleagues such as vocalist Dame Janet Baker, conductors Neville Marriner and Simon Carrington, and composer John Rutter.

A very modest Shirley was overwhelmed to discover that she was to receive an Order of Australia medal, but it was not something that she let go to her head.

Shirley is receiving her award for her service to music through Yeppoon Choral Society, a community organisation she has been involved in since 1964.

As I mentioned the other day

• Shrock listed many composers I had never heard of.  That shouldn't be too surprising of course, but I was.  I don't normally catalog my ignorance for others to see, but I bolded the composers that I hadn't heard of and kept a record of them.
• If Dr. Shrock listed "favorites" of the composer at the end of the description, I counted the number of entries.  According to the number of entries, the top four composers of the Renaissance are Orlando di Lasso (68 entries), Palestrina (39 entries), William Byrd (34 entries), and Josquin Desprez (32 entries).
• Rounding out the Top Ten are:  Victoria (27), Guerro (27), Tomkins (25), Weelkes (24), Tye (22), and Gesualdo (21).

• cover letter summarizing qualifications and stating teaching and concert programming philosophies,
• curriculum vitae indicating all areas of expertise and teaching competencies,
• undergraduate and graduate transcripts,
• three letters of recommendation, and
• a video (DVD or web-link) with 1) a rehearsal recorded facing the conductor from within or behind the ensemble, and 2) a live unedited performance which may be recorded from the audience. 

For full audition and program details and registration see the pages at

• http://oregonbachfestival.com/sfyca
• Send email to Elin England
• Or call (800) 457-1486

Normally announcements aren't meant to be replied to, but if you need to contact the author, click on the icon next to the author's name above.

Director of Music Ministry

Are you passionate about ministry through music?  Are you excited about co-creating quality worship, multi-generational community, and meaningful outreach?  Are you eager to be a part of a creative team?  If so, consider joining us at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, New Hampshire, as our Director of Music Ministry, and help us tap the power of music to fulfill the mission and vision of our church.

The music ministry we imagine will take time to develop and will continue to evolve.  For a job description that reflects our current vision please refer to www.concorduu.org/jobs.

Qualifications: A degree in choral conducting or comparable experience, competence in one or more instruments and voice, and training and experience sufficient to carry out the duties listed in the job description.  Experience with Unitarian Universalist music is a plus.

Start Date:  August 1, 2012 Time Requirements: 20 hours per week (on average)

Salary: $25,000 per year.

If you are interested in this position please submit your resume, three references with contact numbers, a letter sharing what attracts you to this position, and examples you may have of your work to:

Rev. Michael Leuchtenberger

274 Pleasant St, Concord, NH 03301

michael@concorduu.org

603-410-4830

For preferred consideration apply by:  February 20, 2012

Please don't hesitate to contact Rev. Leuchtenberger with any questions.

With next month’s production of “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” a number of production roles have been filled by former students, working to share their experiences with this year’s class.

“It’s a pretty cool thing that, from the technical side, these guys have learned and decided to make that their vocations, but they all started in our productions,” said Eric Kauffman, UAHS vocal music director. “When they were students here they all did dual duty. If they weren’t in a scene, they were doing something backstage, or in here on weekends working to get the musicals ready.”

" . . the Framers embedded within the country's constitution a clause stipulating that Congress provide for copyrights and patents -- which is to say, that they endorsed the notion of intellectual property. But here is the kicker. They did so for only a limited term. Their purpose was to encourage innovation, to reward inventors and authors, and ease their inventions and writings into the public domain with reasonable alacrity -- so that they could be of benefit to all.

 

The aim of the entertainment industry is to maximize profits, and they have pushed again and again for the extension of copyright. That they have succeeded time and again in the last few decades is a sign of their power. But the truth is that, in repeatedly extending copyright, Congress is denying to the rest of us what is rightly ours: works that, until recently, would have found their way into the public domain." 

But after finding out it came from a 12-year-old boy who died tragically in a bike accident, Paul Silcox has dedicated a piece of music to the family of the young donor who saved his life.

1. The competition is open to California residents who have reached their 18th birthday but have not yet reached their 25th birthday by the submission deadline of April 9, 2012. 
2. Submissions must be an original work for accompanied or unaccompanied chorus (not necessarily treble), must have been composed within the last three years, and the length of the work should be somewhere between three and five minutes.
3. All submissions must be anonymous. The composer’s name must not appear on the score. Please remove all names and identifying marks.
4. Judges for the competition will be Libby Larsen, composer; Cristian Grases, advising composer; Charles Bruffy, conductor of the Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Chorale, and advisor to WomenSing; and Martín Benvenuto, artistic director for WomenSing. The decisions of the judges are final, and the two winners will be notified by May 25, 2012. WomenSing reserves the right not to award a prize.

Robin Mark and Chris Tomlin are just two examples of Christian composers and music styles, among many others, included in our contemporary worship service.  We have a team of eighteen musicians and singers with varied skill levels and united hearts in the ministry of worship.

We are looking for a flexible, creative keyboardist to accompany the praise team at the Sunday, 9:00 a.m., family-attended worship service.  The new musician will be a person with a desire to be part of a team serving to lead the congregation in experiencing God through dynamic, inspiring worship.

Ridley Park Presbyterian Church (USA), growing yearly in membership, is guided by tradition and focused on the future-“reformed and always reforming”  Check out our website at rppcusa.org.

Commitment and salary:  Rehearsal time is currently Saturday morning with a one hour 8:00 a.m. warm-up before service.  Compensation based on education, experience and abilities. 

Please send resume to the Personnel Committee in care of our church secretary at rpps@rcn.com.  Ridley Park Presbyterian Church is an equal opportunity employer.

We have confidence that God will lead the right person to our church.  Is it you?

Large Choir - Mixt voices

Chamber choir - Mixt vocal ensemble composed of 16 to 24 voices (By Audition).

Vocal Technique - Vocal technique workshop for all participants.

Ear Training

Choir conducting - (open to all)

Final Concert
Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 4 P.M.
Françoys-Bernier Concert Hall

• Free access to all the Academy classes and activities for the entire session
• Free access to the Festival International du Domaine Forget that take place during the session.*

  *Restrictions may apply to certain concerts.

Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Jude Navari, presents, “The River Has Many Voices: Voci’s 20th Anniversary Retrospective,” featuring contemporary musical gems from Voci's 　20-year repertoire, many written especially for Voci, plus the world premiere of a new choral song cycle by Voci Conductor Navari. 　Also featuring works by Callaway, Clark, Frank,　Knell,　Larsen, Meckler, and Paulus.　

WHEN and WHERE:

Saturday, March 24, 8 PM

Lake Merritt United Methodist Church

1330 Lakeshore Ave.

Oakland, CA 94606

Buy tickets for this concert: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/223545

Sunday, March 25, 4 pm

All Souls Episcopal Parish

2220 Cedar St.

Berkeley, CA 94709

Buy tickets for this concert: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/223551

TICKETS:

$25 General

$22 advance; $20 for Groups of 8 or more

FREE for Children under 12

Available at the door or online at www.vocisings.com

Information: (510) 531-8714

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The 2011-2012 season marks Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble’s 20th Anniversary. Founded in 1991, Voci is recognized as one of the finest choral groups in the Bay Area. Led by artistic director Jude Navari, who is active throughout the Bay Area as a conductor and composer, the Ensemble has been described as having a particularly lush and ethereal quality. Voci champions music by women and for women and commissions new works by contemporary composers, especially from the San Francisco Bay Area. The group’s size of 24 voices conveys a poignant intimacy and allows for a deep, personal connection among chorus members and between chorus and audience. Voci’s commitment to musical excellence, unique mastery of style and technique, and adventurous and innovative programming have earned high praise from critics and choral musicians alike. The singers are women of all ages and walks of life who share a passionate love of music, fierce dedication to the ensemble, and deep commitment to the community.

In 2011-12 Voci is celebrating its 20th Anniversary with a series of intimate concerts, and gala performances in March 2012, featuring favorite contemporary works from its 20 year history, as well as a stunning new vocal song cycle by Conductor Jude Navari. Navari’s new work, “Siddhartha Fragments,” evocatively weaves together passages about the river from Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha. 　Navari set these passages as a birthday gift to Voci for its twentieth anniversary concert.　

Voci’s Twentieth Anniversary season will culminate in performances at the prestigious International Tapestry Festival in Vancouver, BC in May 2012. Voci is one of three women’s choruses in North America selected to perform at the festival, hosted by the renowned Elektra Women’s Chorus.

This is Jude Navari's twelth year as Artistic Director of Voci. He has prepared choruses and conducted performances for Berkeley Opera, arranged folk music and coached rehearsals for Westwind International Folk Ensemble's chorus Westwind Voices, conducted premieres of new works by UC Berkeley graduate student composers for the Berkeley New Music Project, and served as Artistic Director of the Sacramento Men’s Chorus. In August 2001, Jude prepared the vocal ensemble for the West Coast Premiere of Philip Glass’s The Photographer at the Cabrillo Music Festival. Currently, Jude serves as Professor of Music and Director of Vocal Ensembles at Skyline College in San Bruno. Jude Navari received his Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also studied conducting with Marika Kuzma and Jung Ho Pak.

Assistant Conductor Edna Huelsenbeck is the founder and former director of the Pacific Women’s Chorus in San Diego, and Concentus Women’s Chorus in Rochester, NY. She previously served as Interim Director for the University Section Club Chorus at U.C. Berkeley and the Interim Assistant Director of the San Diego Master Chorale. She received her Master of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied conducting with Morris Beachy and Craig Hella Johnson.

Accompanist Sharon Lee Kim actively performs as accompanist, collaborative pianist, vocal coach, music director, and piano instructor. She has worked throughout the nation, especially in the New England area, with various colleges, companies, and organizations including the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Children's Chorus, MassTheatrica, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, New England Conservatory, Wellesley College, and Boston College. Ms. Lee holds a Bachelor's degree in music from UC Berkeley.　 She furthered her studies with Irma Vallecillo, Kayo Iwama, and John Greer at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she received her Master's degree and Graduate Diploma in Collaborative Piano.

Choral music had over the years helped to engender good moral values, social cohesion and preserve the cultural norms and identity of the people.

Mr Ekow Sampson, Ashanti Regional Manager of the GTA, indicated that as part of the collaboration, the two institutions would organise series of programmes including competitions, music fairs and documentaries to whip-up the enthusiasm of choral music among people.

He was addressing the closing ceremony of the maiden Regional Choral Choir Competition at the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi on Monday.

It is nothing short of spectacular: 400 student singers, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a trio of esteemed vocalists, three world premieres, newly commissioned projections, and Carl Orff's seminal Carmina Burana—all in one concert.

The scope of The Carmina Burana Choral Project is equally ambitious: to nurture and showcase exemplary musicianship, elevating student performance to a professional level and creating transformational experiences for all involved.

Conductor David Robertson, who leads the culminating event on February 5, recently discussed the breadth of this project and its lasting impact.

What is it like to prepare young performers for a project like this?

Music is transformative, and part of what makes it transformative for younger performers is the sense that they like to participate in every aspect of music. They bring a burning, enthusiastic desire. Whenever you’re preparing for a project with young performers, the main thing you need to concentrate on is giving them enough time to absorb new ideas, process them, and then make them their own. And that’s the tremendous thing for me, to see this happen and to see all of these things come together in a performance that is both spellbinding and white-hot exciting.

• Dynamic 1300 member congregation with a staff of 17 people
• Offers 3 diverse worship styles
• Minimum degree requirement: Bachelor of Fine Arts
• Minimum of 4 years experience directing music ministry
• Benefits available

• A concert with pop singer Natalie Merchant and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra
• A concert of The Brahms Requiem with members of the American Symphony Orchestra and Bard Conservatory Orchestra and singers from the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program (music director: Dawn Upshaw)
• Fully-staged operas (i.e., Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges) featuring singers from the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program and premieres of works by new composers

Cheryl Walter, who worked for 19 years as director of choirs and music department chairwoman at the high school, said she was at a meeting of the alumni board of Carlow College in fall 1998, when she was told Christmas stockings were needed for children living at Hearth Transitional Housing for Women in Pittsburgh.

That first year, in 1998, Norwin chorus and choir students collected money during caroling to benefit the children at Hearth -- and made stockings for them. When Mrs. Walter called to see when they should bring the stockings, a woman at the shelter was upset that a group expected to perform for the children's Christmas party had canceled.

Mrs. Walter came to the rescue by bringing Norwin's show choir to sing. Ever since, the Norwin High School choruses have put on a Christmas party and sung for children at the shelter.

When Mrs. Walter retired in June, she realized she could no longer run the charity from the high school. But with the help of new Norwin choral director Bridget Faulk, the program has continued.

• Direct the 30-member Chancel Choir for our 10 am Sunday worship service
• Coordinate with and support the volunteer leaders of the Youth Praise Band, Bell Choir, and Children's Choir
• Work with the Pastor, Ministry Staff, and volunteers to plan creative worship experiences for the weekly services, holiday events and special occassions

• Ability to lead and engage our congregation in joyful music and worship experiences using a broad range of musical styles
• Ability to organize, communicate, and work collaboratively on teams
• Ability to commit 15-20 hours per week for the position
• B.A. or B.F.A. music degree or related major, or significant Christian music leadership experience
• A heart for serving God and a desire to produce the highest quality music for God's glory

Wall Street Journal:

It's been a long time since an American classical composer became famous, much less popular. Philip Glass was probably the last one whose name would be passably well known to the public at large, and even Mr. Glass isn't nearly as famous as, say, Aaron Copland. That says a lot about the marginal place of high culture in America—none of it good.

So who ought to be famous? Or, to put it another way, who's writing classical music these days that's accessible enough to satisfy lay listeners, yet serious enough to impress trained musicians?

Morten Lauridsen, that's who.

Until recently, though, one major symphonic work by [Vaughan] Williams had gone missing. Though the work was pivotal to his career, it had only ever been seen by a handful of people, experts had never heard of it, and, since it was never performed, no one—including the composer—had ever heard it played.

The piece is about 40 minutes long and requires four soloists, an eight-part chorus of 150 voices and a full orchestra. It's not the kind of thing that can be mounted on a whim. Unlike a long-lost track that got dropped from an album or was only recorded as a demo, this music has only ever been an idea, and for over a hundred years, no one had bothered to consider it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

specializing in historically-informed performance of 17th and 18th century choral music

Cappella  Novocastriensis  - part of the Newcastle Early Music Festival.

King's Hall, Newcastle University, Saturday March 10th 2012.

Allegri's Miserere, and settings of Stabat Mater by Palestrina and Domenico Scarlatti.

Music for Passiontide - the Allegri is an iconic work with its own mythology - 'stolen' by Mozart from the Sistine chapel, differing views about the validity of top C - but a piece that always attracts admiration.

The major work is Scarlatti’s ten part setting of the Stabat mater. Supported only by organ, the mediaeval poem is brought to passionate life, with voluptuous harmonies, and exciting choral exchanges. It’s a virtuoso piece, and not performed often enough.
Conducted by Michael Haynes.

Tickets available from Windows, Central Arcade, Newcastle 0191 232 1356, at the door or from wegottickets.com

The Newcastle Bach Choir is joined by some of Europe’s finest early music soloists and period instrumentalists in Bach’s great setting of the Passion story. One of the pinnacles of Baroque music, the St John Passion paints an immediate and expressive picture with its moving mix of recitatives, arias, choruses and chorales, here including some rarely heard movements from the version Bach performed in 1725.

Thomas Walker - Evangelist
Marcus Farnsworth - Christus
Mhairi Lawson - Soprano
Robin Blaze - Alto
Peter Harvey - Baritone

Newcastle Baroque

Conducted by Eric Cross

Saturday March 3rd 2012, 7.30 pm

The Sage Gateshead, UK
 

Tickets available from The Sage Gateshead - www.thesagegateshead.org
0191 443 4661

• Extensive experience in the development and management of nonprofits, with a minimum of five years of leadership in small-to-medium sized organizations
• Strong fundraising skills and a proven record in the diversity of fundraising: in particular, individual donor giving, along with public and private grantwriting, funder relations, event planning and resource development
• Proven expertise in developing creative strategies and new avenues for sustenance and growing an organization
• Solid budget development and fiscal management experience
• Success in leading nonprofit organizations focused on children and youth; demonstrated commitment to youth development
• Success in leading nonprofit organizations focused on music/arts education
• Familiarity with after-school programs and an understanding of the current political environment that has created a lack of music/arts education in public schools
• Proven expertise in nonprofit staff supervision, management and training, including the ability to mentor, support, develop and inspire staff; commitment to professional development at all staff levels
• Established ability to work as part of an organizational team and with people with differing racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, educational, religious, sexual orientation, gender and generational backgrounds and experiences
• Ability to foster a positive and productive organizational culture
• Aptitude for Board development and fostering Board/Staff relations
• Highly organized and motivated, with the ability to monitor organizational plans and keep work moving efficiently with a small staff and limited resources
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to market and advocate publicly for OYC
• Solid analytical, strategic planning and organizational skills
• Sense of humor and ability to confront challenging fiscal realities with tenacity and a positive attitude
• Must be flexible and able to work collegially within a small office environment without administrative support
• Performing arts background highly desired, particularly in choral music