Vocal Area Network: New York's home for vocal ensemble music

VAN FEATURES

Career jolt for Steve Friedman
Posted 7/22/2019

Atos Steve Friedman, wearer of many hats, is wearing one fewer today, as his sales engineering position at Atos was eliminated on Friday, July 19 as part of a restructuring of the IT services company’s Unified Communications and Collaboration unit.

Friedman, founder and operator of Vocal Area Network since the organization’s inception in 1995, sings bass with the professional octet at St. Michael’s Church and with the Nikolai Kachanov Singers, and supports his wife Julie Siegmund’s jewelry design business--Carnelian Knoll--with technical and schlepping services. He’s the father of two--a son about to start his sophomore year in college and a daughter who’s a rising high school junior--and he’s composed and arranged music for choirs and vocal ensembles.

Music and technology have always been complementary elements in his career. More...

Summer singing with a treble twist (Posted 8/7/2019)
Broadway actor/singer from Teaneck revisits Bernstein connection (Posted 6/1/2019)
The intersection of environmental awareness, poetry and music (Posted 6/1/2019)
Dessoff celebrates Whitman bicentennial with world premieres (Posted 5/28/2019)
St. George’s Choral Society hosts annual Summer Choral Festival (Posted 5/21/2019)

Archive of old VAN Features

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NEWS
VAN welcomes news of interest to the vocal ensemble community. Send stories to the editor.

Michael A. Ciavaglia is the new artistic director of the Connecticut Chamber Choir (2019-8-25)
Read the New York Tiimes story abou the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and its collaborations with cutting-edge composers and popular musicians. (2019-7-21)
The American Masters series on PBS (Channel 13 in NYC) offers "Robert Shaw. Man of Many Voice" on Friday, June 21 at 9 PM. For details visit www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/robert-shaw-man-of-many-voices-about/11465/. (2019-6-20)
The New York Times has a substantial article about The Crossing, the celebrated Philadelphia-based choir that focuses on new music. (2019-6-20)
Read the New York Times obituary of Joseph Flummerfelt, who died last week at the age of 82. (2019-3-6)

Archive of old "News" items

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NEW ON VAN
The latest additions to the site's content and features.

September 10, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Lux Mea Women's Chorus, based on the Upper West Side.
August 31, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Montclair Community Chorus
August 27, 2019: Some enhancements for the Choir Directory. We've added tags to more clearly indicate youth choirs and choirs that require no auditions. And you can now more easily filter on those criteria, too.
August 27, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for The KSVS Voice Ensemble, based in midtown.
August 25, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Canitcum Novum Youth Choir, a group for kids 8-18 based in South Salem, NY.
August 18, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for The Angel Choir, based in Greenwich, CT.
July 24, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Music on the Hill, based in Wilton, CT.
May 20, 2019: New VAN QuickLink for Sounds Choral, broadcast on WWFM.
April 30, 2019: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Here to Sing, a non-audition pop/rock community choir in Manhattan.
April 25, 2019: New link for Singing A Cappella at Home, a HomeAdvisor (!) tutorial with an interesting collection of a cappella resources.

Archive of old "New on VAN" items

SERVICES
See also the Info Exchange.

Need some exquisite beaded jewelry to complement your concert attire? Or perhaps a distinctive gift for that special singer in your life? Or maybe you'd like to host a jewelry show to benefit your favorite non-profit organization? Try Carnelian Knoll, where you'll find necklaces, bracelets and earrings of vintage beads and silver handcrafted by Julie Siegmund.
Looking for rehearsal space or performance venues? Try NYC Music Spaces, part of Fractured Atlas's SpaceFinder NYC database of available rehearsal and performance spaces for instrumental and vocal musicians. You'll find places to rent, from studios to large venues, for classical, jazz, rock--whatever you need to rehearse or perform in NYC.
Looking for an outstanding vocal ensemble coach? Mark Johnson, possessor of an amazing ear and terrific interpretive insights in a variety of styles, is available to coach your group. Contact Mark via e-mail.
Liz Fleischer's Sight-Singing Program is offered each season at the Kaufman Center (129 West 67th Street). Classes include ear-training, rhythm and pitch reading, music theory, basic notation and terminology, with emphasis on learning to hold a part with confidence. For more info, visit www.kaufman-center.org/lucyadults_mus_sight.htm, e-mail fleischerliz@aol.com or adultdivision@kaufman-center.org or call (212) 501-3362. The sight-singing program is just one of the classes offered by the Kaufman Center's Lucy Moses School.

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For our book and CD recommendations, visit the VAN Store.

Vocal Area Network gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Sustaining Member ensembles:

GOLD
The Dessoff Choirs, Grace Church Choral Society, The West Village Chorale

SILVER
Big Apple Chorus, The Brooklyn Community Chorus, The Brooklyn Contemporary Chorus, The Canby Singers, Cantori New York, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Cerddorion, Chelsea Song, Dalton Chorale, Florilegium Chamber Choir, Greenwich Village Chamber Singers, Riverside Choral Society , St. George's Choral Society, Schola Cantorum on Hudson, The Stonewall Chorale

Americas Vocal Ensemble, AmorArtis, The Babylon Chorale, C4: The World's First Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, Cantabile Chamber Chorale, Choral Chameleon, Chorus 802, Christ Church Choir, Douglas Frank Chorale, Down Town Glee Club, Greater Nassau Chorus, Lehman College and Community Chorus, New Amsterdam Singers, The New Choral Society, New York Choral Society, Nikolai Kachanov Singers, North River Sing, The Peace of Heart Choir, Renaissance Street Singers, Renaissance Vocal Ensemble, Riverdale Choral Society, Russian Chamber Chorus of New York, Sacrum Convivium, St. James' Compostela Choir, St. Paul's Englewood, Sing We Enchanted, Uncommon Chord, Voices of New York, Women Singing

For more about how you or your ensemble can help defray the costs of providing VAN's services,
visit the Sustaining Membership page.