VAN
FEATURES
Hudson Chorale celebrates American composers
Posted 5/21/2018
Hudson
Chorale will present an evening and matinee performance of its spring concert in
central Westchester on Saturday, June 2, 8:00 PM, and Sunday, June 3, 3:00 PM,
at the Pleasantville Presbyterian Church, 400 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY.
The program, entitled "Celebrating American Composers," features four exemplary
American composers and their works: Vincent Persichetti’s Celebrations, based on the poetry of Walt Whitman; the
world premiere of two original commissioned works by composer Robert Convery,
also based in part on American poetry; a choral arrangement by Leonard Bernstein
of a popular Hebrew folk song; and, highlights from the first truly-American
opera, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. The audience will experience
texts, sounds and rhythms as unique and fascinating as American culture itself.
More...
Cantigas founder directs final concert in Hoboken May 19
Posted 5/11/2018
In a yellow school room in the middle of Hoboken, NJ, a diverse group of
women gather every Thursday night. There are students, teachers, architects,
writers, brokers, consultants, medical professionals and small business
owners--ranging in age from teens to seniors--who were born in Venezuela, Japan,
Australia, Poland, New Zealand and Taiwan. Whether they walked a few blocks over
from their childhood homes or zipped in from their Manhattan corporate jobs,
when they start singing together as Cantigas Women’s Choir, it’s clear they’re
all here because of their shared admiration for artistic director, Joan Litman.
Litman directs her final Cantigas concert this spring before she retires from
the group she has led for 16 years. Her final performance, entitled "Of Heaven
and Earth, Land and Sea", will be at Hoboken’s St. Matthew Trinity Church on May
19.
“The uniqueness of Cantigas is because of Joany,” says para-professional
Lynne Connell, a soprano in her 70s who has been with the group for 15 years.
“Not only is Joany an outstanding conductor and artistic director, who radiates
flair and skill, but she also has an infectious way of teaching and drawing the
very best out of us.”
More...
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- Choral Chameleon's founder and director Vince Peterson is the 2018 recipient of Chorus America's Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal. Read more at Chorus America. (2018-4-25)
- The Pro Arte Chorale of Ridgewood, NJ welcomes Bryan Zaros as its new music director, effective July 1. Bryan succeeds Steven Fox, who will become the music director of The Cathedral Choral Society in Washington, DC. (2018-4-24)
- The New York Times has an article about Encore Creativity for Older Adults and its choral programs for people over 55. Encore's New York groups are starting up in March. (2018-2-26)
- Choral Chameleon is proud to announce, in its 10th anniversary season, that it has been selected by National Sawdust, the ground-breaking artist incubator and performance space founded in 2015, to be the first choir to participate in their coveted residency program for the 2017-2018 season.
Choral Chameleon’s residency will be anchored in National Sawdust’s new curated series, Classical Sundays. Devoted to bringing classical artistry to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Classical Sundays will showcase the artists and ensembles who are moving the classical and contemporary classical music field forward in ways that align with National Sawdust’s experimental and artist-led DNA. The new series will present world premieres, with participants pushing the boundaries of what their instruments (or voices) can do, and/or engaging in unexpected collaborations across disciplines. Instrumental ensembles in residence alongside Choral Chameleon include International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Contemporaneous and The Refugee Orchestra Project. (2018-1-23)
- Encore Creativity for Older Adults, the nation’s largest choral program for adults 55 and over, has announced the start of two Encore ensembles in New York. The Encore Chorale opens Monday, March 19, with rehearsals from 1 to 2:30 PM at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Encore Rocks (a rock-n-roll chorus) opens Wednesday, March 21, with rehearsals from 1 to 2:30 PM at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Encore is based in Washington, DC, where it runs fifteen Encore Chorales and six Encore Rocks choruses. Encore also has ensembles in Chicago, Denver, Pennsylvania, Ohio and California. Learn more at encorecreativity.org. (2018-1-11)
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- April 26, 2018: New checkboxes for the Choir Directory allow you to filter the list by locale and rehearsal night and, for the first time, to find choirs that don't require auditions.
- April 9, 2018: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Sing Choruses in Public, a midtown-based chorus specializing in the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.
- March 29, 2018: New link for The Vocal Company, offering services to make your a cappella better.
- March 17, 2018: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Trinity Baptist Church Choir on the Upper East Side.
- February 7, 2018: Made a small change to the code on the Concert Calendar so that anchored links from other pages (for example, the calendar listings on the home page) now take you to the correct spot in the calendar. Apologies for past misdirections.
- January 25, 2018: New link for Run by Singers, a UK-based outfit arranging singing holiday weeks and weekends since 2003.
- January 19, 2018: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the East End Singers, a self-directed group of eight based in Port Jefferson, NY.
- January 15, 2018: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Encore Chorale. New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Encore Rocks. Both groups, based in Manhattan, are offerings of Encore Creativity for Older Adults and are intended for singers 55 and older.
- November 29, 2017: New link for OPUS Tours, performance tour specialists to more than 40 countries.
- October 30, 2017: New Choir Directory listing for The Mark Howell Singers, a Gospel-focused group based in Manhattan.
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- 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
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