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VAN
FEATURES
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community? You can help! See your feature article here. You'll gain
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will benefit from the PR. Submit
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NEWS
VAN welcomes news of interest to the
vocal ensemble community.
Send
stories to the editor.
- James Blachly's Experiential Orchestra has won a Grammy award for its recording of Ethel Smyth's The Prison. The recording featured soprano Sarah Brailey and bass-baritone Dashon Burton. Read more about this recording at www.overgrownpath.com/2021/03/grammy-takes-dame-ethel-trip.html. (2021-3-17)
- From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: Vocal Area Network's Steve Friedman has established a YouTube channel featuring follow-the-score videos of some of his compositions and arrangements, including his settings of Magnificat and The Lord's Prayer (performed by the St. Michael's Choir), along with renditions of Leavin' On a Jet Plane (recorded by The Western Wind) and Spiderman (recorded by Equal Voices). (2021-1-31)
- Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA offers two new releases. Words Matter, dedicated to the memory of victims of violence, features works by Stephen Schwartz and Shawn Crouch. Winter Harmonies features Thanksgiving, Christmas and Chanukah selections by Judith Clurman, David Chase, Sheldon Harnick, David Shire and James Sizemore. Stream and download these at essentialvoicesusa.hearnow.com/. (2020-11-30)
- Zoom's September update now includes a high-fidelity audio mode that better supports virtual musical activity. See support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360048388632-New-Updates-for-September-1-2020 and an article about how a Yale-led group of music schools helped bring about this enhancement. (2020-9-11)
- Another New York Times article about the challenges--and joys--of resuming choir activities. (2020-9-6)
Archive of old
"News" items
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NEW ON VAN
The latest additions to the site's
content and features.
- April 8, 2021: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad (detailing their upcoming Summer Intensive) for the Westchester Children's Chorus, based in Larchmont.
- April 1, 2021: New link for Fides Cantat, a choral festival for chamber and youth choirs up to 40 singers in Wittenberg, Germany scheduled for June 2022.
- March 8, 2021: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Putnam Chorale Youth Chorus.
- February 23, 2021: New link for Como Cantar Bien, offering instruction in singing and vocal health (en español).
- February 15, 2021: New link for PlayScore 2, a sheet music scanning app that plays scores from photos or PDFs.
- February 12, 2021: New link for Cantar Bien, serving the Latin communities in Los Angeles, offering free vocal lessons and choir classes for youth.
- February 1, 2021: New link for Rehearsal Live Share, a platform for remote multi-user rehearsal and recording that works around the issue of internet latency. Thanks to Cathy Markoff for the tip about this software.
- January 14, 2021: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Newyorkers Chorus, the Poughkeepsie, NY chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
- December 16, 2020: Fixed a problem with the home page, Concert Calendar, Info Exchange and Article Archive, wherein the pages were not formatted at all. Thanks to Tina Heidrich for pointing out the issue. If you're still seeing unformatted pages, just hit Refresh on your browser.
- November 27, 2020: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Count Basie Center Gospel Choir.
Archive of
old "New on VAN" items
SERVICES
See also the
Info
Exchange.
- Need some exquisite beaded jewelry to complement your concert
attire or enhance your look on your next Zoom call? 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
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Vocal Area Network gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Sustaining Member ensembles for the current season:
GOLD
Riverside Choral Society
SILVER
Cantori New York (2020-21)
Dalton
Chorale
Greenwich Village Chamber Singers (2020-21)
Nikolai Kachanov Singers
Renaissance Street Singers
Vocal Area Network gratefully acknowledges the past 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, The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Cerddorion, Chelsea Song, Dalton Chorale,
Florilegium Chamber Choir,
Riverside Choral Society, The Stonewall Chorale,
St. George's Choral Society,
Schola Cantorum on Hudson
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 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.