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VAN FEATURES
Dessoff celebrates its 100th anniversary
Posted 10/23/2024

Dessoff performing ElijahThe Dessoff Choirs, a fixture on the New York classical music scene ever since its founding in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, is thrilled to be celebrating its 100th anniversary this season. Leading off the celebration is a performance of the Brahms Requiem on November 2, 2024 at 4 PM at The Town Hall. Along with the Dessoff Choirs and orchestra, conducted by Malcolm J. Merriweather, the concert features renowned artists baritone Will Liverman and soprano Joélle Harvey, Dessoff alumni and former Dessoff conductors Kent Tritle and Christopher Shepard. More...



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  • After many years at Yorktown Stage, the Taconic Opera has a new home--at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Read about the move at artswestchester.org/taconic-opera-makes-a-new-home-at-tarrytown-music-hall/. (2024-10-4)
  • With the help of the Department of Correction, the New York City Community Chorus at Holy Apostles has created a chorus for incarcerated people at Rikers Island. This new chorus will be made up entirely of incarcerated individuals and will rehearse and perform within the grounds of the facility. For more information about this initiative -- and to help provide funding for it -- visit www.gofundme.com/f/empowering-voices-chorus-for-rikers-island. (2024-9-30)
  • Mark Trautman is the new Director of Music at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Essex Fells, NJ. (2024-9-15)
  • Jonathan Bradley has been named Executive Director of Voices of Ascension. Jonathan joins Voices after a successful tenure as Executive Director at The Crossing. (2024-9-15)
  • Westchester Oratorio Society has announced that David Štech has been appointed Artistic Director and Conductor, succeeding Ben Niemczyk. (2024-7-19)

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NEW ON VAN
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  • October 10, 2024: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Liederkranz Chorus on the Upper East Side.
  • September 30, 2024: Curious about how we prefer to format bits of information on the Vocal Area Network website? See our new VAN Style Guide.
  • September 27, 2024: New link for Dorico, music notation software from Steinberg, recommended as a successor to Finale. New link for Schubertline, an online digital database of downloadable and printable art songs by major composers.
  • September 6, 2024: We've combined the duplicate listings for the Choir of the Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew in Brooklyn and added a new Choir Directory listing for the The St. Luke & St. Matthew Choir School.
  • August 23, 2024: New Choir Directory listing for Re:Soundings -- A Choral Music Project, a 16-voice professional ensemble directed by Stephen Sands focused on creating a new concert-going experience by dispersing singers throughout the performance space.
  • August 20, 2024: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Senior Choir in Montclair, NJ.
  • July 30, 2024: We've resolved a coding issue with our VCS file generator so that downloading calendar listings (by clicking the "D" icon to the left of the listing) should now work reliably, even if the month of the event has only one digit.
  • May 7, 2024: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Everybody Sing (Canti Tutti), a new group based at Columbia University that's open to all -- no auditions, no fees.
  • April 5, 2024: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Westchester Gilbert & Sullivan Group, an informal group meeting monthly to perform G&S operettas.
  • February 12, 2024: New link for Vocal Ensemble Laboratory, a Westchester-based resource for short-run choirs and workshops.

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