Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Anyone got any New Year's Eve gigs? Let us know in the comments!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Christmas feels late this year - lots of Sundays in December, and Thanksgiving was early. But we're almost to the finish line, musicians of Boston! Tell me what you have going on this weekend.

Monday link

Landfill Harmonic film teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.

This trailer is about an orchestra in Paraguay where the instruments are all recycled. Pretty great! Looking forward to seeing the movie.

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Put your feet up on a little pillow by the fireplace, have some eggnog, and tell me about all your choral concerts this weekend.

Messiah Sings Post 2012!

Here it is, the annual Messiah Sings Post! I am a little late off the mark this year, but this has been quite the busy semester, and it shows no signs of stopping. For that reason, I am going with a more spartan list this year - just the date and the organization. You can click through the links for all the other information! Links to events passed included at the bottom so that you can mark your calendar for next year if you like; the same organizations will probably be hosting.


Thurs. 12/13: Brandeis University

Fri. 12/14: Masterworks Chorale

Sat. 12/15: Masterworks Chorale

Sun. 12/16: St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church and the Cambridge Community Chorus

Sun. 12/16: Nashoba Valley Chorale

Sun. 12/16: Assabet Valley Mastersingers

Sun. 12/16: St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Weston

Wed. 12/19: Cathedral Church of St. Paul

Sat. 12/22: JP Concerts

Sun. 12/23: Belmont Open Sings


Sings that are passed:


Date unknown, but passed: Roxbury Latin

Sun. 12/2 (passed): St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Brookline

Thurs. 12/6 (passed): Dunster House at Harvard University

Fri. 12/7 (passed): All Saints Parish and Project Bread

Sun. 12/9 (passed): Sudbury Memorial Congregational Church

Sun. 12/9 (passed): Carter Memorial United Methodist Church

Mon. 12/10 (passed): Choral Art Society

Did I miss any sings, past or yet to come? Please leave a note in the comments!

Monday link

Very awesome video with Marin Alsop about conducting and gender. She makes SUCH a fabulous point about gesture. About 3 min. long. Hat-tip to Amy Kiley for sending me this!

Friday cat post

Trained cats!Trained by an enterprising kid, no less. Hat-tip to my brother.

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

OK, Choruses of New England. Battle for your audience this weekend. Go!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

It is the BEGINNING...of the DECEMBER CONCERT SEASON! Boogah, boogah, boogah. Don't worry, I'm sure there's enough eggnog to see us through it. Got any concerts this weekend? Let us know!

UNLESS it interferes the following (and then I don't want to hear about it!):

Cantilena's Winter Concert: La Belle Epoque and Beyond! Music of Poulenc, Caplet, d'Indy, Boulanger, Delibes, and others. 4 pm, First Parish Arlington, on Sunday, Dec. 2.

FOLLOWED BY:

Cantilena's CD release party! 5:30 pm, also at First Parish Arlington on Sunday, Dec. 2.

A good time will be had by all in the French style. What more could you want?

Friday cat post

Via Shakesville. Cheers to all - hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Happy Thanksgiving! If you have a concert this weekend, I'm not sure what I think of your management, but let us know if we should take the relatives to any choral concerts this weekend!

Friday cat post

Where should a cat sit? Sometimes there's an easy answer.

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Singing any choruses in public this weekend? Well, I think you're mad, quite mad, but let us know about it in the comments!

Monday link

Robert Page is retiring. Big shoes to fill!

Friday cat post

Cats in wartime. Via Sylvia Berry.

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

I officially give you permission to be self-aggrandizing. What are you doing that we should know about this weekend?

Sporadic Friday Cat Post

My brother found a kitten crying under the deck a few weeks ago, and so (long story short) now he and his wife are a 2-cat household! The new denizen is called Porkchop. She is very cute!

Porkchop and Oomi apparently do not get along, but they get along WAY better than the two cats in our household, Samson and Kitty, who cannot be in the same room without trying to kill each other. January will see Operation Acclimate the Cats. Baby gates may be involved.

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Concert season is heating up; let us know if you have anything we should be sure to attend this weekend!

What do they teach in these schools...

Classes that they REALLY ought to require for your degree in Choral Conducting:

• Math 101: Scheduling
• Math 203: Scheduling
• Math 405: Scheduling
• Design 101: How to lay out attractive recruitment and concert posters
• Design 102: What the hell is up with that Facebook timeline thing
• English 101: Writing a Decent Resume
• English 102: Writing a Decent Press Release
• English 201: Writing a Decent Newsletter Update
• English 202: Writing a Decent Blog Post
• Social Media 101: Twitter, Facebook, and You
• Social Media 201: Surviving a Discussion Thread on Choralnet
• Comp 101: E-mail: How Mohammed Dealt With the Mountain
• Comp 201: E-mail: Mailing Lists: Getting Off Them
• Comp 301: E-mail: Mailing Lists: Getting Other People On Yours
• Advanced Seminar: Carpentry 400, or Dealing With Your Board
• Advanced Seminar: Econ 400, or Getting Above Minimum Wage
• Advanced Seminar: Public Relations 400, or Explaining Why We're Not Doing That John Rutter/Eric Whitacre Piece

and finally:

• Score-Reading 400: Because you'll never have time to practice, so you'd better be able to sight-read deez notes!

What'd I miss?

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Got something to promote? Promote away!

Free ticket offer!

Hey there, concert-goers: an opportunity for FREE tickets!

If you would like to go to either of La Donna Musicale's upcoming performances, then be the first to e-mail ladonna@ladm.org. Mention that you saw the offer on this blog; feel free to use the code ALLEGRAISAWESOME.

Soprani Virtuosi!

Friday, October 26th at 7PM
First Church in Cambridge
11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA

Sunday, October 28th at 4PM
United Parish of Brookline
210 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA

We are pleased to introduce internationally known opera singer Robert Crowe, a 1995 National Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Competition. He returns to Boston after many years singing leading roles in the major opera houses of Europe. Mr. Crowe will delight us with both flashy virtuosity and heart-rending pathos, recreating the musical world of the fabled castrati. Joining him will be a rising star, Colombian soprano Camila Parias. Together they will summon Eros with their intertwining harmonies as they sing duets of 18th-century composer Maria Antonia Walpurgis and 17th -century composers Maria Nascinbeni and Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana. Music by Camilla de Rossi and the great educator of female musicians Antonio Vivaldi will top off our concert.

Robert Crowe, Camila Parias, soprani
Laura Gulley, Joy Grimes, violins
Jane Starkman, viola – Janet Haas, violone
Ruth McKay, harpsichord - Laury Gutiérrez, viola da gamba, director

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Are you singing this weekend? Are we allowed to come? Let us know in the comments!

Tuesday job annoucement

Calling all organists and accompanists! A friend of mine is the music director at this UU/UCC church, and they are looking for an organist. She is super-easy to work with; check it out!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Are you getting gussied up to perform this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

Concerts!

I am busy this weekend!

Tonight, as previously mentioned, I'm singing in a concert with Schola Cantorum. We're doing Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Romancero Gitano with Aaron Larget-Caplan on guitar, and also Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium, among other things. Singing with Schola is always an utter delight.

And tomorrow, I'm singing in a concert with the Video Game Orchestra at Symphony Hall! I'm pretty sure this is my Symphony Hall debut, and it is going to be an extremely cool concert. It's really a window into another musical world for me; the world of video game music is not one I've had a lot of contact with, but we have a number of guest composers who are going to be there, and we'll be doing music from Final Fantasy, Grandia, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid and Chrono Trigger. Details about the concert are here.

One of these things is definitely for you, I'm sure; so that means I will definitely see you this weekend!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Got any concerts coming up? Have at it in the comments!

Come hear Schola Cantorum this weekend!

This weekend Schola Cantorum is doing a very cool concert. We are performing a set of pieces by Castelnuovo-Tedescho that are settings of de Lorca poems. The work, Romancero Gitano, is for mixed chorus and guitar, and it's very cool! We'll also be doing Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium and some other works by Spanish composers. I hope you can come! Saturday at 8 pm in downtown Boston!

Monday link: Help me out!

This Monday link is quite special!

My women's chorale, Cantilena, has set up a deal with Amazon whereby if you buy on Amazon through a certain link, a percentage of the proceeds go straight to us.

I know there are a number of non-profits who have set up this deal with Amazon, and it is such a simple way to benefit us. If you go to www.cantilena.org and scroll to the bottom of the front page, there is a button you can click that will take you directly to Amazon. Any purchase you make when arriving at Amazon from our site will be credited to our total, and at the end of each month a percentage (between 4% and 8%, depending on volume) of the monthly total will be deposited in our bank account.

Please give this a try the next time you buy anything on Amazon!

Thursday Self-Promoting Open Thread

Got any performances coming up? Let us know about them in the comments!

THAT post

Gentle reader,

It's time for THAT post. The one where the blogger says, "I am so busy! So I won't be around much, but I will definitely be back to blogging in [set time period]."

Generally it is followed by a post six months later saying, "I'm back! Ready to blog!"

And then there is total radio silence for about a year.

Well, I am hoping the last bit of that story doesn't necessarily happen, but blogging is going to be EXTREMELY light this semester. I'm teaching Music Appreciation 101 this semester for the first time, and anyone who has taught a 3-times-a-week lecture class for the first time knows how much work that entails. Add my church job (starting a kids' choir in October!), my auditioned chorus Cantilena, my college and retirement home choruses, and Anthology, not to mention some freelance singing work, I'm going to be pretty busy.

I will still try to post occasionally, but the Weekend Concert Calendars are going to be a self-publicized affair. I'll put up an open thread every Thursday morning, and you should feel free to publicize any concerts (of any kind, doesn't have to have a chorus) yourself. And I hope to get back in the blogging saddle sometime in December after finals!

For now, since it's Thursday, if you have any exciting concerts this coming weekend, let us know in the comments!

Monday link: Well played, Spain

Do flash mobs ever get old? Discuss.

And while discussing, watch this! (Hat-tip to NR.)

Musica Sacra auditions!

Musica Sacra, one of the most excellent of the many excellent choruses in the greater Boston area, is having auditions!

Musica Sacra is seeking low altos and BASSES for the upcoming season! Musica Sacra has sung in Cambridge and Boston for over 50 years, 30+ of them under the direction of conductor Mary Beekman, who is known in the Boston area for her inspired programming. A diverse selection of both sacred and secular music, ranging from the 15c Flemish to the newly-composed, with everything in between. Rehearsals on Wednesdays, 7 - 10PM. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. (Please contact us if you cannot make that date.)

If you would like to arrange an audition time, please email us at info@musicasacra.org. You are not required to prepare a piece for the audition, but you will be asked to sight read. Please be sure to include your voice part in your email. Auditions and rehearsals are held at Harvard Epworth Church in Harvard Square.

Hey chorus managers - you too can get me to plug your chorus's auditions and events on this blog if you offer me a pair of free comp tickets on a regular basis, as Musica Sacra so generously does. *cheesy wink*

Friday Cat Post

Did you know it's Black Cat Appreciation Day?

You can also "like" the ongoing Black Cat Appreciation page on Facebook.

Yay, black cats! (Samson and Oomi approve, I'm sure.)

Monday link

Always good to have a reminder about the importance of mindful practice!

Commission opportunities

This just came across my desk - economical commissioning opportunities for choral composers!

Details are here - this project is particularly aimed at choral conductors who have never commissioned a piece, but is open to all. Correction: this project is ONLY aimed at conductors who have never commissioned a piece before.  Consider participating if you:

• Have always wanted to commission a piece, but have never had the money.
• Would like to set a particular poem, or need more music for a particular theme.
• Are programming multiple settings of a particular text, and could use a modern perspective.
• Would like to honor someone special to your organization with a special work.
• Have never commissioned a piece - if this is the case, IT IS TIME.

I personally believe that performing new music is an extremely important part of being a performing musician today. Participating in the larger musical community and collaborating with other musicians, particularly composers, is an aesthetic obligation. I myself have commissioned 2 pieces for Cantilena, and we are commissioning another this year! So that's 3 pieces in 4 years. Never mind the 20 pieces in under 5 years that Anthology has commissioned.

This project makes the commissioning process, which can be intimidating, very easy, straightforward, and stress-free, so it is a great way to get involved. Be sure to let us know when your premiere is!

Urban Voices farewell

I kept forgetting to share this, but it's really fantastic, so even though it's not quite timely anymore, here it is!

For the past four years I've taught through the Urban Voices program at the Mission Hill School in Roxbury. This was my last year - I'm going to be teaching a Music Appreciation class at Lasell College in addition to my work there with the chorus, and so I won't have time to continue working at Mission Hill. I'm hoping to go back next year just to visit, though, because those kids are pretty great!

As are the teachers. When I e-mailed them in May that I would be leaving at the end of the school year, I got this e-mail, verbatim, from one of them. I think people should communicate like this all the time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOYO6hsbgv4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdOvOzqGqPc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj96QFzOL5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RAbLMY6BN8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdiN0sW-wVU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snihdG1rE0Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_3-S6sZchc

Centenarian singer

Earlier this summer one of the singers in my chorus at Lasell Village, Erna Rosenberg, passed away at the age of 100 (almost 101!) She had a solo in our April concert - in Cole Porter's "Let's Do It." Her obituary is here.

Now you know - no excuse to stop singing until you're at least 100!

Summer singing opportunity!

A summer singing opportunity, for those of you in the Boston area! This came into my inbox this morning.

PLEASE FORWARD

For the Mercury Orchestra’s upcoming performance of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé in Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, the Orchestra is looking for experienced classical choral singers to join the new 100-member Mercury Orchestra Chorale, directed by Channing Yu. The Chorale is an all-volunteer, no-pay/no-fee ensemble. Because of the abbreviated rehearsal schedule, the Chorale is best suited for singers who can prepare the score on their own. Rehearsals Aug 5, 12, 15, 17; concert Aug 18.

Auditions for singers will be held on Sunday, July 29, 2012 (afternoon) and Tuesday, July 31, 2012 (evening) in the Chorus Room at Symphony Hall. All auditions are by appointment only. Please schedule an audition using our audition form here:

http://www.mercuryorchestra.org/chorale

Singers who are current active members of selected area choral ensembles may be able to join without an audition; please complete our form to inquire about this possibility.

Friday cat post

If you truly cannot get enough of cute cat videos, then you are in luck - there is a whole festival just for you!  Hat-tip to my mother.

Brahms' Requiem: The Major Third Motive

So I am currently preparing for my lectures tomorrow at Lasell Village, and for the "Ten Greatest Choral Works" class I am working on the Brahms' Requiem, and trying to come up with some things for them to listen for.

And one thing that really annoys me, as one of the procrastinators of the world, is that all kinds of sites have program notes and essays about this piece, and they give you the exact same bit of tiny information.

"A German Requiem is unified compositionally by a three-note motif of a leap of a major third, usually followed by a half-step in the same direction. The first exposed choral entry presents the motif in the soprano voice (F–A–B♭). This motif pervades every movement and much of the thematic material in the piece." (via the Wikipedia article)

Well, that's very nice, but where else is it? Nobody will say. Some of us are preparing at the last minute here! How about throwing us a bone? Where else does this motive show up? Nope, everyone seems to have just cribbed from the Wikipedia article. (Like I wanted to do, except there's not enough info!)

So HERE, for anyone ELSE preparing a lecture last minute on the Brahms' Requiem, are some other places that the motive of a rising major third followed by a rising half-step occurs.

Movement 3, m. 164, if you put the bass and tenor lines together, on the words "I hope"

Movement 3, m. 173, the beginning of the fugue subject (the tenors have it first) on the words "The righteous souls" (actually just "the right--") and of course whenever else the fugue subject comes in

Movement 4, m. 4-5, the first three notes of the soprano melody, on the words "How lovely", and whenever else the melody reoccurs.

Movement 6, m. 208, the first three notes of the fugue subject (the altos have it first) are this motive in reverse (descending half step followed by a descending major third) on the words "Lord, you are worthy." Provides kind of a nice contrast to the corresponding fugue in Movement 3.

Movement 7 obviously reincorporates the material from Movement 1.

This is just after a 10-minute glance through the choral score. Anyone have any other points where this motive occurs? Want to argue that Brahms used an inversion of it somewhere? Leave a comment! Help the future procrastinating music lecturers of the world!

Opportunity for choruses - Lenox Caroling Festival

Hey, folks! It's nearly August, which means it's nearly time for choral directors to be hip-deep in Christmas music. And some of you might be interested in this letter which came across my desk. I don't yet know if I'll be participating in any way - I suspect not, given the timing in December - but it does look like fun, and the prizes are pretty good!

As a fellow choral director in Massachusetts, this letter is to give you some advance notice regarding the 2nd annual Lenox Caroling Festival which will take place on Saturday December 8, 2012.

Following the tremendous success of last year’s Festival, we wanted to give you an early lead on next year’s plans. Please take a moment to look through our materials and contact us if you are interested and have any further questions.

The Caroling Festival is a competition that will take place at outside locations on each of the village’s main streets. The winning groups will be determined by 50% popular vote, and 50% judge’s vote at each location. Voting will be done by distributed ballots that will be filled in by the spectators at each venue, who then turn them in at participating retail locations. Festive dress, while not required, is most appreciated.

The prizes are as follows:
First prize: $2,000
Second prize: $500
Third Prize: $250

Choirs must have a minimum of ten participants, and do not need to bring an entire choir to qualify as long as the minimum is met. Priority times and singing locations will be given on a first come, first served basis, and we would be happy to schedule your choir around any other singing commitments you might have for that day or weekend.

In case of inclement weather the festival will be relocated indoors in one of many historic churches and public buildings. We also have many additional performance opportunities both on December 8th and 9th for visiting choirs. Please contact us for details.

A final showcase performance for all participating choirs will occur at 5:00pm on the day of the Festival, the end of which the winners will be announced.

Please visit: www.lenoxcarolingfestival.org for a video and further details and an application form. Thank you for your interest.

Audition notice!

Calling low altos! Looking for an a cappella singing opportunity?

I have several friends in the group the Random Chants, a great local a cappella group. They are all totally delightful people, so you should consider auditioning!

*****

Random Chants is holding auditions for a new Alto II in the next few weeks. Our Alto 2s take on some pretty low notes, so auditionees need to be able to solidly hit a low D (below middle C) - anything lower is highly prized! Interest in vocal percussion or arranging music is a plus, though not required.

We practice weekly in the greater Boston area. We're hoping to find others like us -- women who... love to sing, enjoy a wide range of songs, and are willing to do some practicing on their own time. If you or someone you know is interested, please contact us at auditions@randomchants.com and we will fill you in on the audition details!

Note: At this time we are only auditioning Alto 2s. If you are interested in other voice parts (Soprano 1 or 2, Alto 1), please contact us and we'll be sure to let you know about future auditions. Go ahead and friend us here on Facebook or if you are not already a part of our mailing list, please sign up ( http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/random_chants/ ) -- either way, you won't miss any audition or upcoming gig announcements.

Thanks!

-Random Chants

Monday link - required reading!

This article from Salon, called "No sympathy for the creative class," should be required reading. It's long, but worth it. In fact, I beg you to read it - it is so descriptive of my own life right now. In some ways, I am protected by the arts-loving city I live in; but even amongst the support, I get a strong sense that art is just "play" from anyone not actually working in the field.

Last week we celebrated what is American - how about this week we think about the direction we want our society to go, and the things about our cultural expectations that we could stand to change?

A few quotes:

"“There’s always this sense that art is just play,” says Peter Plagens, a New York painter and art critic. “Art is what children do and what retired people do. Your mom puts your work up on the refrigerator. Or the way Dwight Eisenhower said, ‘Now that I’ve fought my battles, I can put my easel up outside.’”"

"Our image of the creative class comes from a strange mix of sources, among them faux-populist politics, changing values, technological rewiring, and the media’s relationship to culture – as well as good old-fashioned American anti-intellectualism.

"Creativity is a form of expertise,” something a nation that keeps insisting on its status as a democracy has never been entirely comfortable with."

Go read!

Summer Sings, 2012

Well, it's a little late, but here it finally is - the Summer Sing post for 2012! I'm also noting the ones that have passed, just so you have a sense of what everyone is doing (and perhaps next year even if I am late again, you will remember to look up some of these groups!)

Tuesday, June 12 at 8 pm (passed)
Mozart's Requiem
Conducted by Steven Karidoyanes, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Tuesday, June 19 at 8 pm (passed)
Poulenc's Gloria
Conducted by Steven Karidoyanes, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Tuesday, June 26 at 8 pm (passed)
Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem
Conducted by Michael V. Turner, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Monday, July 9 at 8 pm
Verdi's Requiem
Conducted by Max Hobart, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Tuesday, July 10 at 8 pm
Fauré's Requiem
Conducted by Steven Karidoyanes, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Monday, July 16 at 7:30 pm
Haydn's Mass in Time of War
Conducted by Danica Buckley, hosted by the Choral Art Society of the South Shore
At the St. Mary of the Nativity Parish Center, Scituate

Monday, July 16 at 8 pm
Brahms' Requiem
Conducted by William Sano, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Tuesday, July 17 at 8 pm
Brahms' Requiem
Conducted by Steven Karidoyanes, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Monday, July 23 at 8 pm
Mendelssohn's Elijah (Part I)
Conducted by Priscilla French, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Tuesday, July 24 at 8 pm
Orff's Carmina Burana
Conducted by Jaime Kirsch, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Monday, July 30 at 7 pm
Brahms' Requiem
Hosted by the Newburyport Choral Society
At the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 7 Harris St., Newburyport

Monday, July 30 at 8 pm
Mozart's Requiem
Conducted by David Callahan, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Tuesday, July 31 at 8 pm
Bach's Magnificat
Conducted by Anne Watson Born, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Friday, August 3 at 6 pm
Potluck and Summer Sing, including works by Esther Scliar, Jack Gottlieb, and Ken Langer, as well as Hassler, Lauridsen and Palestrina
Conducted by Ellen Oak, hosted by the Three Rivers Chorus
14 Lincoln St., Maynard

Monday, August 6 at 8 pm
Orff's Carmina Burana
Conducted by Jeffrey Brody, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Tuesday, August 7 at 8 pm
Mendelssohn's Elijah (abridged)
Conducted by Katherine FitzGibbon, hosted by the Masterworks Chorale
At the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium/Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham

Monday, August 13 at 7:30 pm

Vivaldi's Gloria

Conducted by Danica Buckley, hosted by the Choral Art Society of the South Shore

At the St. Mary of the Nativity Parish Center, Scituate

Monday, August 13 at 7:30 pm
Bach's Jesu Meine Freude
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica
At Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston

Monday, August 13 at 8 pm
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (4th movement)
Conducted by Dirk Hillyer, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Monday, August 20 at 7:30 pm
Brahms' Requiem
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica
At Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston

Monday, August 20 at 8 pm
Handel's Messiah (Part 1)
Conducted by John Koza, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Monday, August 27 at 7:30 pm
Mozart's Requiem
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica
At Old South Church, 645 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston

Monday, August 27 at 8 pm
Fauré's Requiem, Rutter's Requiem
Conducted by Paul Madore, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale
At the Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem

Got any more Summer Sings to share? Leave 'em in the comments!

Monday links

This article about going through orchestral auditions for a percussionist spot with the BSO is fascinating. Also kind of depressing.

Are you familiar with Matt who dances around the world? He has another video out, and it's the best yet! This post by Ethan Zuckerman gives some good context for Matt's latest video.

Monday link

This "Letter to Emily" about the importance of paying musicians fairly for their recordings is well worth reading. A sample:

Many in your generation are willing to pay a little extra to buy “fair trade” coffee that insures the workers that harvested the coffee were paid fairly.  Many in your generation will pay a little more to buy clothing and shoes from manufacturers that  certify they don’t use  sweatshops.  Many in your generation pressured Apple to examine working conditions at Foxconn in China.  Your generation is largely responsible for the recent cultural changes that has given more equality to same sex couples.  On nearly every count your generation is much more ethical and fair than my generation.   Except for one thing.  Artist rights.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 6/21/12

Sorry folks, no Weekend Concert Calendar this weekend either. Moving really intensely narrows your priorities and focus!

However, I'm about to head to this concert, and if you happen to check your blog aggregator in the next half hour, maybe you will too!

Central Conservatory of Music Chorus from Beijing, 8 pm, Sanders Theatre, Cambridge - and it's FREE!

Monday link

I just LOVE this Tumblr: So You're A Church Musician.

I don't agree with all the opinions expressed therein (for example, I'm all about new music!) but I do find all of it very funny! That opinion may be connected to the fact that it's not safe for work. :)

Also, honestly, if you are not a church musician, I can't vouch for whether you would find this remotely amusing. But if you have a church job, do check it out!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 6/8/12

You may have noticed that even by my low blogging standards, I'm not blogging much. That's because I'm in the process of moving house. I moved out of my old place a week ago; I'll be moving into my new place in a week; and I'm staying with very generous friends in the meantime. I'm also finishing up the church year; finishing up the school year for the elementary school I teach at; and starting my summer lecture series at Lasell Village. This year's topics: The Ten Greatest Choral Works (like last year) and The Works of Gilbert and Sullivan (new!) So things are rather topsy-turvy, but I am hopeful that by the end of June I will be unpacked and have all my ducks lined up.

In the meantime, let's see what we have going on!

Friday:

• Arlington-Belmont Chorale, "Annual Pops Concert," 7:45 pm, Arlington

Saturday:

• Boston Children's Chorus (with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra), Benefit to support the BLO's free summer series, 6:30 pm, Cambridge
• Blue Heron, "Song of Songs/Songs of Love", 8:00 pm, Cambridge

Sunday:

• Coro-Dante, Opera choruses from Idomeneo, Il Trovatore, Il Nuovo Mosè and Don Pasquale, 5:30 pm, Dante Alighieri Society, Cambridge
• Koleinu, "10th Anniversary Concert: Sound the Great Shofar and other Jewish choral favorites," 7:30 pm, Brookline
• Chorale Française de Boston, Choral works of Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré, and other composers, 7:30 pm, Cambridge

And on Tuesday, the Masterworks Chorale's Summer Sings begin!

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Sing in the summer!

My annual Summer Sings post will be coming soon, but in the meantime, if you are looking for summer singing opportunities, consider joining the Harvard Summer Chorus! Here's some more information.

You are invited to participate in Harvard's Summer Chorus, an annual tradition now in its sixth decade. This year, we will perform includes Dvorak's Stabat Mater, opus 58. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 7p-9:45p from June 26-August 2 (6 weeks) at Sanders Theatre/Memorial Hall in Cambridge. The concert on Friday August 3 features a professional orchestra and soloists. The choir consists of community members from Boston-area choruses, graduate students and undergraduates, and visiting high school students studying at Harvard's Summer School Program. 

For more information, see our website: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~summerchorus/  

and find us on Facebook.

If you're interested in participating, please contact our manager through the link above!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/31/12

I am in the process of MOVING, so this post is going to be an open thread instead.

Know of a choral concert this weekend? Singing in one yourself? Leave some info!

Rachmaninoff for everyone!

Do you direct a women's chorus? Do you want to support good editions of music written for women? If so, contribute to this project my dear friend (and conductor extraordinaire) Amelia Nagoski is doing. She is producing an edition of Rachmaninoff's "Six Choruses for Women's Voices" with the Russian in IPA. (Hallelujah.) Right now that is not available anywhere, you have to struggle through the Russian yourself, or else use a very clunky transliteration. But Amelia's version will have beautiful clear lovely IPA for you to sing.

You can support her project, and secure a copy of the music when it comes out, by going to her Kickstarter! Kickstarter projects always have a very limited timeframe, so do it today!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/17/12

Oh yeah, it's May. Too many concerts to count!

Friday:

• Christ Church Adult Choir, Haydn's Creation, 7:30 pm, Cambridge
• Lorelei Ensemble, "AMass: Revolution, Resistance, and Progress," 8 pm, South Hamilton
• Lexington Pops Chorus, "A Night at the Opera!", 8 pm, Lexington
• New World Chorale, "The Beauty of Brahms," 8 pm, Newton

Saturday:

• New World Chorale, "The Beauty of Brahms," 3 pm, Newton
• Assabet Valley Mastersingers, "Music of the Theater," 7:30 pm, Clinton
• Wakefield Choral Society, "Spring Choral Concert," 7:30 pm, Wakefield
• Coro Allegro, "Rachmaninoff: A Mystical Journey into the Russian Soul," 8 pm, Boston
• Musica Sacra, "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream," 8 pm, Cambridge
• Mystic Chorale, "Sacred Rhythms," 8 pm, Boston
• Lorelei Ensemble, "AMass: Revolution, Resistance, and Progress," 8 pm, Brookline
• The Master Singers of Lexington, "The Natural World" - features the premiere of Temple of Natureby Patricia Van Ness, as well as works including Dvorak's In Nature, Hindemith's Six Chanson, and Schubert's Gott in der Natur. 8 pm, Lexington
• Cappella Clausura, "Outside the Walls," 8 pm, Cambridge 
• Convivium Musicum, "The Prince of Music, Orlandus Lassus," 8 pm, Cambridge 
• Lexington Pops Chorus, "A Night at the Opera!", 8 pm, Lexington
• Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline, "A Latin American Journey," 8 pm, West Roxbury

Sunday:

• Choral Art Society of the South Shore, Haydn's Mass in Time of War and Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, 3 pm, Scituate
• Voices of MetroWest Chorus, "The Beat Goes On," 3 pm, Natick
• Mystic Chorale, "Sacred Rhythms," 3:30 pm, Boston 
• Cappella Clausura, "Outside the Walls," 4 pm, Jamaica Plain
• SingPositive, "SingPositive Spring Concert," 4 pm, Jamaica Plain
• Convivium Musicum, "The Prince of Music, Orlandus Lassus," 7 pm, Brookline 

And on Tuesday, check out the Greater Boston Intergenerational Chorus in Watertown at 7 pm. They'll be presenting their spring concert at the First Parish Church of Watertown.

Did I miss something? Want to advertise your own concert? Leave it in the comments!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/10/12

Wow, check out that Saturday night. Whew!

Friday:

• Masterworks Chorale, Honegger's King David, 8 pm, Cambridge
• Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus, "Spring Chamber Music Concert: Choral Settings of William Shakespeare," 8 pm, Arlington

Saturday:

• The deVaronistas, music of Bach, Weill and more, 4 pm, Cambridge
• Braintree Choral Society, music of Bernstein and Haydn, 7 pm, Braintree
• Sharing a New Song, "Sounds of Spring," 7:30 pm, Arlington
• Treble Chorus of New England, "Songs of Peace and Hope," 7:30 pm, Methuen
• Exsultemus, "O Rosa Bella: Music of Johannes Ciconia," 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Cappella Clausura, "Outside the Walls," 8 pm, Newton
• Concord Chorus, Brahms' Requiem, 8 pm, Arlington
• Convivium Musicum, "Orlandissimo: Prince of Music," 8 pm, Worcester
• Cantata Singers, "In Thoughts, Our Dreams," 8 pm, Boston
• Newton Choral Society, "The Splendor of Bach," 8 pm, West Roxbury
• Cambridge Community Chorus, music of Corigliano and Schubert, 8 pm, Cambridge

Sunday:

• Exsultemus, "O Rosa Bella: Music of Johannes Ciconia," 3:00 pm, Boston
• MIT Chamber Chorus and Boston Korean Chorus, "Hope and Harmony - A Benefit Concert," 4 pm, 4:30 pm
• Sharing a New Song, "Sounds of Spring," 7:30 pm, Arlington

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/3/12

Oh, man. It is one of the busiest choral weekends of the season, and I completely forgot about this yesterday - it's a busy weekend for me too! Rather than the usual, you are just going to get my picks for this weekend - one for each day.

On Friday, go see The Boston Cecilia and their program "Bright Lights on the Horizon." It's at 8 pm at First Church Cambridge, and among other awesome pieces it will feature a premiere of a new work by Scott Wheeler, inspired by Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes and called "Love Songs for Chorus and Piano Four Hands." This is maestro Teeters' last concert with Cecilia before he retires; not to be missed!

I have been hearing some great things about the rehearsals for the Back Bay Chorale's performance of Haydn's The Seasons, so on Saturday, go check that out! They will be at Sanders Theater in Cambridge at 8 pm, and this is going to be a wonderful rendition of that thrilling oratorio.

And on Sunday, there is NO other place to be than at First Parish Arlington, hearing Cantilena sing a program about "Making a Mess!" under my direction! We are going to sing about all kinds of messes, including shipwrecks, heartbreak, Armageddon, environmental disasters - you name it. It is a very fun program, and you won't want to miss it!

Friday cat post!

The title of this is "Cat Alarm Clock" but it's way more amusing than the title suggests.

Anyone have alternate more amusing title suggestions?

Upcoming Cantilena concert!

*ahem* Cantilena, under the direction of MOI, presents:

Featuring the Boston premiere of The Dove Pursues the Griffin,  winner of the 2005 New York Treble Singers Composition Competition,   composed by our very own soprano, Ashi Day.   Also featuring the works of Elizabeth Alexander,  Thomas Arne, Stephen Hatfield, Nancy Telfer, and more! Joshua T. Lawton, accompanist First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church 630 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington Center 7 pm Sunday, May 6, 2012 For tickets, visit:  The Book Rack | 13 Medford Street, Arlington  Tickets (cash or check only):  $18 advance | $20 door | 12 students/seniors For More information, please visit www.cantilena.org  or call 781.938.5825

Monday link

From my friend, singer Eileen Christiansen, comes this gem:


The Contemporary Classical Composer's BS Generator

As she said, "I kid because I love!"

CD review - "Glory! Music of Rejoicing"

In January, the Mormons contacted me.

I got a very nice e-mail from a publicist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, wondering if I would be willing to review their latest CD called “Glory! Music of Rejoicing.” She offered to send me a couple of copies free. Naturally, visions of a new side career as a CD reviewer, with TONS of free music, danced in my head, and I said yes. Sure, I was busy, but I could find time to review one CD in a timely manner, right?

Apparently not. The publicist kindly told me to take my time, and I’m embarrassed that I did – three months after getting the CD in the mail, I am just now reviewing it. Which makes it even more painful to admit that I cannot really recommend purchasing this CD.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the most famous choirs in the nation, and for technical quality they really could not possibly be better. So there is little point in spending a lot of time addressing their tuning, their tone, their blend, their rhythm, the tightness of their tempos – all are flawless. The diction occasionally leaves a little something to be desired, but in a choir of 360 voices, this might be an unavoidable challenge. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has an excellent reputation for a reason – they are absolutely musically dependable.

Too bad, then, that they have not turned their prodigious talents towards more worthy repertoire. The album is designed to be a collection of music that all rejoices, and it intersperses a few classic pieces with a lot of hymn arrangements. Most of those arrangements, I’m sorry to say, are cheesy and not very fulfilling. From the very first piece, a hymn arrangement by music director Mack Wilberg, we are treated to a smorgasbord of stereotypes. Predictable harmonies, pretty and utterly forgettable melodies, shimmering strings with harp scales and flute solos in thirds and pop-sounding piano accompaniments, the chorus going “oo” in the background, and too many major seconds everywhere. (Major seconds are the corn syrup of today’s choral music. They are in EVERYTHING, and they add excess sugar to the diet. Composers take note; they are not dissonant or edgy anymore. Find some other way to tug the heartstrings.) Even the composers, such as Bernstein, that one would expect would deliver something less saccharine are drowned in the context of all the excessive prettiness.

There is a respite in the middle. I perked up my ears at the Rimsky-Korsakov anthem “Glory!” which is quite thrilling (and I cannot imagine why it is not at the end or beginning of the CD.) It was followed by an arrangement of Psalm 148 by Holst, also excellent and moving with a blessedly simple a cappella introduction and some really lovely harmonic shifts that kept the music fresh and exciting. And after that came the Cum Sancto Spiritu from Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, which was light and great and frankly made me wish the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would do nothing but sing fugues. They were well-balanced and nimble and everything one wishes for in a fugue. Why don’t they tackle Mendelssohn’s Elijah or Mozart’s Mass in C?

Alas, then we were back to more sweet and easily-digested fare with a pretty Gounod Benedictus, and from there to the end of the CD, nothing caught my attention. (That is, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is always a good time, although this rendition was overly shouty, but it would have been more satisfying at the end of a heartier meal. One doesn’t eat ten courses of Tootsie Rolls and then finish up with a final dessert course of steak and potatoes.)

Flipping through the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s website reveals a vast array of CDs, most of them compilations. There is no Bach B Minor Mass. As far as I can tell, there is nothing by Mendelssohn. No Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, or Verdi requiems. There are some Brahms Requiems from various years, and some other interesting looking albums (a tribute to Randall Thompson for one) but on the whole, they seem to have devoted their significant power and talents to easy-listening choral music.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a religious ensemble, and they seem to concentrate a lot on hymn-settings; I assume they wish to inspire their constituents to greater faith and inspiration. I am sorry that they themselves lack the faith in their listeners to give them something other than repertoire designed to please the lowest common denominator. I challenge them to give us something that might risk disturbing us, so that we might then gain the possible reward of being profoundly moved. 

Support me in the Walk for Music!

This year, for the second year in a row, I'm going to be doing the Walk for Music this coming Sunday, April 29 on behalf of Cantilena. This is a great fundraising walk, because all of the money raised goes directly to the musical groups - the Walk for Music doesn't even collect any money, checks are made out directly to the groups. Naturally, your donation is also tax-deductible!

Cantilena is currently in the process of releasing a CD of last December's concert, and most of the money we raise will go towards this project. We also purchased a set of books of arrangements of women's spirituals this spring. I am very excited about these books, because the arrangements are really excellent and varied, but it did send us substantially over our sheet music budget. All the money I raise will go towards Cantilena's CD and our purchase of those books.

If you'd like to donate, there are two options. The easiest is to go to Cantilena's website and donate directly online by clicking the Donate button at the bottom of the front page. Be sure to include a note saying you are donating to the Walk for Music and I'm the walker! Or you can send a check made out to Cantilena to:
Cantilena
PO Box 380702
Cambridge, MA 02238

The Walk for Music goes through the Fenway, around a very pretty 2-mile loop. I'm looking forward to this coming Sunday, and hope you can support me. (And don't forget, our spring concert, called "Making a Mess!" is on Sunday, 5/6 at 7 pm - hope to see you there!)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/26/12

I usually try to avoid being partisan in these matters (unless it is to toot my own horn, of course) but I just want to say that the programming for the Cantemus concert looks awesome! And if you like new music, then of course you must check out the Seraphim Singers concert.


Also, check out the Boston College Arts Festival - looks like there are a bunch of choral performances going on there, especially on Saturday.

Friday:

• Zefiro, Lauridsen's Fire Madrigals along with works by Byrd, Gibbons, Weelkes, White, and more, 7:30 pm, Old South Church, Boston
• Seraphim Singers (with BNMI), "Modern Masters and Emerging Composers", 8 pm, Cambridge

Saturday:

• Cantemus, "Unseen Worlds: Voices of the Mystics," 7:30 pm, Hamilton 
• New World Chorale, Vivaldi's Gloria and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, 7:30 pm, Milford
• Neponset Choral Society, John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, 8 pm, Foxboro
• Whoops, missed one! Boston Harmony, 7:30 pm, Cambridge

Sunday:

• Neponset Choral Society, John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, 2:30 pm, Foxboro
• Andover Choral Society, "Mozart Gala", 3 pm, North Andover 
• Treble Chorus of New England, Annual Spring Concert, 3 pm, Andover
• Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus, "Boyz to Men", 3:30 pm, Wellesley
• Cantemus, "Unseen Worlds: Voices of the Mystics," 4 pm, Newburyport
• Arlington-Belmont Chorale, Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, 4 pm, Arlington
• Eastern Nazarene College Choral Union, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, 6 pm, Quincy

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

From French, a new Youtube film star! Meet...Henri, cat of ennui.

Le premier film...

Le second film (Paw de Deux)...

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/19/12

Hm, this new Blogger format is going to take a little bit of getting used to! (Probably looks the same to you, but everything behind the scenes has changed.)

Friday:

• Youth pro Musica, the St. John's Concert Choir, and the Community College of Rhode Island Chorus and Concert Choir, Free Joint Concert, 7 pm, Boston
• Inner Strength Gospel Choir, Spring Concert, 7:30 pm, Boston
• Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, Schubert's Mass in A-flat with motets of Mozart, Beethoven & Brahms, 8 pm, Cambridge
• Dedham Choral Society, "Classic to Romantic" including Mass in E Flat Major (the "Freischutz" Mass) by Carl Maria von Weber and Fantasy for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven, 8 pm, Boston

Saturday:

• Salisbury Singers, "Baroque Brilliance," 7:30 pm, Worcester 
• The Jameson Singers, Haydn's "Lord Nelson" Mass, 8 pm, Cambridge
• University Chorale of Boston College, Mozart's Coronation Mass, 8 pm, Newton

Sunday:

• Paul Madore Chorale, Fauré Requiem and Duruflé Requiem, 3 pm, Beverly
• Oriana Consort, "The Many Voices of Spring," 5 pm, Concord

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Tuesday link

Neurologist Oliver Sacks, who likes concentrating on the effects of music, interviews Henry, an elderly gentleman who really lights up when he listens to an Ipod in the nursing home.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/12/12

This weekend I am extremely delighted and honored to be singing with Schola Cantorum, a top-notch Renaissance vocal ensemble. Our program, a combination of Monteverdi, Palestrina, and other Italians, is one of the best we have ever done, and you really don't want to miss this concert. Friday at 8 pm at St. John's on Bowdoin St. in Boston, and Saturday at 8 pm at the RISD Museum.

Friday:

• Schoooo-laaaaa!
• Boston Conservatory Combined Choruses, music of Schütz, Schumann, Griffin, Britten, Argento, Barber, and Corigliano, 8 pm, Boston (free!)
• Harvard Glee Club & Radcliffe Choral Society, music of Barber, Schumann, Poulenc, Vaughn Williams, Copland, and Brahms, 8 pm, Cambridge
  

Saturday:

• Schoooo-laaaaa!

Sunday:

• Boston Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival, 2 pm, Medford

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Two very interesting interviews with opera singers. First, Thomas Quasthoff speaks frankly about retirement, music, and disability. Second, Vesselina Kasarova speaks frankly about the price she has paid for her career, and that she might not do it over the same way.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/5/12

Happy Holy Week to everyone, especially all you overworked musicians. Most of the music this weekend will be taking place in churches - it's not my policy to list religious events on this blog (too overwhelming a task, for one thing) but do feel free to leave a comment and discuss what special music you are doing this Easter morning if you are so inclined.

If you come out to First Parish Cohasset, you will hear a little Mendelssohn, some Bach, and some Beethoven on bells!

And tonight, do check out the BMOP concert, as David Lang's piece is not to be missed!


Friday:

• BMOP, "Dual Passions" - David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion and Arvo Pärt's Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Joannem, 8 pm, Boston

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Sing Copland with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra this summer!

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra is hosting a really exciting Copland choral project this summer. With only two rehearsals, you can join singers from choruses across the city in this performance. Repertoire and details here!

Monday link

We think of it as a Christmas piece now, but the Messiah was originally performed around Easter time. In honor of it, have a really fascinating article (although a few years old) about Handel's Messiah, including all the historical juicy bits!

Friday cat post!

There's a new Simon's Cat video out! Always cause for rejoicing.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/29/12

More music, more music!

By the way, I got some awesome anonymous help last week with listing some concerts that I missed. Feel free, as always, to leap in if there's anything I missed! And if you have a concert of yours coming up that's not strictly choral, you are always welcome to leave a comment about that too (instrumentalists, solo singers, a cappella groups, choruses from a little farther afield, I am looking at you!)

Friday:

• Blue Heron Choir, "Music for Three Sovereigns," 8 pm, Cambridge
• Handel and Haydn Society, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, 7:30 pm, Boston
  

Saturday:

• Sorellanza, "Sorellanza Songbird Concert," 7:30 pm, Gloucester
  
• Oriana Consort, "The Many Voices of Spring," 8 pm, Boston
• BEMF presents The Tallis Scholars, "The Field of the Cloth of Gold: Music of Jean Mouton and William Cornysh," 8 pm, Cambridge
• Wellesley College Choir with guest Cornell Glee Club, "The Baum Concert: Rachmaninoff’s Vesper," 8 pm, Wellesley

Sunday:

• Handel and Haydn Society, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, 3 pm, Boston
  
• Choir of Old North Church, "Lenten Choral Concert," 7 pm, Marblehead

Monday:

• BU Symphonic Chorus, "Requiem for a Generation," 8 pm, Boston

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday links!

Jeremy Denk, one of the best music writers around, as well as the best pianists, talks about why he hates the Goldberg Variations.

And Emilie of the Public Emilie blog (I love that blog title) talks about how musicians are exploited and why we should get paid a living wage. If you do not make the bulk of your income by performing and/or teaching music, then this is required reading for you! (If you do, then you already know all this, but it's nice to be validated.) Key sentence: "Because music is [others'] hobby, I fear they assume it is mine." But really, go read the whole thing.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/22/12

Whoops, the beautiful weather made me forget about putting this together. This is an extremely incomplete calendar this week - please augment in the comments?

And - come hear me sing with the King's Chapel Choir on Sunday at 5 pm! We're doing a program called "Mysticism in Music." It will featuer the poetry by George Herbert and John Donne set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Thomas Bold, Howard Helvey, Eric Sawyer, Hilary Tann, and others. It's a great program, and a great ensemble, and there will be a great reception afterwards!

Saturday:

• Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum with the University of Cologne Chamber Choir, selections from Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, motets by Mendelssohn, and Barber’s Reincarnations, 8 pm, Brookline
• Cappella Clausura, "Mistress: A Celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of America's First Poet, Mistress Anne Bradstreet", 8 pm, Cambridge
  

Sunday:

• Coro Allegro, Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and Coronation Anthems and the presentation of the Fifth Annual Daniel Pinkham Award to Donald Teeters, 3 pm, Cambridge
• Cappella Clausura, "Mistress: A Celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of America's First Poet, Mistress Anne Bradstreet", 4 pm, Jamaica Plain
• King's Chapel Choir, "Mysticism in Music," 5 pm, Boston
  
• Oriana Consort, "The Many Voices of Spring," 5 pm, Cambridge
• The Apollo Club of Boston, Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus, Highland Glee Club, "Brothers, Sing On!", 3 pm, Weston (mistakenly listed last week - oops!)
  

Did I miss anything? This week I know I did - leave it in the comments!

Monday link #2 - veggies!

Two Chinese brothers play musical instruments made entirely out of vegetables.

Monday link - an audition!

Want to be part of the area premiere of an a cappella opera? OperaHub is performing Michael Ching's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and information about auditions for leads and chorus is here.

Friday cat post!

Conspiracy Cat says:



Courtesy of my brother.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/15/12

Celebrate spring with a little choral music! Some good stuff in the suburbs this weekend; suburbanites be sure to check out the list!

Friday:

• Masterworks Chorale with special guests Treble Chorus of New England, "J.S. Bach and Sons, Inc.: A Celebration of Motets!", 8 pm, Cambridge

Saturday:

• Freisinger Chamber Orchestra, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, 1:30 pm, Boston
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo, presented by World Music/CRASHarts, 8 pm, Cambridge
  
• The Spectrum Singers, "A 20th Century Choral Kaleidoscope", 8 pm, Cambridge
• Cappella Clausura, "Mistress: A Celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of America's First Poet, Mistress Anne Bradstreet", 8 pm, Newton

Sunday:

• Cantata Singers, "The Passion: works of Brahms, Liszt, Demantius, and Bach", 3 pm, Boston
• The Apollo Club of Boston, Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus, Highland Glee Club, "Brothers, Sing On!", 3 pm, Weston
• The Oriana Consort, "The Many Voices of Spring", 3 pm, Waltham
  
• Emmanuel Music, "The Splendour of the Baroque", 3 pm, Rockport

And next Thursday at 5:30 pm, the Amherst College Madrigal Singers will be at St. John the Evangelist in Boston.

Did I miss anything? Want to promote your own concert? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link - opera!

How about a little exciting opera for a Monday? Andy Ihnatko lays it all out for us. First we get to hear a show-stopping aria by a wonderful Met soprano, Kathleen Kim - then, when she gets sick in the middle of the run, by her understudy Rachele Gilmore who, as Ihnatko puts it, "doesn’t necessarily need to protect her voice for the next two weeks of performances." It's all here!

Friday cat post!

Cat gets stuck in organ in Connecticut. But she's fine now!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/8/12

It's a good choral weekend!

Friday:

• MLK Morehouse Glee Club, "MoreJazz Scholarship Weekend Concert," 7 pm, Boston
  
• Metropolitan Chorale of Brookline, Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony, 8 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Choral Ensemble, "Butterfly Dreams," 8 pm, Cambridge
  

Saturday:

• Choral Art Society, "Celtic Cabaret!", 6 pm, Hingham
• Back Bay Chorale, Bach's St. John Passion, 8 pm, Cambridge
• Labyrinth Choir, "We Who Believe in Freedom," 7:30 pm, Lexington
  
• Musica Sacra, "Piteous Beauty - Vaughan Williams' Mass in g minor and Scarlatti's Stabat Mater"; 8 pm, Cambridge

Sunday:

• Quincy Choral Society, "Love is in the Air," 2 pm, Quincy
• Zamir Chorale and Trinity Choirs, works of Bernstein, Rossi, Lewandowski, Mendelssohn, Milhaud, and more; 3 pm, Boston
  
• Arlington-Belmont Chorale and the Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus, "Almost Spring: American Composers, American Authors," 3 pm, Arlington
• Boston Choral Ensemble, "Butterfly Dreams," 3 pm, Boston
• Boston Boy Choir, adult choir from St. Paul's and the All Saints (Ashmont) Choir of Men and Boys, Parsons' Ave Maria and Howells' Collegium Regale Magnificat, 3 pm, Cambridge
  
• Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Beethoven's Mass in C and Rutter's Mass of the Children, 3:30 pm, Southborough
  
  

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

Hero cat!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 3/1/12

You have an opportunity this weekend that does not come along very often, and that is to hear a performance of the Britten War Requiem. It is an extremely powerful piece, and because of the forces a performance must gather together, it is not as easy to put together as a Mozart or a Verdi or a Brahms. Do yourself a favor and go see it!

You have ANOTHER opportunity as well, and that is to see Anthology premiere a new program! 3 pm at the Beacon Hill Friends' House on Sunday, March 4 - don't miss it! We're doing a program of wedding music, so if someone you know is getting married, you should definitely come check it out.

Saturday:

• Chorus pro Musica, the Providence Singers, and the Boston Children's Chorus (with the New England Philharmonic), Britten's War Requiem, 8 pm, Cathedral of the Holy Cross, South End, Boston
• Mystic Chorale, Annual Gospel Concert, 8 pm, Boston
• Master Singers of Lexington, "The Art of the State: Songs and Choruses from These United States," 8 pm, Lexington
• New England Classical Singers, "Eternal Light: A Musical Meditation," 7 pm, North Andover
• Chorus North Shore, "“Bravo! Encore! Favorites from Chorus North Shore: 80 Years of Choral Performances," 8 pm, Ipswitch

Sunday:

• Anthology, "Songs from the Heart", 3 pm, Beacon Hill Friends' House, Boston
  
• Mystic Chorale, Annual Gospel Concert, 3:30 pm, Boston
• Chorus North Shore, "“Bravo! Encore! Favorites from Chorus North Shore: 80 Years of Choral Performances," 3 pm, Gloucester

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday links

Maestro Dudamel visits Elmo on Sesame Street.

Congrats to Meryl Streep on her Oscar win last night! Here, she talks to Terry Gross about how her opera training helped her acting.

Singers had better be careful when they go to North Carolina! I wonder what the punishment is.

Stephen Colbert and Placido Domingo together - can't go wrong!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/23/12

I'm not going out to any concerts this weekend, because I'm going to be testing for my second degree black belt on Sunday. But you should get out there and enjoy yourself!

Friday:

• Berklee College of Music Gospel Ensemble, NEC Community Gospel Choir and the Endicott Singers, "Gospel Journeys", 7:30 pm, Beverly (more info here.)

Saturday:

• Boston College University Chorale, Mozart's Coronation Mass and other selections, 2:00 pm, Chestnut Hill

Sunday:

• Labyrinth Choir, "We Who Believe in Freedom", 2 pm, Framingham
  
• Nashoba Valley Chorale, Harvard Pro Musica, and the Indian Hill Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Haydn's Harmoniemesse, 3 pm, Littleton
• Eliot Church Singers, "The Choral Singer's Art", 3 pm, Newton
• Una Voce, Halalisa Singers, Vessels of Honor, GBCCA Choral Society, and Charles Street A.M.E. Gospel Choir, "Many Voices, One Song", 7 pm, Boston (more info here.)

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday links

I was at the ACDA conference last week, so I'm a little behind on everything. Here, have some links that I myself have not had time to read! Tell me if they're interesting.

On concert silence...

A deaf and hearing children's choir in Africa...

A lego harpsichord...

The lifespan of the voice...

Do you have any links we should look at?

Friday cat post!

Having trouble sleeping? Then imitating some of these kitty sleeping poses will probably not be the least bit of help.

Monday links

RIP, Whitney Houston.

I never became a strong fan of her most well-known pop tunes, but in college I discovered the soundtrack to the movie The Preacher's Wife, and it is still one of my all-time favorite albums. There is some GREAT gospel on there. (Thanks to both Houston and the Georgia Mass Choir, who are no slouches.) I sang the song "Step by Step" as I biked across the country in 2001, and nothing can top that version of "Joy to the World." Whitney, we'll miss your effortless voice and joyful singing. We wish we could have had more of it, but we're happy for the "Joy" you brought while you were here.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/9

I have two concerts coming up this weekend with Schola Cantorum - Friday in Boston, and Sunday in Providence. Please join us for one of them - there are some very silly madrigals on there in addition to some very beautiful motets!

Friday:

• Schola Cantorum, "The Folly of Love: Motets and Chansons by Lassus and de Rore", 8 pm, Boston

Saturday:

• Master Singers of Lexington w/ the Clarke Middle School Choruses, Annual Children's Concert, 3 pm, Lexington
  
• Libana, Music and Dance from Women Around the World, 8 pm, Littleton

Sunday:

• Schola Cantorum, "The Folly of Love: Motets and Chansons by Lassus and de Rore", 3:30 pm, Providence
• Soweto Gospel Choir, presented by Celebrity Series Boston, 3 pm, Boston
  
• Heritage Chorale, "Pops Diamond Jubilee", 4 pm, Framingham
  
• Scituate High School Select Choir w/ South Shore Interfaith Choir, Fundraiser for the Scituate Food Pantry, 4 pm, Scituate. More info here (scroll down).
• Concord Five Choirs Festival, works by Bruckner, Mendelssohn, and others, 4 pm, Concord
  
• Libana, Music and Dance from Women Around the World, 7 pm, Easton
• Boston Camerata, "The Game of Love", 8 pm, Boston

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Producers in England are looking for a bass to sing the lowest-ever-written-note for a choral bass part in the new work by Paul Mealor. More details are here - Boston basses, represent! Via my mother.