Caturday cat post!

Gosh, it's September already? No more summer slacking-off? I guess that means it's time to start up some regular blogging again. Have a cat-in-a-box! (Some of you may appreciate the box more than the cat.)

Audition time!

I decided to throw the blog to the winds for the duration of August, but I'm sure you were all too busy getting in some last-minute hammock time to notice.

However, it's September! And that means...audition time!

The one and only place to go for audition information is the Greater Boston Choral Consortium site, bostonsings.org. Their audition page has pretty much everything on it. However, if you don't see your chorus of choice listed there, you should still assume they are auditioning and contact them directly.

One group that is not listed there is one of my new groups, The Notables. The Notables are a women's a cappella group that meets and performs on Wednesday mornings. For the first half of the fall and spring semesters, rehearsals are 9:30-11:30 on Wednesday mornings in the Wellesley/Weston area. For the second half of the semester, each Wednesday morning we visit a different senior center or retirement home, and perform! We are particularly looking for a high soprano and a low alto, so if you like a cappella music (think "Java Jive" and "Mister Sandman") please contact me to set up an audition!

And one group that is listed there is my other new group, the Arlington-based women's chorus Cantilena. We are holding open rehearsals, with auditions after rehearsals, all Mondays in September. Details are here. We, too, are looking for anyone in general and high sopranos in particular, so if you are interested in singing some awesome Scandanavian music that is on our fall program (Sallinen, Rautavaara, and Rachmaninoff, oh my!) contact me!

One group that is not listed on bostonsings.org is Handel & Haydn. They are professional; if you want to audition for them, details are here. One thing they don't mention is that the deadline for receiving audition tapes/CD's is October 1st, so if you don't already have a recording of yourself, time to start planning!

Also not listed on bostonsings.org is information about the Christmas Revels, which I hear is time-consuming but always a good time; information for that is here. There are spots for both adults and children.

If you have information about other groups that are auditioning, please leave it in the comments!

Friday cat post!

This is an older picture, but I don't think I've posted it yet, and it really is cute. Possibly titled "I was going to make you breakfast, but I eated it."

Tuesday link

Today's link comes to you from Ethan Zuckerman, via my dad.

It's a 37-minute talk with Itay Talgam, who talks about different leadership styles in conducting, and analyzes the conducting and leadership of different famous conductors. If you are a conductor, I highly recommend watching it!

(Side note: While watching it, he was talking a lot about responsibility and control, and I found myself wishing he would use the word "enable," which is one of the most important words to me about what conductors do. And then he did! Made me happy!)

Friday cat post!

My brother says, "Oomi was just sleeping on Ruth and then all of a sudden looked very alarmed and was staring at the ceiling." I call this "OMG, it's Ceiling Cat!"

Carmen reviews

The BOC's production of Carmen, which took over my life for the past two months, is OVER. I celebrated on Monday by going on a long bike ride, including a stop at an ice cream stand in Carlisle, and watching a lot of Stargate: Atlantis. Carmen was a great experience - I'm especially thankful for all the great people I got to meet during the production - but it's nice to have my life back!

Two reviews are here and here. I take issue with the first a little. For one thing, I thought that that cast's Carmen deserved way more gushing than just the adjective "sultry"!

Also, the reviews do not mention the exceptional cymbal-playing in the orchestra. (Although quite a number of middle-aged women came up to compliment me while I was sitting in the pit during intermissions; it happened often enough to form a trend. I think that perhaps 50 years ago women were not encouraged to play cymbals and they got quite a vicarious thrill out of seeing me do it. I was, admittedly, quite loud. Someone should form a women's amateur percussion ensemble in the area, because from what I saw, there is quite a market for middle-aged and elderly women who would like to play cymbals and never got the chance! It could be called "The Cymbals of Progress" and we could all dress up like Rosie the Riveter and march around the streets of Cambridge and Boston and make an unholy amount of noise.)

Tuesday link

This week's link is sad news concerning the death on July 21 of noted professor and scholar of African-American music, Horace Clarence Boyer.

There is a biography on the PBS website, and an obituary on the UMass Amherst website, where he taught for over twenty years.

When he was a teenager, he started recording gospel records with his brother James. Together they were "The Boyer Brothers" and they toured extensively. You can hear one of their recordings on Youtube.

Thanks to my friend Josh for alerting me to this news!

Audition notice

Over the coming month or two, I am sure the audition notices will fly thick and fast. Here's the first one!

Schola Nocturna, a small vocal ensemble of mixed voices based in Newton, MA, is looking for all voices for next year. Singers must be strong sight-readers, and have some prior experience in a choral setting. Singers will learn to read original chant notation and become conversant with performance practice. In addition, four-part literature will be sung.

Schola Nocturna sings ancient Latin chant and polyphony for a monthly non-denominational compline service on the first Sunday of each month at 8:30 PM with a warm up from 6:30
PM. Rehearsals are the previous two Saturdays from 10 AM to 12PM. Auditions are by appointment only; contact information for setting up an audition is here. Please prepare one short a cappella piece. You will be asked to try a few aural and rhythmic tests as
well as a bit of sight reading. More information about Schola Nocturna and Night Prayer can be found here. Schola Nocturna is directed by Amelia LeClair.

Friday cat post! (technically Caturday cat post)

It's belated, and also rotated!



Anyone know how to rotate Youtube videos?

Monday link

My dad sent me this link. This is by a group called Perpetuum Jazzile, and their website calls them "Slovenia's only jazz choir." They are conducted by Tomaž Kozlevčar, who is also their art director.



They have several videos up on YouTube. They are a lot of fun! And on a presentational note, I love the way they dress the group - they look unified, and professional, but not identical.

Friday cat post!

Your Oomi picture today is a (very short) video. Apparently my brother and sister-in-law are going to teach their cat to play fetch.

New jobs!

So, waaay back in May two very exciting things happened. Initially I didn't blog about them because I was asked not to for a few days by the hiring committees, but now it's been what, almost two months? And I can only explain my lack of blogging by the "it's gotta be great" phenomenon. I'm sure other bloggers are familiar with this - you put off blogging something for a few days, and then you feel that because you procrastinated it has to be a really good entry, and then you put it off for a few more days, and then you feel like now it's got to be a GREAT entry, and it snowballs from there. But, as the president of Cantilena said, I am rather Bizet right now. That's my excuse!

So, this non-great entry is just to celebrate the fact that I am the new director of BOTH:

Cantilena, a women's chorale that meets in Arlington on Monday evenings. I am so excited about this group! They are really sharp - they learned the piece I brought into my audition like nobody's business, and their spring concert was stellar. (That is a pun, for anyone who was there.) I get to keep exploring women's choral repertoire, which has always been one of my interests, and I have my very own chorus! Woohoo! Also, the group as a whole is very interested in new music. Clearly this was meant to be.

and

The Notables, a women's a cappella group that meets in the Lexington/Wellesley area every Wednesday morning and performs at local senior centers and rest homes. (We will have a website up soon here, although nothing is there yet.) The repertoire is fun pop and jazz standards, and they even have very cute choreography, which I will do my best not to mess with, not being a choreographer! I'm very excited that they focus on volunteer performances for seniors, too; I'm happy to have found a group that puts together making great music with reaching out to the community.

So, next year is going to be very exciting for me! I won't deny being a little nervous, but also very happy and excited. I'm also going to try and curb my other activities, particularly theatrical ones, so that my schedule doesn't get so hectic. We'll see how that goes. (All my friends are rolling their eyes right now.)

Michael Jackson

Jay Smooth gives his thoughts on Michael Jackson's passing - this is well, well worth watching even if Michael Jackson was not a big part of your life, as he was not a big part of mine.

Monday link

In honor of Carmen, which is opening this weekend, this week's link is opera-related.

The New York Times has a very interesting article about the difficulties the Met encounters in casting opera stars. They have to be cast years in advance, and of course that leaves a lot of time for things to go wrong.

The New York Times site requires you to log in, so feel free to use the following:
username: letmeinpiggy
password: chinnychin

Weekend Concert Calendar...not

So, Weekend Concert Calendar is going to go on hiatus until September. Almost all the local choruses are on hiatus until the fall, so there's not a lot to report. Go to a Summer Sing, and when September rolls around, I'll start posting concert lists again!

Tuesday link

Instead of a Monday link, have a Tuesday link!

This week we have a bit of news (that is, admittedly, about a month old.) Joseph Jennings has retired as the music director of Chanticleer. He's been there for 26 years. We'll see what happens next!

Happy July 4th!

I've probably posted this before, but it's worth posting again. Happy July 4th, everyone!

Friday cat post!

Dispatch from my brother:

"Oomi likes to play pool. First she was confused as to where the pool balls go when you sink them (the table has the system where they go down tubes and end up in a tray under one end of the table). Then she decided she would just sit on the table and when a ball got near a hole, she would pounce on it and drive it into the hole."

Where did the ball go?

It must be down there...if I can just...reach...it!

Summer Sings!

Well, the summer is not exactly new, but here are the remaining summer sings in the area! Let me know if I missed anything, and I will add it to the list (so, this post may change over the next few weeks; feel free to check back!)

Tuesday, July 7, at 8 pm
Bach's Magnificat
Conducted by Katherine FitzGibbon, hosted by The Masterworks Chorale

Monday, July 13, at 8 pm
Handel's Messiah (selections)
Conducted by William Sano, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Tuesday, July 14 at 8 pm
Faure's Requiem
Conducted by Steven Karidoyanes, hosted by The Masterworks Chorale

Monday, July 20, at 8 pm
Verdi's Manzoni Requiem
Conducted by Dirk Hillyer, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Tuesday, July 21, at 8 pm
Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass
Conducted by Amy Lieberman, hosted by The Masterworks Chorale

Monday, July 27, at 8 pm
Mozart's Requiem
Conducted by Robert Russell, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Tuesday, July 28, at 8 pm
Vivaldi's Gloria
Conducted by Jane Ring Frank, hosted by The Masterworks Chorale

Monday, August 3, at 7:30 pm
Mozart's Requiem
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica

Monday, August 3, at 8 pm
Brahms' Requiem
Conducted by David Callahan, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Tuesday, August 4, at 8 pm
Mendelssohn's Elijah
Conducted by Anne Watson Born, hosted by The Masterworks Chorale

Monday, August 10, at 7:30 pm
Durufle's Requiem
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica

Monday, August 10, at 8 pm
Faure's Requiem
Conducted by Max Hobart, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Monday, August 17, at 7:30 pm
Poulenc's Gloria
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica

Monday, August 17, at 8 pm
Orff's Carmina Burana
Conducted by Jeffrey Brody, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Monday, August 24, at 7:30 pm
Haydn's Creation (abridged)
Conducted by Betsy Burleigh, hosted by Chorus pro Musica

Monday, August 24, at 8 pm
Mendelssohn's Elijah (choral selections)
Conducted by Valerie Taylor, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Monday, August 31, at 8 pm
Rutter's Requiem and Vivaldi's Gloria
Conducted by Paul Madore, hosted by the Paul Madore Chorale

Weekend Concert Calendar, 7/2/09...sorta

So, it's summer. This means there is not a ton of choral music going on in Boston, since most of the choruses disband for the summer. There are some neat concert series, but they are mostly for chamber music of various sorts. And you can always go out to Tanglewood - here's their vocal schedule.

And on top of that, it's July 4th weekend! So I got nuthin'. If you are brave, go out to the Esplanade, listen to the concert, and watch the fireworks. If you believe discretion is the better part of valor, then enjoy your personal celebrations. Either way, I hope your weekend features good food and good company!

Zefiro concerts!

So, that last entry where I mentioned that I was not always very good about publishing my concerts? Yes, well...

Last night (oops), tonight (oops) and tomorrow night (maybe you can come!) Zefiro is performing three concerts as part of the SoHIP (Society for Historically Informed Performance) summer concert series in the greater Boston area. Last night we were in Weston; tonight we sang in Andover; and tomorrow we will be performing at Lindsey Chapel in Emmanuel Church right in downtown Boston.

This is the same programme we performed in the spring, but we've swapped out a few pieces and added a few new ones, and I have to say, it is a great programme, and it flows beautifully. I hope you can come!

I will be leaving Zefiro at the end of the summer; this past year was overwhelmingly busy, and I've had a few new projects enter my life, so something had to go, and it was the group that rehearses in another state. We have one concert in August at Taylor House, but other than that, this will be my last concert with these guys! It's rather sad; they're a fun group of people, and singing Renaissance music with top-notch singers is so enjoyable. So this is one of your last chances to hear me sing with them!

Carmen!

So, I am not always good about publishing my current projects. One of my goals is to improve my own publicity. So this week, you will get a few personal updates.

My current big project is that I am Assistant Music Director for the Boston Opera Collaborative's production of Carmen. What does the title mean, you ask? It means that I am the cover for the conductor (if he gets sick or abducted by aliens, then I conduct the show.) I also help him out with whatever he needs, and cover rehearsals when he can't be there. Mostly, however, I need to be ready to conduct anything at any time, just in case.

This is very exciting, and a huge learning experience. I think this is the first time that I have ever had to learn the score of a show from scratch with the goal of being able to conduct it. I've conducted Gilbert & Sullivan before, but I grew up on those shows, so they're already completely integrated into my blood. And for Otello, I only had to learn the chorus parts. This is a bigger nut to crack, so I'm learning a lot about how I learn, and what exactly I need to know in order to conduct and what I don't. (Sample hint: You don't actually have to be able to sing all the French up to tempo in order to conduct it.) However, despite not having to sing any French, I am using the show as an excuse to learn French diction, so I'm also taking weekly French diction lessons during the run of the show.

Another way in which the show is a learning experience is the fact that I've never worked with this caliber of singers before. The whole cast is extremely professional. It's interesting to figure out when to follow, and when to lead. Luckily, the music director, Michael Sakir, is very good, so watching him and how he works is very helpful. He's also very considerate about letting me conduct in rehearsals so I see how all the tempo changes work.

Staging started Saturday, and it's really fun to watch the director work. He demonstrates everything, and watching him move as different characters is fascinating. I would love to see him acting in something, as well as directing.

The show goes up in mid-July. Performances are July 17-19 and 24-26, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 and Sunday performances at 3 pm. They will be in the Bulger Performing Arts Center at Boston College High School, 150 Morrissey Blvd, Boston. This show has great music, and great performers, and great directors, and there's a small chance I'll be crashing some cymbals together, so please come!

Monday link

Last week I mentioned Stile Antico; this week several people, including my mother and some of my church choir members, e-mailed me a link to a story on NPR about them. So, for your listening enjoyment, here it is!

(It rather bugs me, I must say, that the NPR blurb-writer harped on the lack of a conductor so much. Renaissance music really, really doesn't need a conductor if the singers are at a professional level. Ever tried singing Renaissance music w/o a conductor? It's REALLY EASY. And the things that separate a spectacular group from a good one are not things that can be helped by a conductor. Peter Phillips just needs to sit the heck down. Stile Antico is impressive for a number of reasons, but the lack of a conductor isn't one of them.)

Auditions!

Audition notice - straight from my inbox to you!

"The Spectrum Singers are auditioning experienced choral singers in all voice parts on July 13. Spectrum is a select group of singers that performs music from the pre-Renaissance through to the present, and in a broad range of musical styles. Music Director John W. Ehrlich asks that auditionees prepare a German or French lied or aria. For more information about Spectrum or to schedule an audition, go to www.spectrumsingers.org, send an e-mail to info@spectrumsingers.org, or leave a message on the chorus telephone 617-492-8902."

Friday cat post!

This is a flashback picture, from when Oomi was smaller than she is now. The point of this picture, of course, is the wagging tail.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 6/25/09...kinda

Well, now that BEMF is over, there is not a lot going on besides summer sings, which I will truly get my act together and post about soon, really.

The only other thing I have is that the Christ's College Choir of Cambridge University is touring the area early next week. They will be at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 4 Ocean Street, Beverly, MA at 7:30 pm on Monday, and at First Parish Church in Wakefield, 1 Church St., Wakefield, MA at 7:30 pm on Tuesday.

Got anything else? Leave it in the comments!

Masterworks Summer Sings!

This is just a quick hit to let you know that Summer Sings have started up already! At some point I will try to do a complete list of sings in the area, but for now, have the Masterworks schedule. (They are very nice about sending me info, and I am very disorganized about getting it up here, so sadly the first sing has already passed us by, but the second is tonight!)

They are Tuesday evenings at 8 pm, at the Noble and Greenough School, Lawrence Auditorium, Wheeler Music Center, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham. Admission is $10/$9 sen./$5 stu. Scores are available to borrow.

6/23 - Mozart Requiem
6/30 - Brahms Requiem
7/7 - Bach Magnificat
7/14 - Faure Requiem
7/21 - Haydn Lord Nelson Mass
7/28 - Vivaldi Gloria
8/4 - Mendelssohn Elijah (abridged)

Monday link

I didn't see this group, Stile Antico, at BEMF, but they have a very intriguing article in the Globe, as well as a fairly good review. Did anyone else see this concert? Is anyone familiar with this group? I'm thinking I might have to pick up a CD.

No Weekend Concert Calendar for 6/18/09

No weekend concert calendar this week folks, sorry! I am off to a WEDDING tomorrow (of this spectacular individual and her equally spectacular but website-less fiance) and I have rather a lot to do before then, including the Boston Opera Collaborative's concert La Belle Epoque concert tonight. Enjoy the rain!

Monday link

If only conducting was really like this...

Audition notice

This announcement is copied wholesale out of an e-mail that arrived in my inbox!

The Spectrum Singers announce auditions on Monday, June 15.

Auditioning experienced choral singers in all voice parts. Spectrum is a select group of singers that performs music from the pre-Renaissance through to the present, in a broad range of musical styles. Music Director John W. Ehrlich asks that auditionees prepare a German or French lied or aria.

For more information about Spectrum or to schedule an audition, go to www.spectrumsingers.org, send an e-mail to info@spectrumsingers.org, or leave a message on the chorus telephone 617-492-8902.

Friday cat post!

Oomi wonders why, exactly, my brother is always clicking that strange contraption at him her.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 6/11/09

The two main events of the weekend are the wrapping up of the Boston Early Music Festival; and Gay Pride week! Go hear some world-class 80's, and then check out the Boston Gay Men's Chorus singing 80's music. You will have a well-rounded weekend. Don't forget, the BEMF Concert Calendar is here, and the Fringe Festival calendar is here.

Friday:

10 am: University of North Texas Baroque Orchestra & Collegium Singers; “Deus Judicium Tuum”: Sacred Music of Kuhnau and Telemann; Church of the Covenant, Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

7:45 pm: The Arlington-Belmont Chorale; Annual POPS! Concert: Music of the 1930's; Arlington Town Hall

8 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun: Totally 80's!"; John Hancock Hall, Back Bay Events Center.

8 pm: Stile Antico; "Song of Songs: Sensuous Polyphony from the Courts of Renaissance Europe"; Emmanuel Church in Boston. BEMF Festival Concert.

Saturday:

12:30 pm: Convivium Musicum; "Going for Baroque"; Church of St. John the Evangelist. BEMF Fringe concert.

12:30 pm: Polyhymnia; "Exequias: Music for the Royal Funerals of Renaissance Spain"; Lindsey Chapel of Emmanuel Church. BEMF Fringe concert.

12:45 pm: Oriana Consort; "Music from the Late and Early Baroque"; First Lutheran Church of Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

4:30 pm: Music Divine; “Missa Salve diva parens” by Jacob Obrecht; First Lutheran Church of Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

5:00 pm: La Donna Musicale; "La Virtuosa di Venezia: Anna Bon"; Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

7:30 pm: Libana; Summer Solstice Celebration; First Parish in Bedford

11 pm (yes, you read that right): Tragicomedia and Friends; "Here I am, ready for kisses: The Many Sides of Love in Monteverdi’s Madrigals"; NEC's Jordan Hall. BEMF Festival Concert.

Sunday:

1 pm: Coolidge Corner Community Chorus; "Rose Garden Serenade"; Minot Rose Garden in Brookline

7 pm: Boston Gay Men's Chorus; "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun: Totally 80's!"; John Hancock Hall, Back Bay Events Center.

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link (slippin' it in under the wire!)

Check out this video of the song Stand By Me, played by 35 musicians from all around the globe.

It is amazing - I am blown away by the manner in which people who are not even on the same continent while they are playing, and who are not playing at the same time, can still create such a deft musical give-and-take. Also, I love the all the voices, but the first singer's voice especially...I would love to go out to that sidewalk and just sit and listen for a few hours.

Friday cat post!

Today we have some special guest stars. My parents are currently in China, and my father sent me these two photos of some Chinese cats.




My father titled the second "Cat on a Hutong roof." (Yes, I grew up with puns like that my entire childhood.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 6/4/09

Here it is, your weekend concert calendar! This week it is All BEMF, All the Time.

6/6 through 6/14 is the Boston Early Music Festival and Exhibition. Check out their site for details. There are many, many concerts, several of them featuring choral music (of course!) The festival schedule is here; the fringe concert schedule is here. I have also tried to note all choral concerts below - scold me in the comments if I missed something!

Friday:

8:00 pm: Exsultemus; The Elvas Songbook: Portuguese and Spanish songs of the Renaissance; First Lutheran Church of Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

Saturday:

8:00 pm: Newton Community Chorus; Puccini’s Gloria and Stabat Mater; Our Lady Help of Christians' Church in Newton.

Sunday:

1:00 pm: ¡Sacabuche!; The Venetian Influence; Emmanuel Church. BEMF Fringe concert.

2:00 pm: Vox Lucens, Love, Sweet and Deadly: Monteverdi’s Book I, Goethe-Institut Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

Tuesday:

12:00 pm: Cappella Clausura; "From Bingen to Salzinnes...to Persia"; Gordon Chapel, Old South Church. BEMF Fringe concert.

Wednesday:

3:0 pm: Ensemble Suave; "Love Kills Sweetly: 17th- and 18th-Century Italian Vocal Works"; Gordon Chapel, Old South Church. BEMF Fringe concert.

4:00 pm: Zefiro; "Music of Renaissance England and Spain"; Clarendon Room in the Radisson
Hotel, Boston. Part of the SoHIP concerts at the BEMF Exhibition. I'm singing in this one!

Thursday:

11:00 am: The C. W. Post Madrigal Singers, The Merriweather Consort, and the C. W. Post Guitar Ensemble; Divine Frenzy: La musica degli angeli terreni; Church of the Covenant, Boston. BEMF Fringe concert.

Did I miss anything? (Possible, as the Boston Globe Calendar is currently down.) Leave it in the comments!

Wednesday link

Well, I forgot to do a Monday link, so have a Wednesday link!

New Study by Chorus America Finds Positive Benefits of Choruses and Choral Singing for Children, Adults, and Communities

The study was produced by Chorus America. It was funded with support from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, an anonymous donor, and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/28/09

It's a less busy weekend than I had anticipated - I think most choruses have already disbanded for the summer. That Handel & Haydn at the Hatchshell on Sunday looks like fun, I must say!

Friday:

• 8:00 pm: Lexington Pops Chorus; "Songs and Readings from the American Civil War"; Lexington Hancock Church

Saturday:

• 7:00 pm: The Braintree Choral Society and the Choral Art Society; Mendelssohn’s St. Paul oratorio; Thayer Academy Center for the Arts
• 7:30 pm: Exsultemus; "The Elvas Songbook: Music of 16th Century Portugal"; St. Anthony's Church in Lowell
  
• 8:00 pm: Lexington Pops Chorus; "Songs and Readings from the American Civil War"; Lexington Hancock Church
• 8:00 pm: Musica Sacra; "In Music Is Such Art: Choral Music with Texts from Shakespeare"; First Church Congregational in Cambridge
• 8:00 pm: The Paul Madore Chorale; "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins"; Salem High School
  

Sunday:

• 3:00 pm: Handel and Haydn Society; Haydn's Creation; Boston Hatch Shell
• 3:00 pm: Chorus Pro Musica; Puccini's Turandot; NEC's Jordan Hall
  

Monday link - sick

Blergh. I have come down with a cold - it started on Saturday, so it pretty effectively squashed the whole weekend for me. So, in honor of my current state, I'll link you to The Chorister's suggestions for what to do when you're sick. I've only heard of echinacea - anyone else have experience with olive leaf extract or bee propolis? (Hat tip to the Choralnet blog, btw, for pointing me at this entry.)

Or I could always take my own advice.

Friday cat post!

Well, you didn't get a Monday link or a Weekend Concert Calendar this week, but at least I'm doing the Friday cat post!



Oomi jumped into a closet and burrowed into a shelf of clothes. This is why you should only buy clothes the color of your cat.

Friday cat post!

It was pointed out to me that last Friday I completely and utterly neglected to do a cat post. And I didn't even remember my forgetfulness until it was pointed out to me. Sorry about that!

Today's picture can very aptly be named "Portrait of Basement Cat."

Weekend Concert Calendar, 5/14/09

I am going to play around with the format of the concert calendar, I think. The one I did a couple of weeks ago ended up being a bit easier to read, even if it had less information, so I'm going to see how a variation on that works. Feedback about how you would like me to format the weekend concert calendar is welcome!

This weekend is very big for me. Anthology is having three concerts (actually, four - we had one yesterday evening as well) and these will be our last concerts until the fall. Vicky, one of our sopranos, is due to have a baby in about a week and a half (and we are crossing our fingers that the munchkin doesn't come too soon!) They are going to be very fun - we decided to do a concert of all fun and funny songs. So there will be Monty Python, dirty Renaissance rounds, numerous songs about food, PDQ Bach, Sesame Street, Broadway (complete with bowler hats), and of course a bit of Disney. ("Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid, to be precise.) Please come! There is even a world premiere composed by one of us on the text "Don't Bump the Glump" by Shel Silverstein.

Here are the details:
Friday, May 15, 8pm - Shirley Meetinghouse, 41 Brown St, Shirley, MA
Saturday, May 16, 8pm - Center for Arts at the Armory Cafe, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA
Sunday, May 17, 4pm - Central Congregational Church, 85 Seaverns Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA

I hope to see many of you there!

Friday:

• 8:00 pm: Anthology! "Cain't Say No," Shirley Meetinghouse
  
• 8:00 pm: Halalisa Singers, "Roots and Wings - Celebrating the Best of Halalisa," Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills
• 8:00 pm: Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus, "Music for a Spring Evening," including J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 68, "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" and "Singing In Tongues" by Christopher Haynes, First Parish Unitarian-Universalist Church in Arlington

Saturday:

• 8:00 pm: Anthology! "Cain't Say No," Center for Arts at the Armory Cafe in Somerville
  
• 5:00 pm: Somerville Community Chorus, Spring Concert featuring songs of Peace and Love, including G.F. Handel's "The Anthem on the Peace," College Avenue United Methodist Church
• 7:30 pm: New England Classical Singers, "My Spirit Sang All day," an eclectic mix of music by American and British composers, First Calvary Baptist Church
• 8:00 pm: Back Bay Chorale, Brahms Requiem; Wachner's "Come My Dark Eyed One" (world premiere), Sanders Theater at Harvard
• 8:00 pm: Newburyport Choral Society and Orchestra, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Belleville Congregational Church
• 8:00 pm: Halalisa Singers, "Roots and Wings - Celebrating the Best of Halalisa," First Parish in Lexington
• 8:00 pm: Spectrum Singers, Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore and Coronation Mass, First Church Congregational in Cambridge
• 8:00 pm: Assabet Valley Master Singers, works by Corigliano and Thompson, Chapel of the Cross in Westborough
• 8:00 pm: Newton Choral Society, Poulenc's Mass in G and Duruflé's Requiem, The Second Church in Newton

Sunday:

• 4:00 pm: Anthology! "Cain't Say No," Central Congregational Church in Jamaica Plain
  
• 2:00 pm: In Choro Novo, "A Spring Rhapsody," Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham
• 2:30 pm: Newburyport Choral Society and Orchestra, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Belleville Congregational Church
• 3:00 pm: Masterworks Chorale, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Sanders Theater at Harvard
• 3:00 pm: Boston Secession, "Dolci Momenti," Gordon Chapel, Old South Church
• 3:00 pm: Cambridge Community Chorus, Brahms Schicksalslied and Cherubini's Requiem in C minor, Kresge Auditorium at MIT
• 4:00 pm: All Saints’ Choir of Men and Boy, Choral Evensong and Benediction, Parish of All Saints in Dorchester
• 4:00 pm: DeVaronistas, Music from Three Continents, Pleasant Street Congregational Church in Arlington
  
• 4:00 pm: Cantata Singers and students from the Boston Arts Academy, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Songs of Terezin Concentration Camp," the Vilna Shul in Boston
  
• 7:30 pm: Quincy Choral Society, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Sacred Heart Church in North Quincy
• 7:30 pm: The Zamir Chorale of Boston, Koleinu, Kol Rinah and Shir Tsiyon, Jewish Choral Festival, The Fenway Center in Boston
• 7:30 pm: Concord Chorus, Fauré's Requiem, St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Acton

Did I forget anything? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

From my friend Margaret Ronald (who has a new novel out, btw! Although that has nothing to do with this amusing picture below. But I have a few extras - if you are the first person to comment and ask, it's possible I might send you one for free.)

I assume credit for this flowchart goes to Robert Bolyard, whose e-mail address is in the picture. (Click on the image to make it open bigger in a new window.) Warning for salty language, if you care about that sort of thing.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Weekend Concert Calendar...whoops!

I just realized that it is Friday and I did not post a concert calendar yesterday! Profound apologies - I am completely snowed under by various performances, auditions, rehearsals, and sundry other activities, and so I am afraid that this week you will have to do your own research.

Special apologies to all the groups who are giving wonderful performances this weekend and whom I am not advertising here.

And finally, come to Iolanthe! Tonight and tomorrow afternoon are the last two performances! And did I mention I'm conducting in a tiara?

Interview with Amelia LeClair, Transcript, Part 7

Here's the transcription of the seventh and last part of my interview with Amelia LeClair. You can find the previous parts here: one, two, three, four, five, six. Don't forget that Cappella Clausura, the group she directs, is performing this weekend! They will be at Grace Church in Salem this Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. (They also performed this past weekend - hopefully some of you made it to those concerts!)

Interview with Amelia LeClair at the Cafe Algiers, Cambridge, MA, on 4/22/09, cont.

Q: All right, time for the questionnaire!
A: OK!
Q: All right, here we go. Just answer immediately, you don’t have to think about it hard. What is your favorite word?
A: Oh my God. [laughs] Maybe that’s it.
Q: Don’t think about it!
A: My favorite word? Oh, wow, I have a lot of favorite words, I love words.
Q: Pick one. Or you can list a bunch, that’s acceptable.
A: Chicken.
Q: What’s your least favorite word?
A: Chicken. Because it’s funny.
Q: What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
A: Music.
Q: What turns you off creatively, spiritually, or emotionally?
A: Bad music.
Q: [laughs] What sound or noise that is non-musical do you love?
A: Two hammers.
Q: Two hammers?
A: Take two household hammers and bang them together. They make a very cool sound.
Q: All right. What sound or noise that is non-musical do you dislike?
A: Oh, chalk on a blackboard.
Q: What’s your favorite curse word?
A: The f-word.
Q: OK! You’re allowed to say it, but I won’t force you. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? This is an interesting question for you, because you decided, and then you did it. A lot of people don’t necessarily make that informed a choice. But what would your second choice be?
A: If I had another life, and I could expend it in another way, I would be an oceanographer.
Q: And what profession would you absolutely never want to be?
A: Accounting.
Q: Name one of your favorite composers.
A: Brahms.
Q: Name one composer where you just don’t see what all the fuss is about.
A: Wagner.
Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
A: “What shall we sing?”

Interview with Amelia LeClair, Transcript, Part 6

Here's the transcription of the sixth part of my interview with Amelia LeClair. You can find the previous parts here: one, two, three, four, five, and there is one more part to come. Don't forget that Cappella Clausura, the group she directs, is performing this weekend! They will be at Grace Church in Salem this Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. (They also performed this past weekend - hopefully some of you made it to those concerts!)

Interview with Amelia LeClair at the Cafe Algiers, Cambridge, MA, on 4/22/09, cont.

Q: Who are some of your favorite conductors?
A: My favorite conductors?
Q: People that you really respect, people that you would look to emulate, people that you admire.
A: Hm. Well. Simon, of course. I have never sung for David Hoose, but I understand he’s pretty damn good, I’d like to see him, I’d like to sing for him, but I don’t think that I ever will. Let’s see. You know, I haven’t sung for a lot of people, so I don’t really know, because I don’t have a lot of experience. This is the anomaly of my life, I haven’t had the experience to be a conductor or even a singer –
Q: Except –
A: Except…right. I don’t know. I always think I should join a choir, but I don’t have time.
Q: Yes, it’s time-consuming.
A: Yes. Another night out.
Q: Are there big-name conductors that you may have seen conduct a symphony, or not even, but have read interviews with, or…?
A: Well, actually, when I grew up, yes. When I grew up I thought George Szell was god. I loved George Szell. I never went to see him conduct, because I didn’t have that kind of money, but I bought every recording he ever made. I also really liked – well, OK. I didn’t like Leonard Bernstein. I didn’t like Seiji Ozawa. I didn’t like Daniel Barenboim. I mean, all the orchestral conductors, the big guys, the big-wigs, I was very finicky about them. Because I grew up – well, I taught myself, really, by listening to a lot of orchestral music. And, you know, when you get to know a piece really, really well then you compare the way you’ve heard it to another rendition, and you kind of know, “OK, this is what I like, this is what I don’t like.” One of the things I always liked about George Szell was I loved all the Mozart symphonies. And one of the things that George Szell did which I thought was fabulous was that he always brought out the woodwinds.
Q: What?
A: He brought out the woodwinds. And you would never hear them in other renditions. You know, Eugene Ormandy, oh, lush strings, and that’s all you would hear was lush strings, well, where’s that clarinet? Where is that incredible clarinet? So I’m always listening for that – somebody who brings out that thing, that particular sound that I know is in there, and I’m listening but I’m not hearing it. I don’t know, that doesn’t answer your question very well.
Q: No, that does answer it! Very well. Before I get to the little ten-question ending questionnaire, what skills would you tell young conductors to go acquire?
A: People skills. [laughs]
Q: Good answer.
A: Yes. People skills. I think – you can go a long way to being successful with your choir if you can humor them into doing everything that you want them to do. And you need to humor them. I don’t think – what’s the word?
Q: Brow-beating?
A: Brow-beating, yes! [laughs] It doesn’t work. It just makes people feel bad. And being autocratic doesn’t work. It just makes people feel bad. And singers – I mean, I’m one of them. I’ve had my throat just kind of close up when somebody yells at me. It doesn’t work. I want my throat to be nice and open and relaxed, I don’t want it to feel like, “Ugh.” So, humor I think is really big. Looking at your singers as much as you can. Oh, I know. I sang for a guy, Norm MacKenzie. Wonderful guy. He’s the preparer for the Robert Shaw – has been for many years – for the Robert Shaw Chorale. I don’t know who he’s conducting now, but I sang for a week with him, sort of, you know, 24-7 we were together, this small group, 30 people and Norm MacKenzie. And when he conducted us, he looked at every one of us with this look in his eyes like, “You are the most important person in this piece.” And it made you feel like, “OK, I’ll give you anything.” When somebody looks at you like that, you just want to give them your entire life. You say, “OK, you got it! I’ll sing loud, I’ll sing high, I’ll sing low, I’ll sing whatever you want.” Because there’s just a look like, “Oh, aren’t you psyched about this, aren’t you excited, don’t you want to work for me?” That makes a lot of difference, I think. And I try to do that – I think that’s really important. Again, it’s people skills. It’s connecting with your singers on a level that you may not be comfortable doing outside of rehearsal, or you don’t have to do it outside of rehearsal. But inside rehearsal, you have to be the light. You have to be the eyes. You have to be everything.

[to be continued!]

Interview with Amelia LeClair, Transcript, Part 5

Here's the transcription of the fifth part of my interview with Amelia LeClair. You can find the first part here, the second part here, the third part is here, and the fourth part is here, and there is more to come. Don't forget that Cappella Clausura, the group she directs, is performing this weekend! They will be at Grace Church in Salem this Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. (They also performed this past weekend - hopefully some of you made it to those concerts!)

Interview with Amelia LeClair at the Cafe Algiers, Cambridge, MA, on 4/22/09, cont.

Q: So talk to me about some of your ideas about conducting. What’s your philosophy of conducting? Imagine other conductors, and the ways you agree or disagree with them.
A: I guess the…huh.
Q: What do you think are the most important skills to have as a conductor? What do you feel it is that you’re doing?
A: I think the most important skill is to be able to communicate what it is that you are looking for. And I would say that communication comes both from your gesture and from your words. If you’re not a very good spokesperson for music, if you can’t say it, then you should be able to show it, and if you can’t show it, then you should be able to say it. And I think there are an awful lot of conductors who do one or the other. There are very few who do both. I don’t know if I can do both.
Q: Which one do you think you are?
A: I think I show better than I say. I think I do. Because I think that when I started conducting, I felt like --
Q: That’s interesting, because I would say you’re a good sayer, but…yes.
A: Really? Oh, well thank you.
Q: Yes. I mean, your gesture is also very easy to follow, but I would have said that you are very verbal.
A: Oh. Huh. Well, that’s good. I always feel that I’m tripping over myself. [laughs] But I think the reason I say that is because when I started conducting, I felt like I’d found my voice in my hands. It really felt like, this is so natural to me.
Q: Interesting.
A: Yes. Yes. Do you feel that way?
Q: [laughs] No.
A: No? Really?
Q: No. Oh, I’m very – I’m definitely a verbal – “This is what I want. Here we go.” You know.
A: But when you do that…
Q: No, it’s not – I have to work at it. I have to sit there and figure out in a bar, like, how am I going to do this fermata, you know, what this hand has to – and if the hands are going different directions, then I have to practice that.
A: I have to practice that too. Yes. I do too. But there’s something about – you know what taught me the most, and this is what I think everyone should do, this is something that I thought was really genius of Simon. This is the one teaching thing, teaching tool that he had that I thought was fabulous. Do recit. Do recit. Because if you can conduct recit., whether it’s accompanied or dry, if you can conduct that, you can conduct anything. Because there’s so many movements in one measure. Or maybe there isn’t a movement in one measure and you’ve got to stop yourself. And you can’t sing along with the singer, you just have to hold, because you’re just telling the instruments to hold, but then maybe you’ve got a violin who needs to move, you know, and then you’ve got other people holding, so you got to have the left-right agility. And then, you know, you’re going to have some movement for everybody. And then the singer’s going to move. And you’re going to stretch, and contract, and all that kind of stuff. And fermata. You know. It’s all – it teaches you so, so much. And when I first conducted a recit., it was actually one of our exams, I think, a year-end exame where we had to conduct a recit. And I worked and worked and worked and worked at it. And I felt like – at the same time as I knew that I was working really hard to get this right, I also felt like, “This is fabulous. This is great. This is where I belong, you know, doing this.” So it was a nice experience for me, really nice. And as a result of that, I felt like – and this is what I think you need to feel if you really want to bring voices out, or instruments, I guess it works – I don’t know. One of the things I loved about conducting was feeling like the voices were coming out of my hands. You know. All that sound is coming out of my hands. That’s very powerful. Because at the same time, you’re also communicating with your singers on a level that you never communicate with human beings. It’s a real spiritual thing, going on, you know. It’s fabulous. Very exciting.
Q: What in other conductors – you can name conductors who do things you like, or you can not name conductors, but talk about what it is that you don’t like.
A: There are a lot of conductors I’ve sung for whose beat you can’t find. That drives me crazy. [laughs] I mean, I don’t think I have that as an issue, nobody’s told me that’s my issue, I hope it’s not. But if I can’t find the beat, then I just –
Q: Mai-Lan totally would tell you. Hendrik? Come on. If you have issues, you know they’re going to tell you! [ed. note: Mai-Lan Broekman and Hendrik Broekman frequently play viola da gamba and continuo, respectively, with Cappella Clausura and other early music groups in the greater Boston area.]
A: I know, that’s true! [laughs] They have told me.
Q: So clearly that’s not one of your issues!
A: Yes, right. Yes. I think you have to be very clear with your beat, even if you just do a tactus. If you have no gesture whatsoever, if you just do a clear tactus, then – and you may have to strip back down to just a tactus if you’re all flowery. I’ve worked with a couple people who just did these circles. Circles and circles. What the hell does that mean? [laughs] What am I supposed to do with that? Then there are other conductors who never tell you what the meaning is of what you’re singing. You never get a translation, and they don’t talk about – you know, what’s the meaning of the text? And I think the meaning of the text is number one. Absolutely number one. Way before notes, way before rhythm, the thing that makes us different from orchestral conductors is that we have words. And we’ve got to express those words, and tell a story. It’s really important. And I confess, sometimes I get caught up with – depending on which group, when you have an amateur group and they just are not learning the notes, you get caught up in singing, you know – just working on getting the notes, working on getting the notes, and by the time you think about text, it’s almost too late. But that’s an amateur group, you know, and I guess you’ve got to [inaudible] with amateurs not knowing the notes until the concert. Ideally, ideally, I think it’s important to talk about text. I sang for ten years with a group whose conductor never once mentioned the text. And I wanted to raise my hand and say, “What is this word? What does this mean? We don’t have a translation. What am I saying? What am I singing about? Should I feel sad? Should I feel happy? I can’t follow your beat either.”
Q: He didn’t give you a translation?
A: No.
Q: How weird.
A: It is weird. He never talked about it. Never talked about it. And even with English, if you know what the words are, it’s helpful to have a conductor guide you and tell you what this means. Maybe do a little research about the poetry, or something. Something. Even if it’s just telling you the circumstance under which the composer set this particular poem. Something. For example, last night it occurred to me as we were trying to get a handle on this little Margaret of Austria piece that we’re going to be doing, which is this lament written by a royal person – it’s a very private piece of music – and as I was thinking about how to explain the atmosphere you want to put yourself in to sing this music, it occurred to me that – I don’t know if you’ve ever seen these little – in French castles – have you ever been to a French castle? An old French castle?
Q: Probably, but not in memory.
A: In a lot of them, or the ones I’ve been in, they have these little kind of votive areas. It’s a little part of the room that has a hat. It’s like a little round ceiling with a fringe on it or something, and something drawn in that ceiling. It’s like a tiny little chapel ceiling. A dome. And there might be a candle that you’re supposed to put under that. That’s where you do your praying, or that’s where you do whatever, something very private. And it occurred to me that this would be where she might have been praying, at this particular spot, you know, lamenting, weeping, whatever she’s doing, under this little dome. This little dome in her private royal room. So it makes it a very intimate piece. It makes it a very private piece. So that kind of thing, if you can conjur for your singers where they want to put themselves, where they want to be when they sing this piece of music, I think that you help them sing it better. Because then they bring their spirit to it. They’re not just [inaudible] notes, they bring their spirit to it. There was a conductor I sang with – I sang the Brahms Requiem and I will always remember this story, because I thought it was so perfect. She was conducting – which part of it? Oh, I can’t remember which part of it. But it was – it was a section that, as she pointed out, she was saying – and there were two hundred of us – she was saying, “OK. All of you need to think of this piece as basically a piece where you’re holding yourself. And you’re, you know, kind of doing this [hugs self] and you’re rocking yourself.”
Q: Probably the middle movement.
A: I think so. I’m sure it’s in the middle somewhere. But you’re rocking yourself, you’re sort of cradling yourself, you’re trying to soothe yourself because it’s so sad. And you are so sad. And that whole image, I think, changed the way all of us sang it. All of a sudden it was about us, it was about us who are left behind, which is what’s so wonderful about the Brahms Requiem. I hope I can conduct that once before I die. That would be nice.
Q: Simon Carrington would tell you that you just do it.
A: He would. [laughs] “You just do, don’t you?” OK. But that was a neat experience, and it taught me a lot about what you should be as a director. You’re directing. You’re not just teaching notes, you’re directing people in a way to sing a piece of music, in a way to make it come alive, in a way to make it meaningful. Not just for you, but for your audience. Otherwise your audience is going to “ZZZ.” Snores-ville.

[to be continued!]

Monday link

Today's Monday link DOES have a link to music, but you may have to look closely to find it!

My mother is an inline skater, and two weeks ago she entered her first race, the Texas Road Rash. She came in second, and next year she will try for first and not spend her time, as she said, "chatting up all the policemen stationed on the course!" You can read a little interview with her at the Hill Country Inline Club, where she is the Skater of the Month.

Anyone catch the musical link?

Interview with Amelia LeClair, Transcript, Part 4

Here's the transcription of the fourth part of my interview with Amelia LeClair. You can find the first part here, the second part here, and the third part is here, and there is more to come. Don't forget that Cappella Clausura, the group she directs, is performing next weekend! They will be at Grace Church in Salem next Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. (They also performed this past weekend - hopefully some of you made it to those concerts!)

Interview with Amelia LeClair at the Cafe Algiers, Cambridge, MA, on 4/22/09, cont.

Q: So I was going to ask you, what’s the current program?
A: The current program is very, very operatic. We’re going to do a bunch of music by Italian women and by French women. And the Italian women are almost all 1600’s, 17th century. With the exception of – well, yes, they’re Renaissance and Baroque, early Baroque. So the style is Monteverdi-ish. One in particular, we’re doing some big pieces of Sulpitia Cesis, great big eight-part motets, really fabulous stuff. We’re doing Cozzolani, some amazing pieces by her, solos and duets. Then the second half of the program is going to be all French, by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, three solos by her, all based on three very strong women in the Bible. Susannah, Esther, Queen Esther, and Judith, who cut off the head of Holofernes, and saved the Israelites. And then we’re doing a fabulous, fabulous very heart-breaking piece by a woman named Margaret of Austria, who was the regent of the Netherlands in the 1400’s, who wrote lots of poetry, but for musicologists, apparently only one piece of music. I’m convinced we just haven’t found the rest. The piece of music is called “Se je souspire,” and it’s a lament. She had just lost her husband that year, and then her brother died also, in battle, and it’s a lament for both of them, and it’s very, very sad, it just breaks your heart. It’s really beautiful, it’s very strange. It has a lot of very odd – do you know what musica ficta is?
A: Yes.
Q: Yes, very strange musica ficta. But it’s gorgeous. So that’s the second half of the program. French and Italian women. And we’re contrasting, which is why we had this fabulous workshop with Sally Sanford, contrasting the two styles. We’re also going to have two instrumental pieces, I hope I hope, one harpsichord piece by Jacquet de la Guerre, and one a sonata for violin and basso continuo by Isabella Leonarda, who you know. So that’s the program. And it’s May 1, Friday, May 1 at Gordon Chapel.
Q: I’ll dig out the information and post it.
A: You’ll dig it out. OK.
Q: At the top of every blog post.
A: Right, right. Plug, plug, plug, plug. Always plug.
Q: So what other musical stuff are you doing at the moment?
A: Well, I’m the director also of Coro Stella Maris up in Rockport, near Gloucester. We rehearse in Salem. And it’s an early music a cappella group.
Q: SATB?
A: SATB. I have some very nice singers in there. This particular semester we’re doing some really neat, very early music by – we’re doing something called a Missa Caput which was attributed to Guillaume Dufay, but has since been discovered to be an English mass by Anonymous, because nobody knows who wrote it. We’re doing some very modern pieces by Patricia Van Ness and by Abbie Betinis, and by Hilary Tann. And Arvo Pärt. That’s one of our favorite composers. And we’re doing some organum from the 13th century. So that’s going to be in late May and June. And then I also direct a church choir up in Marblehead. And that’s a lot of fun. That’s also SATB, mostly, usually. And we have about twelve singers…most of them show up all the time.
Q: And did you found Coro Stella Maris?
A: No, they hired me. I’ve been with them almost five years also. They hired me. So did St. Andrew’s. St. Andrew’s was my first real SATB experience, conducting grown-ups in a church choir atmosphere. Which was great. I took the job knowing that it paid absolute peanuts, but the best part about it was that there was an organist there. And I didn’t have to worry about my piano skills. Right? Yes. It’s hard to get a job as a choir director when you don’t play the organ, as you know. So it’s been good. They’re a wonderful bunch of people, I love them.

[to be continued!]

Interview with Amelia LeClair, Transcript, Part 3

Here's the transcription of the third part of my interview with Amelia LeClair. You can find the first part here, and the second part here, and there is more to come. Don't forget that Cappella Clausura, the group she directs, is performing this weekend! (Also next weekend!)

Interview with Amelia LeClair at the Cafe Algiers, Cambridge, MA, on 4/22/09, cont.

A: And then I graduated 2003, and right away I started Cappella Clausura. And I called up my friend Laurie Monahan, who had been my voice teacher for some time, and we became fast friends because she’s such a fabulous woman, and I said, “What do you think?” And she said, “Well, let me put you in touch with some students from Longy, and see what you can put together.” And I put together eight singers. And then a ninth person came along, who was a fellow parent from my elementary school where my kids were going. And her name was Sharon Kelley. And I said, “I know about you! Don’t you sing with Camerata?” And she said, “Yes, I do.” And we started to chat, because both of our sons were in some kind of little rock and roll group, and I told her that I was putting together this group. She said, “I want to sing with you! Can I sing with you?” And I said, “Of course you can sing with me!” And she said, “I’ll have to audition.” Being Sharon, she wanted to do everything right. And I said, “OK. You can audition. But I’m sure you’ll be fine, you’ve been singing with Camerata.” So she joined the group too. So I had nine singers for my very first concert. And I sang –
Q: Eight squirts and Sharon.
A: Yeah, right. Right. And it was actually not bad. It could have been better, but…
Q: And right from the beginning you decided to do women’s compositions.
A: Yes. Laurie Monahan –
Q: Told you you needed a hook, or--?
A: No, she was the one, actually – I’ve always been interested in -- have there ever been any women composers. Because part of what I did – I need to backtrack for a moment – when I went to UMass Boston I graduated with a degree in composition and theory, because I can’t play an instrument. So I thought, “OK, well, I’ll just think music.” So composition and theory were my majors, with which you can do so much in the world. And so I was always interested in why I didn’t know anything about women composers. You know, Ruth Crawford Seeger, maybe. Amy Beach, who was kind of called “Mrs. H. H. H. H. Beach.” And you kind of wondered who are these women, and why are there only two? How come we only hear about two? Laurie Monahan said to me at one voice lesson, “Oh, I know about some women who composed in the sixteenth century and the seventeenth century.” “No shhht!” So she showed me. She said, “Oh, yes, look at this, this is a woman named Cozzolani.” And she turned me on to this whole repertoire. She and Candace Smith, who lives in Italy now, went to the Schola Basiliensis back in the 70’s. And they were bombing around Switzerland and Italy together, two American girls getting their Masters degrees at the Schola Basiliensis, which is in I think Basil, I’m not sure. And bombing around Italy and Switzerland and finding all this old music. So in the 70’s they started digging this stuff up. Well, Candace Smith stayed in Italy, she’s still there. And she started a group called Cappella Artemisia, after the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who is one of the few female artists to be recognized.
Q: And then they started the Artemisia – isn’t that a publisher?
A: Artemisia Editions, yes. She started basically – I think when computers came along, she started putting really nice editions together. So I got in touch with Candy, because she’s a friend of Laurie’s, and I said, “Can you send me the music?” And she was the one who sent me the Cozzolani Vespers, and that was my first concert, was with Candy’s music, and Laurie’s singers, and me. [laughs] Yes. So.
Q: And do you want to just – I mean, I am aware of some of it, but do you want to trace the history of Cappella so far?
A: Yes. We started –
Q: Six years, now?
A: Yes, this is – actually, I think March of this year, 2009, 2004 – was our fifth anniversary. Yes. So, cool. I started it in March of 2003. No, 2004, I’m sorry. Is that right? Yes, because I graduated in 2003. So we have gone through a number of iterations. We started out with just eight people, I guess it went to nine people. And then I started out also thinking that I would go along the same lines as most choirs, which is to rehearse once a week and put on a concert at the end of the season. And do two concerts a year kind of a thing. And the more I auditioned singers, and the more I thought about how these – how the people that I wanted to work with worked themselves, and also the fact that I wanted to pay singers, I realized that I would have to go along the opera model, which is to have rehearsals close to the concert, and then no rehearsals. So that everybody could take other jobs. So that’s what I started doing, and I’ve been doing it for about four years. And we’ve gone through, like I said, a lot of iterations. A lot of people coming in and out the door. Some perhaps less qualified to sing early music than others. Because early music really requires a certain kind of instrument. It also requires a certain kind of technique which I’m still learning about. We just had a fabulous couple of workshops with a woman named Sally Sanford, who teaches, for example, the difference between Italian and French style singing. And it was fascinating, really fascinating. Wow. What a difference it makes. So the more I’ve worked with these big voices, which I love, I mean, I just love operatic voices, I love opera, I love early music, I want to put it all together. And one of the things, actually this is a little side-track, but one of the things that I think about when I think about this women’s music is that because it was written by women, it was meant for women’s voices, not boys. So you’re not supposed to sound like a boy when you sing it. You’re supposed to sound like a woman. And it was also written by Italians, who don’t go along the English model of straight-tone. They’re a little more passionate about the way they do things, and a little more perhaps chaotic, and I love that. So I was inviting women with big voices to sing this stuff. And I still am inviting women with, you know, trained voices, not your average choral voice, but trained voices, like yours, like everybody.
Q: I mean, I’m not…
A: It’s not huge, but it’s a good voice.
Q: I’m very firmly in the early music-y, baroque-y, you know…
A: Yes, your voice is actually perfect, because you don’t have to –
Q: It’s straight. [laughs]
A: Well, you don’t have to, you know, rearrange it or anything to make it work.
Q: [laughs] I have an image of you [mimes putting on gloves and tinkering as with an engine]
A: Throw this out, throw that out. Pack it together. Straighten it down, tie up the strings.
Q: Like a little cartoon where it’s a like a little blur, wshhht –
A: Here it is, it’s an early music voice now!
Q: Right, exactly.
A: But I think there’s also a really big misconception about early music voices that they need to be small, and they need to be sort of pipe-y. And I want to have, in this music, I want to have voices that are real, and full, and have a true fundament to them. And sing with a lot of gusto. But at the same time, sing in what is authentic style, which I am learning more and more about, as I said, and as I understand it, in the Baroque era, vibrato was an ornament. It wasn’t something that you had all the time. So operatic vibrato especially is something that you need to be very careful about. So you take a great big voice, and you ask that person who has never tried to sing Baroque music to sing Baroque music, and they’re going to sing it like they sing Rossini, you know, or Donizetti or Verdi. Or, god forbid, Wagner. And it’s not going to work, because the style is just so radically different. And also because you have to sing coloratura. And if you’ve never even sung coloratura, then you’re going to have big, big trouble. So we’ve been through iterations of a lot of different voices. Some of them I auditioned, and I just loved their voices, and I took them in, and they weren’t quite right. They should have been singing Brahms, which is fabulous music, but it’s not what I’m doing. So now I think we’ve arrived at a steadier roster of singers. There are eighteen people on our roster. Out of which I try to choose people who can manage to make X concert or Y concert. And because we sing music that is medieval as well as Baroque, as well as modern, there are certain voices that I will choose according to their style. For example, in February we just did an almost all chant and modern program, a fabulous program. We’re going to do it again for the Boston Early Music Festival on June 9, at 12:00 at Gordon Chapel.
Q: And are you doing the caravan piece?
A: Yes. Yes. I love that piece, it’s so great. This is a piece by a woman named Abbie Betinis, whose sister sings with Cappella Clausura. Laura Betinis. Fabulous voice. When she sings her sister’s stuff, she’s amazing. She’s just amazing. Really, it’s very cool. And so we did chant along with that. So for that program, I was able to sing, which was fun. And also take on a couple of true choral voices, you know, to sing – as they call themselves, spackle – to sing the fill. Because they can, you know, because voices that are less big and trained by NEC can sing chant very successfully. So I will have, you know, singers who can do this and singers who can do that, and choose according to the program.

[to be continued!]

Friday cat post!

Tyger! Tyger! Little Kitty! burning bright
In the forests hallways of the night house...

You know what? Never mind.

And in the category of cats I have no relation to but are nevertheless immensely amusing, check out Sleeve Cat and Paragon of Disdain Cat on Youtube!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 4/30/09

I am afraid you will be getting a somewhat abbreviated format for the concert calendar this weekend. I am rather overwhelmingly busy, one reason being that...

I am conducting Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe this weekend and next weekend! It will be at MIT, and you should all come see it! Performances will take place on the following dates and times:

Friday, May 1, 8pm; Saturday, May 2, 8pm; Sunday, May 3, 2pm matinee
Thursday, May 7, 8pm; Friday, May 8, 8pm; Saturday, May 9, 2pm matinee

All performances will take place in La Sala de Puerto Rico, on the 2nd floor of the MIT Student Center. For more info, or to reserve tickets online, go here.

The set and costume and lighting design all together is beautiful, and the whole show has come together really well. Last night at the second dress rehearsal I actually relaxed enough to start having a ton of fun conducting, and my orchestra is hot stuff, so I encourage you all to come see it! Also, I get a tiara. The fairy chorus all has tiaras, and the tiara-maker made one for me too, so I get to conduct in a tiara. How cool is that?

Also, don't forget that Cappella Clausura, directed by Amelia LeClair, whom I just interviewed, is also performing this week. They will be singing a program called "La Donna, La Dame," featuring music by Cesis, Assandra, Cozzolani, Margaret of Austria and Jacquet de la Guerre. They will be at Gordon Chapel in Old South Church this Friday, May 1 at 7:30 pm; at the Episcopal Parish of the Messiah on Saturday, May 2 at 8:00 pm; and also at Grace Church in Salem next Sunday, May 10, at 7:30 pm.

Friday:

7:30 pm: Cappella Clausura
8:00 pm: Iolanthe at MIT
8:00 pm: Boston Cecilia
8:00 pm: Concert Singers of Greater Lynn
8:00 pm: The Holden Choruses of Harvard

Saturday:

4:00 pm: Concord Women's Chorus
7:00 pm: Andover Choral Society
7:00 pm: A Cappella Singers
7:30 pm: Cantemus
8:00 pm: Cappella Clausura
8:00 pm: Iolanthe at MIT
8:00 pm: Cambridge Chamber Singers (I just have to note that this concert features the winner of their annual composition competition, and that winner is Stephen Feigenbaum, who wrote a piece for Anthology's "Songs of Protest and Social Unrest"!)
8:00 pm: Westford Chorus
8:00 pm: Convivium Musicum

Sunday:

2:00 pm: Iolanthe at MIT
2:00 pm: MIT Concert Choir
2:30 pm: Concert Singers of Greater Lynn
4:00 pm: Fine Arts Chorale
4:00 pm: Cantemus
7:00 pm: Cantilena
7:00 pm: Cambridge Chamber Singers (I just have to note that this concert features the winner of their annual composition competition, and that winner is Stephen Feigenbaum, who wrote a piece for Anthology's "Songs of Protest and Social Unrest"!)
7:00 pm: Convivium Musicum

Did I forget anything? Do you want to give more information about one of the concerts already listed? Please leave more info in the comments!