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.

Friday cat post!

Cats make everything better! Even - especially? - great art!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 2/2/12

Folks, I only have found one choral concert going on this weekend. Which seems crazy - tell me what I missed? But this one choral concert is a doozy! You want to be there! It's:

The 33rd Annual New England Conservatory (NEC)
Thomas A. Dorsey GOSPEL JUBILEE

Featuring!:

• The Reverence Gospel Choir of Berklee College
• The Herbet S. Jones and the Inner Strength Gospel Choir of Boston University
• Linda Brown and Lesley University's Gospel Choir Unity
• David Coleman and the Third Day Gospel Choir of Tufts University
• The UNITY Gospel Ensemble of Northeastern University
• The NEC Community and Millennium Gospel Choirs

It's THIS SUNDAY at 3 PM at NEC's Jordan Hall in Boston.

Be there or be square!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/26/12

My quartet Anthology is performing this Sunday at 2pm at the Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury. You should come! Parking is available. And if you are on the South Shore, come to my church this Saturday at 8 pm for a great voice-and-pianoforte concert by Clara Rottsolk and Sylvia Berry!

Saturday:

Convivium Musicum, "Orlandissimo: A Renaissance Prodigy", 7:00 pm, Cambridge

Wellesley Choral Society, "Mid-Winter Concert: A Folk Song Fest", 7:00 pm, Wellesley

Voices Rising, "In Her Own Words", 7:30 pm, Boston

Exsultemus, "Music for Voices and Brass from Italy and Germany", 8:00 pm, Cambridge


Sunday:

Anthology, "Hot Music for a Cold Afternoon," 2 pm, Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury

New England Gospel Ensemble, Rockport Music series concert, 3 pm, Rockport

Exsultemus, "Music for Voices and Brass from Italy and Germany", 3:00 pm, Boston

Andover Choral Society, Brahms' Requiem, 4:00 pm, North Andover

Convivium Musicum, "Orlandissimo: A Renaissance Prodigy", 4:00 pm, Brookline

Did I miss anything? Leave it in the comments! Self-promotion for non-choral musical events also welcome.

Wanted: Sopranos

Sopranos! How often are you desired above all other voice parts? Not often enough, right? Well, read on!

The Appalachian Mountain Club puts on 3 weekends a year in the White Mountains where about 100 instrumentalists and singers come together to make music and enjoy the outdoors with activities of the season. These events are called Mountains and Music. I have gone out several times to be the conductor for these events, and they are always a lot of fun. (Side note: also, the food is fantastic.) The next weekend is Feb 17-20 and they are looking for more singers, especially sopranos, to join. (Men are also needed - nothing new there!) More information is here.

I urge you to consider it - it's a lovely and refreshing weekend getaway!

Monday links

You might have noticed the lack of a Weekend Concert Calendar - I am especially sorry about that because there were some amazing concerts this past weekend. The Cantata Singers had a spectacular program reviewed here by the Globe; and I'm also sorry I missed the Lorelei Ensemble's performances. But I was pretty busy singing myself - here's a review of the King's Chapel Choir performance I sang in yesterday. (As the conductor pointed out when he sent out this link this morning, the reviewer seems quite taken with the altos! *does a little Miss-Piggy-style preening*)

If you don't want to read reviews, have a hilarious video of the day - Queen of the Night translated!

Monday links

Well, we have some gossip today!

First of all, there's this recent hubbub at NEC over Benjamin Zander.

Then there's this Boston Globe article about what on earth happened over at Opera Boston.

Did you hear that a NY Phil performance was interrupted by a cell phone? And that Alan Gilbert stopped the proceedings to wait until the phone stopped ringing?

Well, the cellphone miscreant has spoken up to apologize and explain.

Weekend Concert Calendar - not

Sorry folks, no Weekend Concert Calendar today. I'm just too behind right now! Check out bostonsings.org, and I'll let you know what's going on next week!

Correction!

Whoops, when I made that list of all my concerts yesterday, I made a mistake - the King's Chapel
"Baltic Cruise" concert is at 5 pm on Sunday, January 22 (not Sunday, January 29). I hope you all come anyways! The program is really varied and fantastic.

Friday cat post!

Who says kitties are stand-offish? This patient policeman would probably beg to differ.

My own upcoming concerts

There is a lot of stuff going on in the next couple of months!

First of all, Anthology has a few concerts coming up. On Sunday, January 22 we will be performing at 2 pm at the Wellesley Public Library. The following Sunday, January 29, also at 2 pm, we will be participating in the Greater Boston House Concert series by performing at the Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury. And on Sunday, February 19, we'll be performing at 3 pm at First Parish Cohasset. The Cohasset concert will be the first performance of our new program that we are calling our "Love Concert" - it is full of music suitable for weddings and romance - but we will premiering some of those new pieces in our repertoire in Wellesley and Roxbury! Hope to see you there.

Also on Sunday, January 29 I'll be singing with the King's Chapel Choir, in a program called "A Baltic Cruise." It will include choral music from Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Russia. I'm working hard on my Russian and Latvian! That will be at King's Chapel in downtown Boston at 5 pm.

On February 10 at 8 pm in Boston, and February 12 at 3:30 pm in Providence, I'll be singing with Schola Cantorum in a program of motets and madrigals by Lasso and De Rore. This group is a collection of really excellent early music singers from the Boston area and beyond, and it's always a treat to perform with them.

And finally, this coming Saturday my chorus Cantilena is going to begin a recording project! We will be recording our December Christmas concert, and releasing that next fall. We are looking for people to help fund this project, as recording projects are always extremely expensive. You can always go to our homepage and click the Donate button in the lower left corner. (There are also some giving levels, you can see them in this PDF!)

Monday link

Let's have some Rowan Atkinson doing Beethoven. Two great tastes that taste great together! (Thanks to Facebook for this one, I don't remember who posted it.)

Friday cat post

Teehee. Enjoy this clever spoof by an ad agency. Cat videos are the future, people!

The comments claim it's a copycat of Kittywood Studios. I take no sides - enjoy both!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 1/5/11

Happy New Year! If you haven't made a resolution to support local music by going to lots of concerts, you should. Start this week!

Your options are limited, but quality! On Saturday evening, the Green Mountain Project is on Saturday at 7:30 pm at St. Paul's Church in Cambridge. This is the brainchild of local Scott Metcalfe, as well as soprano Jolle Greanleaf and others. From their website:

Our highly acclaimed Green Mountain Project goes to Cambridge, MA with our new program Vespers of 1640, which features works drawn from Claudio Monteverdi’s monumental collection Selva Morale e Spirituale, as well as works by Gabrieli in honor of the 400th anniversary of his death. This performance already happened in New York - you can read the New York Times gush about it here.

And on Sunday, the Arabella Ensemble will be at the Arlington Street Church at 5:30 pm singing songs for winter by Bach, Sibelius, Brahms, and others.

Monday links

Happy first Monday of 2012! Have some links - these have been piling up, so I actually have quite a few for you.

Alex Ross has a list of great performances from the past year (with some economic ruminations thrown in.)

An interesting reflection on the dangers of the cult of the prodigy.

Is it too late for a Messiah parody? Delightfully done!

Do you ever talk with vocal fry? After listening to the very helpful example, I know I occasionally do!

In truly terrible news, Opera Boston is closing. Extremely sad.

In happier news, Hildegard von Bingen is going to be canonized! About time, right?

This is about teaching, not music specifically, but what musician never ends up teaching? This teacher has put a lot of thought into preventing gender bullying in her classroom - well worth a read.

Also about gender, Amelia's post about the movie Missrepresentation is worth a read. So true that "you can't be what you can't see."

Finally, this reflection on why we make music by local Paul Cienniwa is really lovely (and I am usually a grouch about that sort of article, so you know it must be good!)

offline...

The combination of the holidays and a bad cold/cough (possibly bronchitis) are going to keep me offline until 2012. Enjoy the offerings of First Night, and here, have a lovely video of my father playing a tenor horn solo in the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol building.

Monday link

This article about being an opera singer is very interesting. The part about "never feeling done" and working every day will surely feel familiar to musicians of all types!

Friday cat post

Check out this website Louis vs. Rick. The story of a man who taught his cat to use instant messaging. All the episodes are worth reading, but try this one on for size to start out!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/15/11

The last big choral concert weekend of December! (Next weekend is for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services.) Don't forget to check the Messiah Sings list - there are still a lot of opportunities to sing the Messiah, although I only listed concerts below.

Also, the Christmas Revels in Sanders Theatre start on Friday! I will not list all the performances, as there are a billion, but go to their website to see times and buy tickets! If seeing this annual wonderful show is not part of your Christmas tradition, consider making it one this year.

Also, if you are on the South Shore, come to "Baroque Ornaments," a concert by the ensemble Saltarello at my very own church, First Parish Cohasset. With special guests Frances Fitch and Julia Steinbok, it's a concert I am very much looking forward to!

Friday:

• Boston Cecilia, "This Little Babe", 8:00 pm, Boston
• Blue Heron, "Christmas in Medieval England", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Chorus pro Musica, Respighi's Lauda per la Nativita del Signore, 8:00 pm, Boston
• NEC Millenium Gospel Choir, Annual December concert, 8:00 pm, Boston
• Boston Gay Men's Chorus, "This Shining Night - Annual Holiday Concert", 8:00 pm, Boston
  

Saturday:

• Concord Women's Chorus, "Lights of Memory", 2 pm, Concord
  
• Cappella Clausura (with Creationdance), "Gloria: A Renaissance Christmas Pageant", 3 pm, Weston AND 7 pm, Newton
• Boston Choral Ensemble, "A Choral Holiday", 3 pm, Boston
  
• Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus, Holiday concert (with special guest Krista River), 4 pm, Weston
  
• Stämbandet, "The Nordic Holiday Tradition", 7 pm, Auburndale
• Lyricora, "Lyricora Christmas Concert", 7:30 pm, Boston
  
• Stile Antico, "Puer Natus Est - Tudor Music for Christmas and Advent", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Camerata, "A Medieval Christmas", 8:00 pm, Lexington
• Blue Heron, "Christmas in Medieval England", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Gay Men's Chorus, "This Shining Night - Annual Holiday Concert", 8:00 pm, Boston
• Cambridge Chamber Singers, "Christmas in a New Light", 8:00 pm, Boston
  

Sunday:

• Boston Cecilia, "This Little Babe", 3:00 pm, Brookline
• Handel & Haydn, "A Bach Christmas", 3:00 pm, Boston
• Cambridge Community Chorus, "Holiday Concert", 3:00 pm, Cambridge
  
• Cappella Clausura (with Creationdance), "Gloria: A Renaissance Christmas Pageant", 5 pm, Newton
• Coro-Dante, "An Italian Renaissance Christmas", 5:00 pm, Cambridge
  

Monday:

• Cappella Clausura (with Creationdance), "Gloria: A Renaissance Christmas Pageant", 8 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Gay Men's Chorus, "This Shining Night - Annual Holiday Concert", 8:00 pm, Boston

Tuesday:

• King's Chapel Concert Series, "Half-Hour Messiah", 12:15 pm, Boston
  
• Cappella Clausura (with Creationdance), "Gloria: A Renaissance Christmas Pageant", 8 pm, Jamaica Plain
• Exsultemus, Telemann's Harmonischer Gottesdienst, 8 pm, West Newton
• Boston Camerata, "A Medieval Christmas", 8:00 pm, Cambridge

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own vocal event? Leave it in the comments!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/8/11

'Tis the season...for a whole lotta choral concerts!

Friday:

• Boston Baroque, Handel's Messiah, 7:30 pm, Boston
• Dedham Choral Society, "¡Fiesta de Navidad! - Spanish Christmas Music", 7:30 pm, Boston
  
• Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Parts 1-3), 8 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Conservatory Combined Choruses, Beethoven's Mass in C, Op. 86, 8 pm, Boston
  
• Oriana Consort, "For Peace At Year's End", 8 pm, Cambridge
• Exsultemus, "Christmas in Spain and the New World", 8 pm, Boston

Saturday:

• Somerville Community Chorus, Britten's Ceremony of Carols, 3:00 pm, Somerville
• Concord Chorus, "English Carols and Romantic Favorites", 4:00 pm AND 7:30 pm, Concord
  
• The A Cappella Singers, "A Jubilant Song", 7 pm, Natick
• Boston Baroque, Handel's Messiah, 7:30 pm, Boston
• New World Chorale, "Holiday Pops", 7:30 pm, Milford
  
• Boston Camerata, "A Medieval Christmas", 8:00 pm, Boston
• Neponset Choral Society, Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel's Dixit Dominus, 8:00 pm, Foxborough
• The Broad Cove Chorale and Unicorn Singers, "A Musical Tour of Dickens' London", 8:00 pm, Hingham
  

Sunday:

• Braintree Choral Society, Resphigi's Laud To The Nativity, 2 pm, South Weymouth
• Cambridge Chamber Singers, "Christmas in a New Light", 2 pm, Newton
  
• Neponset Choral Society, Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel's Dixit Dominus, 2:30 pm, Foxborough
• Boston Gay Men's Chorus, "This Shining Night - Annual Holiday Concert", 3:00 pm, Boston
  
• Arlington-Belmont Chorale, "Not-Quite-Winter Concert" including Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, 3 pm, Arlington
• Paul Madore Chorale, Poulenc's Gloria and seasonal works, 3 pm, Swampscott
• Boston Camerata, "A Medieval Christmas", 3:30 pm, Newbury
• Copley Singers, "Holiday Concert", 3:30 pm, Charlestown
  
• The Master Singers of Lexington, Conrad Susa's Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest and a local premiere by Pamela Marshall, 4 pm, Lexington
• Youth Pro Musica, Annual Winter Concert, 4:00 pm, West Newton
• Choral Art Society, "Peace and Joy", 4:00 pm, Scituate
• The Broad Cove Chorale and Unicorn Singers, "A Musical Tour of Dickens' London", 4:00 pm, Cohasset
  
• Oriana Consort, "For Peace At Year's End", 5 pm, Boston
• Quincy Choral Society, "He is Born!", 7:30 pm, North Quincy
  

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own vocal or choral event? Leave it in the comments!

Messiah sings 2011

Lift up your heads, and be ye lift up! It's time for the annual Messiah Sings post. These are all the Messiah sings in the area that I was able to find. If I missed one, or if you have further information about one of the sings listed, please leave a comment. I will edit the post to include updates; edits will appear in bold type. Note that this is sings only; for performances, keep your eye on the Weekend Concert Calendars to come.

Fri. 12/2: Messiah Sing to benefit Project Bread. 7:30 pm. At All Saints Parish, Brookline. Tickets $10. Scores provided, or bring your own.

Sat. 12/3: Cambridge Community Chorus Messiah Sing. 1:00 pm. At the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge. Tickets $10. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/4: St. Paul's Episcopal Church Messiah Sing. 5 pm. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline. More info here.

Thurs. 12/8: Annual Dunster House Messiah Sing. 8:00 pm (time not confirmed). At Dunster House, Harvard University. Free and open to the public. With soloists and orchestra. More info here.

Fri. 12/9: The Roxbury Latin School Messiah Sing. 7:30 pm. At Roxbury Latin School, West Roxbury. Free. With soloists. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sat. 12/10: Messiah Sing to benefit Healing Hands for Haiti. 4:00 pm. At St. John's Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain. Tickets $10. With soloists and fortepiano accompaniment. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Sudbury Memorial Congregational Church Annual Messiah Sing. 3:00 pm. At Sudbury Memorial Congregational Church, Sudbury. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Carter Memorial United Methodist Church Messiah Sing. 3 pm. At the Carter Memorial United Methodist Church, Needham. With orchestra and soloists. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Assabet Valley Mastersingers Messiah Sing. 3:30 pm. At Trinity Church in Northborough. With soloists. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: St. Peter's Church in Weston Messiah Sing. 4:00 pm. At St. Peter's Church, Weston. Free. With soloists. Limited scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Tues. 12/13: Brandeis University Messiah Sing. 4 pm. At the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium, Brandeis University. FREE! Scores available, or bring your own. With the Brandeis-Wellesley orchestra. More info here.

Wed. 12/14: Cathedral Church of St. Paul Annual Messiah Sing. 12:15 pm. At the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, downtown Boston. More info here.

Fri. 12/16: Masterworks Chorale 50th Annual Messiah Sing. (Also Saturday.) 8:00 pm. At Cary Hall, Lexington. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sat. 12/17: Masterworks Chorale 50th Annual Messiah Sing. (Also Friday.) 8:00 pm. At Cary Hall, Lexington. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Harvard Unitarian Church Messiah Sing. 5:00 pm. At the Harvard Unitarian Church in Harvard, MA. With soloists and orchestra. Scores available for purchase or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Belmont Open Sings Messiah Sing. 7:30 pm. (Weather make-up date is Tues. 12/20.) At the Payson Park Church, Belmont. Tickets $10. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Nashoba Valley Chorale Messiah Sing. 3 pm. At the Congregational Church of Littleton. More info here.

Did I miss one? Should I add more details to one I've listed? Leave a message in the comments!

Small life update - Head Voice Mix

One of the kids in my college chorus was finding it really challenging to get up into her head voice last week. I asked her what she had been listening to lately, and she said, "Johnny Cash."

So I put her on a strict No-Johnny-Cash diet until the concert is over tomorrow, but to give her some good stuff to listen to, I also made her a head-voice mix, assembled out of the collective wisdom of my Facebook community. Here's what I ended up with:

1.) Samson by Regina Spektor
2.) Angel by Sarah McLachlan
3.) Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush
4.) Mushaboom by Feist
5.) Kiss the Flame by Jewel
6.) When You Say Nothing At All by Alison Krauss
7.) One Voice by The Wailin' Jennys
8.) Walk or Ride by The Ditty Bops
9.) Lovin' You by Minnie Riperton
10.) Heart of Glass by Blondie
11.) Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John
12.) Emotions by Mariah Carey

This was a very interesting project, as I hardly ever listen to most of these artists, but analyzing them from a vocal technique standpoint gave me a new appreciation for a lot of them. Especially Mariah Carey!

Monday link

Some good rules for choirs. I hope my choirs are paying attention! Via Danica Buckley.

Friday cat post

Two cat videos today, one from my mother (uplifting! cute!), the other from my father (hilarious! somewhat disturbing! cute!).

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/1/11

This is a big weekend - Cantilena, conducted by yours truly, is having their annual winter concert this Sunday at 3 pm! We are presenting "An American Christmas" with music and texts by American composers and poets. I am very proud of the program I assembled, which has a little bit of everything - some familiar tunes, some unfamiliar tunes, some contemporary music, some folk music, some gospel. We are particularly excited to be presenting a premiere by Ken Seitz (the director emeritus) written just for us. Details are as follows:

Cantilena: An American Christmas
Dec. 4, 3 pm
First Parish Arlington
630 Mass. Ave, Arlington Center
$20/$12 stu/sen

In addition to the concerts below, don't forget there are Messiah sings every day this weekend!

Friday:

• Handel & Haydn, Handel's Messiah, 7:30 pm, Boston
• Boston College University Chorale, excerpts from Handel's Messiah and traditional carols, 8:00 pm, Newton
  

Saturday:

• Handel & Haydn, Handel's Messiah, 3:00 pm, Boston
• deVaronistas, "Great Day!", 4:00 pm, Cambridge
  
• Cantemus, “Shining Night: Songs of a Night Sky”, 7:30 pm, Beverly Farms
  
• Sharing a New Song, Selections from Classical, Gospel, Holiday, and World Music, 7:30 pm, Arlington
• Polymnia, "A Victorian Christmas", 7:30 pm, Melrose
• Simmons College Concert Choir, "Serenade" Winter Concert, 7:30 pm, Boston
  
• Harvard Pro Musica, presenting excerpts from Handel’s Messiah and other seasonal selections, 7:30 pm, Harvard, MA
• Halalisa Singers, "Songs of Light", 8:00 pm, Lexington
  
• Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society, "Christmas in Sanders", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Musica Sacra, "Lessons and Carols", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Boston College University Chorale, excerpts from Handel's Messiah and traditional carols, 8:00 pm, Newton
• Boston Camerata, "The Sacred Bridge", 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• MIT Concert Choir, Faure's Requiem and works by Thomson and Howells, 8:00 pm, Cambridge
• Three Rivers Chorus, "It Is At Moments", 8:00 pm, Sudbury
• Exsultemus, Baroque vocal cantatas by Telemann, 8:00 pm, Newton
• Harvard's Kuumba Singers, Annual Winter Concert, 8:00 pm, Cambridge
  

Sunday:

• Cantilena, "An American Christmas", 3:00 pm, Arlington (directed by ME!)
• Boston College University Chorale, excerpts from Handel's Messiah and traditional carols, 2:00 pm, Newton
  
• Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus, Holiday concert including Bach's Cantata 142, 3:00 pm, Belmont
• Halalisa Singers, "Songs of Light", 3:00 pm, Sudbury
• Mishawum Choral Society, Christmas Concert, 3:00 pm, Winchester
  
• A Cappella Singers, "Holiday Festival Concert with Metrowest Symphony Orchestra", 3:00 pm, Framingham
• Handel & Haydn, Handel's Messiah, 3:00 pm, Boston
• Vienna Boys' Choir, Holiday Program, 3:00 pm, Boston
  
• Cantemus, “Shining Night: Songs of a Night Sky”, 4:00 pm, Newburyport
• Zamir Chorale of Boston, Handel's Judas Maccabeus, 4:00 pm, Chestnut Hill

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own musical event? Leave it in the comments!

Messiah Sings post - preview!

The annual Messiah Sings post is coming, but while I am assembling it, here is a preview - I don't want you to miss anything coming up this weekend or next week. The first one is at All Saints Parish, and it's tomorrow!

First off, if you are tired of the Messiah and want to sing something else, the Zamir Chorale of Boston will oblige you! They are holding their annual open sing of Handel's Judas Maccabeus this Sunday, Dec. 4 from 4-6 pm at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill. The sing-along program will also feature synagogue classics. $10, but free admission for conductors or conducting students! Scores provided.

Fri. 12/2: Messiah Sing to benefit Project Bread. 7:30 pm. At All Saints Parish, Brookline. Tickets $10. Scores provided, or bring your own.

Sat. 12/3: Cambridge Community Chorus Messiah Sing. 1:00 pm. At the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge. Tickets $10. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/4: St. Paul's Episcopal Church Messiah Sing. 5 pm. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline. More info here.

Thurs. 12/8: Annual Dunster House Messiah Sing. 8:00 pm (time not confirmed). At Dunster House, Harvard University. Free and open to the public. With soloists and orchestra. More info here.

Did I miss anything that's coming up in the next week? Let me know in the comments!

Smal life update

Today in the elementary school where I teach music one day a week:

Me: What's this?
Student: A half-note.
Me: Good. What's this?
Another student: A polka-dotted half note.
Me: Er, no. Just a dotted half note.

Of course, once she said it, it stuck in the kids' heads, and at least one other student called it that during class!

The same class featured a game of Is It A Composer or a Pasta? (From the brilliant mind of Ashi Day.) The only two they got wrong were Donizetti and farfalle.

Ticket giveaway!

It's been a while since I've done a ticket giveaway on this blog, but today I have TWO pairs of tickets for you!

The first pair is to the Cantilena concert that I will be conducting this Sunday at 3 pm! We are going to be presenting "An American Christmas," featuring Christmas music by different American poets and composers, and we are particularly excited to be presenting a premiere by Ken Seitz written just for us. Details are below - we've all been working very hard, the group sounds great, and I hope you can come! The concert will be at First Parish Arlington at 630 Mass. Ave in Arlington Center.

The second concert is Musica Sacra's concert on Saturday at 8 pm. They will be performing "Lessons and Carols: Selected carols, motets, and readings in celebration of the season" at First Church Congregational right outside Harvard Square. The concert is evening of readings from the Christmas story mingled with a variety of carols and motets. This concert will feature a wide array of styles and composers, including local living composers Kevin Siegfried and Erik Gustafson, and Renaissance Jewish composer Salamone Rossi.

So here is the deal - leave a comment with your name, e-mail address (spelled john dot smith at comcast dot net) and which concert you are interested in (or both), and I will randomly select (via a random number generator) someone for each pair of tickets. Leave your comment before Friday at 9 am - later that morning I'll post the winners, and you will have a pair of tickets waiting for you at will-call at your chosen concert!

Monday link

Hey, Christmas time is here! And you know what that means - it's the one time of year people who don't sing regularly in choruses might pay attention to choral music!

/snark

Seriously, there is a very nice article about choral music and some of the season's upcoming concerts in the Boston Globe. It would be even nicer if they didn't focus exclusively on mixed choruses, but you can't have everything.

Now if only they would run another nice article like that in April or May, when there are just as many choral concerts as in December.

Small life update

So, last summer I participated in a recording session for a video game. It was VERY interesting, and now that the game is out I'm actually allowed to talk about it! It's called Ace Combat 3DS Assault Horizon Legacy, and you can see a preview here (and also hear me singing in the background! We were singing words, really.)

I hope I get to do something like that again; the people in charge of the recording session seemed happy with the work of the assembled singers, so you never know!

Friday cat post!

If you are not familiar with the Simon's Cat animations, they are wonderful little movies. And there is a new one out! "Double Trouble!"

Monday link

Today's Monday link is about an exciting choral event in one week that you can participate in!

There is going to be a choral flash mob in Dewey Square on 11/29 at 12:15 pm to sing "Make Our Garden Grow" from Bernstein's Candide. This is in honor of the Boston Public Market Association’s endeavors to bring locally grown food to the people of Boston. More details, and the opportunity to RSVP, are here!

Small life update

I keep meaning to use this blog more to talk about my day-to-day musical activities, but the longer I don't, the bigger the task seems, and the less likely I am to start (the eternal blogger's conundrum.)

So I'll start small. Apparently a week ago in church choir rehearsal I made a comment while we were practicing "Glory to God" from the Messiah that the choir sounded like angelic elephants (the goal being that they should sound more like angelic cherubs with somewhat less mass.)

I showed up at church yesterday afternoon to find a small cuddly stuffed elephant with gold wings and a gold halo and a little note referring to "elephantine angels." E, the girl I teach voice lessons to on Thursday, promptly fell in love with it and dubbed it "Bubbles."

It's the little things!

Friday cat post!

Well, I have just accepted that my digital camera is completely lost, since I haven't seen it for over a year. I'm going to get a new one soon (maybe over Thanksgiving?) so that soon you will see pictures of Samson again, but until that time, you just get crazy cat links!

I think this is adorable - Cats On Glass. Number two is my favorite!

Weekend Concert Calendar, 11/17/11

This weekend there is no doubt about what you must see; unquestionably, you must come see me sing with Schola Cantorum in our first-ever collaboration with new music group Juventas! We are going to be singing Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater and a Josquin motet, along with the premieres of new works by Oliver Caplan and Domick DiOrio. The program is called "Through the Looking Glass: Old Sounds Reinvented," and you definitely don't want to miss it - it's got new music inspired by music from the Baroque and Renaissance. Very cool! Be there!

Friday:

• Lorelei Ensemble, "Lumen di Lumine: Works by Taverner, Dufay, Sulpitia Cesis, Payne, Hagen, and a World Première by Mary Montgomery Koppel," 8 pm, Wenham
• Boston Choral Ensemble, "Vertue: Works by Victoria and Weir," 8 pm, Cambridge
• Schola Cantorum with Juventas, "Through the Looking Glass: Old Sounds Reinvented," 8 pm, Boston
  

Saturday:

• Boston New Music Initiative, "Hymns and Songs: New Works for Voice, Chamber Ensemble and Chorus", 8 pm, Cambridge
• Lorelei Ensemble, "Lumen di Lumine: Works by Taverner, Dufay, Sulpitia Cesis, Payne, Hagen, and a World Première by Mary Montgomery Koppel," 8 pm, BU, Boston
• Back Bay Chorale, "Essential Voices: Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass and works by Tallis, Bruckner, Britten, Wachner, and MacMillan", 8 pm, Boston
• Metropolitan Chorale, "Metamorphosis: Works by Buxtehude, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Lauridsen, Stucky, and others," 8 pm, Cambridge
• Mystic Chorale, "Bright Morning Stars: A Celebration of Americana," 8 pm, Boston
• MIT Chamber Chorus, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors and Bach's Cantata No. 64, 8 pm, Cambridge
• Newton Choral Society, "Royal Riches: Works by Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart," 8 pm, West Roxbury
  
• Schola Cantorum with Juventas, "Through the Looking Glass: Old Sounds Reinvented," 8 pm, Providence, RI
  

Sunday:

• MIT Chamber Chorus, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, 2 pm, Cambridge
• Boston Jazz Voices, featuring new and old jazz arrangements all a cappella, 2:30 pm, Brookline
  
• Boston Choral Ensemble, "Vertue: Works by Victoria and Weir," 3 pm, Boston
• Coro Allegro, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, 3 pm, Boston
• Mystic Chorale, "Bright Morning Stars: A Celebration of Americana," 3:30 pm, Boston
• Schola Cantorum with Juventas, "Through the Looking Glass: Old Sounds Reinvented," 3 pm, Boston

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own musical event? Leave it in the comments!

Friday Cat post!

Your kitty-related link of the day. Tee hee! (Via Alex Ross.)

Weekend Concert Calendar, 11/10/11

Crazy-busy weekend again!

Friday:

• Boston Children's Chorus, Concert in Honor of Veteran's Day, 7 pm, Boston
• Spectrum Singers, "Honoring Service, Pursuing Peace", 8 pm, Cambridge
• Boston University Choral Ensembles, Martin's Mass and other works, 8 pm, Boston
  

Saturday:

• Orpheus Singers,"In the Time of Louis XIV - French Baroque Classics", 8 pm, Boston
• Salisbury Singers, "With One Voice: Songs of Struggle, Patriotism, and Renewal", 7:30 pm, Worcester
• Exsultemus, "English Music for Voices and Viol", 8 pm, Brandeis, Waltham

Sunday:

• Wellesley Choral Society, "A Celebration of Musical Anniversaries," featuring the music of Victoria, Ravel, Liszt, and others, 2 pm, Wellesley
• Heritage Chorale and BC University Chorale, Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise (Symphony No. 2), 2:30 pm, Newton
• Gordon College Choral Ensembles, "A Community of Song", 3:00 pm, Wenham
  
• Assabet Valley Mastersingers, "Glorious Sounds of France", 3:30 pm, Southborough
  
• Zefiro, works by Ockeghem, Stravinksy, Rachmaninov, Part, Stanford, Gesualdo, and others, 4:00 pm, Jamaica Plain
• Salisbury Singers, "With One Voice: Songs of Struggle, Patriotism, and Renewal", 4 pm, Milford

Monday:

• Exsultemus, "English Music for Voices and Viol", 8 pm, Boston College, Chestnut Hill

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own musical event? Leave it in the comments!

Monday link

Today's Monday link comes from my friend Mike. It's a great article in the New Yorker about coaching in different areas - the author is a surgeon, but singers and violinists are also mentioned. Feels very relevant to me because I have been playing with the idea of finding a mentor/coach for several years now.

Weekend Concert Calendar, 11/3/11

Woooo, it is BUSY this weekend! So at the risk of alienating some very worthy ensembles, I am going to help you choose.

If you go to one concert this weekend (and for the record I am going to more than that) you should go to the St. Matthew Passion performance being put on jointly by the Boston Cecilia and Musica Sacra. This is Cecilia director Don Teeters' 44th and final season with that fine ensemble, and this is the major work of their season. Teeters is noted for his work with period ensembles, especially in Bach and Handel, and this is your last chance to see him conduct a significant work with a period orchestra and two of the city's finest choruses. Not to mention a bevy of awesome soloists! Don't miss it, it's going to be one of the best choral events of 2011-2012.

Friday:

Masterworks Chorale, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, 8 pm, Cambridge

Treble Chorus of New England, "Viva La Diva!", 7 pm, Andover

Saturday:

Sharing a New Song, Gospel Workshop (12-4 pm) directed by Jonathan Singleton, Concert at 6 pm, Newton Highlands

Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and the Radcliffe Choral Society, "Motets and Madrigals", 8 pm, Cambridge

Cantata Singers, "The Extended Arch - J.S. Bach and Stephen Hartke", 8 pm, Boston

Cappella Clausura, "Ghirlanda de Madrigali: 4-part Love Songs by the Teen-aged Vittoria Aleotti", 8 pm, Cambridge

Treble Chorus of New England, "Viva La Diva!", 7 pm, Andover

Seraphim Singers, "An American Sampler", 8 pm, Cambridge

Exsultemus, "Baroque Vocal Cantatas by Telemann", 8 pm, West Newton

Sunday:

Boston Cecilia and Musica Sacra, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, 2 pm, Boston

Chorus Pro Musica, Kodaly's Missa Brevis, 3 pm, Boston

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own musical event? Leave it in the comments!