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Chorus America's national
study, released February 2003, finds 28.5 million Americans singing in
choruses and estimates the number of choruses in the US to be 250,000.
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VAN
Features
Parlaying a second performance into a world-class encore: a new model breathes life into new works
Posted 3/6/2010
 Somewhere
in the world, a bewildered composer looks at the score of his or her beloved
choral composition and wonders why the phone never rang after the piece
premiered and why no additional performances were booked.
Whether male or female, amateur or professional, novice or veteran,
composers share a common experience where gaining additional performances of
choral works is concerned. All too often, after a successful premiere and
countless hours shopping the score (including recording demos, mailing CDs,
calling conductors; acquiring mailing lists; writing newsletters; updating
websites; attending networking meetings, choral performances, conferences, and
festivals; booking public speaking engagements; social networking; submitting
works to competitions; applying for grants; learning marketing strategies from
publishers and publishing agents), the composer reluctantly puts the composition
to rest on the shelf of a forlorn bookcase with only the footnote of a hope that
one day it might be resurrected from a dusty chest: perhaps found years later in
the composer's attic by heirs sorting through remnants of the estate or
discovered on a flash drive in the piano bench. This example may sound dramatic,
but, all too often, for too many choral composers, the call for a second
performance never comes, regardless of the caliber of the work.
More...
Hillhouse Opera Company: an opera for the community, by the community
Posted 2/28/2010
 Whether or not an opera singer can successfully be part of a stable community
and raise a family is a question that artists on all levels ask themselves.
Singers often have to give up family, friends and other luxuries that are
possible in community living in order to perform. Whether or not the
singer is looking for a career or just feels the desire to sing opera, the opera
singer is usually afforded very little opportunity that is close at hand.
Artists looking for such a community usually pick up everything and move to New
York, a city that is overflowing with opportunities but overflowing even more
with artists. Yet this drain of singers to major cities leaves local
communities dry of culture and of the inhabitants that make and appreciate art.
Hillhouse Opera Company (HHOC) of New Haven, CT strives to cultivate the
artists within its own community so that they may be able to flourish even more
because they are able to lay down some roots and grow instead of uprooting
themselves often. In fact, HHOC has a two-part mission: to produce and
promote opera in the wider community and to promote community through opera.
More...
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Archive of old VAN Features
Want to see more coverage of the vocal ensemble
community? You can help! See your feature article here. You'll gain
valuable exposure as a writer about vocal ensemble music and your group
will benefit from the PR. Submit
proposals for approval to the editor.
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For more about how you or your ensemble
can help defray the costs of providing VAN's services, visit the Sustaining
Membership page.
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- The John Link Project announces the release of its new CD, 24 Preludes of Frédéric Chopin. The CD documents the 2007 world premiere of John Link's arrangements for five singers, guitar, bass, drums and violin of Chopin's 24 Preludes, Opus 28, published for solo piano in 1839. Visit www.cdbaby.com/johnlinkproject to hear samples from the CD. (2010-1-15)
- Applications are now being accepted for the New York Regional competition of The Harmony Sweepstakes, a nationwide a cappella festival, which will take place at The Miller Theatre at Columbia University on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM. For details, see the ad in the Info Exchange. (2010-1-4)
- Voices of Ascension received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Stars, a recording released in June 2009 featuring music by Catalan composers Pablo Casals, Enrique Granados, Enrique Morera, Manuel Oltra and Manuel Blancafort. For more information, visit www.voicesofascension.org. (2009-12-11)
- The Times Beacon Record, covering the north shore of Long Island, has an article profiling the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association's season, including the group's upcoming December 12 concert. (2009-12-2)
- Backing Ray Davies in classic Kinks hits, The Dessoff Choirs makes its first Letterman appearance Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 11:35 PM on CBS. (2009-11-17)
Archive of old
"News" items
| NEW ON VAN |
The latest additions to the site's
content and features. |
- February 21, 2010: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Fort Washington Collegiate Church Choir in Washington Heights.
- February 14, 2010: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the Schola Cantorum of Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church, a new choir in the Bronx.
- January 30, 2010: New link for RM Music, a small music publisher serving the community of choral directors and choral singers.
- January 15, 2010: Our Archive pages (for old VAN news and old "New on VAN items") have been redesigned.
- January 15, 2010: New URL for The Brooklyn Community Chorus.
- January 12, 2010: We've tweaked the "Upcoming Highlights" column on the home page to provide more useful--and tempting--information. The "VAN Sampler" now includes upcoming concerts, the freshest choir audition ads and the latest postings from the Info Exchange.
- January 7, 2010: New Choir Auditions ad for the The Greater New Haven Community Chorus.
- December 28, 2009: New Choir Auditions ad for the Taghkanic Chorale.
- December 16, 2009: New link for Athena Tix,
a new open-source ticketing application being developed by Fractured Atlas for the national performing arts community.
- December 15, 2009: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the World of Harmony, a small choir based in Brooklyn dedicated to the performance of Caribbean, African and African-American music.
Archive of
old "New on VAN" items
- Need some exquisite beaded jewelry to complement your concert
attire? Or perhaps a distinctive gift for that special singer in your
life? Or maybe you'd like to host a jewelry show to benefit your
favorite non-profit organization? Try Carnelian
Knoll, where you'll find necklaces, bracelets and earrings of
vintage beads and silver handcrafted by Julie Siegmund.
- Looking for rehearsal space or performance venues? Try NYC
Music Places, New York City's free database of available rehearsal
and performance spaces for instrumental and vocal musicians. You'll find
places to rent, from studios to large venues, for classical, jazz,
rock--whatever you need to rehearse or perform in NYC.
- Looking for an outstanding vocal ensemble coach? Mark
Johnson, possessor of an amazing ear and terrific
interpretive insights in a variety of styles, is available to coach
your group. To arrange for Mark's services, e-mail Colette
Thompson.
- Liz Fleischer's Sight-Singing Program is offered each season
at the Kaufman Center (129
West 67th Street). Classes include ear-training, rhythm and pitch
reading, music theory, basic notation and terminology, with emphasis
on learning to hold a part with confidence. For more info, visit www.kaufman-center.org/lucyadults_mus_sight.htm,
e-mail fleischerliz@aol.com
or adultdivision@kaufman-center.org
or call (212) 501-3362. The sight-singing program is just one of the
classes offered by the Kaufman Center's Lucy
Moses School.
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