By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Competition

CVE YEG wordmark.jpg
THIRD ANNUAL CHORAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION

Deadline: December 15, 2019

Chronos Vocal Ensemble is an ambitious nonprofessional choir based in the Edmonton area, and the Healey Willan Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Founded in 2013, we perform an annual season of concerts in Edmonton and tour regularly in the surrounding area. The ensemble has released three recordings: Presenting Chronos Vocal Ensemble (2015), The Simplest Way: The Music of Trent Worthington (2016) and most recently Fresh (2018); each recording features new Canadian compositions for choir. Chronos performed at Podium 2016 (Edmonton) and 2018 (St. John’s); in March 2020 the choir will undertake a first international tour, anchored by a performance at the Northwest Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Spokane.

We are pleased to launch the 2019 edition of the Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Composition Competition. This year, for the first time, we are providing a defining parameter for the competition: all entries must set poetry of Sara Teasdale, and the winning entry will be performed on an April 2020 program devoted to settings of this poet.

American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) created a wealth of texts that have since been treated by composers from all over the world, and her lyricism and vivid descriptions of nature and inner life are a treasure trove for those who set words to music. We encourage prospective entrants to learn about the poet and become familiar with this rich material: PoetryFoundation.org. and Poets.org.

Complete poetry available in hardcover, paperback and kindle from amazon.ca (not an affiliate link)

Eligibility

● Composer must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or landed immigrant.
● The work submitted must be original, not an arrangement of a pre-existing work or melody.
● The composition must not have been commissioned, published, performed or recorded at the time of entry, and must remain so until premiered by Chronos Vocal Ensemble within the following year.
● Composition must substantially be a setting of the words of Sara Teasdale

Prizes

● The winning composition will be performed by Chronos Vocal Ensemble in April 2020. The winner will receive a recording of the performance.
● Prize of $1500 will be awarded.
● Chronos Vocal Ensemble will champion the winning composition and to promote the work further as warranted.
● For a competition winner interested in attending the premiere, Chronos Music Society may be able to contribute to costs.

Full Guidelines and Entry Form available at chronosvocalensemble.com/competition

Chronos 2019 Web-Banner.jpg
 
Chronos Music Society, c/o 10615 137 St Edmonton AB T5N2H5. 
Charity registration # 820201788RR0001.
By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog • Uncategorised 0 Comments

Announcing NSYC Guest Conductor 2020 – Christina Murray!

We are so pleased to announce the Guest Conductor of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir’s 2020 season: local talent Christina Murray.

You may know Christina as the artistic director of Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble and head of choral studies at Dalhousie University. She approaches her conducting practice through the voice and is known for her innovative programming and her visionary commitment to decolonizing the choral art form.

Christina holds an honours undergraduate degree in music (voice/conducting) and philosophy from Mount Allison University, has done graduate work in feminist liturgical practices, and has subsequently studied conducting with Diane Loomer, Jon Washburn, Michael Zaugg, and Elise Bradley. Also an active and accomplished choral singer, she has frequently sung with the Canadian Chamber Choir since  2007.

As both a former NSYC and National Youth Choir Singer herself, as well as a two-time Resident Conductor of NSYC, Christina is delighted to to be helming NSYC for it’s 30th Anniversary season.

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

Dr. Susan Brumfield to Lead CCNS 2020!

Dr. Susan Brumfield is the founder and Artistic Director of The West Texas Children’s Chorus. She holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Brumfield is known for her work as a teacher, author, composer and conductor. In frequent demand as a commissioned composer, clinician and guest conductor, she recently conducted the 2018 ACDA Eastern Division Children’s Honor Choir, and joins the artistic staff of the Pacific International Choral Festival this summer as conductor of the 2019 Treble Choral Festival Choir.

An internationally recognized expert in the Kodály approach, Dr. Brumfield is the author of First, We Sing! Kodály-Inspired Teaching in the Music Classroom, a series of textbooks and song anthologies published by Hal Leonard Music. Dr. Brumfield’s other publications include Hot Peas and Barley-O: Children’s Songs and Games from Scotland, Over the Garden Wall: Children’s Songs and Games from England, and Kentucky Mother Goose, co-authored with American folk legend Jean Ritchie She is currently working on Giro Giro Tondo: Children’s Songs and Games from Italy. Dr. Brumfield is a contributing author for Music Express Magazine and McGraw Hill’s Music Studio.

​Dr. Brumfield was honored in both 2012 and 2014 with the Texas Tech University College of Visual and Performing Arts Award for Outstanding Research, and as a two-time finalist for the President’s Book Award. She is the 2019 recipient of the prestigious Barnie E. Rushing Jr. Award for Research at Texas Tech University.

By NSCFMGR Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

Christmas Carol – New Arrangement

From Dis and Dat Music:
Local musician Terry Smith-Lamothe has written the music and lyrics to a new Christmas Carol, arranged for piano by John Rapson (retired from Symphony Nova Scotia) and it was performed at the last seasonal concert by the students at Tower Road (public) School and by the Reedville Community Choir in Virginia.  It’s time for this Nova Scotia-created carol to be sung more widely.  To see and hear a performance, go to this youTube link:
If you are enchanted and want a free copy of the sheet music for yourself or your choral group, just let Terry know by sending an e-mail request to: disndatmusic@gmail.com and he will send you a .pdf of the score.
Happy Christmas!
By NSCFMGR Front Page • Job Postings • Member Blog 0 Comments

Digby Choral Federation Seeks Choral Conductor

Digby Choral Federation
Expression of Interest

The Digby Choral Federation is searching for and experienced choral conductor to lead the annual
High Cs in Digby Choral musical weekend, May 15 th to 17th, 2020.

The annual choral festival weekend is hosted by The Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa and the historic cathedral style stone church located in the scenic ocean side village of St Bernard Nova Scotia.

The annual weekend draws approximately 125 to 1 community choral singers. The singers are usually from various choirs and a range of background experiences and SATB voices.

The culminating event of the weekend is a massed choir performance with two guest choirs resulting in a beautiful weekend performance of various genres and styles of music.

Expressions of interest as guest conductor can be sent to the Digby High Cs committee names below, by November 30, 2019.

Conductors are strongly encouraged to invite their own accompanist and choose music that would be accessible to a range of talents and voices that would lend to a concert of variety and interest to singers and audience. Please include your musical CV or usual choral conductor bio. If you are featured on a website, please include a link to the site. Please view https://www.highcs.org or find us on Facebook at
High Cs in Digby – by the Digby Choral Federation

For more information along with fees and accommodations and weekend schedule please inquire with committee coordinator and chair persons below Monica Treleaven, overall coordinator monica@treleaven.com

By NSCFMGR e-notes • Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

Halifax Camerata Singers Announces 2019-20 Season

Award-winning choir singing with tenor Ben Heppner  
Halifax Camerata Singers Come Celebrate! 2019-20 Season (Halifax, NS) Halifax Camerata Singers launches its 2019-20 season (33rd) with programs moving from themes of Remembrance to a choral celebration with acclaimed Canadian superstar tenor, Ben Heppner. First up is To Soothe a Suff’ring Heart, a Remembrance-themed concert at Saint Andrew’s United Church on Saturday, November 9 at 7:30 p.m.  The repertoire features Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living, Missa Pax by Tim Corlis and the premiere of a new work by Nova Scotia composer Derek Charke, Sonnet to the Moon. The concert’s title comes from a line in Sonnet to the Moon, written in 1823 by English poet, Helen Maria Williams.  The concert features a guest chamber orchestra and clarinet soloist, Symphony Nova Scotia member, Eileen Walsh.

New this season, Camerata has invited members of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir to join the choir in a professional development opportunity for the fall term, and is pleased to welcome Molly Anderson and Morgandy Levy to rehearse and perform with them.Canadian tenor Ben Heppner joins Camerata for three concerts of Come Celebrate! in Nova Scotia in June of 202 in a special program of Gospel, spirituals, folk music and more.  The Halifax performance is on Saturday, June 13 at First Baptist, with concerts in Amherst (June 12) and Lunenburg (June 14).Ben Heppner, renowned operatic tenor, public advocate for the arts, and radio broadcaster has been among the most sought after musical talents in the operatic world for almost three decades.  His command of the heroic repertoire of Wagner, Strauss and Verdi, among others – is second to none.  He is widely appreciated for the depth of his interpretations, his musicality and his humanity.  Heppner won the CBC Talent Festival in 1979 and the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 1988.  His career has taken him from Vienna to Paris, Berlin, London, New York and beyond.  He set new standards in some of the most demanding operatic roles including such as Wagner’s Tristan, Verdi’s Otello and the complex role of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes.

Ben Heppner has recorded numerous recordings and has won three Juno and three Grammy awards. He has nine honorary doctorates and has been the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.  In 2008, he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada. Just last year, Ben received a lifetime achievement award from the Governor General Performing Arts Award. Five years ago Ben announced his retirement from the stage – but Canadians continue to hear his voice as host of CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and Backstage with Ben Heppner.  He offers the insights and stories that can only come from someone who has spent a lifetime as an engaged interpreter and performer.

Camerata has been invited as guest artists in March by Symphony Nova Scotia to perform J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, conducted by Jeff Joudrey.  Performances take place at St. Andrew’s on March 21 and 22, and feature Jane Archibald (soprano), Vicki St. Pierre (mezzo-soprano), Philippe Gagné (tenor) and Joel Allison (bass-baritone). The choir will once again perform as the core choir of the Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus in December for two performances of Handel’s Messiah. on Friday and Saturday, December 20 and 21 in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, and in Beethoven’s massive opera, Fidelio, on May 1 and 3, 2020, along with soloists from the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance and the Nova Voce Men’s choir.

Founded by Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey in 1986, Halifax Camerata Singers includes performers from many parts of Nova Scotia, and is Atlantic Canada’s leading chamber choir. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, the SOCAN Foundation, the Province of Nova Scotia/Arts Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality and individual donors and corporate supporters, the choir has distinguished itself by performing exciting choral repertoire from many periods and styles, with special attention to Canadian music. Winners of Music Nova Scotia’s Best Classical Recording in 2016, and nominated for an ECMA in the same category in 2017, the choir also won the Healey Willan Grand Prize in the 2010 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choir. Camerata often collaborates with chamber ensembles, Symphony Nova Scotia and other musicians.  Their five recordings are for sale at the Symphony Nova Scotia Boutique, Taz Records, online and through iTunes, and are distributed through Naxos of America, Inc. through Halifax’s Leaf Music catalogue.  Halifax collaborative pianist Lynette Wahlstrom accompanies the choir.

Tickets
Tickets for To Soothe a Suff’ring Heart and Come Celebrate! (Ben Heppner concert) are on sale now through Ticket Halifax, and are $35 regular, $30 senior, and $20, student/under-waged.  As well, patrons can purchase tickets to both Camerata feature concerts, with a 10% discount ($63/$54/$36).  Please go to www.tickethalifax.com to purchase, or visit The Coast offices at 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax.

Tickets for Symphony Nova Scotia performances are available through the Dalhousie Arts Centre Cohn Box Office, http://www.dal.ca/dept/arts-centre.html. 

Information:  contact1986@halifaxcamerata.org, find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or www.halifaxcamerata.org.

Information:  Peggy Walt, General Manager (902) 422-5403/office, (902) 476-1096 (cell),
peggy@culturalaffairs.ca
By chrisbowman e-notes • Member Blog 0 Comments

Cantabile Society Composition Competition 2019

In recognition of the Cantabile Truro Youth Singers’ 20th season, the Cantabile Choral Society is holding a composition competition for a piece for unison children’s choir. Open to all Canadian composers, the deadline for submissions is October 15, 2019, and the winner of this competition will receive a $500 honorarium (sponsored by the Cantabile Society Board). The winning selection will be premiered by the Cantabile Truro Youth Singers during its 20th anniversary season. For more information about the competition and the Cantabile Truro Youth Singers, please view the attached poster, or visit www.cantabiletruro.org.

By NSCFMGR Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

South Shore Chorale Rehearsals!

The South Shore Chorale is gearing up to start their fall session on Monday, Sep 9th. Rehearsals are Monday evenings at 7 pm at the St. Pauls Lutheran Church Hall. Bridgewater. Start date for this fall is Monday, Sep 9th. John Scott is our Director.

Come sing with us. We are welcoming new members and we would be pleased if you could please pass the word and tell your friends. Please contact Linda Barker at 902-521-3938 or the oldcrows00@gmail.com or visit South Shore Chorale on FaceBook if you have any questions.

By JBennet Front Page • Member Blog 0 Comments

Choirs for Change: Season Updates!

As you may be aware, Choirs for Change association is comprised of three choral ensembles at different levels of intensity: Spíra, Polaris, and Eastern Horizon. Spíra is characterized by its relaxed atmosphere and manageable commitment, and usually performs three to four times a season; Polaris is characterized by mid to high level choral repertoire, and performs five to six times a season; Eastern Horizon performs high-quality music created by composers who have historically been underrepresented in the choral canon, and performs three to four times a season.

We are thrilled to announce that Ryan Henwood will be stepping into the role of director for Polaris, a choir that he has been a member of since its inception. Jack Bennet, Choirs for Change co-founder and former director of Polaris, will continue to aid the Choirs for Change board with its projects, and will continue to be co-director of Eastern Horizon.

With this change to Polaris’s leadership will come a change to the structure of the choir itself. Polaris will be increasing in size, will be open to singers of all musical abilities, and, like Spíra has done in the past, will be holding an open rehearsal in September. (More details on that to come!) While Spíra will not be having rehearsals throughout the fall and winter, it will re-emerge as a summer choir in 2020, allowing us to extend the Choirs for Change season throughout the entire year. You can also expect to see more performances by Eastern Horizon this season.

As Choirs for Change is a relatively new organization, having only been founded in 2017, we are excited to bring you along as we continue to re-evaluate and adjust our structural needs, so that we can best support social justice initiatives in our local community and beyond.

This is an exciting evolution for the organization as we head into our third season! Make sure to stay tuned to our Facebook page and website as we will be announcing more details about Polaris’s rehearsal schedule and how to join the ensemble later this month.