The growing field of choral music now has its own YouTube interview series hosted by Andrea Goodman, director of the Cantilena Chamber Choir in Western Massachusetts. “Talking Choral Music” features noted composers, conductors and business leaders in the choral community.

The first video showcases Barney Smith, the director of the London-based vocal ensemble VOCES8. The a cappella octet has toured internationally and has released recordings of classical music to include early English and Renaissance works, jazz, pop and their own arrangements, most recently on their own label. Smith, the founder of the group (with his brother Paul), discusses their unique sound and the repertoire that has struck a chord with audiences, especially in Europe, The U.S. and Asia.

Watch the video trailer that will take you to the first two interviews here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKQQ3LSWSnE

The second video in the series features Nolan Gasser, a composer, musicologist and author of “Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste.” He has served as the chief musicologist for Pandora Media, the Internet radio service, and he conceived the Music Genome Project, the analysis system that enables Pandora to pinpoint and program for the musical tastes of its listeners. Gasser will recommend some of his Renaissance favorites and explain how Pandora determines the music preference of its subscribers.

New videos videos to be released every two weeks include an interview with Dale Warland, a panel discussion by four New York City choral musicians about how to make a living as professional performers, an interview with Rosephanye Powell, the American choral composer, singer, professor and researcher whose influences include African American musical styles and composers, and the publisher who brings us the best in Russian choral music- Musica Russica’s Vladimir Morosan.

Andrea Goodman, Director of the Cantilena Chamber Choir, has been a professor of conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music. She has prepared choirs for the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, and has previously served as the director of the Concord Chorus (Massachusetts), Director of Choirs at Skidmore College and New York University. Guest appearances have included the Aspen Music Festival, the Fribourg Switzerland Festival de Musique Sacree and the Singing World Festival of White Nights in St. Petersburg, Russia. She holds a DMA in Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and has served on the board of Choral Arts New England.

Dear sir,

We are pleased to inform you that the call for the 2nd International Choral Composition Competition “Carmina Nova”, organized by our association, is open.

All the information on the competition, including the bases and the members of the international jury is available on our website (https://www.coralcarminanova.com/composicioncontest/).

We would be grateful if you could publish this information on your website.

Regards,

Coral Carmina Nova

Dear ChoralNet colleagues:

As promised, here is information about the new prizes and categories in The American Prize college/university ensemble divisions, including choruses. These changes go into effect for the 2020-21 contest year.

A reminder that the covid-extended email/postmark deadline to apply for the 2020-21 contests of The American Prize is Wednesday, October 14, 2020. Even if your materials will not be fully ready by that time (perhaps your recording is still being mastered) we encourage you to complete as much of the application process by then as you can. If it is incomplete, simply let us know in the email when you anticipate sending the remaining portion. We continue to try to be as flexible as we possibly can during the difficult time. Please write to us with questions at

I wish you all safety and health during this time.
David
David Katz, founder and chief judge

***

NEW PRIZES / CATEGORIES in COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY Ensemble Divisions
In an effort to provide additional prizes and to better judge “like with like” we have made major changes to the COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY ensemble divisions for BAND, CHORUS and ORCHESTRA performance, OPERA production, MUSICAL THEATER production, and DIRECTING for 2020-21.

Replacing the COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY division is a new division to be known as “HIGHER EDUCATION,” with separate designations and separate contests for “Larger” and “Smaller” programs. Applicants are now asked on the application form itself to self-designate based on the size of their program (not necessarily the size of their institution). This change, just announced, will be in place for contests in 2020-21. Ensemble programs that have already applied for 2020-21 will be contacted by The American Prize office to ask them to designate their program size for this year’s judging.

This change was encouraged by a number of judges on our national panel, who seek as much as possible to judge “like with like.” Although we understand there are almost as many different ensemble situations as there are music programs in academic institutions throughout the country, it was clear that a simple division of “college” or “university” does not provide enough of an option. Some contestants from universities have few (or no) majors, and smaller programs. Some colleges have very large ensembles and established programs. By asking applicants to self-designate based on their own situation, we hope to attract more applicants, provide more encouragement through additional prizes and rankings, and offer more useful feedback.

http://theamericanprize.org

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are all safe and well during this extraordinarily difficult time. 

The final covid-extended deadline for The American Prize 2020-21 is approaching. Here is an update, including links to some relevant lists of winners from the contest season just concluded. For 2020-21 we are making adjustments to the college/university divisions of the performance categories, to provide more prizes and improved opportunities. I will follow up with that news in a separate posting.

All best,
David

David Katz, founder & chief judge,
The American Prize
http://theamericanprize.org

***

The covid-extended email/postmark deadline to apply for the 2020-21 contests of The American Prize is Wednesday, October 14, 2020. Even if your materials will not be completely ready by that time (perhaps your recording is still being mastered) we encourage you to complete as much of the application process by then as you can. If it is incomplete, simply let us know in the email when you anticipate sending the remaining portion. We continue to try to be as flexible as we possibly can during the difficult time. Please write to us with questions at  

SEMI-FINALIST ANNOUNCEMENTS for 2020-21: We anticipate that semi-finalist announcements for 2020-21 will begin next month. 

CERTIFICATE PACKAGES: The office is now preparing certificate packages for 2020 laureates. Please be patient as each is prepared individually and with care. We are also sending some remaining 2019 packets, held up because of complications due to the pandemic. 

CHANGE of ADDRESS? If you are a 2019 or 2020 The American Prize contest laureate and your mailing address has changed since you applied, please email your current address to us. Please put “NEW ADDRESS” in the subject line of your email and send to  

WINNER LINKS: 

The American Prize in Conducting (choral division), 2019-20
http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2020/07/winners-conductors-chorus-2019-20.html

The American Prize in Choral Performance, 2019-20
https://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2020/07/winners-choruses-2020.html

The American Prize Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music (ensembles), 2019-20 
http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2020/09/winners-bacon-award-american-music.html