Sometimes a choral work creates its own musical world, such as in “En Paz” (“At Peace”) by Jesús Lopéz Moreno, for SATB divisi, piano, and speaker. The piano writing is exquisite and virtuosic. Although there are echoes of Brahms, Lizst, and Duparc, the end result is uniquely Moreno. The piano is paired with the choir as a symphonic partner. It is filled with flourishes, cadenzas, chromatic accents, and expressive figures. “En Paz” would be a smorgasbord for a talented collaborative pianist. The choral writing is expansive and rich. Every voice part is featured at some point. Moreno also divides the choir into smaller groups; sometimes the treble voices or low voices become their own choir. And the substantial length of “En Paz” allows for the development of musical ideas and a deeply satisfying conclusion. The result is an enchanting, dreamlike reverie.
“Aleluya,” by Jorge Córdoba Valencia, is a tour de force for TB choir. Commissioned by the Viking Chorus of St. Olaf College, this TTBB work will challenge advanced choirs with its complex rhythms and independent parts. However, “Aleluya” is simplified in other ways, which reduces the difficulty. There is only one word to sing, and the piece is mostly diatonic. A brief passage of unpitched, speech rhythms adds additional contrast.
“Cantos de Primavera” (“Songs of Spring”) by Diana Syrse Valdés, is another example of music inspired by South America, set in Spanish for unaccompanied voices. The aleatoric introduction sets a scene as the choir creates jungle sounds with vocalizations and other body effects, such as stomping. Repeating rhythmic patterns and the Mixolydian scale create a characteristic sound. This is a fun piece: fresh, vibrant, and accessible.
VocalEssence Music Press is a dynamic music publishing company that offers a select group of emerging composers the opportunity to make their music available to choirs everywhere. And we offer choruses access to new music they can’t find anywhere else. Our mission is to help choruses, conductors and composers connect in meaningful ways by publishing exciting new music for singers at all levels. Discover cross-cultural collaboration through the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Series. Mexican composers wrote these works for Minnesota school, college, and community choruses to sing. Even young children can master the challenge of singing in Spanish and the indigenous languages of Mexico. Get value-added with our free Music Resource Guides that are designed for conductors, teachers, and students to use to learn more about the cultural context of the compositions. VocalEssence Music Press is a subsidiary of VocalEssence, a leading arts organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Serving as artistic director of the children’s choir at Valle de Chalco in the Estado de México and the principal organist of the Cathedral Metropolitan in Mexico City, Jesús López Moreno has extensive experience working with school-age children. His compositions for children’s choir have been featured on several recordings throughout Mexico, and he recently won a national children’s choir composition contest organized by Conaculta, the National Council for Culture and the Arts in Mexico. He has also composed works for organ, choir, baroque orchestra, and harpsichord as well as a concerto for organ and orchestra. He was a member, and later acting director, of the Niños Cantores de Morelia. He founded the Cantate Domino children’s choir of the Parroquia Del Espiritu in Ecatepec Edo Mex and conducted the children’s choir at the Cantorum school of Mexico. Jesús graduated from the Concervatorio de las Rosas de Morelia with a specialty in composition, and studied organ at the Antique Mexican Music Academy for Organs and the National School of Music of the National Autonomous University of México. In 2009-2010 he participated as a composer-in-residence in Minnesota schools through the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! program.
Jorge Córdoba Valencia was born on December 15, 1953, in Mexico City. As a young adult, he had very diverse experiences in music. He informally studied popular music including rock, jazz, and folk music before attending the National Conservatory of Mexico where he received a traditional music education. He later traveled to Spain, Hungary, Boston, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic to participate in conducting courses. Córdoba is a highly respected composer who has won many awards and honors including first place in the Third National Contest of Choral Music and served as composer-in-residence at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada. He has been Artistic Director of the National University of Mexico Choir, University of Mexico-Iztapalapa Choir, Children’s Choir Legaria Theater, and Madrigalists Choir from Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts. Córdoba also performs frequently as a guest conductor of instrumental groups including the National University of Mexico’s Symphonic Orchestra and Percussion Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of Oaxaca, the Chamber Orchestra of San Angel, the Chamber Orchestra of Mexico City, the Festival Orchestra of Pecs, Hungary, the Chamber Orchestra of the Academy Kuronuma, the Schola Cantorum Choir in Hudson, New York, and the Culture Institute Choir of León, Guanajuato.
Diana Syrse is a composer and singer from Mexico City. Her music is characterized by an influence of jazz, rock, fusion, traditional music from around the globe, and avant-garde as well as the use of non-Western instruments, theatrical elements, and electronics. Her focus is on musical composition for new musical theatre, opera, staged concerts, and interdisciplinary collective creations. On several occasions, her music is performed by herself in collaboration with other ensembles, choirs, and orchestras. Her catalog contains works written for choirs, orchestras, ensembles, electronics, electroacoustic music, dance, opera, and new musical theatre. Her music has been performed in Europe, Canada. Latin America, the USA, Africa, and Asia. She has worked as a composer and singer with the Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatsoper Hamburg, VocalEssence, the Babylon Orchestra Berlin, Kinderkinder, and Túumben Paax. She has been invited to international festivals in the United States, Mexico, Germany, Holland, and Latvia. Her compositions have been performed by the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cuban National Orchestra, the Anne Arbor Symphony Orchestra, the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, Nemian Dance Company, Dance On Ensemble, Oktopus Ensemble, among others. In the area of opera and theatre, she has worked as a composer in residence at the Kammerspiele München, Schauspiel Frankfurt, the Berliner Ensemble, and the Staatsoper Hamburg. She was also the founder and artistic director of The Breakout Ensemble in Munich, and was a composer-in-residence for the VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Program
Our Contributing Editor
Jonathan Campbell received his B.A. from Luther College in 1998, a Master of Sacred Music degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota in 2002, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting in 2015 at North Dakota State University. As a composer, Jon has received numerous awards and commissions, including a Faith Partner’s Residency through the American Composer’s Forum, as well as first place in the Morningstar College Choral Composition Festival. From 2004-2012, Jon conducted the Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota Chorale and in the spring of 2011, served as interim director of choral activities at Winona State University. At Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN he recently served as faculty conductor of the Cedar Singers male chorus and the Masterworks Chorale. Jon is founder and was artistic director of the Minnesota Renaissance Choir, and is currently Director of Music and Fine Arts at Claremont United Church of Christ and Lecturer in Music at Pomona College, both in Claremont, CA.
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