News and Notices

Bring new music to life and reinvigorate your choir program this year by joining Graphite’s 2021-22 Commissioning Consortium! We’re elated to commission Graphite composers Christopher Harris and Christine Donkin for what will surely be two exquisite and gorgeous works for SATB choir and piano. These new pieces will be written for a Level 3 difficulty rating, with easily sung lines and minimal divisions, perfect for high school, college, and community choirs.

Christopher Harris is on faculty at Arkansas Tech University as Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music. He is the founder of the Houston Master Singers and has served as the Assistant Director for the Houston Ebony Opera Guild.

Music from Canadian composer Christine Donkin has been described by critics as “stunning”, “poignant”, and “astonishingly beautiful”, her work is promoted by several publishers and is performed all over the continent and beyond.

This project will deliver both PDF scores to print for all your singers and a 9-month local premiere window. Join the consortium here!

Scores delivered by Jan. 7th, 2022
Must be funded by Dec. 17th, 2021
$285 / ensemble
Difficulty: 3 · Medium
Length: 4 minutes (for each work)

Christine Donkin will set Sara Teasdale’s ‘Like Barley Bending.’

“…So would I softly,
Day long, night long,
Change my sorrow
Into song…” 
…read more

Christopher Harris will set Devondra Banks’ ‘Joy Never Leaves.’

“…These years which once fell for loss, now build a grateful river that runs through forests of prayer and possibility. They flow, but joy never leaves…”
…read more

I am interested in finding some choral works (30-60 minutes) for men’s choir: preferably of medium to medium difficulty. Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Voicing can be TBB, TTB, or TTBB

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

Mark

 THE 2021 GREGG SMITH CHORAL COMPOSITION CONTEST 

In honor and memory of the historic work of American composer/conductor Gregg Smith and the Gregg Smith Singers, the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music, Department of Choral Studies is pleased to announce the 2021 Gregg Smith Choral Composition Contest. This is a biennial event with the specific Syracuse University Setnor School of Music choral ensemble named for each contest. 

The award: 

Award winning composer will receive a $1,200 prize. The selected composition will be premiered in Spring, 2022 on the Syracuse University campus. Travel expenses to the premiere are the responsibility of the prize recipient. The presence of the winning composer at the premiere is welcomed and encouraged, but not required. 

Composer age limit: 

Composer must be 21 to 35 years of age at the time of submission. 

Due date: 

Scores must be postmarked no later than October 31, 2021. 

Choir to present the premiere for Spring 2022: 

Crouse Chorale conducted by Dr. Wendy Moy 

Submission criteria: 

• 3-4 minutes’ duration 
• Unpublished and unperformed works only 
• The SU Department of Choral Studies will reserve the right to the world premiere of the winning piece and to release the first recording of the piece until July 1, 2022. 
• Accessible 3 or 4-voice work for soprano and alto voice a cappella or accompanied by piano or organ; additional instruments optional 
• Crouse Chorale is a treble voice ensemble. Students from any major are welcome in this non-auditioned choir. The choir will perform SSA and SSAA repertoire in 2021-2022. 
• Rights to texts must be cleared, and evidence of copyright holder’s permission must be shown.
• Composer will retain the copyright of the piece. 
• May be secular or sacred 
• The SU Department of Choral Studies will retain copies of winning scores for future performances. 
• The composer must reside in North America. 
• Composer must include a biography, list of works, and proof of age (copy of driver’s license, passport, etc.) with submission. 
• The winner will need to submit tax forms in order to receive the prize. Taxes may be withheld from winnings. 

Please include your name, email address, postal address, and phone number(s) in a sealed envelope together with your score. Size of original scores must not exceed 8 ½ x 14”. No materials will be returned unless a self-addressed mailer and postage are provided. The winner will be notified by December 1. 

Submit to: 

Gregg Smith Choral Composition Contest
Department of Choral Studies
208 Crouse College
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-1010 

For additional information contact:  

315-443-4106 

I think I speak for everyone when I say that one of the greatest attractions of choral music is the feeling of union and of fraternity that we can create. After all, the choir is the only instrument that is alive and sounds better the livelier and the more fraternal it is. For some time, maybe 2 years now, as a composer, I have felt the need to transfer this idea of “collective creations” to musical writing. Being accompanied by recurring clients and an extraordinary friend and poet such as Charles Anthony Silvestri, I can cherish that idea that “I finally created a family to bring new works to life”. Still, day by day, I think about how to create a more holistic experience, how to create connectivity.

In my attempts to do so, I’ve done reviews of choirs and composers I admire on my Instagram account. They really are friends that I work with and I want them to have more prominence in the scene because I really enjoy listening to them. I have also done collaborations with composers to create music and every moment I experiment with new ideas that bring the choral community together. I think this community is a powerful human capital. The people of the choral world have given me more shelter than any other community. Truly, I feel indebted and I want to return all that love I receive by improving connectivity.

I have been experimenting with consortium-building for 10 months now. It is really exciting because shortly after offering this service I received the support of individuals who came together in a beautiful group called “Santi’s Angels”. They are Marti Dawson, Elaine Condrat, Christine Carpenter and Joy Hewitt. Then some choirs joined in and in the first 6 months we created a family that brought 3 works to life. And on top of that, the consortium brought to life a great virtual choir in collaboration with a great composer, Micaela Carballo.

Finally we created a family, a place of group conversation where we share our day to day life, the composition process and funny, relaxed comments. It really is that rehearsal space where you have fun and then are able to work seriously. When I realized how much fun this was, I said “I’m going to offer all the works I have in mind in consortium format”. And I didn’t stop there, I called my composer friends to write their work plans and publish them in the consortium section of my website. I want real gems to be known: people who compose really well and who are also very valuable people.

I want to create a big family where choirs, Patreons and composers are invited. A place with open doors for everyone so that we can be more connected and create together the music to come. I believe this is the first step of my adventure and you are invited to be part of this experience.

The composer and arranger Paul Ayres has prepared an online quiz, to keep us all entertained, amused, and challenged, during this very frustrating period for choirs!

It’s a 12-part series on youtube (each round is 5-10 minutes), and is completely free of charge, with no fee nor log-in required.

Some of the questions will have British/Anglican slant, which is inevitable, I guess.

For example — what comes fourth in a list of four things? S, A, T, … might be easy, but what about K, G, C, …, or 1772 New York, 1768 Florence, 1743 London, …? https://youtu.be/XLOD4IouUww

Or can you identify a choral work by hearing a “special moment” chord it features? https://youtu.be/2Fwfp7WEGO0

And one round is entirely made up of corny jokes: how many sopranos, altos, tenors, basses, conductors, accompanists, etc, does it take to change a lightbulb? https://youtu.be/I0DOHI8eWwk

Here’s a link to the list of episodes:

https://www.paulayres.co.uk/thechoralcwiz/

Please share freely with your choir members and colleagues — and I hope you’ll find it enjoyable!

Kate (occasional promotion assistant for Paul)

Composers-in-Residence for the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus
In order to weather the pandemic, the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus – one of America’s oldest independent choirs – created a series of presentations for its members & supporters, reminding them of its achievements and aspirations. These shows are now freely available on its YouTube channel , and feature archival recordings complemented by photographic montages. The fourth show illustrated the numerous benefits of the Chorus’s ‘composer-in-residence’ program. Five artists have held this position, and each one was represented by works not heard elsewhere. The British musician, Sasha Johnson Manning, was succeeded by Clare Maclean, who lives in Sydney, Australia. She was followed by Yakov Gubanov from Russia and Melissa Dunphy, born in Australia but now living in the USA. Finally, the current holder, Mårten Jansson, gave a zoom interview from Sweden to introduce two of his new works.