News and Notices

“Now that a vaccine is available and we know the science, we need to get back to choral  singing,” says Dr. Tim Sharp. “Group singing is part of our very soul. This is why I am pleased  to partner as a spokesperson with noteablemask.com – so we can return to live rehearsals  safely.” 

Sharp is the past Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association and serves as  Artistic Director of the Tulsa Chorale and as Director of Innovation at the Center for Community  Arts Innovation in Nashville. He is on the board of directors for the International Federation for  Choral Music. 

Sharp is working with noteablemask.com in a campaign called Join Your Voices, which offers  choral leaders a decision-making protocol with a responsible pathway for returning to live  rehearsals and performances. The protocol is available as a free download at  noteablemask.com/joinyourvoices.

In the return to live singing, individual face masks are critical. Such a face mask must capture the  aerosol particles produced by a singer, but it must also allow a singer to inhale as freely as  possible. 

According to Sharp, who has tried several singing masks, the Noteable mask is the one that  provides the most viable option for group singing when used in conjunction with CDC guidelines. He is recommending Noteable as the face mask of choice for groups returning to live  rehearsals. 

“When I heard that Tim Sharp had chosen our mask, I was thrilled,” said Tom Lough, inventor  and developer of the Noteable mask. “We want to help with the safe return to live choral singing,  and we are glad our mask and the Join Your Voices campaign can be part of that recovery.” 

The Noteable singing mask has been independently tested by aerosol engineers at Colorado State  University and Baylor University, and is made in the USA. For more information, see  noteablemask.com. 

Media contact: 
Peter M. Esposito
 
Cell: 513-760-9722

Over the weekend I made a new score video for my latest work: BE NEAR ME for unaccompanied mixed choir (SATB), a setting of Canto 50 from the poem In Memoriam A.H.H. by the British Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson (1809 -1892).
(Headphones highly recommended!):

If you enjoy the video, please hit the LIKE and SUBSCRIBE buttons.

Published in 1850, the poem is an extended requiem for the poet’s beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1833, age 22, and is considered one of the greatest poems of the 19th Century. It was reported to be a great favorite of Queen Victoria.

The recording is by Matthew Curtis and Sarah Brailey of Choral Tracks.

Sheet music for BE NEAR ME is available from J.W. Pepper Sheet Music.
https://www.jwpepper.com/Be-Near-Me/11339264.item#

A free downloadable PDF perusal score and more information is available on my website:
http://www.gregbartholomew.com/benearmeindex.html

Greg Bartholomew

Saturday, March 13, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Free Admission

Join us for a livestreamed Lenten Concert at the Church of The Transfiguration, Orleans, MA. The concert will include Poulenc’s four motets for the season of Lent, Allegri’s Miserere Mei, Deus, and other works by Tallis, Byrd, Gabrieli, Esquivel and Merulo.
WATCH HERE https://gdcchoir.org/lenten-concert/

ABOUT THE CHOIR:
Gloriæ Dei Cantores (Singers to the Glory of God) holds a passionate dedication to illuminate truth and beauty through choral artistry, celebrating a rich tradition of Sacred choral music from Gregorian chant through the twenty-first century.

Tucson-based True Concord Voices & Orchestra’s Founding Music Director Eric Holtan has created a Playlist that celebrates the gift of song that emanates from all corners of the heavens and the earth, with excerpts from Monteverdi’s “Vespers,” Britten’s Festival Te Deum, intimate part songs by Mendelssohn about the music of nature, Hall Johnson’s rousing spiritual Ain’t Got Time to Die, Copland’s The Promise of Living, and more.

Listen and learn more: https://www.trueconcord.org/2020/04/09/playlist/.

To hear the playlist on YouTube, click here:

Click here to listen on Spotify:

Jason Max Ferdinand Singers to Premiere Composition Live From London

The Premiere of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers is scheduled for broadcast, Sunday, March 28, 2021 with the national webcast, Live From London – Spring! “We are not only premiering the ensemble, but we are premiering a beautiful setting of Ken Burton’s richly lyrical adaptation of A Prayer, by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This new piece, dedicated to the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, is powerfully evocative through music and text. To have Ken serve as Composer-In-Residence for the Ensemble is an honor. His work exudes genius,” stated Jason Max Ferdinand, Founder and Artistic Director of the Ensemble.

Ken Burton (born January 5, 1970) is a British choral and orchestral conductor, composer, performer, and producer known for hosting BBC radio’s Songs Of Praise. Among many accolades, he was choirmaster for the Oscar and Grammy winning Marvel film Black Panther. Music publisher, Edition Peters, describes his new work, thus; “bitter-sweet, filled with hope and sadness…Burton draws on Spiritual, Gospel and Blues to write A Prayer.”

The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers have been an aural vision of sound for more than twenty years for Ferdinand, and recently the ensemble came together in the same space for the first time. One artist exclaimed, “I’m still on a high from all I heard and experienced. Jason Max Ferdinand Singers is going to take the world by storm, turning the choral landscape inside out and upside down!”

The Ensemble is comprised of professional voices from more than 10 states across the nation. Ferdinand reached out by personal invitation to each member and promised them a unifying and challenging choral experience. The March 28th repertoire defines exactly that promise with works by Adolphus Hailstork, Roland Carter, Donald Dillard, and Alexander L’estrange, among others.

To experience the premiere of the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, tune in to “Live From London – Spring,” Sunday March 28, 2021. https://page.inplayer.com/livefromlondonspring/item.html?id=153573