Search Results for: Virtual Choir of Joy

Enjoy the World Premiere of Marina Alexander’s “River and Tree” – June 10 at 8 PM

June 9, 2021 by Marina Alexander Leave a Comment

Greetings! I am delighted to invite you to the World Premiere of my newest composition, River and Tree.

The piece was sung as a virtual choir project by singers from my two ensembles, Arcadian Chorale (NJ) and Richmond Choral Society (NYC), with piano accompaniment and audio editing by Ruslan Odintsov, and video editing by Linnet Westerwick.

I wrote this piece last spring on a delightful text by American poet Margaret Sangster. It celebrates the idea that, once we take the time to connect with another individual, even someone who on the surface seems quite different from ourselves, we may be surprised by our commonalities and mutual regard.

River and Tree is set to premiere on YouTube on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 8 PM EDT.

Here is the YouTube link for River and Tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMJiyeAJFeU

There will be a live chat during the premiere.

Note that, after the premiere, the video will become a regular public video on Arcadian Chorale’s YouTube channel.

If you would like to see a PDF of the score, please visit http://www.marinaalexander.com/secular-choral-works.html

Hoping you will tune in for the World Premiere, and that you will enjoy my music!

Marina Alexander

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

March 17, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts 1 Comment

#68: Wednesday, March 17, 2021

She Rises
by Catherine Dalton
SSAA double choir, a cappella

This is one of those pieces that I picked up at a conference 5 or 6 years ago, and have been wanting to do since. But I was always a little tentative about the combination of rhythm complexity and double choir together. Enter the pandemic. With shorter group rehearsals to allow for air change, and restrictions on practice room usage to one student only, my singers are doing more work on their own, outside of class, and away from each other. For my advanced group, one-on-a-part work makes a lot of sense this term.

I was initially hesitant to program this with only 9 students, but I played the piece for my singers and they were instantly hooked. To a one, they jumped at the chance for individual accountability and personal responsibility. And they loved the idea of something rhythmically challenging. (This semester’s advanced group is a unicorn – and I love them!)

It stretches me too, as a teacher. I’ve been solid at teaching them rhythmic music literacy in both simple and compound meter. But, I’ll be honest, I hadn’t pushed them to compound subdivision (and subdivision syncopation, and subdivision with dots), yet. Well, “yet” is here now. 🙂 We started the semester with compound meter boot camp – flashcards, worksheets, echoing, dictation, composition cards, the whole bit. I told them we couldn’t open the music until we could perform all of the rhythmic components separately. And wow have they stepped up.

We had a rehearsal earlier this week where we ran down our worksheet of all the different subdivision permutations, and they nailed it. Then I promptly handed out the music, assigned one-per-part, and we started reading. Lots of prep work to get us to the point of “open and read,” but so worth it. We are still taking baby steps with Dorian mode, but we’re getting there!

But, enough about my teaching approach. Let’s talk about the song! I’ve long been a fan of Catherine’s work, and this piece is no exception. Its energetic and tuneful, and feels like its constantly coursing with life. There’s a Celtic style folded into the writing – both rhythmic and tonal.

The poetry, also written by Catherine, focuses on the life cycle of the Sun. There are section headings in the work for “Night is ending,” “The Sun Appears on the Horizon,” “The Height of the Day,” “Color Floods the Horizon,” and “The Sun Disappears.” Each section of music speaks (sings?) to that particular point in the day. You can feel, and hear, all the moments: shafts of light through clouds, blazing midday, the briefest of pink light on the horizon. But, do not be fooled. This piece is not just about the Sun. It’s about energy, and life, and illumination – including the light and strength we find within ourselves.

The topic is all the more poignant because this past week there have been particularly beautiful sunrises over the Blue Ridge mountains. Breathtakingly glorious. I anticipate asking my students, in a few weeks, to take some time to snap some photos of the sun at various points in the day, and then share. Then we can arrange the photos in the order we best think goes with the song. Who knows – maybe that will be the visual backdrop for a recording we can share at the end of term?

Mode. The piece is primarily in D Dorian, with the occasional Bb tossed in (making it standard D natural minor). La minor has been a great option – la ti do re mi fi so la. Only one affected note. The choir was familiar with la-minor already, so the jump to Dorian has been fairly smooth. On the flipside, if you want to teach the pitches by rote, there is motivic repetition in terms of pitch patterns. So it sticks in the ear. (And there are part tracks available for purchase by third-party retailers, if you google.)

The double choir part. Truth be told, it’s not as scary as “SSAA/SSAA” might seem! There are a number of places in the piece that are traditional SA, or SSA, or SSAA, or even a few unison phrases. And in the double choir section, it is rare for a voice to be truly alone. Choir 1 S1/S2 might be similar. Or all sopranos, from both choirs, might be on the same rhythms, but different harmonic points of the chord.

This is an excellent lesson in analysis. Look up and down, who is your part paired with? Who sings the same pitches as you? The same rhythms? How long does that partnership last? When does it change? We did a little of that at our first handout of the music, just scanning up and down the staff, and I heard some “ohhh” moments. When they realize it isn’t as scary as 8-part looks. Think of it like a big group-dance number in a musical, or a courtly dance scene from Tudor England. Partners are changing constantly, but there’s a design and a purpose and an order to it. Plus, many of the motives in the big double choir section are phrases that have been heard before in the piece, so it’s not all new material.

The piece itself also has some intermittent vocal percussion – some rhythmic consonants and variations of vowels. From the programs notes that Catherine included in the front cover, these are perceptions of the ‘sounds the sun makes.’ Yet another aspect that my students are really enjoying.

So, if you have a small ensemble and are looking for a one-on-a-part piece, this is a great choice. Alternately, if you have an ensemble of any size and are looking for divisi with rhythmic complexity, or a chance to work on compound subdivision or Dorian mode, this selection is excellent for that as well. The energy is undeniable!

Title:	She Rises
Composer:	Catherine Dalton
Date of Composition:	2014
Text Author:	Catherine Dalton
Subject(s), Genre:	Sun, light, illumination, personal drive, inner strength
Language:	English
Voicing Details:	SSAA double choir (SSAA/SSAA); Not all of the song is double choir – some is unison, SA, SSA, and SSAA.
Ranges:	S1: (Choir 1) C4-A5; (Choir 2) C4-F5 S2: C4-E5 A1: A3-D5 A2: G3-D5
Accompaniment:	A cappella
Duration:	~3:40 total
Publisher:	Hickory Street Publishing (www.CatherineDalton.net)

Composer’s website, including perusal score, and audio by Vox Femina Los Angeles (Iris Levine, artistic director):
http://www.catherinedalton.net/works/she-rises

Atlanta Women’s Chorus Virtual Choir (Melissa Arasi, artistic director)
https://youtu.be/r8A4vYLB8nU

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts

p.s. As an aside, I’m currently pairing this song with “Cool Moon” (SSA by Richard Williamson). Click here for the blog post. So that’s a Sun-themed rhythmically-complex, 8-part divisi, modal piece to focus on individual work, and a Moon-themed rhythmically-simple, three-part, diatonic, easy-solfege piece to work on balance, blend, phrasing, and tone. So far so good!

Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:
Bio: https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Silver Linings: Connections in Choir During Hybrid Learning

March 10, 2021 by ACDA Leave a Comment

A few months ago ACDA began soliciting and sharing “silver lining” reflections from our members. We have enjoyed them so much, we decided to share them in a wider way on ChoralNet. Have you experienced a silver lining during the course of this challenging year? Please email a draft to for consideration in this series.

By Edward Norris

Teaching choral music in a hybrid model: How do I do that? How do I make this work? How will I feel? How will the kids feel? Will we be productive? These are some of the questions that made our hearts race in September when this journey began.

For all of us, the 2020-21 school year will certainly be one to remember. It has been a year filled with struggle, loss, civil and political unrest, depression, anxiety, and uncertainty. Our students’ minds are saturated with images of negativity each and every day due to the current world that we live in. When I stepped back into the choral room at Glen Cove High School in September, I vowed to have our program be a beacon of light in their lives; a place where they could forget what is going on in the world, even if it were only for 45 minutes a day. I let go of a lot that I had focused on in the past musically, and decided that the theme of this year would be connection.

I know that sounds pretty silly since on most days, I have anywhere from two to ten kids in front of me and everyone else on Google Meet, but that was my thought nonetheless. I decided to focus on what we have, as opposed to what we have lost. Yes, we have lost things like in-person rehearsals, lessons, concerts and trips, but we still have the ability to connect through music and make a difference in each other’s lives.

For much of my career, my students have talked about how our choir family has made a difference in their lives. I would beam with pride knowing that our group gave them a safe space to be who they are while appreciating some of the world’s finest choral music. I’ve always known how much I adore my students, but it wasn’t until March of 2020 that I truly learned what the choir meant to both myself and to them! During quarantine I realized that this upcoming year would be about fostering and maintaining the connections we have to one another within our choir family.

This year I have talked to my students about “stopping to smell the musical roses.” Yes, we still rehearse choral music, we still sight-read, we still learn good choral and vocal technique, but without the pressure of preparing for performances. I am able to dive very deep into things that I normally wouldn’t have as much time to do. For example, we have been talking a lot about music theory in choir. I often talk about theory during my rehearsals but this year I am really able to go into great depth about the chord structure of a piece or phrase or, perhaps, how the alto II’s have the 9th of the chord, which has to be treated differently. This has given the singers a greater understanding of the music that we sing. Another thing that I have been able to do is work quite a bit on text analysis whether it be poetry or the text to a piece of music. We have taken text and really gotten into the meaning of each section and, once again, it has given the singers great comprehension of how to interpret . . . we have to tell the story! Spending the extra time with this aspect of music making will surely pay dividends for years to come.

I know what you are thinking. Where is the “connection” piece you were talking about? All of the “stopping to smell the musical roses” is great, but how do we connect over Google Meet? How do we connect the kids who are in person to the kids who are at home? For me, the answer has been simple; just talk to them, have a conversation. Take the time to find out how they are, how they are handling all of this, and let them know that you will be there for them every step of the way. Early on in the school year I showed my choirs a video of my dear friend Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand and the Aeolians of Oakwood University doing a virtual performance of Robert T. Gibson’s “We Shall Overcome.” The in-person students cried, the virtual students cried, I cried. It was a moment. We were connected! We were apart, but we were doing the same thing and feeling the same feelings at the same time.

My colleague at Glen Cove and I work very closely with one another and a mission that we take on each and every day is to connect to every single student, be it in-person or online and we have noticed that it makes a difference. Maybe it’s a little story, a comment on their dog that’s on their lap, a comment about their LED lights on their ceiling (boy am I tired of seeing LED lights), a comment about their favorite sports team, a comment about how great that student did in their virtual lesson. With each comment comes a smile or a wave from them. So many of them tell us that it makes a difference to them, and equally as important; it makes a difference to us! It makes us feel closer to them!

A few weeks ago, I was taking virtual attendance and said “Hey Kevin, it is so great to see you with us today!” He unmuted and responded “Hey Mr. Norris, thank you for being so cheery today. I need it because I am having a really tough time mentally and emotionally.” I couldn’t let that comment go. I had to talk to him, but I couldn’t pull him into the hallway, as he was a virtual student. So, I talked to Kevin and the entire class about how it’s okay to feel these feelings and the best thing that you can do is talk about it. We talked about how the choir is a safe space and that’s why Kevin chose to say what he said. With Kevin and the group, I shared some of my personal struggles since the pandemic started, as well as with the civil unrest that has been happening. The chat was filled with comments to pick Kevin up, as well as students saying how grateful they were to be in class that day to hear what they heard. I received several emails from students (and their parents) about how that particular session struck a chord and made a difference with themselves or with their child.

This year, it’s not about perfect intonation and phrasing. It is not about having a fantastic concert. For me and for my students it is about connecting with one another and doing our very best to impact each other’s lives. It is about continuing to learn great choral music, but taking time to smile and laugh each day. I would like to leave you with this video: it is the BYU singers directed by Andrew Crane performing Elaine Hagenberg’s “Alleluia.” Together with our students, we can stay connected and make music in the midst of all of this.

Stay safe my friends.

Edward Norris is the director of choral music at Glen Cove High School (Glen Cove, New York) where he conducts the 75-voice mixed chorus and the 40-voice Select Chorale. He also teaches music theory and AP music theory. Outside of Glen Cove, he is an adjunct professor at Long Island University Post Campus and at the Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens College). Ed serves as the Division V Choral Vice President for the Nassau Music Educators Association and is a proud member of the New York State School Music Association and the American Choral Directors Association. Lastly, Ed was a contributing author of Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand’s book Teaching with Heart.

Take me home – John Denver [Cover Virtual]

February 22, 2021 by Paolo La Rosa Leave a Comment

to announce that we have published the Virtual Choir “Take me home”, performed by the “Bruno Peverada” Vocal Group of Pieve Emanuele, near Milan – Italy. It’s a cover of the famous song by John Denver, in a vocal arrangement by Paolo La Rosa.
Enjoy it!

Virtual Choir Kits – Spring Release!

January 13, 2021 by Adam Podd Leave a Comment

The Podd Brothers have just released our (hopefully) final batch of Virtual Choir Kits!! These are brand new arrangements of well-known and well-loved songs, in a variety of styles (truly something for everyone) and created with virtual choirs in mind. SATB, SAB, 2-part, and Unison voicings available. Click here to jump right in: http://poddbrothers.com/choirkits

These innovative kits are best explained in this video –
but the basic gist is this:
We made awesome new arrangements of songs you probably know, and took care of all the pre-production that would normally go into making a virtual choir (guide tracks, accompaniment tracks, step-by-step instructions for the singers, and directors.) Basically, we set out to make this process easier, more accessible, and more musical – allowing singers and conductors to start with the fun part (the music!!) instead of all the hassle that bogs down the creation of any virtual choir project. And it includes all licenses and permissions you need to made a virtual choir video and post it anywhere you want.

Our new spring collection includes:
-“It Had to Be You” w/ “You Mae Me Love You” (vocal jazz settings)
-Hallelujah Chorus (original and adapted versions for aspiring choirs) – both accompanied by full orchestra
-2 Spirituals “There Is More Love Somewhere” (powerful, building, with orchestral accompaniment) and “Over My Head” (energized, gospel setting, with a full band)
-“Ombra Mai Fù” (Largo from ‘Xerxes’) – reimagined with a modern treatment of the accompaniment, while preserving the pristine beauty of Handel’s original melody and character.
-An Easter medley combining “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” w/ “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” in a majestic choir anthem w/ full orchestra for Easter Sunday.

We were thrilled with the feedback from so many of you about our Holiday Caroling kits, and how well they worked. Hundreds of schools, churches, and organizations used them to sing together and spread some holiday cheer when the world needed it most, and were honored to have played a part, truly! Thanks in advance for checking out the music, and if you feel so inclined help us spread the word so we can get through the coming months with group singing in the best, safest way possible.

We’d love if you can purchase them directly from us of course, but if you must use an approved vendor with your organization, these will be available at jwpepper in about a week.

Reach out with any questions at all! ()

All the best,
The Podd Brothers (Adam and Matt)

The Power of Purposeful Collaboration: A 1000-Mile Collaboration between RISE Chorales (Savannah, GA) and Lawrence Community Girl Choir (Appleton, WI), including Composer Matt Carlson (Gettysburg, PA)

November 18, 2020 by From Our Readers Leave a Comment

By Karen L. Bruno and Dr. Emily Williams Burch

In a year during which many of us have experienced deep divisions and conflict, purposeful collaboration can be a balm that pulls us together. As teacher-conductors, many of us have spent hours on Zoom meetings and webinars sharing best practices, learning from one another, and building our community of colleagues. But have we considered how to help our singers experience the power of purposeful collaboration? When sitting down to plan for their virtual choir season, RISE Chorales, a Savannah-based choral organization, and the Lawrence Community Girl Choir Program based in Appleton, Wisconsin, started with one overarching goal in mind: through a collaborative musical process, singers would share their stories, exploring both the challenges and the joys of living through a pandemic.

RISE Chorales Founder/Artistic Director, Dr. Emily Williams Burch, met the Lawrence Community Girl Choir Program Artistic Director, Karen Bruno, while serving on the national American Choral Directors Association’s standing committee for Advocacy and Collaboration. Bruno then was a guest on Burch’s “Music (ed) Matters” Podcast, which led to a discussion about creating a meaningful collaboration.

“I love that this project celebrates our singers’ voices – literally and figuratively,” comments Bruno, whose high school choir, Bel Canto, is participating in the collaboration. “As the world changes around them, it’s important that our students have opportunities to be involved in projects that celebrate and incorporate their ideas.”

The culmination of the collaboration will be the co-creation and premier of a new work by composer Matt Carlson. Members of each group will share their experiences of living and making music during a pandemic, and Carlson will set these thoughts to music for the choirs to learn and premier.

“Writing music has been so important to me as a way to process the complex emotional thoughts of the time in which we live,” says Carlson. “It’s a composer’s dream to be able to work with choirs in real-time while writing a new piece. I’m thrilled to collaborate with these excellent choral programs, and to provide a space in which their students may be inspired to respond to our world through writing music of their own.”

During the initial rehearsal, singers learned the song Give Light, a song written by Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino of Magpie. Its text comes from words of civil rights activist Ella Baker; in preparation for the combined rehearsal, both choirs read an article about Baker’s life and critical role in the twentieth-century American voting and Civil Rights movements. As high school girls comprise each choir, centering the words and experience of a Black woman was an important way to begin to build community. The singers then discussed the song’s melody, rhythm, and harmony in small groups, drawing their own parallels between the elements, text, and experience of singing and listening to the song together. Finally, composer Carlson led the singers through Begin, a piece he wrote for treble choirs in June of this year. He explained what inspired him to write the piece and shared important aspects of his composition process.

The choirs will come together four more times between November and February. They will record Begin as one group and will more deeply explore the themes of resilience and community, sharing ideas that will inform Carlson’s new composition. When asked to make up a headline to describe the first rehearsal, singers submitted ideas like, “Music Leads the Change We Need in the World,” “Listening, Learning, and Loving,” and “Powerful Women’s Choirs Unite in Their Individuality.”

This type of collaborative project is not difficult to create, but it does require alignment regarding goals or outcomes. Find a collaborator whose program is aligned with yours in terms of level of expertise, age group, and interest level so that community is easier to build, and be sure to set shared goals for the project that will benefit both programs. If one teacher-conductor or program is doing more of the planning or teaching, or if one teacher-conductor envisions a different final outcome of the collaboration, singers will be caught in the middle of an uncomfortable process.

Also note that collaborations need not take place over several weeks or months – a one-time workshop or experience can be just as impactful as a longer-term commitment. What does your choir need? What can you envision? What are your own strengths and weaknesses? Will your singers grow more if a third person – someone outside both organizations – is at the helm? How will the collaboration benefit everyone involved?

For instance, this project began with teacher-conductors learning about one another’s programs. They identified shared goals and decided upon the scope of the project. They chose rehearsal dates and times and created outcomes for each rehearsal. Meetings before and between rehearsals have featured collaborative, specific, and structured lesson planning. Specificity creates accountability for each participant, ultimately ensuring that each group’s needs are being met.

As the members of RISE and Lawrence’s Bel Canto look to future rehearsals, singers hope to get to know one another, learn the musical culture of each choral program, and make music together. Everyone involved is excited to see how the singers’ words and experiences become textual and musical ideas for a new choral composition. The students immediately understood that they were building a new community through this project and are excited to “overcome distance,” “face adversity,” and “spread love and empowerment” together through this project.

To learn more, visit RISEchorales.com, communitymusic.lawrence.edu/programs/girl_choir, or mattcarlson.co.