6 minute read
NEWS AND NOTES
from around the state
Send news of hirings, retirements, awards, commissions, premieres, collaborations, or projects to your regional representative!
Advertisement
NORTHERN REGION
At Sacramento City College, director Daniel Paulson invested in software called Rehearsal Live Share, which allows for a conductor to invite participants to a zoom-like space where choir members can sing and rehearse to pre-recorded accompaniment tracks and recordings, all while being synced up on the directors’ computer. The director can record the cyclical rehearsals on the spot and play them back for the ensemble, and the choir members can even sing along with themselves. Since last August, the choirs at Sacramento City College have been rehearsing weekly on Rehearsal Live Share and even presented four concert projects with the choirs singing at the same time, from their homes, synced on Rehearsal Live Share.
BAY AREA
Choral music was active and vibrant in the Bay Area through online programs and presentations during Spring 2021. Highlights included the San Francisco Girls Chorus, led by Valérie Sainte-Agathe, collaborating with the King’s Singers in a virtual rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Sacred & Profane and Rebecca Seeman joined with La Nell Martin and the Oakland Youth Chorus Chamber Singers in a performance called Make Our World Anew: Black Voices Matter. Both of these performances are available for viewing on YouTube.
The Bay Area has also gained a new choir during the pandemic. Martin Benvenuto has founded 21V, a select ensemble of soprano and alto voices of all gender identities, to perform 21st century music of the Americas.
CENTRAL COAST REGION
Beth Klemm has been offering virtual voice classes for her students at the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy. The choir programs and all electives at Fine Arts are being offered in the “asynchronous” time slot and have concentrated on vocal development, musicianship and solo work. Students were involved in a virtual choir concert with local schools, adult choirs, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cuesta Choirs. Recently, her students discovered they can hear each other at the same time and sing in harmony using the Soundtrap program. In addition to the voice classes, Beth produces a weekly 30-minute general music video for the district’s 4th graders.
Dr. Daniel Gee, in his first semester at Westmont College teaching the Westmont Choir and Chamber Singers, says that students were grateful to safely come together for rehearsal and performance singing outside under a parking lot tent, masked and distanced. On April 23rd, 2021, they presented their Spring Choral Concert with a performance of Faure’s Requiem featuring unique COVID adjustments and performance spaces.
Dr. Scott Glysson at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has a featured article in the May edition of The Choral Journal, titled “One Trip: The Transformative Power of Cultural Exchange.” This spring the repertoire for Westmont’s Chamber Choir, Women’s Choir, Polyphonics, and University Singers concert will have a special focus on positivity and optimism, with a performance planned for June 6th at 8:00p.m. They are looking ahead to spring 2022 for a very special collaboration with Chanticleer and a world premiere by Nico Muhly.
CENTRAL REGION
In March, Julie Dana and the Fresno City College choirs gave their annual World Music concert a new twist: they turned it into a week-long event in which they released a virtual performance of a different piece every night. Julie invited choral educators from diverse ethnic backgrounds to teach a piece that represented their culture. Her guests included Dima Abdin, Middle East; Daniel Afonso, Brazil; Pawasut Jodi Piriyapongrat, Thailand; and Angel M. Vázquez-Ramos, Puerto Rico. After the students were divided into small groups, they researched all aspects of the pieces, and were asked to create a virtual presentation that would demonstrate their understanding of the historical context and musical features of the pieces that were studied.
In February, Cari Earnhart (Fresno State University), and Julie Dana (Fresno City College) continued their tradition of collaborating and presenting an annual “Walk in Peace: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month” concert—virtually!
SOUTHERN REGION
Teachers in the William S. Hart District in Northern Los Angeles County haven’t let COVID prevent them from giving their students
authentic and meaningful opportunities. On the first Friday of every month, students from various high schools perform live via Twitch in a series called “First Fridays.” The event is livestreamed, and hundreds tune in from home to watch. Teachers have also offered monthly master classes, with formats ranging from voice lessons to talks on social justice. Guests have included Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, Donald Brinegar, Jeffrey Benson, Lori Marie Rios, and Broadway actress Mandy Gonzalez. A big shout-out to these educators from the Hart District: Sarah Anders, Kelly Caswell, Jeffrey Gilbert, Berean Haddad, Kaitlyn Holt, Mark Judd, Karen Long, Christine Mocha, Brianna Mowry, Molly Peters, and Rebekah West.
Alan Garcia, Susanna Peeples, and Ryan Yoder shared their tips and tricks on recruiting and retaining students at the March 25th CCDA mini session, “From Zoom to Room,” hosted by Tina Peterson. A Zoom recording of the session is available on the CCDA website and the CCDA YouTube channel.
FAR SOUTH REGION
Special thanks to Carol Manifold, Executive Director of the Choral Consortium of San Diego, for sharing some of the things choirs in San Diego county are doing!
Kathleen Hansen,
performed as an invited ensemble for the 2021 ACDA National Virtual Conference. SDWC performed three songs and took part in a joint virtual-choir video (right) with other GALA choruses.
Voices of Our City Choir released their video of “Glory” at the end of February in celebration of Black History Month. The song, by artists Common and John Legend, won an Academy Award as Best Original Song for the movie Selma. Ruthie Millgard (San Diego Children’s Choir and President of the Choral Consortium of San Diego) arranged the vocals for the piece. Last fall, Voices of Our City Choir were recognized for moving to the semifinals of “America’s Got Talent.”
The San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir released their third album this past December. Conductor Ruth Weber told the San Diego Reader in February that the pandemic factored into the decision to finish the recording: “The upside of the pandemic was that we were able to find top-level musicians who were available at reasonable rates to record on our album remotely. We have tracks from musicians from all over the U.S. that we added to our vocal tracks.”
On March 21, the San Diego Queer Youth Chorus presented an online, live-streamed concert that included original songs and spoken-word pieces. SDQYC, directed by Lindsey Deaton and accompanied by Gina Seashore, is the first chorus in California for middle- and high-school LGBT and allied performers. SDQYC is supported by the Jason Mraz Foundation, San Diego Pride, and the San Diego Women’s Chorus.
The Choral Consortium of San Diego began their “Conversations with Conductors” series in March with guests Emilie Amrein and Matthew Ignacio. Emilie is co-creator of the online resource The Choral Commons and Matthew conducts the Tremble Clefs, a singing group for people living with Parkinson’s and their care partners. April’s session featured Fiona Chatwin and Kathleen Hansen.
The Bach Collegium of San Diego (Ruben Valenzuela, director) presented “Bach to Bop,” featuring countertenor and BCSD favorite, Reginald Mobley, performing music ranging from Bach and Purcell to Cole Porter. The performance was part of the streamed Virtual Mainstage concert series.
Two of our great Far South children’s choirs have successfully and safely resumed outside rehearsals with masks in person this year. The North Coast Singers (Melissa Keylock, Artistic Director) also simultaneously zooms for singers rehearsing at home. San Diego Children’s Choir (Ruthie Millgard, Artistic Director) is rehearsing at all satellite locations, including local parks and parking garages, reaching over 1,000 students for weekly rehearsals and music classes.
Thanks to our Regional Representatives (Andrew Kreckmann, Northern; Buddy James, Bay Area; Angel Vázquez-Ramos, Central; Carolyn Teraoka-Brady, Central Coast; Tina Peterson, Southern; and Arlie Langager, Far South) for collecting and sharing news from their areas! Send your news to your regional representative if you’d like to be included in a future issue.
