CCDA Cantate (Winter 2023)

stacey kikkawa

Oh, the weather outside is frightful.... unless you were in the CCDA Coastal Honor choir, in which case this was your view! See More photos inside.

CANTATE

Volume 35, Number 2

Official publication of the California Choral Directors Association, an Affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association

Eliza Rubenstein, editor cantate editor@gmail com

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

We welcome and encourage CCDA members to contribute articles, announcements, music and book reviews, job vacancy listings, photographs, and other items of interest to Cantate!

Please send queries and article ideas to cantate.editor@gmail.com. You are also welcome to submit completed articles, but please note that not all articles received will be published.

Deadlines for publication are as follows: August 15 (Fall issue); November 1 (Winter issue); March 1 (Spring issue). The editor reserves the right to edit all submissions.

ADVERTISING IN CANTATE

Please visit our website (www.calcda.org) or e-mail us at cantate.ads@gmail.com for complete information on advertising in Cantate, including rates, deadlines, and graphics specifications. Advertisements are subject to editorial approval.

On the cover: The Brighter Side Singers represented Temple City High School in the Rose Parade on January

2. Photo by Robyn Selders, courtesy Tammi Alderman.

WHEREAS, the human spirit is elevated to a broader understanding of itself through study and performance in the aesthetic arts, and

WHEREAS, serious cutbacks in funding and support have steadily eroded state institutions and their programs throughout our country,

BE IT RESOLVED that all citizens of the United States actively voice their affirmative and collective support for necessary funding at the local, state, and national levels of education and government, to ensure the survival of arts programs for this and future generations.

California Choral Directors Association empowers choral musicians to create transformative experiences for California’s diverse communities.

CCDAisa501(c)3 non-profit,tax-exempt corporation and an affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association.

UPCOMING EVENTS

CaSMeC

February 15-19, FreSno

aCDa national ConFerenCe

February 22-25, CinCinnati, oH

CCDa SuMMer ConFerenCe at eCCo

July 23-26, oakHurSt

Christopher peterson is professor of Choral MusiC eduCation at Csu fullerton and a teaCher, ConduCtor, Choral CliniCian, author, editor, CoMposer, and Choral arranger of MusiC and books published in the u.s. and around the world in his over thirty years as a MusiC eduCator Chris has taught in eleMentary, Middle sChool, high sChool, ChurCh, CoMMunity, festival, and Collegiate settings he reCeived his bs in MusiC eduCation froM the university of southern Maine, the MM in Choral ConduCting froM the university of Maine, and his doCtorate in Choral ConduCting/MusiC eduCation froM the florida state university

From The president’s pen: Better...Stronger...Faster!

Someof you closer to my age will remember the TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man,” a science fiction and action television series that ran from 1973 to 1978 about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is rebuilt by the government with superhuman strength, speed, and vision due to bionic implants. He does amazing things with his new strength and powers and changes the world for the better. It’s a perfect story of a hero rising from pain, loss, and adversity to become more than he ever would have been otherwise.

The world of choral music still seems to be recovering from its own “test flight accident” as we emerge from COVID-19 and find ourselves in need of a bionic boost. Some choirs have found traction and momentum in the post-pandemic world, but many others are still struggling to rebuild numbers, quality, and enthusiasm. I have experienced this at Cal State Fullerton in our non-auditioned choirs, which pull primarily from the general student population. Students who participated during high school in online choir (or not at all) during the shutdown are not finding their way back to choir, because they missed out on a live experience that would have changed their lives for the better. Church choir singers, much like some congregants who came to prefer online services from home in their pajamas, haven’t found their way back to in-person church choir and Sunday services. Community choirs are struggling to convince members that singing is not a dangerous activity, despite the occasional scares and the need to stay masked sometimes. The “test flight crash” was big and very real.

Just when we thought we were beyond the restrictions and virus outbreaks, it seems like new illness spikes appear to remind us of the stark reality we live with: We will need to manage, rather than outlive, COVID for the foreseeable future. We will need to find new ways to rebuild, and we will need to get help from everywhere we can. So where can this help come from? How can we start to rebuild

our choirs to be better, stronger, and faster? Here are a few thoughts to guide and inspire you to supercharge your rebuilding:

• Remember, the arts are going to be OK. I really believe that the arts will continue to be an important part of California’s culture. Proposition 28 passed, which will require California to set aside 1% of Prop 98 funding for music and arts education, estimated to be $1,000,000,000 annually. This may help us weather the storm of diminished numbers as we rebuild.

• The power of choral music has not diminished. As we continue to teach our singers to sing and love choral music, we will be able to build back stronger, though it will take some time to take hold. The virus, or any set back, does not diminish the magic of music to transform lives for the better.

• We can ask for help. As I said above, some programs have found traction while others have not. It’s always OK to look around and phone a friend to get a lifeline and a little wisdom and advice. What are they doing to attract singers back to their program? What are they doing to rebuild?

• Be patient. After a downturn there is always a rebound. Choral music will have a renaissance in time, and I believe it will be a big bounce. Love the singers you have now and get ready for a good rebound that is likely to come.

• Focus even more on building community and harmony in your choirs. Singers who have been alone for a few years are craving a place to belong. Search for new ways to welcome students to choir, and to help them to feel like they are an essential part of your choir family.

• Finally, don’t panic. The whole world is finding a new balance. Let us know how CCDA can assist you in your rebuilding. Together we can find ourselves in a better, stronger, more beautiful world of music, and as singers search for belonging and community in our choirs, we will see the bionic boost we need to rise to new levels of artistic fulfillment and harmony. 

eliza rubenstein is the direCtor of Choral and

at orange Coast College, and the artistiC direCtor of the orange County woMen’s Chorus she holds degrees froM oberlin College and uC irvine, and she is a forMer aniM al shelter supervisor and the Co-author of a book about dog adoption eliza’s fa Mily inCludes her partner, Julie fisCher, and four dogs. she’s passionate about gra MM ar, thai food, photography, and the st louis Cardinals and st louis blues

letter from the editor: FAILURE, FUN, and flophounds

Ina 2011 essay, “Life Studies,” published in The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik writes about deciding—in middle age and at a respectable peak in his career—to take a drawing class after a lifetime of never being very talented at drawing or much else in the daunting visual-arts family.

Gamely, he tackles his first assignment: to draw an eye. He’s seen eyes a million times, he figures; he’s got a graduate degree in art history, for pete’s sake; many, many people before him have been able to draw eyes; he really ought to be able to do the same.

“As I crossed Sixth Avenue two hours later,” he says, “I was filled with feelings of helplessness and stupidity and impotence that I had not experienced since elementary school. Why was I so unable to do something so painfully simple? Whatever sense of professional competence we feel in adult life is less the sum of accomplishment than the absence of impossibility: it’s really our relief at no longer having to do things we were never any good at doing in the first place—relief at never again having to dissect a frog or memorize the periodic table.”

How many times I’ve returned to the wry reassurance of that paragraph in the past decade, and how many times I’ve offered its wisdom to students struggling with a math requirement or a speech class! If I’m a happier adult than I was a child, it’s largely because I’m reasonably confident I’ll never again be forced to play kickball or walk a balance beam, and I trust a few of my now-grown classmates feel the same about not being compelled to sing in choir or play the violin. Let’s be real: We can all

get better at things, but we can’t all be good at everything, and if you’re in possession of an easily-wounded sense of self like mine, maybe you, too, take enormous grown-up comfort in deliverance from the obligation to be terrible at them.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling (and neither could Adam Gopnik, apparently) that there’s some virtue to be proven, some character to be built, some irritating but worthwhile lesson to be learned, from attempting things we’re sure will go badly. This year, right around the time that people made of stronger or more hopeful stuff were formulating their New Year’s resolutions, I too decided to try something new: dog agility.

The dog part, of course, isn’t new. I’ve had dogs forever and trained them since I was a kid. But I’ve steadfastly avoided the sport of agility, in which handlers guide their dogs around tricky and always-changing obstacle courses, for a couple of reasons: First, as the name suggests, it involves speed and coordination, neither of which I possess at all; and second, it requires the memorization of complex and twisty courses in just a few minutes’ time, which my spatially-impaired brain finds nearly impossible.

Problem is, the mutt (we call him a “flophound”) we adopted a couple of years ago really loves it, and I have a tough time denying canine joy. Thus it was that I entered the two of us—Russell clueless and full of excitement, me clueless and full of dread—in our first beginner-novice agility trial a few weeks ago, with the patient encouragement of my partner (a seasoned agility competitor herself), and with the goal of not breaking any bones or bringing shame upon the family. Good news. We passed. I didn’t fall

voCal aCtivities

This is Russell.

down, and I only turned the wrong way once. Russell leaped and grinned and wagged.

I entered another trial.

I’vebeen watching agility training and trials for years, just as Adam Gopnik had looked people in the eye for years, and I’m a decent dog trainer in plenty of other disciplines, so the voice repeating the refrain of You really should be able to pull this off, you dope was, and still is, at a consistent mezzo-forte in my head. But I’ve been here before, and I bet you have, too. Remember the first time you conducted a chorus, probably after years of singing in them? I certainly do—specifically, I remember wondering how I could be so bunglingly awful at it when I’d spent multiple hours a week watching conductors from the time I was tiny, and when I’d always thought of myself as a fairly competent musician. Everything changes when you’re on the podium or on the obstacle course. Much as we might wish otherwise, we learn not by observing and absorbing, but by doing and floundering.

At nineteen, after my first conducting misadventure and after a youth spent mostly terrified of failure, I felt two realizations that I’d never before experienced about the same thing at the same time: I suck at this. And I think I want to do it forever. At forty-eight, I can’t say the post-dog-agility epiphany was quite so dramatic (lucky thing, because there are no paychecks for agility

competitors and my wonky right foot isn’t going to make me any faster with age), but it went something like this: I suck at this. And it’s a lot of fun.

Russell and I are unlikely to set the agility world ablaze or even to make it to the advanced levels of competition. We’ll do this while it’s enjoyable, and we’ll look elsewhere when it’s not. Adam Gopnik reports that he mostly stopped drawing after a year, having eased the itch that brought him to art class in the first place, so I’m comforted that I’m not alone in excusing myself from setting goals for achievement or making promises of dedication. We who fear failure also tend to attach shame to quitting, so the freedom to say “that’s enough” is its own success in the arena of trying new things.

Perhaps we’ll all be fortunate enough, when our New Year’s resolutions fall into neglect as they often do, to remember them as worthy endeavors experienced for as long as they were meant to be, rather than good intentions abandoned. Perhaps we’ll all be bold enough to try new things this year—even, or especially, the things we know will be as scary as balance beam and as humbling as kickball. Maybe we’ll turn the wrong way between obstacles or fall down along the way.

Maybe, best of all, we’ll get to be the patient partner, the encouraging teacher, or the soft goofy grinning companion who gives someone else the gift of freedom to fail—to say I suck at this. And it’s a lot of fun. 

THE SPIRITUAL

A conversAtion with Albert Mcneil

Editor’s note: Albert McNeil, longtime choral conductor, Howard Swan Award winner, and founder-director renowned Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, died on November 29, 2022, at the age of 101. Raised Los Angeles, McNeil studied at UCLA and USC, among other institutions, before teaching in the District and at UC Davis. The Jubilee Singers toured the world under his direction and performed monarchs, spreading the beauty and wisdom of the African American spiritual as an art form to thousands listeners over many decades. We’re pleased to reprint this interview with Albert McNeil, recorded 2013 and published in ACDA Western’s Tactus newsletter in 2015.

IN AMERICA: eil, interviewed by cristiAn GrAses

founder-director of the worldRaised in a musical family in the LA Unified School performed for popes, presidents, and thousands and thousands of by Dr. Cristian Grases in

Cristian Grases: How do you see the state of Spiritualsinging as a genre?

albert MCneil: I think there’s been a revival in the last ten or fifteen years. People like Moses Hogan have helped make it happen, because high school and church conductors began to pick up on that music. And then a lot of them began to go back on history.

CG: So, you see spiritual-singing nowadays in the choral scene in this country as strong as ever?

AM: I would say Yes, it exists. But a lot of people have the attitude that we include a spiritual only to enliven our program, rather than to put it in perspective as being one of the great contributions of American culture. That bothers me. You have a lot of arranger-composers who grind out horrible arrangements of spirituals that miss the boat, that have no feeling for the origin and development of this music.

CG: So, do you see this misconception in programming as the biggest issue in the understanding of this genre?

AM: Yes, I think among other issues, this might be the worst. I think many conductors do not want to dig into the history of how spirituals came to be—the scope of it. You know when the original Fisk Jubilee Singers travelled to Europe, many stayed in Europe. They also travelled all over. This music became concert music. Can you believe that music of illiterate Blacks became music that people had to pay to hear? It is amazing how something that came from an unaccepted culture would suddenly rise to the occasion and be considered concert music.

My burning desire is that if you’re going to perform spirituals, do your homework. Find out where it happened. Listen to recordings—and there are many good ones now. Go with it from the standpoint of being a cultural expression of an oppressed people. That’s what I’m talking about. Once you get that idea, then you can go beyond.

CG: How do you conduct the spiritual? Do you conduct in a different way? Do you conduct more the melodies, the rhythm?

AM: The melodic material is principal in spirituals. However, look what Moses Hogan does in his “Elijah Rock,” for example. He maintains a system of undergirding rhythmic vibrations that supports what he’s doing with the counterpoint, so on and so forth. Like Adolphus Hailstork, he has all that counterpoint going on, but the melody is predominant. Hall Johnson, who’s written many great

pieces. There are others. Burleigh, who was one of the earliest composers—“My Lord, What a Mornin’” comes to my mind. It’s beautiful material. But he was a romanticist, so he knew how to write harmonies that undergird that melody.

If you’re a conductor, how do you prepare any piece for performance? There is no special way to do spirituals. It’s depending on your musicianship, do you know something about accents, do you know something about improvisation. Most concert pieces are written for choir, with or without soloists, or maybe the solo material is buried someplace in the context of the work. Do you know how to bring that melody out? I don’t think there’s any difference between what you would do with the romantic composers, or Debussy.

By and large, remember that spirituals are folk music. A spiritual is a folk piece coming from a melodic material. Contemporary arrangers do a wonderful job of bringing the spiritual into contemporary life. Because of Hogan’s unique handling of rhythms and melody, and creating major climaxes. Sometimes it’s the simplicity of it that counts. Text and rhythm, and your feeling of the phrase; that’s important.

CG: Part of what we do as conductors is to inspire singers to convey not only the musical ideas, but the overall intention of the piece. So what does the singer have to think about? Or how do we prepare singers to sing spirituals appropriately?

AM: Dr. J. Finley Williamson, founder/president of Westminster Choir College, always taught me that there’s a word called empathy. Empathy is the most important aspect of your conducting. You don’t have to explain anything. You do it. As a matter of fact, he used to conduct without body movement. Your body language, your facial expression, your look at your singers will convey empathy of what you really want to happen. You can’t talk music. You have to literally experience music, and that’s what I learnt from him.

What I also learnt from Charles Hirt is how he used body language. I was elated at the kind of repertoire he chose for church choir at Hollywood Presbyterian, and how, watching his singers looking at Charles, you almost knew what to do. You don’t explain it. You do what I ask you to do. One of the things that Charles had was his great power of empathy.

CG: I made a list of what I think are misconceptions surrounding spirituals. So I want a brief reaction from you:

Misconception #1: Spirituals and gospel music are one and the same.

AM: No. Biggest misconception and bothers the heck out of me. Most people don’t know the difference. A spiritual is classic music of African Americans. Generally comes from a single melodic line, unadulterated. Depending on the socio-economic level of the people performing it, it either has improvisation or it doesn’t. In many cases, where people could not read or write, it had to be lined out. The whole congregation would follow the leader. Remember that spirituals are folk songs. No notes and no music, because the words have already been lined out. In the lining-out process, the people who could not read were able to follow along.

On the other hand we have Gospel: In the 1920s and 30s we begin to have other secular forms, Blues, political changes in the country, freedom of slavery, urban settings, which were hard to live by if you came from a country place and lived on a farm. You had formal religious denominations, Methodist, Lutherans, etc. and many of the big cities of the south had these churches. These churches were following a strict ritualistic liturgy. Along come more people from the south and their country environments. They come to the big cities such as Chicago. They flooded into these urban centers. They did not feel comfortable in the so-called liturgical churches. Eventually there was born a new kind of religious experience, the Holiness Churches, the Sanctified Churches. People felt that they could worship God by the dance, by the incorporation of instruments, the effect of blues and jazz. The singers began to sound like Blues singers but to religious text. They were doing holy dances.

Over here you had the formal churches singing spirituals, over there you had the informal ones singing a different form that eventually became the gospel singing. They used spiritual texts to undergird, but then they began to be creative, use their own text, using piano, tambourines, and electric organ—virtuoso players would improvise on those organs.

Gospel is a synthesis of blues, jazz, and improvisatory elements. Spiritual is formal, in parts, and finally the so-called concert spiritual was born. Right now contemporary gospel is hardly distinguishable from any kind of contemporary piece that you hear. One is a cappella, one is with all kinds of instrumentation. All Spirituals are a cappella. If you want to perform a spiritual the way it should be, it should be a cappella.

Misconception #2: Spirituals in contemporary programming are always closers.

AM: That is a horrible conception. What you’re saying is that it has no place in the realm of choral performance. It should be some place internally in the music. You should have enough knowledge of the spiritual that you can have a rhythmic spiritual, and a contrasting spiritual that may not be rhythmic, maybe more meditative, more heartwarming and reassuring. I hate that people say, “I’m utilizing this music to ‘enlighten’ my program, to make a climactic

thing.” You’ve minimized its importance. You’ve not given it the proper value in your program that it surely deserves.

Misconception #3: Clapping versus snapping.

AM: Jester Hairston has a piece called “Goin’ Down Dat Lonesome Road.” He wanted to snap. That’s a secular piece. It’s difficult for me to say. I think sometimes clapping is disconcerting and distracting. It depends on the piece. Snapping was viewed by many, many, many people, and many denominations as being very secular and should not be incorporated. That’s one opinion. You got Seventh-Day Adventist churches that are doing everything these days short of choreographing their gospel music. I come from an old school, so I’m more prone to not accept distracting elements in performance.

CG: Any racial connotation to snapping? Apparently the snap was used as a demeaning gesture in a plantation, so it is perceived as such nowadays.

AM: I don’t know. It could be.

Misconception #4: Dialect and slang: You cannot sing a spiritual if you don’t sing it with the proper dialect and pronunciation.

AM: I don’t believe that. I nullify that completely. There are certain elements in [the] African-American community that speak dialectically already. I certainly wouldn’t make a decided effort to have my singers try to sound like black people. That’s ridiculous. Sing English the way it is. Don’t attempt to imitate what you think is a black sound. I think that is deadly. How can they conceive of this when they don’t even live in that culture and have no idea? Just sing it in English, and if they’re singing correctly, it’ll come out fine. I’m so opposed to using dialect and so was Jester Hairston, although he wrote a lot of pieces using dialect.

CG: You’ve talked about Moses Hogan. Who are other key composer-arrangers to program? Are there books, specific resources, or publishing companies?

AM: The Lawson-Gould catalog is good, although it might be somewhat dated. Hinshaw does a very good job. Lloyd Pfautsch, Nell Walker, Uzee Brown, Jester Hairston, Hale Smith, Augustus O. Hill, Linda Twine, Adolphus Hailstork, Diane White-Clayton, and certainly Moses Hogan. If you really want to know about the spiritual, the definitive book is The Music of Black Americans, by Eileen Southern, published by Norton. 

This interview, conducted in 2013, originally appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of Tactus, the publication of ACDA Western Region. It is reprinted here by kind permission of interviewer Cristian Grases, then-Tactus editor Nina Gilbert, and current Tactus editor Olivia Arnold.

To belong is to be heard, understood, seen, and valued—to be a thriving and vital member of the chorus of humanity. Join us in Cincinnati (in person!) to celebrate our diversity and our affinities, while we inspire each other to create a greater Place of Belonging.

HEADLINE CHOIRS

The May Festival Chorus & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Juanjo Mena, conductor featuring a world premiere by James Lee III

The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers

The Crossing Donald Nally, conductor featuring the premiere of the Brock Commission by Jennifer Higdon

CONFERENCE ATTENDEE

IMMERSION CHOIRS

Latinoamérica

Immersion Choir

Maria Guinand, conductor

Black Diaspora

Immersion Choir

Donald Dumpson, conductor

Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir

Jace Saplan, conductor

Jazz

Immersion Choir

Matt Falker, conductor

HONOR CHOIRS

Elementary Fernando Malvar-Ruiz

JH/MS Mixed Andrea Ramsey

HS SATB

Eugene Rogers

HS SSA

Pearl Shangkuan

AMAZING VENUES

Cincinnati Music Hall

Aronoff Center Theaters

Plum Street Temple

Duke Energy Convention Center for all interest sessions, exhibits, and publisher showcases

HONOR CHOIR UPDATES

by Susie Martone and Angelina Fitzhugh

The2022 Central, Coastal, and Southern Region High School Honor Choirs were held November 17-19 at Delta College (Stockton), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and University of Redlands. Event chairs Katrina Brekke, Kira Dixon, Bethany Encina, Susanna Peeples, Kristen Walton and their teams did an amazing job organizing all the details. We appreciate you!

The All-State Honor Choirs will be held at CASMEC in Fresno, February 16-18, 2023, with guest directors Ms. Connie Drosakis (Junior High SATB), Dr. Lynnel Joy Jenkins (High School SSAA), Dr. Jefferson Johnson (High School TTBB), and Dr. Betsy Cook Weber (High School SATB). Rosters and registration information were emailed to auditionees and directors in December, and students should now be busy learning their music for a successful honor choir

experience. Rehearsals are open for observation by conference attendees, so we hope you will visit for some inspiration from our wonderful guest conductors.

It takes a village to run our All-State Honor Choirs! Many thanks to our team: Jesse Denny, Lauren Diez, Jenni Gaderlund, Alan Garcia, Andrew Hathaway, Kate Huizinga, Albee Mabeza, Eric Newell, Kristen Redaniel, and Sammy Salvador. We also appreciate each and every director who prepares their students for auditions, supports them in learning their repertoire, and coordinates logistics to make the All-State experience possible.

Please keep an eye on your email and the All-State Honor Choir website (calcda.org/all-state) for the most up-to-date information. We’re looking forward to another amazing year of All-State Choirs at CA SMEC! 

F R E S N O S T A T E

FACULTY

Director of Choral Activities

Dr. Cari Earnhart

Choral Music Education

Dr Emily Mason

Dr. Tony Mowrer

Voice

Dr Maria Briggs

Dr. Anthony Radford FACULTY

Dr. Anna Hamre

Dr. Arthur Huff

Dr. Gary Unruh

Prof Helene Joseph-Weil

Dr Cari Earnhart: cearnhart@csufresno edu https://cah fresnostate edu/music/about/ensembles html

N.E.O. Voice Festival 2023

Join a vibrant, diverse community of artists for a week of creativity performance and exploration with daily interactive workshops; expert mentoring rehearsals and live concerts Enjoy sharing your talents while participating in multiple public performances that will culminate in the premiere performance of a new “ExplOratorio” masterwork written and produced by attending composers and performers At the N E O Voice Festival you will find supportive artists who are pushing the boundaries of vocal composition and voice science in inspiring progressive ways Festival participants will find a friendly safe and welcoming place to deepen questions they have about their unique voice and creativity

Meet the Faculty

Dates June 24th - July 1st, 2023

Application Information neovoicefestival com

Early bird applications, Fellowship, and scholarship applications are due February 1st, 2023 All other applications are due by March 31st, 2023

Location 540 S Commonwealth Ave Los Angeles, CA 90020

For more information, email info@resonancecollective org

The SDSU Experience

A balance of art and academics, culture and community, exploration and excellence. Explore the possibilities at SDSU.

Undergraduate: BM Music Education, BM Vocal Performance

Graduate: MM Choral Conducting, MM Vocal Performance, Graduate Artist Diploma

music.sdsu.edu

SEEN & HEARD

Clockwise from near right: Clovis North High School choir members take a brief holiday break (photo courtesy Heather Bishop); Monson-Sultana School presents their “Country Christmas” program (photo courtesy Mary Pauls); Jonathan Talberg leads the choirs of CSU Long Beach in a holiday program (photo by Sean DuFrene, courtesy of Jonathan Talberg); and La Nell Martin leads the Oakland Youth Chorus (photo courtesy La Nell Martin). Turn the page for more!

Clockwise from near right: Irvine High School’s Canta Bella and Irvine Singers carol at John Wayne Airport in Orange County (photo courtesy Tina Peterson); Cantabella Children’s Chorus (Pleasanton) performs Eriks Esenvalds’ “Northern Lights” in the dark (photo by Tat Lim, courtesy Clement Cano); and the Godinez High School choir brings holiday cheer to a Santa Ana neighborhood (photo courtesy Jeanette McMahon). There are even more photos still ahead....turn the page!

Above: The choirs of San Dimas High School perform their Winterfest concert (photo courtesy Jared Pugh); right: Oakland’s Cantare choirs join forces for their annual intergenerational holiday program (photo by Gabriel Garcia and Spencer Smith, courtesy Julie Haydon). Send photos to cantate.editor@ gmail.com if you’d like them considered for publication in a future issue!

7TH ANNUAL CCDA/HEUSSENSTAMM COMPOSITION CONTEST AT ECCO

by Zanaida Robles

After a hiatus in 2022, The CCDA/George Heussenstamm Choral Composition Contest at ECCO now moves into its seventh year! Our winners from 2021 were Matthew Lyon Hazzard and Kate Crellin, who joined a list of past winners including Greg Lapp, Townsend Losey, Mark Growden, Jasper Randall, and Nancy Reeves.

Winning composers are invited to attend ECCO for free! Could you be next? Find that piece that you have been developing, or start fresh, and get ready to submit your composition with the chance to have it distributed to and read by choral directors from all around the state.

Please visit www.georgeheussenstamm.com to learn more about our talented and generous benefactor.

THE CONTEST

Eligibility: CCDA members who plan to attend the Summer Conference at ECCO 2023 are invited to submit a single, original composition. We are looking for single, stand-alone compositions, not sets and not arrangements. Shorter works (3-5 minutes) are preferred. (Previous winners are not eligible to apply.)

Scores: Please submit your anonymous, unpublished score, a cappella or with piano accompaniment (no obbligato instruments), any voicing, along with an anonymous demo recording (MIDI is acceptable but voices are preferred) to znrobles@gmail.com.

Please visit www.calcda.org for the link to enter all required information via Google Form.

Note: Please be sure to remove composer’s name anywhere that it might appear: title page, copyright notice, headers/footers, etc. and even on audio file information.

Format: All scores must be submitted in PDF format and all audio files must be in MP3 format.

Dates: Submissions will be accepted from February 15, 2023 through March 15, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PST.

Submissions that do not meet the above requirements will not be considered. Compositions will be judged on the following seven criteria: Overall Effect, Overall Craft, Harmonic Interest, Rhythmic Interest, Melodic Interest, Text Usage, Originality, Cosmetics of Score, and Marketability. As we are interested in finding works that might be considered for inclusion in the CCDA Choral Series with Pavane Publishing, we will

consider the composition’s marketability. Winner: The winning composition will be chosen by a committee of three CCDA members and will be announced on the CCDA website at the end of April 2023. The winning composer will receive a scholarship for tuition, room,and board at ECCO 2023, and will have their composition copied, distributed and read at the summer conference. The winning composer will also receive a $500 cash prize. The winning score may be given consideration for inclusion in the CCDA Choral Series on Pavane Publishing. CCDA reserves the right to declare “no winner” if it is deemed appropriate.

The need for connection throughout the world is greater than ever. Concert tours provide just that. Let's start planning yours today!

News and notes from around the state

CENTRAL REGION

Dr. Daniel Afonso (CSU Stanislaus) was the guest conductor for the 2022 CCDA Regional SSAA Honor Choir held in Stockton the weekend before Thanksgiving. Daniel reports, “This was a particularly special event since we hadn’t had the in-person regional Honor Choirs for two years. It was a great celebration for all of us!” The treble singers performed a program of all female composers that was enthusiastically received by singers and audience alike. The other Central Region Honor Choir conductors were Dr. Jenny Bent (Sonoma State), TTBB, and Dr. Yejee Choi (University of the Pacific), SATB.

Polly Vasché will present a session at CASMEC in February 2023 titled “Singing is Listening: Engaging Mind and Ear in the Choral Rehearsal.” She will also conduct the San Joaquin County Middle School Honor Choir in March of 2023.

On October 15 there was a meet-up for choral directors in the Modesto area. The evening took place at the home of Dr. Daniel Afonso, and choral directors from the area enjoyed yummy food and great company!

Dr. Cari Earnhart directed the CCDA Coastal SSAA Honor Choir in November along with Tim Seelig and Scot Hanna-Weir.

Julie Dana, retired choral director at Fresno City College, was the invited guest soloist on the Fresno Community Concert Band’s December 5 holiday concert, directed by Bruce Weinberger. Shaghoian Concert Hall was filled with the sounds of the holidays. Julie

was also recently honored as a Muro de Honor Honoree for 2022. Muro de Honor recognizes the contributions of dedicated Chicano/Latino Americans associated with State Center Community College District.

The Kern High School District took nearly 60 students to Central Regional Honor choir this year. Students and teachers alike were incredibly excited to attend and came home with knowledge and experience they will never forget.

The Bakersfield College Choirs under the direction of Dr. Jennifer M. Garrett performed with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra on their Home for the Holidays concert after a two-year break due to Covid. The BC Chamber Singers were also recently invited to perform to a sold-out crowd at the Bakersfield Mayor’s Ball and to be the guest choir at the LA Youth Philharmonic Concert in Walt Disney Concert Hall on July 8, 2023.

This past October, Dr. Ángel M. Vázquez-Ramos led Meridian Voices in a special performance dedicated to the music of Dr. Raymond Torres-Santos (CSULB). The program featured several commissioned works sung in Spanish, Latin, English, and Taíno.

SOUTHERN REGION

Thanks to the SCVA Choral Festival Chairs for making sure that festivals will be offered to all levels of choirs throughout the year! Much gratitude to SCVA board members Ken Haro and Dan Martensen for their work to continue to offer sight-reading and non-sight-reading festival opportunities

for our choral students to performance in these festival experiences.

Bethany Encina and Kristen Walton, SCVA Regional Honor Choir Chairs, organized a wonderful honor choir experience for the hundreds of Southern California choral musicians who auditioned and were selected to perform in the Redlands between November 17 and 19. Honor choir is a transformative experience for our young singers.

Orange County Music and Arts Administrators (OCMAA) announced the 2023 Orange County Outstanding Arts Educators. The list of two dozen honorees included several choral music educators: Zach Halop–Irene Schoepfle Life-Time Achievement Award, Nathan Robinson–Outstanding Music Educator, and Erica Turrell–Outstanding Music Educator.

Many thanks to Molly Peters, CCDA membership chair, for her “Meet-Up” membership initiative this fall. Many CCDA members hosted meet-ups around our region: Brendan Jennings, Jon Talberg, Alan Garcia, Zanaida Robles, Sammy Salvador, Josh Palkki, Michelle Risling, Adrian RangelSanchez, and Tina Peterson. Some were casual gatherings to make choral connections while others were modeled after reading sessions. Thanks to all who organized a meet-up and to those who attended.

On October 22, 2022, Cal State Fullerton held the David Thorsen Memorial Concert in honor of the founder of the choral program at Cal State Fullerton. Alumni and current students joined together to sing beautiful music that David Thorsen

performed with his choirs during his tenure. The day was filled with fun, great choral music, and a “welcome home” for many CSUF alumni, donors, and friends.

FAR SOUTH REGION

The Choral Consortium of San Diego (Carol Manifold, Executive Director) had a busy Fall with several events: Conductor Conversations via Zoom with Marielena Teng and Brian Lustig, World Singing Day San Diego led by Kathleen Hansen, and a Halloween-themed Beer Choir gathering led by Juan Carlos Acosta.

The University of San Diego Choral Scholars (Dr. Emilie Amrein), the San Diego State University Chamber Singers (Dr. Arian Khaefi) and the MiraCosta Chamber Singers (Dr. Arlie Langager) collaborated with guest artists to present excerpts from Craig Hella Johnson’s moving oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard, in collaboration with Diversionary Theatre in November 2022.

NORTHERN REGION

Dr. Andrew Kreckmann, Director of Choral Activities at Sacramento State University, noted a particularly special performance by the University Chorale for the annual Festival of New American Music’s final concert and keynote address where they performed the music of in-residence composer Libby Larsen. The choral program has returned to its (pre-pandemic) full-performance schedule of three choirs, which includes the expertise of faculty member Dr. Brett Judson, director of Choral Union.

Rachel Jackson, music director at Fremont Presbyterian in Sacramento, noted that the Fremont Christmas Choir & Orchestra recently had the privilege of debuting composer John Whitaker of Reading, U.K.’s new arrangement of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Folk Songs of the Seasons: IV. Winter for SATB with full orchestra. This work was retooled with permission from the original SSAA. The program honored Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 150th birthday, as well as featuring works by John Rutter, Dan Forrest, and Bradford Barlow.

Dr. Donald Kendrick and the Sacramento Choral

Society and Orchestra premiered Sacramento State School of Music Professor Dr. Scott Perkins’ new commissioned “Christmas Carol” in Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium on December 10th as part of their annual Home For the Holidays concert. Over 2000 people purchased tickets for this annual holiday celebration, which included an active audience engagement and a large outreach to Veterans. Kendrick and Sacred Heart’s Schola Cantorum also sold out their two performances of their annual Christmas concert, “From Heaven on High,” after a three-year hiatus.

BAY AREA

Clement Cano is the new Artistic Director of Cantabella Children’s Chorus, following in the amazing footsteps of founder Bee Chow and recently retired Eileen Chang

The East Bay People’s Choir, a division of the Mission Peak Chamber Singers, welcomed Emelynn Montoya as their conductor.

Anna Thoreson teaches elementary music at two schools in the Fremont area, which recently celebrated their first public performance since the start of the pandemic.

West Valley College, newly accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), hosted composer and lyricist Jennifer Lucy Cook for a residency in October, and collaborated with the Christopher High Chamber Choir for their “Searching for Home” concert in December. Led by conductor Kira Dixon, the Christopher High School Chamber Choir also premiered a new work by Ron Kean at their winter concert. “I Am an American” was written to honor the 120,000 Japanese Americans interned during World War II, including Ms. Dixon’s own grandparents.

Bay Choral Guild, based in Palo Alto, presented the premiere of Artistic Director Sanford Dole’s “A Song for St. Cecilia,” newly reimagined for chorus, soloists, organ, piano, and percussion.

The SJSU Choirs performed for Andrea Bocelli’s Christmas concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco to a sold out crowd of 15,000.

Analy High School Chamber Singers, under the direction of Carl Oser, is preparing to sing with 10-time Grammy Winner Bobby McFerrin in February.

Northern Region members gathered for an Escape Room experience (and some barbecue) on October 29, 2022.

Congratulations to iSing Silicon Valley and conductor Jennah Delp Somers, who will represent our region at the 2023 ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati!

CENTRAL COAST REGION

Continuing the food theme from their concert, “A Feast for the Senses,” Canzona Women’s Ensemble joined SLO Food Bank to help alleviate hunger in San Luis Obispo County this fall. Singers, staff, and supporters gleaned in the fields and packed produce bags in the warehouse while encouraging concert attendees to bring food and donations for the food bank to their November concert.

The Vocal Arts Ensemble of San Luis Obispo will once again host their annual Central Coast Choral Festival on March 23 and 24. Please contact Gary Lamprecht at glamprecht@charter net for information.

Jennifer Peterson, choral director at Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, was recognized with the 2023 Santa Barbara Bowl Performing Arts Teacher of the Year Award. Jennifer and seven other Santa Barbara County teachers were celebrated at the Santa Barbara County of

Education “Salute to Teachers” hosted by Cox Communications on Saturday, November 5th.

The Cuesta College Vocal Jazz Festival, directed by John Knutson, was held on November 4 and 5. Carol Welsman was the headliner and 24 ensembles participated.

The Cal Poly Choirs, under the direction of Dr. Scott Glysson, performed their annual Holiday Kaleidoscope concert on December 2 in the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center to a crowd of 1,000. The choirs are gearing up for a busy spring, with a tour to Orange County and San Diego featuring a performance with the San Diego Children’s Chorus, the annual Bach Week festival, and the award-winning Cantabile’s (formerly Women’s Chorus) performance in Lincoln Center.

Thanks to our Regional Representatives (Andrew Kreckmann, Northern; Kristina Nakagawa, Bay Area; Jennifer Garrett, Central; Scott Glysson, Central Coast; Tina Glander Peterson, Southern; and Yewon Lee, 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.

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President’s Circle Diamond ($1000 and higher)

David Masone, in honor of husband, Dr. William Hall, and the Dr. William Hall

ECCO Scholarship

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President’s Circle Gold ($300-$499)

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President’s Circle Silver ($100-$299)

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Sponsor ($50-$99)

Jenny Bent

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Dr. Jennifer Garrett

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Kristina and Ryan Nakagawa* in honor of Lois Caran, Joe Huszti, and Charlene Archibeque

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Anonymous

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dr

Top Five for your Choir: choral composition

Icontinueto be inspired by the wonderful work of composers from all over the world and especially here in California. Attending my first ECCO conference as the R&R Chair for Choral Composition helped to remind me how important it is to come together in beautiful places, sharing memorable experiences that inspire our collective consciousness. Here are five compositions that stand out to me as inspirational.

abbie betinis Resilience

Various voicings

The Justice Choir Songbook

According to justicechoir.org, “The Justice Choir Songbook is a powerful new collection of songs for the issues of our time, and includes 43 new and re-purposed songs selected from a national Call for Scores. Made possible by Westminster Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis and many generous songwriters, the Songbook was co-edited by Abbie Betinis, Ahmed Anzaldúa, and Tesfa Wondemagegnehu.” Betinis expertly unfolds this three-part canon, creating powerful triadic harmonies and a syncopated groove that insists on being remembered. It can be taught by rote or read from scores that can be freely printed from www.justicechoir.org/songbook/.

Matthew brown

“Kyrie” from Missa Brevis

SSAA a cappella

www.mattbrowncomposer.com

California native Matthew Brown is active in Los Angeles as a composer, orchestrator, arranger, keyboardist, session singer, and tenor with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Brown’s stunning a cappella treble choir setting of the Kyrie text from the ordinary mass is based on a traditional plainchant. Recommended for intermediate-to-advanced treble choirs, its long, melismatic phrases offer a sense of timelessness. Shifting tonal centers, modal harmonies, and rich voicing point squarely toward contemporary aural tastes. This work will sound transcendent in a generously reverberant space.

Jennifer luCy Cook

Time

SATB a cappella

https://jenniferlucycook.com/choral/

Jennifer Lucy Cook is a composer and lyricist based in Los Angeles specializing in musical comedy for the stage and screen, progressive choral music, and pop songwriting. With original lyrics by the composer, “Time” invites listeners to consider how time influences various aspects of daily living. Economical usage of harmonic and rhythmic material, along with vocal effects simulating the ticking of a clock, make this a fun and accessible piece for beginning to early-intermediate mixed choirs.

saunder Choi

Ang Tren

SSAATTBB a cappella

See-A-Dot Publishing

If you need a showstopper for your professional or advanced mixed choir, consider this work by LA-based Saunder Choi, who says, “‘Ang Tren’ (The Train) is a setting of Filipino literary giant José Corazón de Jesús’ poem about Philippine commuter culture. The piece is playful, and uses a lot of onomatopoeic textures that imitate the chug and drive of a railroad train from the pre-World War 2 days....The poem ends on a sentimental note, as de Jesús likens the train’s journey to the traveling heart.”

saMuel ColeridGe-taylor

From the Green Heart of the Waters

SSAA with piano

IMSLP

This enchanting part song by early 20th century Black English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor boasts lush harmonies and soaring phrases that can satisfy any appetite for late romanticism. The text, which is also known as “Nymphs’ Song,” comes from Stephen Phillips’s popular late 19th century play Ulysses, for which Coleridge-Taylor wrote incidental music. Recommended for intermediate-level treble choirs, it invites singers to explore the art of storytelling through highly expressive, lyrical singing. 

zanaida stewart robles is an award-winning composer, vocalist, and teacher she is in demand as a composer, vocalist, clinician and adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and conferences related to choral and solo vocal music

Corie brown serves as assistant professor of choral music education at san josé state university, where she leads the sjsu concert and treble choirs dr brown taught in colombia with the fundación nacional batuta from 2012–2014, and in public schools in chicago and michigan dr brown holds degrees in choral music education from alma college, in choral conducting from the university of oregon, and a doctor of musical arts in choral conducting and literature from the university of colorado boulder

Top Five for your Choir: college & University

Happy

2023! Let’s ring in our new seasons with some works that will add a challenge to your program. I often call these stretch pieces. We can choose one stretch piece a program, only if we want to give our students something extra to work for. Below, you’ll find some neat works outside the traditional Western canon. Happy New Year, colleagues!

Moira sMiley

Only Then Do You Know Joy

SATB and piano

www.moirasmiley.com

Advocacy organization Rethinking Schools says in their Fall 2022 volume that “joy is not an escape from the hard realities of our world, but a dive into them.” Moira Smiley’s newest publication, commissioned by Craig Hella Johnson, speaks to this nuance of the definition of joy. The harmonic variation on the repetition of the words “and joy” evolves into glissandos and finally a shift in text. Smiley writes “what a task it is to stay open to joy (quiet, or bursting forth!) after we’ve known loss, sorry, deep misunderstanding and distrust.” To say this piece is ripe with opportunity for reflection and deep learning is an understatement.

susan labarr

I Should Be Glad

SATB divisi

“I Should Be Glad” is one of those pieces that I return to again and again. The text, based on a poem by Sara Teasdale, gives shape to the gratitude and bittersweetness of being a musician, artist, and creative human in our world. “I should be glad of loneliness and hours that go on broken wings...” The melody is of the utmost importance in this beautifully textured a cappella work that climbs from simple two-part singing to eight-part divisi at its climax. It is highly recommended!

lila downs and Paul Cohen, arr. luna suJatoviCh, sol belous y luCía

Pereyra lanzillotto (la ColMena)

Zapata se queda

SSAA with optional percussion

www.lacolmena.bandcamp.com/album/zapatase-queda or www.lacolmenagrupo.wixsite.com/ lacolmenagrupo/descargas

From the famous Mexican singer Lila Downs comes a protest song inspired by Emiliano Zapata Salazar. Zapata was a leading figure in the 1910 Mexican Revolution and agrarian movement. This arrangement is by Argentinian vocal ensemble La Colmena, a group of 17 women who perform popular Latinamerican repertoire. They have a few other equally challenging and worthwhile arrangements published on their site!

andrei ilyashenko (1884-1954)

˜Liu˜bíti úbo nam (We Should Choose to Love Silence)

SATB

Musica Russica DT-Il001

“˜Liu˜bíti úbo nam” was recorded by Conspirare on their 2013 album The Sacred Spirit of Russia. Ilyashenko published this stunning piece and was forced to flee Russia for Belgium. The excerpt from his sacred concerto The Nativity of Christ was written in 1922, and alternates long chant-like lines with rich homophonic harmonies. This piece is challenging, both in language and scope, but text and music alike are worth the effort.

bruno ruviaro and sCot hanna-weir Sympathy

SATB choir, electronic sounds through cell phones playback, mason jars, with audience participation

www.ccrma.stanford.edu/~ruviaro/scores/ Hanna-Weir_Ruviaro_Sympathy_SATB_ smartphones.pdf

Recording: https://youtu.be/5zlc8uxKKfQ

Premiered on March 6, 2015 at Santa Clara University, “Sympathy” runs about six minutes and is described by the composers as follows: “The musical setting and performative aspects of this piece are meant to capture and cage the song of the bird in two distinct ways. First, the final solo and sustained chord from the choir is captured as an electronic file on the singers’ phones. Second, the sound coming from these phones (or speakers in the case of the soloist) is caged by placing it inside a glass container: dampening the sound, but not completely eradicating it.” Be sure to have a great soprano soloist. Toi, toi! 

Joined the faCulty of the bob Cole Conservatory of MusiC at Csu long beaCh as assistant professor of voCal/Choral MusiC eduCation in 2016. he is Co-author (with dr. Matthew garrett) of honoring trans and genderexpansive students in MusiC eduCation, published in 2021 by oxford university press. dr. palkki earned a ph d in MusiC eduCation (Choral ConduCting Cognate)

froM MiChigan state university

Top Five for your Choir: LGBTQ Perspectives

Acommonadage when discussing representation is that people “can’t be what they can’t see.” When working to diversify the repertoire chosen for study choral settings, we as conductors can make the identity(ies) of composers a salient factor in the repertoire selection process. An increasing number of “out” queer composers are increasingly visible on the choral scene, including those highlighted here.

s.J. hirner (2022) (Trans)itioning Voices: Inclusivity through Line Recombination

Choral Journal, 63(4), 6–23

This recent Choral Journal article by USC student Stevie Hirner (she/her) lays out an innovative approach to honoring trans or gender-expansive singers who may feel “gendered” connotations with certain voice parts/types. Hirner has developed an approach in which a fifth voice part (in an SATB texture) is created—a hybrid of the alto and tenor line. A must read for all choral conductor-teachers!

williaM sauerland (2022)

Queering Vocal Pedagogy

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Through case studies representing various identities within the gender expansive population, this book provides an insider’s view to lesson pacing, vocal exercises, repertoire, and processes toward vocal development. Sauerland (he/they) provides a wealth of practical and theoretical knowledge for teachers, choral directors, and music educators.

GraCe Coberly

Homeland

SATB a cappella

Santa Barbara Music Publishing 1603

Coberly (they/them) is a queer composer, singer, and educator with a passion for vocal music. Above all, they seek to create musical experiences that are accessible to audiences of any background. In Grace’s own words, “‘Homeland’ is, first and foremost, a love

letter. It can be happy or sad; it can unite a group of loved ones or serve as a heartfelt goodbye to a familiar place.” This hauntingly beautiful piece holds many programming possibilities.

ethel sMyth (lyriCs by CeCily haMilton)

March of the Women

SSA with piano

Treble Clef Music Press 80300101

Musicologist Sophie Fuller writes: “In 1910, Smyth first met Emmeline Pankhurst and, falling in love with her, offered to devote the next two years of her life to the militant suffragette cause. One of her first contributions was to write the rousing chorus ‘The March of the Women.’ With a text by Cecily Hamilton, this anthem was sung at all the suffragettes’ massed processions and marches. Smyth also used it as the final movement of Song of Sunrise, a collection of three pieces for unaccompanied chorus.”

Jeffrey derus, PoeM by lanGston huGhes

I Dream a World

SATB with piano

www.musicspoke.com

“I Dream a World” is a setting of a poem by Langston Hughes. Hughes’s life and work were enormously influential during the Harlem Renaissance—an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship in the 1920s and 30s in Harlem, New York. This powerful poem describes a perfect world in which all people enjoy the same freedoms and joys, where racism and avarice are defeated. Derus’s setting employs a driving, joyful piano accompaniment in the A section of the piece that, to me, inspires and supports the hope and possibility in the text. Derus sets the B section a cappella in a slightly melancholy, hymn-like fashion with lush harmonies and compelling suspensions. The triumphant piano accompaniment returns, bringing the piece to an exciting and dramatic finish. 

Dr. Joshua Palkki

staCey kikkawa is the director of the choral and vocal music program at fullerton union high school she has led high school programs including campolindo high school (moraga),and beverly hills high school). her choirs have consistently received high ratings in national festivals and state competitions, and have been featured on television spots such as home & family on the hallmark channel most recently, the bhhs madrigal singers were featured in the interfaith convocation for music in worship at the 2018 acda western division conference in pasadena

Top Five for your Choir: High School

Recently,I was asked to conduct the Kern County’s “A Grand Night for Music.” I knew I wanted to highlight repertoire written by composers who identify as female, but I was frustrated and disappointed when I tried to use major distribution websites to locate music by female composers. The music is out there; it should not be this hard to find. I encourage our distributors to normalize a balance of womxn composers in their marketing materials, regular communications, and search engine keywords. We should be able to easily locate repertoire that matches our diverse communities so all students can see themselves represented in the music they sing.

elaine haGenberG

Awake my Soul

Beckenhorst Press BP2214

This piece starts with a sparkling piano part (à la “Go the Distance” from the Disney movie Hercules), and is mostly SATB, with some SSATBB moments. It is an anthem, so you may want to review the text to see if it is appropriate for your community. There are some excellent teaching moments here for solfege, syncopation, long dynamic phrases, and enforces good ensemble singing.

MiChael bussewitz-QuarM

I Am A Voice that Sings

www.listenafresh.com

Michael created a beautiful musical-theateresque piece with hopeful lyrics of friendship through trying times. This song could be a part of your program in any season. It is available in a variety of voicings (nine different options) and could work for any ensemble. When you program this piece, make sure you watch her video about this collaborative commissioned work on her website.

traCy wonG

Wau Bulan

SAB

Cypress Choral Press CP 1537

I highly considered this one for Kern County, but will be programming “Wau Bulan” in the Spring with my choir. Dr. Tracy Wong is a

Malaysian composer and conductor based in Canada. Dr. Wong says “Wau Bulan describes the beauty of the Malaysian transitional kite (wau) with a rounded bottom shaped like a half moon (bulan) as it flies high in the sky.” Wau Bulan is in the dikir barat style (a rhythmic, seated Malaysian folk song and dance art form performed with rhythmic hand and arm gestures) and can also be performed with percussion and specific choreography. This piece also is offered in SA voicing.

suzzette ortiz

El Sol Brillara Otra Vez (The Sun Will Rise Again)

Self-published

I wanted to find a Spanish SATB accessible arrangement written by a Latina/Latinx composer. Finding an octavo to fit those self-made requirements was like trying to find a unicorn, but I finally found Ms. Ortiz’s composition. This “song of hope and desire for social justice” was originally dedicated to victims and families during the pandemic, and was written for Dr. Rollo Dilworth’s Temple University’s Singing Owls. There is an optional verse in English, but you could easily sing the entire song in Spanish. I also really enjoy her duet version on YouTube, which could be a really effective SA arrangement.

ysaÿe

M. barnwell Hope

The Musical Source YMB121

Dr. Barnwell’s SATB arrangement accurately reflects Sweet Honey in the Rock’s version; Sweet Honey in the Rock is a Grammy Award-nominated performance group dedicated to African American history and culture through a cappella music and ASL interpretation. The ostinatos in this a cappella arrangement should be simple enough for high school singers to pick up (if you have a smaller choir, be creative with the splits). The lyrics make a statement and list what needs to happen: “if we want hope to survive, then every day we have to pray/walk/work/move/ march/teach/sing on!” Be sure to play the source material for your students. They should know what the original sounds like! 

albee Mabeza is the director of choirs at woodside priory school in portola valley, where he conducts the middle school choir, chamber singers, and concert choir. he is also an associate conductor at the vivace youth chorus in san jose albee also recently founded pariter, a tenor-bass vocal ensemble also based in san jose. he received his bachelor’s degree in music education and vocal performance from san jose state university he is currently studying in the three-summer master’s program in music education at san jose state university

Top Five for your Choir: TTBB CHoirs

Our connection to the earth as human beings can be a really powerful theme to use as an experience to share with our audiences. This past year, I have looked for different repertoire to find ways to make this connection relatable. For some pieces it was a literal earthly element and other times, it was about the world as a whole. Here are five different ways that my tenor-bass ensembles were able to connect with the earth.

susan labarr and bill Cairns

The River

TTBB with piano, guitar and percussion

GIA Publications WW1849

The earth guides us.This piece features a beautiful folk melody at the beginning of the piece that could be sung as a solo on its own, but sounds stunning sung in unison. It is written to be used with any combination of instruments accompanying the ensemble. There is a strong feeling of momentum throughout the piece that resembles a flowing current.

stinG, arr. by ethan sPerry

Fields of Gold

TTBB (divisi) a cappella

Hal Leonard 00154363

The earth helps us remember. Sting’s classic 1993 hit is written in this lovely choral setting by Ethan Sperry. After the beautiful solo and chorale section, the song begins to move with contemporary a cappella elements in the background parts. This arrangement would work well with any tenor-bass ensembles from traditional glee clubs to collegiate a cappella ensembles.

don MaCdonald

When the Earth Stands Still

TTBB (divisi) a cappella

ECS Publishing 1.3432

The earth provides stability. This lovely choral piece is a fantastic contemporary selection for your medium to medium-advanced tenor-bass vocal ensemble. Along with the challenge of

dissonant harmony, the piece also challenges your ensemble through mixed meter and switching back and forth between duple and compound meter. The text speaks of comfort and reassurance through the toughest times.

Connor J. koPPin

Light the World

TTBB with piano

Santa Barbara Music Publishing

SBMP 1645

The earth gives us hope. Connor Koppin took inspiring quotes from three past United States Presidents (FDR, Barack Obama and JFK) and wrote an equally inspiring piece for tenor-bass ensembles. Be prepared for a beautiful and challenging piano accompaniment. All three sections of this piece are contrasting and are constructed to make a truly epic-sounding performance.

MarQues l.a . Garrett

My heart be brave

TTBB (divisi), A Cappella

MLAG MGO22

The earth gives us something to fight for. This piece could possibly be the most touching performance in your program. There are a lot of challenging moments both musically and emotionally through a heart-wrenching, social-justice-aligned poem by James Weldon Johnson. The divisi and independently moving lines require a medium to advanced ensemble, but the end product will truly move your audience. 

CCDA BOARD Directory

EXECUTIVE BOARD

President

Chris Peterson (562) 453-9851

cpeterson@fullerton.edu

President-Elect

Arlie Langager (858) 774-0412 alangager@miracosta.edu

Vice President

Jeffrey Benson (408) 924-4645

jeffrey s benson@gmail com

Development & VFTF

Lori Marie Rios lmrdiva1@gmail.com

Daniel Afonso dafonso@csustan.edu

Kristina Nakagawa (408) 205-6050 artistic@ resoundingachord org

Treasurer

Jenny Bent (707) 664-3925

bentje@sonoma edu

Membership

Molly Peters (213) 880-7597

mepeters79@gmail com

EVENT CHAIRS

Summer Conference at ECCO

Alissa Aune sorcerermusic@gmail.com

CCDA State Conference at CASMEC

Angel Vázquez-Ramos avazquezramos@csub edu

CLA Coordinator

John Sorber (559) 303-9961

johnso@cos edu

Executive Administrator

Kathleen Preston 921 N. Harbor Blvd., #412 La Habra, CA 90631-3103 exec admin@calcda.org

REGIONAL REPS

Bay Area

Kristina Nakagawa (408) 205-6050 artistic@ resoundingachord.org

Central Jennifer Garrett jennifer.garrett@ bakersfieldcollege.edu

Central Coast Scott Glysson sglysson@calpoly.edu

Far South Yewon Lee yewonlee98@gmail.com

Northern Andrew Kreckmann (973) 903-0466

a.kreckmann@csus.edu

Southern Tina Glander Peterson (562) 453-9681

tgpeterson@me com

All-State Honor Choirs

Angelina Fitzhugh (650) 387-6730

afitzhugh@pausd.org

Susie Martone (415) 735-0910

susie.martone@gmail.com

REPERTOIRE & RESOURCES

Children’s & Community Youth

La Nell Martin (510) 350-6639 lanellmartin7@gmail.com

Junior High & Middle School

Emelynn Montoya emcollado5@gmail com

Senior High School

Stacey Kikkawa (714) 626-3984 skikkawa@fjuhsd.org

Community College

Kellori Dower drkellori@gmail com

College & University

Corie Brown (541) 743-6335 corie.brown@sjsu.edu

Student Activities

Alan Garcia garcia al@auhsd.us

Choral Composition

Zanaida Robles znrobles@gmail.com

Community & Professional Choirs

Brandon Elliott belliott@vcccd edu

COMMUNICATIONS

Cantate Editor

Eliza Rubenstein cantate.editor@ gmail.com

Webmaster & Graphic Design

Josh Small webmaster@calcda.org

Ethnic & Multicultural Perspectives

Anthony Arnold (408) 799-5867

arnold anthony@cusdk8.org

LGBTQ Perspectives

Josh Palkki (202) 679-3350

josh.palkki@csulb.edu

Music in Worship

Christy Rohayem (510) 908-3047

crohayem@gmail com

Pop & A Cappella Anabel Pauline apauline2@ggusd.us

SSAA Choirs

Lauren Diez (714) 904-1035

laurendiez415@gmail.com

TTBB Choirs

Albee Mabeza amabeza@prioryca org

Vocal Jazz Andreas Preponis apreponis@fullerton.edu

Social Media Coordinator

Jason Pano (408) 768-0733

jasonpano@yahoo.com

California Choral Directors Association

921 N. Harbor Blvd., #412

La Habra, CA 90631-3103

“What drew me to the MM in Choral Conducting at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music was CSULB’s history of excellence. What ultimately cemented my decision to attend was a one-of-a kind education. I have had the opportunity to lead and sing with the internationally renowned Bob Cole Chamber Choir, rehearse and prepare my own ensembles, and receive weekly conducting lessons on some of the greatest masterworks in the repertoire. Faculty have worked to support and advance my career, pushed me to achieve feats I didn’t think possible, and showed me how to create an artistic space that is both musically excellent and rooted in a deep love of ensemble music-making. That being said, the most incredible part of the conservatory is the students. They are world-class musicians, the kindest and most supportive ensemble members, and agents of change for the future. If asked to do it all over again, I would still, and always will, pick the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.”

—Michael McKenzie, MM Class of 2023

For more information about the MM in Choral Conducting, please contact Dr. Jonathan Talberg, Frank Pooler Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Studies at jonathan.talberg@csulb.edu