CCDA Cantate (Winter 2019)

CHORAL/ VOCAL PROGRAM

Dr. Robert Istad Director of Choral Studies

Dr. Christopher Peterson Choral Music Education/ Choirs

Recent performances and recordings include: 2018 Performance at ACDA Western Division Conference, 2018 Performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and with Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 2017 recording with Yarlung Records, 2016 Recording with John Williams for Sony Classical, 2016 Performance with Kathleen Battle, 2015 ChoralOrchestral Performances in Paris, France.

Recent repertoire highlights: Mahler Eighth Symphony, Lang The Little Match Girl Passion, Mendelssohn Elijah, Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Howells Requiem, Bach St. John Passion, Händel Israel in Egypt, Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Lauridsen Lux Aeterna.

Annual performances: the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, and Andrea Bocelli at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and major arenas.

Annual performance tours: including, Spain, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia, New York City, Paris/ Northern France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Australia.

Annual, fully-staged operatic productions with orchestra.

Distinguished alumni: Deborah Voigt, Rod Gilfry, Charles Castronovo, Rene Tatum, Jubilant Sykes, and Christopher Job. Graduates from our Master of Music in Choral Conducting program are successfully conducting performances with collegiate ensembles, professional choruses and orchestras, and opera companies throughout the world.

M.M. Choral Conducting graduates gain real-world experience leading performances with CSUF’s awardwinning choirs, orchestra, and opera theater program.

100% employment rate for choral music education graduates.

Students perform, rehearse, and record in the superb, astonishing acoustics of Meng Concert Hall.

music.fullerton.edu 2 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

5 | HEROES

from the president’s pen

6 | FIRE, FIRE letter from the editor

· by robert istad

· by eliza rubenstein

8 | HELPING HANDS from the vice president’s pen · by lou de la rosa 10 | FREEDOM ROAD

a youth choir takes a life-changing tour

· by jenny tisi

19 | SEEN & HEARD 20 | ACDA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 21 | CCDA SUMMER CONFERENCE AT ECCO 22 | 2019 CCDA STATE CONFERENCE 25 | BE A REAL PERSON the composer’s voice · by dale trumbore 27 | GEORGE HEUSSENSTAMM COMPOSITION CONTEST by david montoya

28 | VISION FOR THE FUTURE scholarship fund donors

30 | NEWS AND NOTES happenings from around the state

33 | TOP FIVE: COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY by buddy james

34 | TOP FIVE: HIGH SCHOOL CHOIRS

The ACDA student chapters of USC, Biola, and Azusa Pacific University kicked off their academic year in style!

Here’s to a great 2019 for all of us.

by tammi alderman

37 | TOP FIVE: CHORAL COMPOSITION by david montoya

38 | CALIFORNIA ACDA DIRECTORY

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 3

CANTATE Volume 31, 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 You are also welcome to submit completed articles, but please note that not all articles received will be published. cantate.editor@gmail.com.

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.acdacal.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: Members of the Carlmont High School choirs in Belmont perform in their “Cold Hands, Warm Hearts” holiday program. Photo by Robyn Peters.

4 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

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.

CCDA is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt corporation and an affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association.

UPCOMING EVENTS ACDA National Conference February 27-March 2, 2019 (Kansas City, MO) CCDA State Conference March 14-16, 2019 (San Jose)

California Choral Directors Association

From The president’s pen:

HEROES

y heroes coordinate honor choirs.

M Seriously. We have an amazing team of educators that donate immense hours of time Robert Istad is in his second season as the

Artistic Director of Pacific Chorale. Istad is also

Professor of

Music and Director of at

Choral Studies

California State

University, Fullerton, where he was recognized as

CSUF’s

2016 Outstanding Professor of the Year. He is the former Artistic Director of Long Beach Camerata Singers and Long Beach Bach Festival.

He is Dean of Chorus America’s Academy for Conductors, and has prepared choruses for a number of

America’s

finest conductors and orchestras.

Leading the Way

to provide world-class musical experiences to California’s choral students every year.

Our marvelous CCDA Honor Choir Chair, Molly Peters, assembles a team of dedicated volunteers to plan and implement auditions, accommodations and operations for our regional and all-state choirs every year. I am consistently impressed with the quality of their organization and the tireless passion with which they approach this annual labor of love.

Molly and her team never settle for status quo. Rather, they always work to make our honor choir programs better, more effective, and most importantly, more meaningful to our students. Under her leadership, CCDA has developed an all-state middle school chorus, created a wonderful scholarship program, and is working with our friends in CBDA and CODA to create a more affordable, excellent experience for our students when we return to CASMEC in 2020. They are my heroes.

November, our state experienced an IFirenunprecedented natural disaster. The Camp was the deadliest wildfire in California

history. As I write this letter, almost 700 people are missing, 79 have died, and thousands are without shelter. The Camp Fire coincided with our Coastal Honor Choir. Mary Stocker, our Coastal Honor Choir coordinator, was notified on the day of our first rehearsal, that our rehearsal and performance venues would be closed due to the fire. In addition, a number of our students were affected by the fire. She was horrified that our students would be denied this important musical opportunity, and immediately went to work. She put her life on hold to find a place for our students. She and I both thank Dr. Jeffrey Benson for opening San Jose State University’s School of Music and Dance at the last minute for rehearsals and performances. Thanks to Mary, Jeffrey

and our entire team of nimble volunteers, our students were able to have the world-class choral experience they had been working so diligently to prepare. Thanks to CCDA’s tireless volunteers, parents and grandparents got to celebrate their children’s accomplishments in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.

CCDA again provided inspiration and relief for a beleaguered community. When I contacted Mary to thank her for her incredible work, she graciously responded, but then began a conversation about the ways in which we could make CCDA’s honor choir programs even more effective and more embracing to students requiring special accommodation.

Mary is my hero.

This situation highlighted one of the many ways our teaching and music-making changes lives. Bill Dehning always said, “Conductors serve people and music, in that order.” I think we all understand that mission in our lives. We work tirelessly to make sure that people of all ages know how loved they are, how essential their voices are to the fabric of our communities, and the ways they can impart that positive energy to every person they encounter. I thank you for all that you do to support people through music. Thank you for every hour you’ve stayed at work late to help that struggling student, for every moment you’ve remained in the parking lot after rehearsal to show the lonely they have a friend, and every time you reached well beyond your responsibilities to give a piece of music’s joy to others.

You are all my heroes. Look at what we are already accomplishing together in California.

Let’s do even more. ee you at ACDA National in Kansas City S and our CCDA Conference in San Jose in March! When you are there, do not forget to take time to cheer on our honor choir students from the audience. They deserve to perform for an amazing audience. 

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 5

letter from the editor:

FIRE, FIRE

y heart sank when I got the text from my friend and colleague Sarah as we M both drove back from ECCO in separate cars

Eliza Rubenstein is the Director of Choral and

Vocal Activities at

Orange Coast College, and the

Artistic

Director of the Orange County Women’s Chorus and the

Long Beach

Chorale & Chamber Orchestra. She holds degrees from

Oberlin College and UC-Irvine, and she is a former animal shelter supervisor and the co-author of a book about dog adoption.

Eliza’s family

includes her partner,

Julie Fischer; a yellow Labrador named Dayton; and a cat named

Wilbur. She’s

passionate about grammar,

Thai food,

photography, and the

St. Louis Cardinals.

cry, and a blessed breather, from our everyday lives as a conductor and a veterinarian.

And according to the fire maps that Julie consulted after I called her from the car that late July afternoon, it might all be up in flames.

on different freeways: “Just saw news about the Cranston Fire causing evacuations in Idyllwild. Is your cabin at risk?”

So that explained the swelling plume o avoid unnecessary melodrama, I’ll skip of smoke out my driver’s-side window. to the end of the story for a moment: Our I’d watched it billowing from the distant place didn’t burn down, but it came damn mountains and stretching wider and blacker close. The fire, ignited by an arsonist in the across the eastern sky as I’d driven south, hills just beyond our corner of town, destroyed and the brutal heat and brittle dryness of the five of our neighbors’ homes—houses we afternoon meant it was spreading fast. The passed regularly during sight alone had made our dog walks—before me feel sick even firefighters working on before I knew the fire the ground and from the was threatening our air stopped its progress favorite town. about a third of a mile Lots of California from our door. The hills choral folks know for miles around were Idyllwild for its blackened, but the town famous arts school was spared, and so was and its fabulous our little green cabin, summer music camp, this time, at least. We’re but my partner, fine, and we’re fortunate, Julie, and I bought unlike hundreds of our tiny cabin there Idyllwild after the fire thousands of other for entirely nonCalifornians during this devastating year of professional reasons. We’d taken weekend ewiges Feuer. getaways to Idyllwild with our dogs for years, But for about 72 hours, everything we hooked by the town’s artsy culture, its scenic saw on the fire maps and the Twitter feeds spot in the San Jacinto mountains, its clean that we refreshed on our screens from a air and impossibly starry night skies, and hundred miles away told us that our house its wonderfully oddball population. (If you was probably gone, and perhaps our (and our haven’t experienced the place yourself, all you many friends’) beloved mountain village as really need to know is that the town’s elected well. Those three days, we joked darkly in the mayor is a golden retriever.) weeks that followed, became an unintended So when we happened upon a small exercise in compulsory Buddhism—in the green cabin there that needed a new owner, art of letting go, of seeking peace in our we snapped it up with the understanding helplessness, of releasing our attachments to that it was equal parts Good Investment and places and possessions and pleasures that Innocuous Midlife Crisis. We’ve spent many might turn to ash at a moment’s notice. of our rare free weekends there in the four To be sure, Julie and I knew that even years since, hiking with the dogs, watching if our place was lost and our hearts were Steller’s jays at our bird feeder, and filling broken, we were better off than many people the bathroom with weird St. Louis Cardinals in town and throughout the state. No people memorabilia. Sometimes neighbors stop or pets had been hurt; our cabin was insured; by with snacks or invitations. Sometimes it wasn’t our primary residence; and we chipmunks come into the living room. It’s a far

6 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

T

California Choral Directors Association

didn’t even keep anything of real financial or sentimental value there. (We regularly crack ourselves up talking about “the Klee” that hangs above the fireplace, but it’s a poster we got for seven dollars at a swap meet.) The cabin was and is a bonus for us, an indulgence made meaningful and necessary chiefly by its capacity to bring people joy—and, as we realized during those three days of distant impotent fear, made precious in part by its ephemerality.

I suppose I could say the same of the vocation I’ve chosen.

What we musicians do isn’t a biological or bureaucratic imperative in the world, much as it feels like one when we do it with love and skill; it’s a necessity only insofar as we humans crave beauty, peace, insight, and connectedness. We traffic in impermanence. We devote weeks and months to perfecting art that’s gone as soon as we create it.

Yet we all know that in times of crisis, when the trees burn or the earth shakes, when the firm foundations we rely on are disturbed or destroyed, we turn as often and as intensely to the transient things we love as we do to the tangible ones.

That which is already evanescent by nature can’t be taken away from us. Making a life as a conductor teaches us, consistently if imperfectly, the tricky, sticky art of forming our deepest connections through a medium that’s forever slipping through our fingers.

Leading the Way

T

here’s grace in practicing detachment and embracing impermanence, but they’re no insurance against the pain of loss, of course. For far too many of our colleagues, friends, and students here in California, the losses of the past year have been nothing short of calamitous, and recovery demands a balance of time, money, music, and compassion, for starters. You’ve just read in Rob Istad’s column about how the dedication of CCDA members made our regional honor choirs a refuge in the midst of the flames this fall, and you’ll read in Lou De La Rosa’s article on the next page about a musical connection that’s bringing relief to California wildfire victims all the way from Washington, DC. Lou’s piece also includes information about a Gofundme campaign you can support if you’d like to extend a bit of tangible kindness to the students of Paradise High School, which was destroyed along with virtually its entire town. The non-profit California Community Fund (www.calfund.org) is another good place to start if you’d like to help the wider relief effort throughout the affected areas of the state.

Let us all give what we can give, in dollars or in hours, and let us encourage the students and singers in our lives to be informed and mindful stewards of the beautiful, fragile state we call home. We are, after all, beautiful, fragile people who love a beautiful, fragile art form. 

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 7

From The vice president’s pen:

HELPING HANDS the aftermath of the devastating wildfires Ithenthroughout the state this fall, people around nation have sent messages of support to fire

Lou De La Rosa is the past president of and the

CCDA

Director of

Choral and Vocal Studies at West Valley College in Saratoga.

He has taught music in the

San Jose area for

more than including

30 years,

13 years at

Lincoln High School, a visual and performing arts school.

He has

served his peers through numerous professional organizations.

Lou feels

lucky to be married to

Mary and is proud to be the father of

Christine,

Katherine, and Emily. He enjoys woodworking, loathes plumbing repairs, and is a die-hard fan of the

2010, 2012, and

2014 World Champion San Francisco Giants.

victims and rallied to assist as they could. The feeling of helplessness in the wake of such a force of nature is universal, as is the empathy that comes from knowing such destruction by natural disaster could happen to any of us anytime.

In late November, CCDA President Rob Istad received a message from Michael Darling, an administrator with The City Choir of Washington, DC (TCCW). The choir members, upon hearing of the unprecedented wildfires in our state, decided they would like to specifically help choral programs affected by the fires by donating a portion of the proceeds from their January concert. The President’s Council discussed how best to use the proceeds. We recognize that wildfires devastated communities all over the state, but the town of Paradise was virtually wiped off the map, so that is where we chose to focus these efforts in order to do the most good.

President Istad asked me to work with Michael Darling to formalize the donation

by TCCW of proceeds from their January 6 Twelfth Night concert to CCDA, which will pass along those funds to the Paradise High School Choral Program. With the sponsorship of TCCW, we inserted the following letter in their January 6 program, addressed to TCCW Board President Carol Perez, M.D., along with a promotional advertisement to encourage further donations from their audience.

Dear Dr. Perez: On behalf of the California Choral Directors Association’s 1,500 members, we want to thank The City Choir of Washington, TCCW, for its thoughtfulness in reaching out to CCDA and offering to help choirs, and in turn their communities, impacted by the wildfires that devastated our state, particularly the town of Paradise in Northern California. Your kind words and offer of support speak to a kinship and sense of family shared by choirs large and small across the country. Although separated by many miles and time zones, please know that we think of TCCW as a friend and neighbor.

When your very kind offer was discussed on the CCDA President’s Council, we were quite

8 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

moved. We are honored for CCDA to act as the conduit to direct whatever contributions come in via TCCW, to those choral organizations most severely affected by the fire, especially the choirs at Paradise High School, which burned to the ground. They lost everything.

Our hope is that as choirs again raise their voice in song out of the ashes, spirits will also be lifted and communities will begin to heal.

Your goodwill and support will help make this possible.

Again let us express our great appreciation on behalf of CCDA for the selfless generosity of TCCW; indeed a choir with “a sound, and a kindness, like no other.” owever, one program does not a H community or a school make. There are a tremendous number of needs that tax the

financial constraints of students and parents even in the best of times. I cannot imagine trying to teach students who have lost their school, their town, their homes, cherished mementos, and worst of all, loved ones trapped in the conflagration. The administration of Paradise High is committed to bringing a sense of normalcy to the lives of their students.

Principal Loren Lighthall, who was tasked with reopening the school in a different location with few resources, replied to me in early December. He wrote out of frustration: “Unfortunately the bean counters and attorneys make helping our kids more difficult than it should be in this time of crisis. We have set up a GoFundMe that will help fund yearbooks, prom, senior activities, and other events that would now be difficult for our kids to afford. Contributing to that would be helpful. Another way to help would be gift cards. They would be given directly to students and would help them with immediate needs right away.” (The link to the GoFundMe account set up by the Activities Director at Paradise High School is https://www.gofundme.com/ paradise-high-activities.)

As we enter the second half of this academic year, I encourage all of our members to reach out to victims of the fires and mudslides over the past two years. Though out of the news, their struggles continue. Thank you for your generosity and caring.  California Choral Directors Association

Follow your passion!

Concert Choir Choraliers Vocal Jazz Ensemble Treble Choir Spartan Glee Club Opera Theatre

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Music in Performance Bachelor of Music Education Master of Music in Choral Conducting Summer Masters Degree in Music Education

Dr. Jeffrey Benson, director of choral activities jeffrey.benson@sjsu.edu SJSU Choirs SJSU Choirs @SJSU Choirs sjsu.edu/music

July 15-19, 2019 sjsu.edu/music/ choralworkshop

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 9

10 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

FREEDOM ROAD I

I were a good sleeper, but I’m not. I never have been. My brain never completely shuts down, so some of my best ideas for concerts have come from “brain-planning” during sleep. Thus it was no surprise to me that one morning over Christmas break, 2016, I woke up with a vision.

Eighteen months later, and after eighteen months of planning and more road blocks than you can possibly imagine, I took 41 young choristers and 14 adults on a 10-day choir tour to Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Missouri.

Choir directors have asked, of all places, why would you take your choir to the deep south, in late June, during the current political climate in our country?

Let me tell you why.

I am a dreamer. I believe in the power of all things good. And I want things fixed. To me, there is absolutely nothing more powerful than the voices of the youth I am privileged to stand in front of every week. I know you understand this. Sharing your voice, an instrument that is connected to every fiber of our being, is extremely deep and intimate, and I’m grateful for a church community that understands this, believes in me, and believes in our youth. With their blessing and support—and a ton of fundraising, from tamale sales to coffee houses to Drag Queen Bingo—we were able to put this dream into action.

It changed our lives. wish

by Jenny Tisi Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 11

I have watched the documentary The Singing Revolution more times than a person should probably watch a documentary. It’s about how the small, mighty country of Estonia preserved their culture and saved themselves from Nazi and Soviet regimes through the power of singing. Thousands of singers come together every year in Tallinn for a festival. I met one of the conductors, Hirvo Surva, at an ACDA summer conference in Washington, and he explained to us that Estonia continues the song festival, even though they have their freedom, because it is a way for them to come together for a “family meeting.” To me, that sounded brilliant, and it got me thinking: How could I help to heal my country through choral music?

I work at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

It’s well-known for being a peace and social justice minded church with a strong choir program for adults, children, and youth. The children’s and youth choirs have traditionally attended festivals and ACDA conferences, and being a part of that world has brought us great joy and experiences we will never forget. But I began to ask myself, “What do I want for this program?

Does being a part of these festivals speak to the core of what All Saints is about?” In some ways, yes.

“Are my choristers getting an education by attending these festivals?” Absolutely! But what if we could do something different, something that would educate us, spread joyful praise, expose deep pain, find hope, and help heal our nation? Could we possibly do all that in a one-hour performance? Why not take us to the most painful places in our country’s history? Why not create a concert based on those themes and take it on the road?

And that’s what we did, by creating the “We are One” tour.

• The 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama • The Civil Rights Voting Museum, Birmingham, Alabama • The Brown AME Chapel, Selma, Alabama • The Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama • The French Quarter and the 4th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana • The Slave Haven Underground Railroad House, Memphis, Tennessee • The Rock and Soul Museum, Memphis, Tennessee • The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee • The Michael Brown Memorial, Ferguson, Missouri • The Gateway Arch, Saint Louis, Missouri • The Old Courthouse, Saint Louis, Missouri These sites, as well as five concerts in churches and museums along the way, gave us a view of the south that none of us expected and that many of us never knew existed. With each bit of knowledge we gained, the voices of our youth soared, and each concert sounded different—not because of the venue, but because we were changed: gutted, sometimes horrified, but also blessed beyond measure.

There’s a lot of prep work that needs to be done before a tour like this. I cannot impress upon you enough the need for preparing your choristers for what they will experience, the emotions that they will feel, and the conversations that must happen before, during and after

met with a select group of choristers and Ifigured our rector. We sat down with a map and out a route to take that could be done

on a bus in a reasonable amount of time, then presented the idea to ACFEA so that they could create the tour for us. Our trip would start with a flight to Atlanta from LAX, and took us to Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma, Alabama. We then traveled on to New Orleans, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; and Ferguson and St. Louis, Missouri.

In ten days, we went to the following museums and landmarks: • The National Memorial for Peace and Social Justice and Legacy Museum, Montgomery, Alabama

12 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

tour. This was my biggest learning experience, and at times, my biggest shortfall.

After I began working with ACFEA, I met with a brilliant woman of color: Lisa Sharon Harper from Freedom Road (www.freedomroad.us), a consulting organization that helps craft justice-oriented events and experiences. We discussed the demographics of our choristers. All Saints is a predominantly white church, and it would never have occurred to me, a white woman, that I would need to consider the imbalance of whites to people of color in my choir when taking a group to the south. I was grateful for the conversation with Lisa and her opening my eyes to the balance that would need to happen, so that our choristers of color would have their voices amplified. From her social location and expertise in taking pilgrimages to the south, she recommended that we strive for a balance of 51% or more people of color, especially African Americans. In our group of 41 touring choristers, we had 15 choristers who were people of color. We had 14 seats that we could fill on the bus for chaperones and others that wished to join us, and we decided to fill as many of those positions as possible with persons of color to get us closer to our balance. In the end, we had 55 people, 21 of color and 24 white. Three of the African American women in the group acted

as facilitators of conversation on our tour; two of them women lead our Racial Justice Ministry at All Saints, and one is a Senior Consultant and PhD from Freedom Road, a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in Multicultural Professional Psychology (as well as a dedicated choir parent!).

Before we went on the tour, we scheduled Saturday rehearsals and opportunities to facilitate conversation that would help us understand what we were going to experience. This went far beyond learning the music for a tour. Our conversations were deep, and got us thinking way outside our comfortable box. I learned more from our facilitators and from my own choristers than I ever learned in my schooling.

Our prep work began with watching Whose Streets?, a documentary about the events in Ferguson when Michael Brown was killed. Our rector, who was from St. Louis and had been a part of the Ferguson uprising, knew all of the activists in this movie. They had become his family, and we were lucky enough to sit and meet with two of them on our tour.

We also had conversations about each memorial and museum we were going to visit, and we prepped our choristers for the conversations we would have on our tour. We talked about reading cues—knowing when

“We Are One” tour repertoire Songs of Praise Keith Hampton: Shout of Praise Rollo Dilworth: I Sing Because I’m Happy Jeffrey Ames: Let Everything That Hath Breath BUt how can we praise god when.... Eliza Gilkyson, Arr. Craig Hella Johnson: Requiem Pepper Choplin: Angels Unaware Arr. Josephine Poelinitz: A City Called Heaven U2, Arr. BOB Chilcott: MLK Songs of Hope and Healing Charles Albert Tindley: We Shall Overcome Parton, Arr; Johnson: Light of a Clear Blue Morning Pepper Choplin: We Are Not Alone Carl Steubing: Brothers Dan Forrest: ALways Something Sings Trad. South African, Arr. van der Merwe: Ukuthula Trad., Arr. Baker: The Storm is Passing Over Common, Arr. Mark Brymer: Glory

There Is Unity James Taylor, arr. Jasperse: Shed a Little Light Jacob Narverud: Sisi ni Moja Doobie Brothers, Arr. Thrower: Listen to the Music

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 13

someone wanted to talk or when someone just needed to be left alone. We talked about how each one of us would have our own set of pain, anger, frustration, grief, and guilt. We talked about the importance of not letting white voices dominate the conversation. None of this was easy, yet every bit of it was necessary.

Our concert program had four sections. The first, “Songs of Praise,” was filled with favorite gospel tunes we have performed over the years. The second section, “But How Do We Praise God When....”, dealt with the pain of natural disasters, homelessness, slavery, and the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. After a brief intermission, our next and longest section was “Songs of Hope and Healing,” followed by “There is Unity.”

Day 1-2: Montgomery/Birmingham, Alabama ur first city was Montgomery, where slave ships O delivered enslaved people to warehouses along the Alabama River. The streets now bear landmark

signs remembering the tragic and horrific events that happened there. At the center of town, two streets form a cross, and in the center is a beautiful Grecian fountain. In this intersection is a small sign marking the exact spot of the auction block where enslaved people were sold. The dichotomy of the fountain and the reminder of the atrocities committed there was beyond eerie, and it reminded me of the whitewashing of my education; we tend to bury what really happened when the truth is too painful to confront. I had a hard time walking through these streets.

In Montgomery we also visited the new National Memorial for Peace and Social Justice and Legacy Museum. I learned history I hadn’t known, while watching my choristers walk with their own journals in hand, taking notes, looking at painful propaganda from the era of slavery and beyond, and reading and watching films about what really happened. I watched their empty stares, the way they slowly lowered their heads and picked up their pens to write. We all gave each other space while offering a hand, a hug, and a shoulder for crying when needed. They read the names of those who were lynched and why they were lynched. They shook their heads in anger and disbelief as they read things like “Was lynched for

14 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

annoying a white woman.”

That night, we drove to our former rector’s house for a pool party and a barbecue. We were all grateful for the break.

The next day, we took in the 16th Street Baptist Church and the Civil Rights Voting Museum. Watching my choristers walk down the stairs to the exact spot where the Ku Klux Klan bombed the church in 1963, killing four young African American girls on their way to Bible study, gave me more pause than I’d expected.

They went to see the stained-glass window where only the face of Jesus was shattered during the bombing, too.

These are experiences that stick with me and haunt me.

When we went to the Civil Rights Voting Museum, we made an offering: We formed a circle beneath a dome and sang Bob Chilcott’s arrangement of U2’s “MLK.” The youth sang with their eyes closed. It was one of the most beautiful moments on our tour. Later that night, we had our very first tour concert at a local Episcopal church in Birmingham.

Day 3: Selma, Alabama ur next day took us to Selma. We drove to the O Brown African Methodist Episcopal church, where civil-rights protesters gathered to march across

the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and where Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave speeches. We stood in that church, behind that pulpit, using the piano they used to accompany freedom songs, and we sang to three beautiful women who had crossed the bridge with MLK. As I told them, this was like the Sistine Chapel to me—just as sacred, or maybe even more so. They told

California Choral Directors Association

one day is, of course, impossible. We started our day with a three-hour bus tour, some free time in the city, and then an amazing barbecue meal with a live jazz band and dancing, all in our concert clothes and right before our second tour concert. We performed at a small church with amazing acoustics and gracious audience members.

Day 5-6: Memphis, Tennessee he next day, when we drove to Memphis, emotions T caught up with us, and it was here that I realized that I had made some mistakes. At dinner that night,

us their stories from Bloody Sunday, they led us in a few freedom songs, and then we sang to them. One of them stood up and say that she had more hope for the future because of us. That’s a big compliment and a welcome responsibility, and it’s more than my choir and I will ever get out of any festival.

Later that afternoon, we met with Joanne, another freedom fighter who gave her testimony from Bloody Sunday. She recalled lying in the back of a car, on her sister’s lap, with her sister’s blood dripping onto her body. We asked her if she would walk across the bridge with us, and she answered, “I already walked it.” We decided to circle around her and offer her a song (again, “MLK”). Joanne sobbed into her hands when we were finished, then looked up at us and said, “You are the ones we have been waiting for.” Our singers said, “We just cannot let her down now.” Afterward, we crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in complete silence, with our rector leading the way—shoes off, as it was holy ground.

It was a moment of beauty.

Day 4: New Orleans, Louisiana journey took us next to New Orleans. This was Oura quick visit, and to experience New Orleans in

Leading the Way

it was clear that I was not allowing enough time for processing the emotions of our choristers and adults.

The facilitated conversations we’d envisioned for our bus rides were not what we had originally planned. Our head facilitator was under the impression that we could stand in the aisle on the bus and have guided discussions about what we were going to see and what we had taken in. After the bus driver told us that was not possible, the amount of time we had at our stops along the way to process was not nearly enough. We had over-planned the activities for this tour, and our desire to have processing time and the voices of our people of color heard suffered a bit. I began to crash, and if not for the support of my rector and his support, I don’t know how well we could have recovered from this moment. We had to make it a priority to process, and if that meant we left out a planned activity, we did so. At the end of each evening, we gathered in our hotel and talked about our day, no matter how tired we were. We had to.

We visited the Slave Haven Museum, which was a safe house on the Underground Railroad. We heard stories about how black toddlers and babies were used as foot warmers under the covers for white people. We learned about the quilting squares that were made as clues for a map for escape along the Underground Railroad. We went into the crawl space of the home, where slaves would hide for weeks at a time. The claustrophobia of staying in that space for five minutes was hard enough; I cannot imagine adding fear and panic to the equation for weeks at a time.

The following day, we went to the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot. Before we entered the museum, we gave a short a cappella concert right in front of the balcony where he was murdered.

This, too, was holy ground, sacred space; we could feel it. After that, we went inside the motel and performed the same concert in the main lobby. With each performance, we could feel the emotion and the weight of the tour on our choristers.

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 15

Reflections from the singers “This was my first time ever going to the Deep South, and really my first time being exposed to problems like slavery and segregation firsthand. There were many powerful images and moments of the tour that will always be remembered by those who witnessed them. No words can describe them, other than Pure and Raw.” Sam, College Freshman “A lot of things stuck with me from tour. The cultures, landscapes, and traditions of the places were a big change from the scenery I was used to in California. But overall, the part that stuck out to me the most was the fact that on this tour, I was getting a personal look at my history and heritage. I got to meet people who had actually been a part of the civil rights movement—in the past and currently—and visit historical sites from times of slavery and civil oppression. I felt like the events I had read about as a child finally had some substance to me and my heritage.

Samantha, high school Senior “The tour gave me some incredible memories. I think what stuck with me the most was when we performed for three individuals who were a part of the marches in Selma.

We had a set line up, and I had no idea I would be performing ‘Glory.’ When we did (on the spot), I saw the expression on all of their faces change. They stood up, and I knew I was doing something more meaningful than I had thought. Throughout the tour, reactions to that song stuck with me. I didn’t know the impact this song could have on people because of what they’ve faced, and I am so thankful I got to be a part of it.”

GabI, High school Sophomore

Day 7: Ferguson, Missouri o speak of our time in Ferguson is difficult. Our T tour bus weaved its way down the curvy streets, and in small groups guided by our rector, we visited

the Michael Brown Memorial site. We already knew that the neighbors were tired of the site becoming a tourist attraction, so we came in silence and with respect. We brought teddy bears, notes, and other small gifts, and we placed them around the plaque for Michael. We held hands and bowed our heads in silence, and as we walked back to our bus, we saw the large cut-out of asphalt in the street, patched with new asphalt; this marked the spot where Michael Brown’s body lay for four hours. His blood had soaked the street, and the blood-stained pavement had been removed and replaced. Michael Brown was 18, and a recent high school graduate. This hit home for our choristers, especially those close to his age. There were many tears and much anger. It

16 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

was after this that we met with two of the activists from Whose Streets?, the documentary we’d watched. The presentation of these two young women made a huge impact on our choristers, who asked them questions, circled around them and sang a song, and got their tour T-shirts signed by the activists.

That night, when we got back to our hotel, we debriefed, and I started to feel a sense of heaviness and guilt for what I had put these kids through. There was a lot of crying, hugging, holding, and unspoken anger.

There was also a lot of speaking out and the need to process, which our facilitators handled like champs. At the end of the meeting, I simply had to stand up and ask the choristers if I had made a mistake. Had this been too much for them? Did they regret this tour? Their answer: Absolutely not. They needed to see this. They needed to know the truth, no matter how painful.

Day 8-9: St. Louis, Missouri Our next day took us to the Gateway Arch—an amazing structure that stands just across the street from the Old Courthouse, where the Dred Scott decision was made. From the steps of the courthouse, you can see the Arch in front, the Mississippi River behind, and free land on the other side. Dred Scott unsuccessfully sued for his freedom from that very spot.

On this last evening we gave our last concert, at Christ Church Cathedral in Saint Louis. By this time, every bit of emotion could be seen and heard through the voices of our choristers. The exhaustion from the past eighteen months of arranging this tour and the emotional whirlwind of ten packed days hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was grateful for an evening in the park with cannolis.

We spent our last day at St. Louis’s City Museum, which is the craziest collection of stuff that has ever been turned into an adult jungle gym, with everything from airplanes hanging from the side of the building to big chutes and tunnels to climb through. It was what we all needed—time to unwind and be kids and not carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.

J

une 20-30 seems so far away right now. The new choir season began, our seniors went off to college, and we still have much to process and unpack. What’s next for us? I think I will find it difficult for us to do any other kind of tour or festival that does not involve a peace and social justice action like this. We have much still to learn, much to heal, and much to discover about ourselves. I encourage us all to think outside our boxes.

Where can we spread joy? Where can we help bring healing? Do you have faith in the power of choral music and the power of your choristers?

Let’s talk. Let’s plan. Let’s heal.  Jenny Tisi was a public school music educator for 22 years and has taught all age levels, Kindergarten through 12th grade. In addition to vocal music she has taught piano, clarinet, violin, musical theatre, and music theory and appreciation classes.

She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia and her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from SUNY at Stonybrook.

The subject of her thesis was the performance of sacred music in the public schools. In her spare time she enjoys cooking Italian food, walking, hiking and sun worshipping.

She lives in Pasadena with her two mini-Dachshunds.

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 17

Arrowbear Music Camp

Tammi Alderman

Since 1942!

Eric Graham

Choral Session

June 23-29, 2019 Grades 9th-College Scholarships Available

Campers will enjoy a week of intense vocal instruction in a beautiful, historic, rustic mountain setting.

We offer a one-of-a-kind camp program that ties together music, traditional camp activities, and a social experience that carefully bonds the entire camp into a close-knit circle of friends. arrowbear.com 909-867-2782 info@arrowbear.com

Stacey Kikkawa 18 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

SEEN & HEARD Top: Members of the Pacific Chorale (Robert Istad, director) perform their Carols by Candlelight concert in Newport Beach (photo by Drew A. Kelley); center: the Riverside City College Chamber Singers (John Byun, director) model their holiday sweaters; bottom: the choirs of Santa Clara University (Scot Hanna-Weir, director) sing during their sold-out Festival of Lights performance at the Mission Santa Clara (photo by Stan Olszweski). Send your best photos of your choir’s activites—musical or extra-musical!—to cantate.editor@gmail.com if you’d like them to be considered for publication in a future issue!

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 19

Kansas City Chorale Seraphic Fire Lorelei Ensemble Voz en Punto (Mexico) Nairobi Chamber Chorus (Kenya) Ansang City Choir (S. Korea) St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir (Slovenia) Tallahassee Community Chorus Kansas City Symphony &

2019

Symphony Chorus

ACDA

…and many more!

HONOR CHOIRS Children’s Emily Ellsworth, conductor MS/JH SATB Derrick Fox, conductor

National Conference

HS/Collegiate SSAA Sandra Snow, conductor HS/Collegiate TTBB Jefferson Johnson, conductor

AND MORE! Legacy Directors Chorus “A Journey Through ACDA History” Pre-Conference “Welcome to KC” event on Tuesday evening featuring: Kansas City BBQ Allegro Choirs of KC Heartland Men's Chorus Kantorei

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 2

Interest Sessions & Exhibits Conference Hotel: Kansas City Marriott Downtown The Kauffman Center The Folly Theatre Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral W W W . A C D A .

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2018

20 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

O R G Volume 58 Number 11

1

California Choral Directors Association

Mark your calendars…

Summer Conference At E.C.C.O

July 21-24, 2019 Headliner:

Dr. Charlene Archibeque

Professor Emerita, San Jose State University

Registration opens early April Session presenter applications: www.calcda.org Dec.1- Jan. 24

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 21

22 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 23

MMCC-Ad-CCDA-Cantate-7.5x10-bw-Smr2019-#2-outlined.indd 1

24 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

10/24/18 1:04 PM

California Choral Directors Association

the COmposer’s voice:

BE A REAL PERSON henever a conductor or ensemble performing my music tags me in a W post about their performance, I have two

Dale Trumbore is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music has been performed by organizations including the

Los Angeles

Children’s Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Modesto Symphony, Pacific Chorale, Pasadena Symphony, The Singers, and

VocalEssence.

How to Go On, Choral Arts Initiative’s album of

Trumbore’s

choral works, was a

#4-bestselling Classical album on iTunes the week of its release.

Hear Dale’s music at daletrumbore.com

Leading the Way

simultaneous thoughts: I should probably share this and Is there any real reason for me to share this? When I post because I “should,” but I haven’t thought through why anyone would be interested in that post, it inevitably gets fewer responses than when I’ve asked myself if what I’m sharing is compelling. Even on the internet, people can usually sense when we’re faking enthusiasm.

I have a mantra that I say to myself now whenever I’m wondering how and what to share: Be a real person. Real people have distinctive voices and interesting stories. Yet when we’re promoting ourselves, we slip into generic, forced language we’d never use to tell a friend or close acquaintance about our work.

There’s the “Come to my concert!” post, which neglects to give any actual reasons to come to the concert. There’s the postperformance “So grateful for my collaborators!” post that fails to mention any details about how the concert went. We trot out this tired selfpromotional language concert after concert, as if the fact that other people use these words means we have to use them, too.

I understand the sentiment. But what specific details make this performance different from others? If you’re trying to convince me to come to your concert, well, why should I attend? Yes, live music is wonderful, but I’m an introvert. I like staying indoors, where I don’t have to make polite conversation with strangers and pay $9 for parking. Why is your concert worth leaving the house?

On every platform, there are composers and conductors who share only the best and most braggy posts about their music. “Humbled to be working with this amazing ensemble!”

“Here’s a gorgeous sunset I captured en route to my outstanding gig!” “Feeling blessed to have reached a double-barline!” How do you feel reading these posts? You might secretly resent them, or find them impossibly annoying. You might reach for the “unfollow” button.

I’ve posted that flying-to-a-gig photo before.

The mid-air sunset may have been lovely, but when I took that photo, I was on hour five of that flight, feeling tired, slightly claustrophobic, and annoyed at the stranger who kept sticking his elbow over the armrest. I hadn’t washed

my hair in three days. I was wishing I was at home. If I could redo that post now, I wouldn’t necessarily share all that information in the caption. But in a string of other people’s airplane photos, mine would have stuck out if I’d mentioned even a little bit of the story behind that photo.

When you’re promoting your work in a real way, you have to be willing to be a little vulnerable. Real people are flawed.

A few years ago, one of my favorite writers, Curtis Sittenfeld, shared a lengthy post with her very mixed feelings about receiving a lukewarm New York Times review for her latest book. The reason I enjoy Sittenfeld’s books is the same reason I enjoy her posts: she captures human experiences and emotions in a devastatingly accurate way. I’m sure there’s plenty in her life that she chooses not to share on social media, but because of the bracingly honest way that she does share her work and her life, I’ve become an even bigger fan of her and her work.

If our hypothetical composer mentioned that he experiences writer’s block every once and a while like the rest of us, or that he’s tired from hopping on and off of airplanes all the time, we’d probably like him a little more—because of his humanness, not in spite of it. hen I urge you to “be a real person,” I mean this: share a slice of your reality in W every post you make, and think twice about the

language you use to promote your work. Instead of mechanically sharing an upcoming concert because you think you should, first ask yourself what story you’ll tell about that performance.

Whenever you share information, ask yourself why you feel the need to share it at all, and whether that information is worth sharing in the first place. Incorporating your actual life and human feelings into your posts helps distinguish your story from everyone else’s. Especially in an artistic field full of others who do exactly what you do, setting yourself apart can only benefit your career.

In person, we can’t help but be ourselves.

When we’re posting about our lives online, though, it’s up to us to tell our stories in a way that captures our thoughts, our feelings, and how we live our lives. The social-media posts we share add up to a much bigger picture about who we are. What would happen if we let our stories be real?  Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 25

26 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

the fourth annual george heussenstamm

CHORAL COMPOSITION CONTEST The CCDA Choral Composition Contest at ECCO now moves into its fourth year! Last year’s winner was Mark Growden, with his stirring and timely SATB offering Saguaro. We add his name to the growing list of talented previous winners along with Jasper Randall and Nancy Reeves. They all attended the CCDA Summer Conference at ECCO for free—could you be next? Find that piece you’ve been developing, or start fresh, and submit your composition with the chance to have it shared with and sung by 175 choral directors this summer.

As in years past, George Heussenstamm is the benefactor who funds our competition. Please visit www.GeorgeHeussenstamm.com to learn more about this talented and generous composer.

Enter CCDA’s 4th Annual George Heussenstamm Composition Competition!

ELIGIBILITY: Current CCDA members who are able to attend the Summer Conference at ECCO 2019 are invited to submit a score. (Previous winners are not eligible.)

HOW TO ENTER: Please submit your anonymous, unpublished scores, a cappella or with piano accompaniment (no obbligato instruments), IN any voicing, along with an anonymous demo recording (MIDI is acceptable, but voices are preferred) through the CCDA website, www.calcda.org.

Submissions will be accepted from Feb. 11, 2019 through Mar. 11, 2019, 11:59 P.M. PDT. Only electronic scores will be accepted.

Scores that do not meet the above requirements may not be considered.

Winner: The winning composition will be chosen by a committee of three CCDA members and will be announced on the CCDA website on April 15, 2019. The winning composer will receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board at ECCO 2019, and will have their composition copied, distributed and read at the conference.

The winning score may also receive consideration for inclusion in the new and forthcoming CCDA Choral Series. [NOTE: CCDA reserves to the right to declare “no winner” if it is deemed appropriate.]

For more information, visit www.calcda.org/repertoire-resources/choral-composition

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 27

Vision for the

Future

Scholarship Fund Donors special care has been given to the preparation of donor acknowledgments. We regret any errors or omissions. please contact us at (657) 217-0767 or exec_admin@acdacal.org with corrections. Thank you for your support!

President’s Circle Platinum ($500 and higher) Daniel Afonso * Tammi Alderman * in honor of the past and present CCDA board Lori Marie Rios * President’s Circle Gold ($300 and higher) Lou De La Rosa * in memory of Dr. Daniel Hoggatt Dr. Robert Istad and David Navarro * Duane and Linda Lovaas * Nick Strimple * in honor of James H. Vail Burt and Polly Vasche * President’s Circle Silver ($100-$299) Kyle Ball Jeffrey Benson * Jenny Bent Glenn Carlos Mike and Julie Dana * Anonymous in memory of Paul Salamunovich Brandon Harris Mark Hulse Buddy James Beth Klemm * in honor of Norman Paschen Bruce Lengacher in honor of George Attarian and Byron McGilvary

28 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

Anthony Lien * in honor of Buddy James, Michael Najar, and Matthew Potterton Eric Medeiros in memory of Tim Shannon David Montoya * Kristina Nakagawa * in honor of Lois Caran, Joe Huszti, and Charlene Archibeque Kim Nason * in honor of Rob Istad and Chris Peterson Matthew Netto * in support of CSUF contributions to the choral world Dr. Christopher and Tina Peterson * Mary and Wally Purdy * in honor of John Alexander and In Memory of Richard Knox Shawn Reifschneider * Zanaida Robles James & Marilyn Shepard Will Skaff and David Xiques Peggy Spool * Joe and Dana Stanford Jonathan Talberg * Kathryn Thickstun Janice Hawthorne Timm Betsy Cook Weber Supporter (up to $49) Bethany Alvey Jessica Cosley Scot Hanna-Weir Mary Anne James Stacey Kikkawa John Knutson

Monica Maddern Curtis Mannah Brianna Mowry Laura Natta (Crosspoint Wellness) Joshua Palkki Molly Peters Rachelle Randeen Krista Scharf Kenneth J. Abrams Gemma Arguelles Kimberlee Bratton Bernadette R. Burns Eileen Chang Ryan Clippinger Andrew DelMonte * Erika Jackson Derek Jamieson Othello Jefferson Susan Zimmer Johnson Joyce Keil Christopher Luthi National Concerts Jessica Nicholson Loretta Pearce in honor of Dr. Douglas Chase Patricia Schultz Rebecca P. N. Seeman Adam Serpa Karyn Silva Shelby Smith in honor of my mother and father, Daniel and Suzie Smith Mary Stocker Dwight Stone Darla Tuning * Founder’s Circle

California Choral Directors Association

California State University, Bakersfield

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC & THEATRE VOCAL ENSEMBLES Chamber Singers Opera Theatre University Singers Women’s Choir

VOCAL AREA FACULTY

Prof. Heather Chu, Instructor of Voice Prof. Katherine Kiouses, Instructor of Voice & Voice Class Dr. Soo-Yeon Park, Director of Opera Theatre & Diction Prof. Peggy Sears, Instructor of Voice Dr. Angel M. Vázquez-Ramos, Director of Choral & Vocal Studies

HOW TO APPLY

All prospective students must apply through CSU- Mentor (csumentor.edu), the California State University website designed to help students through each phase of their application process. CSUMentor is also a great way to begin planning for college and to keep track of your academic progress.

9001 Stockdale Hwy. | Music Building, Room 105 | Bakersfield, CA 93311 Phone: (661) 654-3093 | Fax: (661) 654-6901 | Email: kmendenhall_gregory@csub.edu

C

Leading the Way

S U

B .

E D

U

/ M U

S I

C

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 29

News and notes

from around the state BAY AREA The annual event Real Men Sing, which brings together middle and high school tenors and basses for a day of camaraderie and music-making, took place at CSU East Bay on Friday, November 7. Organized by Dr. Buddy James, the day ended in a concert led by guest conductor Travis Rogers.

On Friday, November 7, high school singers from Sonoma County and the Bay Area gathered for the 17th Annual Sonoma State University High School Choral Festival in the exquisite Schroeder Hall. Hosted by Dr. Jenny Bent, the event’s guest clinician was Dr. Donald Kendrick of the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra.

Drs. Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman (University of San Francisco), Scot Hanna-Weir (University of Santa Clara), and Julie Ford (Saint Mary’s College) highlight two collaborative activities: The three schools made an intercollegiate weekend tour to Los Angeles to sing in the Fourth Annual California Catholic College Choral Festival (“C4”), and Dr. Seeman has connected our team with Derek Tam to establish a Justice Choir-SF Bay Area Chapter. Activities revolve around local issues and/or the urgency of current events, typically using the Justice Choir Songbook as a springboard for empathetic community conversation.

Please contact Rebecca at seeman@ usfca.edu for more information.

The Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco’s fall concert featured vocal activist Melanie DeMore. The concert offered a premiere of her powerful work, Freedom Land, and concluded with a community sing led by Ms. DeMore.

Fourteen choirs and music teams from the Oakland Catholic Diocese gathered on November 10 to share a wide variety

Send news of hirings, retirements, awards, commissions, premieres, collaborations, or projects to your regional representative or Cantate.Editor@gmail.com!

of music for worship in a joyful setting.

The concert, In Honor of St. Cecilia, was held at St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon and was presented in conjunction with the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

CENTRAL COAST REGION The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Choirs will present “All of Us,” a programcentered on themes of diversity and acceptance. Under the direction of Dr. Scott Glysson, this collaborative effort of several departments will create a sensory experience for the audience.

Saturday, March 16, 2019, 8:00 p.m., Harold J. Miossi Hall, Cal Poly SLO. The San Luis Vocal Arts Ensemble competed in the 7th Canta Al Mar, an internationally acclaimed choral festival in Catella, Spain, to great success.

Their October concert tour included ten concert performances, sightseeing, and participation in cultural events in Malaga, Sevilla, and Barcelona. The Ensemble brought home Silver medals in Folk Music and Mixed Choir and a Gold medal in Sacred Music, and Musical Director and Founder Gary Lamprecht received a special award for his selection of repertoire.

Daniel Newman-Lessler is music director of Music Academy of the West’s program “Sing!” The program will provide after-school music education in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Education Office. Sing! will enhance existing music programs and provide opportunities for 66 elementary school students, who will also have an opportunity in the future to appear with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The Canzona Women’s Choir continues their 10th Anniversary Celebration under the direction of Cricket

30 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

Handler and Jill Anderson as they offer a concert of songs of hope and resilience on March 3, 2019 at SLO’s United Methodist Church. A highlight of the concert is Carol Barnett’s My People Are Rising, co-commissioned

by Canzona and other women’s choirs.

Featured guests are the young women of Vivace from the Central Coast Youth Chorus, violinist Brynn Albanese, and percussionist Keeth CrowHawk.

CENTRAL REGION On a grant from CSU Stanislaus for research in his native Brazil, Dr. Daniel Afonso interviewed conductors and presented master classes and conducting workshops this past summer. The work took him to the far-ranging states of Brasilia (the capital in central Brazil), Curitiba in the south, and Bahia in the northeast, as well as to Rio. Daniel has written a new choral suite to be published by earthsongs in the fall.

Kathy Blumer has retired after a stellar career teaching all levels of public school choral music, most recently at Clovis High School. Jennifer Appleby will move to Clovis HS from Granite Ridge Intermediate, where Riley Garcia will begin teaching.

Riley is a recent grad of CSU Fresno.

The Tenor/Bass Choir from Rayburn Intermediate School in Clovis sang at CASMEC in San Jose last February under the direction of their conductor, Allison Crose. Congratulations!

Kudos also to Heather Bishop, whose stunning Women’s Chorale from Clovis North High School performed in March at ACDA’s 2018 Western Division Conference. Polly Vasché, retired in 2004 as conductor of the Thomas Downey High School Choirs, Modesto, was named the Conference Honoree.

Christopher Borges of Bakersfield High School has taken a job at The California Choral Directors Association

American School of São Paulo, Brazil. Amanda Isaac now holds the job at BHS, leaving her post at Norris Middle School and area elementaries in Bakersfield. Amanda Locke, formerly of Taft Union High School, is now teaching at Bakersfield South High School, following Katie Villereal’s move from BSHS to Oceanside.

John Carter, retired Columbia College choral director, has begun a series called Sonora Sings Classical, inviting any and all to the historic Red Church in Sonora to read through serious choral literature, with accompaniment but without rehearsal. For the first such event last March, the church was at capacity with 200 area singers.

SOUTHERN REGION In August, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus welcomed Fernando Malvar-Ruiz as their new Artistic Director, and named Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Kai Ryssdal as Chair of the Board of Directors. Malvar-Ruiz most recently served as Music Director of American Boychoir and is only the third person to lead LACC since its inception in 1986. He succeeds Anne Tomlinson, who stepped down after a 22-year tenure.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale (Grant Gershon and Jenny Wong) are nationally and internationally touring their stage production (directed by Peter Sellars) of Lagrime di San Pietro (“The Tears of St. Peter”), a 75-minute a cappella work by Orlando di Lasso. If you didn’t see this impressive performance at the 2018 Western ACDA, visit www.lamasterchorale.org for dates and locations.

Congratulations to Dale Trumbore, the winner of ACDA’s first Raymond W. Brock Competition for Professional Composers! Her composition, In the Middle, will be performed by the Aeolians of Oakwood University (Jason Max Ferdinand, director) at the 2019 ACDA National Conference in Kansas City.

Jonathan Talberg of CSU Long Beach was recognized and awarded for his Leadership in Music Education from the Long Beach NAACP in November.

FAR SOUTH REGION Ruben Valenzuela and Angel Mannion wrapped up an 11-month-long choral festival celebrating the music of Canadian composer Healey Willan. “Willan West” ran from January to November 2018. Mannion and Valenzuela worked closely with the Healey Willan Society and developed a close relationship with Mary Willan Mason (Willan’s daughter) over the course of the project. The conductors thank Toronto composer Stephanie Martin, who made the project possible.

San Diego choir Folklore Guild was featured on Netflix show “Chef ’s Table” and video game “Lamplight City.” Directed Leading the Way

by Angel Mannion, Folklore Guild specializes in recording choral music for video game, TV, and film soundtracks.

Sally Husch Dean, Founding Artistic Director of the San Diego North Coast Singers, has announced her retirement at the close of the spring 2019 season. Dean and her advanced treble choir, Caprice, will perform Bernstein’s Mass with San Diego State University in December 2018 and Bernstein’s Symphony) with La Jolla Symphony and Chorus in March 2019.

Beer Choir San Diego, produced by the Choral Consortium of San Diego, celebrated its one-year anniversary with a Halloween bash led by Juan Carlos Acosta. Beer Choir San Diego held nine events in its first year, each with a different theme, song leader, and craft brewery location. The program showcases San Diego’s diverse choral community and extensive craft brew industry and has been attended by over 600 participants.

NORTHERN REGION The fall of 2018 was a challenging time for many schools in the North State. The large fires that enveloped our region had a direct impact on many of members and their organizations.

Between cancelled rehearsals due to extremely poor air quality, smoke that came through poorly sealed doors to fill classrooms, closures galore, and the loss of homes by choral members in our schools and communities, the Northern region felt the effects of fire in so many different ways. But through all of it, the sense of community among musicians throughout the state has been felt and seen through charity, love, and offers of “what can we do to help,” and for that, we extend a thank you to all for your support throughout this time and beyond!

Dr. Steve Kim has joined the faculty at Simpson University as the Director of Choral Activities. Dr. Kim and his family join us after a big move from the University of Maryland, and he has been working with many schools in the region already as a clinician or appearing as an audience member at performances in the community.

The high schools of Redding held their annual fall festival in November where the schools not only perform for one another with their various choirs, but also work together on two selections for a combined choral spirit to unify the schools.

This year’s festival featured Dr. Scott Glysson, the Director of Choral Activities from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, as the guest conductor and clinician for the three hundred students involved in the event.  Thanks to our Regional Representatives (Alissa Aune, Julie Ford, Polly Vasché, Carolyn Teraoka-Brady, Stacey Kikkawa, and John Russell) 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.

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 31

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC

RETHINK

VIRTUOSIT Y

Choral & Sacred Music at USC Thornton Are you thinking about what it means to be a classical musician? We are. Introducing our new approach to undergraduate education in our Classical Performance & Composition Division. Our new model, which we’re calling the ReDesign, will challenge you to develop a distinct artistic voice and create a thriving career in choral music.

@USCThornton

32 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

DEGREES OFFERED Choral Music BA, MM, DMA Sacred Music MM, DMA

APPLICATION DEADLINE DECEMBER 1, 2019 Fall 2020 Admission for freshman, transfer, and graduate students Financial packages available for undergraduate and transfer students Teaching assistantships and scholarships available for graduate students

music.usc.edu/choral

California Choral Directors Association

Top Five for your Choir:

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY M Buddy James is Professor of Music at CSU East Bay, where he serves as

Chair of the

Department of Music and the

Director of

Choral and Vocal Studies, and was the Founding Director of the

School of Arts and

Media. He has taught at the

University of

Southern California, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine, Whittier College, Elizabethtown College, and

Millersville

University, where he was named

Person of the Year in 2004.

ost high school singers come to college choirs with little experience singing the great choral and orchestral repertoire yet their voices are maturing to a point where they can handle the demands of this music.

Even though our budgets are often too tight to perform a mass or oratorio on our own, we can still introduce our singers to this great music by performing a movement or two from a major work or reaching out to a local orchestra and asking if they would like to combine forces. Put together a couple of choirs and an orchestra and suddenly there are numerous major works within your grasp. Your singers will be exposed to a work of historical significance, growing vocally and musically from the experience, and audiences love them even when the music is not from Messiah!

Below is a list of five movements from major works that would work well for most of our college choirs. Only one is of significant difficulty; the rest are approachable musical gold. Each of the following titles is available via cpdl.org/wiki and imslp.org, and there are also excellent editions readily available for purchase.

Antonio Vivaldi Et in terra pax (Gloria) SATB, piano or orchestra The “Et in terra pax” movement is the probably the most beautiful in this doable major work, with long rich vocal lines that create breathtaking tension and release moments for the singers and the audience.

George Frideric Handel Sing Ye to the Lord (Israel in Egypt) SATB/SATB, piano or orchestra Many choirs default to choruses of Messiah when they want to perform music by Handel, but he has so many more options, and this one is thrilling. You need numbers to take on the two choirs and you need singers who can handle polyphonic writing, but if you have those two prerequisites then this movement may become one of your choir’s favorite selections.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lacrimosa (Requiem) SATB, piano or orchestra Mozart only wrote the first eight measures of this movement, but what a glorious eight measures they are! And the rest of the movement, completed after his death, still has great emotional impact. Highly recommended.

Felix Mendelssohn He watching over Israel (Elijah) SATB, piano or orchestra This movement clearly demonstrates how Mendelssohn’s writing sits so well for the voice. Accompanied by a beautiful piano reduction and concluding with a famous chorale. 

Johann Sebastian Bach Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61) SATB, piano or orchestra The music of Bach can be challenging for any choir and is, therefore, often overlooked. I love this particular movement because it is doable with piano and it fits nicely as an addition to a fall or holiday program.

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 33

Top Five for your Choir:

HIGH SCHOOL CHOIRS E Tammi Alderman is director of

Choral/

Vocal Music at San Marino High School.

She also teaches at CSU Fullerton’s School of Music, where she is a university supervisor for choral music education students.

Ms. Alderman

is head of the choral program at

Arrowbear

Summer Music Camp and is on the faculty the

Choral Advantage Camp through the

Pacific Chorale and CSU Fullerton. Tammi is also the assistant conductor of the

Long

Beach Camerata Singers.

very year I look for that magic piece on which I can combine my high school choirs in concert. Sometimes these pieces lean toward absolute simplicity and others are a touch more complicated. What I’ve found is that the time spent on preparation is always worth the effort.

The students in the smaller ensembles love singing with a big choir, and it’s a great tool for creating a feeling of family and continuity in a high school program.

These pieces are some of my favorites from the past decade.

Arr. Dan Davison The Wind that Shakes the Barley SSATB, SSA, piano, drum, opt. guitar Walton Music WW1498 This song is set in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and has been covered by folk artists since it was written in the late 1800’s. It sounds distinctly Irish and takes the chorus through an emotional journey driven by love and war.

It looks more difficult than it is. Feel free to be creative with how you assign your choirs to sing the parts; at one point, I had fiddles play the SSA chorus because we did not have enough singers on our tour. Be sure to add guitar and drum (the parts are easy and you likely have a student or two that can play them).

Joan Szymko It Takes a Village SATB, percussion Santa Barbara Music Publishing 331 Here is a setting of the West-Africa proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” with additional text by the composer. The piece begins with a soloist lining out the melody while the choir creates a collective heartbeat using simple body percussion. There are several opportunities to highlight solos or small groups in this one.

It works equally well with a mass choir or a smaller SATB group. Add congas or other percussion for a great rhythmic feel.

Arr. J. Edmund Hughes Alleluia, Rejoice!

SA or TB or SATB, handbells Santa Barbara Music Publishing 1093

34 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

Ed Hughes has set the Hodie Christus natus est chant with O Come, O Come, Emmanuel for a very serene opener to a winter concert.

I’ve done this piece with only my beginning treble and bass choruses and with the full consort of students. It works beautifully in the round and is an incredible tool for teaching line, chant, and independent singing. If you want to go crazy, teach the second chant in Latin as well. Bonus points if you have hand bells or tone chimes as well!

Arr. B. Wayne Bisbee Caroling Fantasy SATB or SSA, piano, flute, handbells, percussion Santa Barbara Music Publishing 1041 This medley combines The First Noel; Sing We Nowell; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; and Have a Merry Christmas. There are parts for handbells (simple), glockenspiel (simple) and flute (advanced). The choral parts are primarily unison for TB throughout, and some nice canons create the aural illusion of a complicated piece. My students had the most fun singing the 7/8 sections of God Rest Ye. You will need to be on your rhythmic game, but students will love the fun meter changes.

Arr. Brad Holmes Weeping Mary SSA/SAT/A(T)TB, a cappella Santa Barbara Music Publishing 750 Holmes’ arrangement of this early American Hymn (from The Social Harp) utilizes simple body percussion and location of singers to give the audience a different experience. It is written for triple choir to be performed antiphonally in whatever space you have. While this piece is potentially the most difficult of the listed group, the individual parts themselves are quite easy and relatively repetitive. Again, choose to be creative with the division of your students.

The beginners can all be members of one chorus while the advanced ensembles can cover all the parts. 

California Choral Directors Association

FRESNO STATE CHORAL DEPARTMENT

MUSIC MAJOR/MINOR AUDITION DATE

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 35

stangeland family

june 30 - july 10, 2019

Youth Choral Academy A peak artistic experience for high school choral musicians under the direction of Dr. Anton Armstrong at the world-renowned Oregon Bach Festival.

Spend 10 days performing exceptional choral literature and strengthening your passion for the choral arts through daily rehearsals, classes, and workshops.

www.OregonBachFestival.org/sfyca

University of redlands school of MUsic

Bachelor of Arts • Bachelor of Music Master of Music • Artist Diploma Music Scholarships & Graduate Assistantships Available Dr. Nicholle Andrews Director of Choral Studies Dr. Joseph Modica Associate Professor of Choral Music Information and applications music@redlands.edu 909-748-8014 www.redlands.edu/music

36 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

California Choral Directors Association

Top Five for your Choir:

CHORAL COMPOSITION S David V. Montoya has been teaching music in the

California public

schools for

26 years,.

He currently teaches at both and

La Habra

Sunny Hills High

Schools, and he is a published composer.

Learn more about him and explore his compositions by visiting his website, www. montoyamusic.com.

omeone once asked me, “Which Star Wars character is your favorite?” Thinking about it carefully, I realized that I most identify with Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi. Ben was a top notch guy in his field who held great influence with the next generation of students, but far from being a complete master, he sought the wisdom of his mentors for guidance. I want to be like that. We glean so much from those who guide us into experiencing our art, and we learn more about life from those wise folks who took us under their wings at various stages of our careers—those mentors who saw something special in us.

I decided one summer day to attempt to distill some of that wisdom, and then to share it with my mentors and teachers, and with my colleagues and students. Reflecting on those teachers who have meant so much to me has increased my gratitude and appreciation for the role that they have played in my musical story, and it inspires me to offer the same to my own students. We are in a profession that celebrates the student-mentor-student lineage in a grand way. As we begin this new year, I encourage you to type out what you remember most about your own teachers. Find those little experiences that have stayed with you—some inspirational, some silly, and even some brutally honest.

Here’s a brief sample from my list of Things that I Learned from My Teachers, in the order that I worked with each person. Thank you to each of my mentors for teaching and inspiring me to this day. CCDA members, I would love to read your own lists! Send them to me at davypavy@aol.com for possible inclusion in a future Cantate article! You can find my complete list at www.MontoyaMusic.com.

From 10 Things I Learned from Thomas Miyake

From 11 Things I Learned from Tony Azeltine

• Allow your teacher to tear your music apart and rewrite it to make it better. If you are humble enough to learn why he or she did, you will be a better composer. 

• Use the compositional material that you have already written to write the rest of your piece.

• Don’t let physical limitations keep you from pursuing, and succeeding at, what you love.

• Spending time in your director’s office is some of the most educational time you can experience.

From 10 Things I Learned from William Belan • If you want to express yourself in musical composition, listen, listen, listen to every kind of music in every style.

• Using your music for social awareness is a great thing for all parties involved.

From 11 Things I Learned from George Heussenstamm • You can learn whatever you want to learn at any age.

• When composing music with text, the music must be great by itself. It must stand on its own.

From 12 Things I Learned from Donald Brinegar • Everyone needs a mentor to help unfold their art to them.

• It is OK to teach your students new things, even if you are still learning those things, as long as you are passionate.

From 14 Things I Learned from William Allaudin Mathieu • When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

• You don’t have to create new material all the time.

• When making music – composing, singing, playing – never do the same thing twice.

Leading the Way

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 37

CCDA BOARD Directory EXECUTIVE BOARD President Robert Istad (562) 822-5952 robert.istad@gmail.com President-Elect Jeffrey Benson (408) 924-4645 jeffrey.s.benson@ gmail.com Vice President Lou De La Rosa (408) 206-7192 l.delarosa.wvc@ gmail.com Membership & Development Lori Marie Rios (818) 679-7463 lmrdiva1@gmail.com Treasurer Chris Peterson (657) 278-3537 cpeterson@fullerton.edu Executive Administrator/ CCDA Office Kathleen Preston 921 N. Harbor Blvd., #412 La Habra, CA 90631-3103 (657) 217-0767 exec_admin@acdacal.org

REPERTOIRE & RESOURCES

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Bay Area Julie Ford (925) 631-4670 julie@julieford.org

Children’s & Community Youth Kimberly Nason (949) 472-6492 dknason@mac.com

Central Polly Vasché (209) 526-9692 pollyvasche@pacbell.net

Junior High & Middle School Susie Martone susie.martone@gmail.com

Central Coast Carolyn Teraoka-­Brady (805) ­689-­1780 cteraoka-­brady@ sbusd.org

Senior High School Tammi Alderman (626) 299-7020 x3615 tammialderman@gmail.com

Far South John Russell (917) 686-­0110 johnkrussell@gmail.com Northern Alissa Aune (530) 277-6691 aaune@suhsd.net Southern Stacey Kikkawa (310) 551-5100 skikkawa@bhusd.org

CLA Coordinator Willow Manspeaker wmanspeaker@stevensonschool.org All-State Honor Choirs Molly Peters (213) 880-7597 mepeters79@gmail.com

COLLEGIATE College & University Buddy James (510) 885-3128 buddy.james@ csueastbay.edu Two-Year College Arlie Langager (858) ­774-­0412 alangager@miracosta.edu Student Activities Josh Palkki (202) 679-3350 josh.palkki@csulb.edu LIFELONG

EVENT CHAIRS Summer Conference at ECCO Jeffe Huls jhuls@smmusd.org

YOUTH

CCDA State Conference at CASMEC Kristina Nakagawa (408) 205-6050 artistic@ resoundingachord.org

Choral Composition David Montoya (626) 419-8031 davypavy@aol.com

Community Choirs Jenny Bent (707) 664-3925 bentje@sonoma.edu Music in Worship Ruben Valenzuela (760) 715-7956 rv.hypodorian@gmail.com REPERTOIRE-SPECIFIC Contemporary Commercial Choirs William Zinn (916) 601-4175 wzinn6023@gmail.com Ethnic & Multicultural Perspectives Angel Vázquez-Ramos (714) 305-1087 vazquezramosa@gmail.com Men’s Choirs Gavin Spencer (530) 241-4161 gspencer@suhsd.net Vocal Jazz Michelle Hawkins (650) 738-7134 hawkinsm@smccd.edu Professional Choruses Molly Buzick Pontin (714) 662-2345 molly@pacificchorale.org Women’s Choirs Tina Peterson (562) 453-9681 tgpeterson@me.com

COMMUNICATIONS Cantate Editor Eliza Rubenstein erubenstein@occ.cccd.edu cantate.editor@ gmail.com

38 • Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019

Webmaster & Graphic Design Anthony M. Lien (530) 758-5896 amlien@lienhome.net

Social Media Coordinator Jason Pano (408) 768-0733 jasonpano@yahoo.com

California Choral Directors Association

CONGRATULATIONS CALIFORNIA CHOIRS ON YOUR SUCCESSFUL 2018 CONCERT TOURS Chino Hills High School MS. LAURA RUTHERFORD Choir Director

Beverly Hills High School MS. STACEY KIKKAWA Vocal Music Teacher

, Helsinki

e Choraliers San Jose Stat

Rocklin High School MR. SHAWN SPIESS Choir Director

Campolindo High School MR. MARK ROBERTS

Director of Choral Activities

Fountain Valley High School MR. KEVIN TISON Vocal Music Director

Biola University DR. SHAWNA STEWART Director of Choral Activities

Dr. Jonathan Ta

lberg

San Jose State University DR. JEFFREY BENSON Director of Choral Activities

West Valley College MR. LOU DE LA ROSA

Director of Choral & Vocal Studies

Resounding Achord MS. KRISTINA NAKAGAWA Campolindo

Artistic Director

Choirs, Nash ville

Peninsula Cantare DR. JEFFREY BENSON Artistic Director

e, Dublin

Biola Choral

Fountain Valley Troubadours, Sydney

www.perform-international.com

Leading the Way

www.perform-america.com

info@perform-international.com

Cantate • Vol. 31, No. 2 • Winter 2019 • 39

California Choral Directors Association 921 N. Harbor Blvd., #412 La Habra, CA 90631-3103

CSULB’s four full-time tenure-track Vocal/Choral/Opera faculty work tirelessly to provide the highest quality educational and performing experiences for our students in eight ensembles, opera workshops, and musical theatre productions.

Full-Time Faculty Dr. Jonathan Talberg, Director of Choral, Vocal, & Opera Studies Dr. David Anglin, Director of Opera Studies Prof. Christine Guter, Director of Vocal Jazz Dr. Joshua Palkki, Choral Music Education Degrees Offered Performance (including voice, opera, or jazz), choral music education, choral conducting (M.M.) and composition.

CSULB alumni sing with L.A. Opera, L.A. Master Chorale, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and opera houses from San Francisco to the Met. Choral Music Education graduates lead programs of distinction at all levels, elementary to collegiate.

Selected High-Profile Choral Performances ACDA, NCCO, and CCDA invited appearances in 2019, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, and 2012.

2017: Chamber Choir: Winner, International Competition of Choral Singing, Spittal, Austria 2016: Chamber Choir: Winner, “Choir of the World,” Llangollen, Wales

For more information, please contact: Joshua Palkki, PhD Coordinator, Choral Music Education joshua.palkki@csulb.edu