Three Stages Name Change

Three Stages at Folsom Lake College has increasingly become a magnet for choral performances in our region.  So the choral community needs to know that it has been renamed the Harris Center for the Arts in honor of the retiring chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District, Brice W. Harris.  The honor was announced at Harris' retirement celebration on August 22, 2012.  He has served as chancellor for the past 16 years and was a key proponent of the facility which will now bear his name.  The name change will be implemented over the next several months.

Cantus Coming to Mondavi

Based in Minneapolis, the 9-member men’s chorus, Cantus, is considered by at least one reviewer to be “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.”  Their style is energetic and non-conformist, and their eclectic repertoire is full of creative touches – and a bit of performance art.  There is an extensive collection of their videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/cantussings), and over the past decade they have cut 13 CDs. 

They are coming to Mondavi Center on Saturday evening, December 8 (at 8:00 p.m.) with a very unusual program called “All Is Calm:  The Christmas Truce of 1914.”  Their publicity describes it this way:  “The Western Front, Christmas Eve, 1914. Out of the violence of the Great War’s trenches comes a silence, then a song as a young German soldier steps into no man’s land singing Stille Nacht. Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music and peace. The extraordinary nine-man vocal ensemble Cantus and its collaborators Theatre Latté Da bring this remarkable historical event to life through new arrangements of European carols, war-songs for a cappella voices and excerpts from soldiers’ diaries.” 

It’s not a completely new program, because they produced a CD in 2008 with the same title as this concert.  But as a live theatrical event, with singers of exceptional quality, this promises to be a special experience.  The Cantus website is at www.cantussings.org, and tickets are available through the Mondavi Center website, www.mondaviarts.org.

Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus Hosts Outside Clinician

The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus will soon begin its season under a new Artistic Director, Steven Johnson, who is also the Director of Worship & Music at St. John's Lutheran Church in Sacramento.  To give the SGMC and his church choir a boost at the beginning of the season, Steven has arranged a vocal technique seminar, to be conducted by Mary Louise Burke of Denver, Colorado.

I asked him how he learned about Dr. Burke, and he explained that her 2-hour presentation at the GALA Music Festival in Denver this past July was "dynamite" and that he found her "completely engaging."  Steven has arranged visits by other choral directors for his choirs in the past to help give them new energy from a different professional's perspective.  He is particularly excited about working with Dr. Burke this time because he feels that she has the right skill set to deal with the issues his choruses are facing.

Here is an excerpt from her bio:  “Mary Louise Burke is currently in her 18th season with the Symphony and is the Associate Director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus.  She helps to prepare the chorus for all of its major projects, and is in charge of chorus preparation for all pop and special chorus projects, including Too Hot to Handel.  Ms. Burke is also the Associate Director of the Colorado Children's Chorale, conducting the Concert Choir and acting as a vocal coach for the Chorale.  Ms. Burke has a Doctorate in voice performance from the University of Colorado and is a frequent clinician in the area, with a special interest in ‘vocal technique for choral singers.’  She teaches a class, ‘Find Your Authentic Voice,’ for the University of Denver’s Department of Extension.  A mezzo-soprano, she has appeared as a guest soloist with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and performed for several seasons in Central City Opera's educational programs, The Great Opera Mix-Up and Mozart and Company.” 

I contacted Dr. Burke, and she had this to add to her bio:  “My degrees are in ‘vocal performance and pedagogy.’  I have a great passion for vocal technique and love to share that passion with both solo and choral singers.  I do lots of work with community and church choirs and try to encourage singers that,  when armed with a little technical knowledge, they can optimize their vocal production and sing well into their 70s, even 80s. The session I'll be doing with Steven Johnson's choirs is called ‘Find Your Voice and Keep It!’  I'll cover all areas of vocal technique, including alignment, breath control, vibrato, range, tone production, vowels, as well as aging voice and vocal health.” 

The half-day seminar for the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus and St. John’s choirs is coming up on Saturday morning, September 8, and includes optional one-on-one vocal coaching sessions in the afternoon – all at no charge to participants. 

This seems like such a good idea.  The Sacramento region is full of good choral directors, many of whom are voice teachers, and so many are expert at eliciting a quality choral sound from their choruses.  But I have always felt that the mark of a true professional is their acceptance of the idea that there is always room to expand their knowledge and refine their technique.  And I reserve my greatest admiration for those who are willing to learn from fellow professionals (and take the risk of exposing their chorus to a fellow professional).  Tapping an outside expert to work with a chorus can help solve recalcitrant problems and break through performance barriers, taking a chorus to new levels of achievement. 

Dr. Burke can be reached at burke@childrenschorale.org.  But readers of this article are encouraged to add comments, sharing their thoughts on this issue and perhaps identifying other vocal clinicians, near or far, with whom they have had experience.

Audition Directory Now Covers Children's Choruses

The Audition Directory in the Sacramento Choral Calendar (www.sacchoralcalendar.com/Auditions.htm) has been updated over the past 4 weeks, and now covers 41 choruses, with helpful information for those looking for a choral home.  The latest innovation in the directory is its coverage of 3 children's choruses:  Sacramento Children's Chorus, Northern California Children's Chorus, and Foothill Children's Chorus.

Although much of the information in the Audition Directory (though not all) is available in the websites of the various organizations, the advantage of the directory is that it gives convenient, side-by-side access to key details, such as whether a chorus is auditioned or not, where and when it rehearses -- plus details about the experience requirements, how the audition (if any) is conducted, and how to contact the chorus.

New Director at Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus

The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus has appointed Steven Johnson as its new Artistic Director.  Johnson is a native of the Sacramento area, and he earned a Masters Degree in choral conducting at Sacramento State University.  He will continue to serve as Director of Worship & Music  at St. John's Lutheran Church in Sacramento.

Joaquina Calvo Johnson

The performing arts community in the Yuba-Sutter area are mourning the passing of Joaquina Calvo Johnson, who died on August 11, 2012.  She was the founder of the Yuba Sutter Master Chorale, among other performing organizations.  I attended the April 29, 2012 joint concert of the YSMC and the Veridian Symphony, which she directed (review at this link).  One can get a sense of her passion for the performing arts and her commitment to their stimulation in the Yuba-Sutter area from the introduction she wrote for the April 29 concert ("With Full Voice").  Click here to read her concert introduction.  (Note there is a full professional biography for her on the second page.)

See also the 8/13/12 article on her passing from the online edition of the Appeal-Democrat at this link:  http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/johnson-118613-yuba-college.html.

-- Dick Frantzreb

Sierra Master Chorale Reprises "The Armed Man"

Over the weekend of May 11-13, Davis' Vocal Art Ensemble gave three performances of an outstanding concert.  The feedback they got on that effort encouraged them to add another performance of the same concert 4 weeks later on June 9 (see article below, "How About an Extra Concert?").  Director Tracia Barbieri reports that, though she could have hoped for better publicity and a larger audience, she considers the experiment a success.

It's an issue that gives choruses something to think about.  So much effort goes into preparing for a series of concerts, and typically they take place over a single weekend -- two at most -- and then it's over, and the chorus looks ahead to the next concert series (or a needed break).  But it doesn't allow time for a buzz over the success to develop.  Even in the Internet age, word of a great concert doesn't spread fast enough.  Reviews don't get published in the media because they don't matter:  by the time a review would come out, the concert series would be over, and there would be nothing for the public to act on.

Yet committing to repeating a concert weeks or months after its first performance is no small decision.  The director will worry that choristers might lose their edge and forget what they worked so hard to perfect.  Arrangements for a venue can be tricky, especially if you wait to decide on extra performances until after the first run.  And publicity is an ever-present challenge.

These challenges notwithstanding, another local chorus is going down this path.  Back in May, the Sierra Master Chorale gave two performances of Karl Jenkins' "The Armed Man:  A Mass for Peace."  I thought it was a brilliant concert, and you can read my review at this link.  They sold out their Sunday afternoon performance, and nearly sold out the large Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grass Valley on the previous Thursday evening.

Now they've decided to reprise this concert on Thursday evening, September 27.  You can find the details at this link in their website.  It's a bold move, with just 7 weeks of lead time and a large venue and numerous fixed expenses.  But at the end of September, there is no competition from other choral performances, and the concert itself is a proven winner.  Furthermore, I understand that chorus members themselves are excited about the possibility of performing "The Armed Man" once more.

I have a friend who made the long drive to the church in Grass Valley on that Sunday in May, parked a half-mile away, and found no tickets left when he got to the door.  He'll be there on September 27, and so I hope, will a number of other friends, to whom I described this performance after it was over, and who wished they could have heard it.  It's called "buzz," and choruses need to find better ways to get it working in their favor.

Free Recording Session

Has your chorus been wanting to make a recording, but you’ve been held back by the cost?  Auburn-based Advanced Mobile Recording is looking for a small chorus that it could use to demo its service.  Here’s what they say in their website:

“Advanced Mobile Recording is offering a chance for one group/ensemble of select types to be recorded at absolutely no cost. That's right, FREE! We're looking to post up new material on our sample page so other customers can hear just how great we can reproduce anyone's performance. Not only that, but your group will be listed on the Friends of AMR page as well, along with a link to your website (if available).  All you need to do is email the sales staff with your contact information, how many members of your group and their instruments, and a link to your website (if you have one). If you are chosen, you'll be contacted by us for our free consultation and to set up a recording schedule. You'll also receive a copy of the final product, as well.  It's just that simple! Don't wait, we'd love to hear from you. We are currently looking for a 1- to 3-member group in the Jazz, Classical, African, Folk, or most any upbeat musical genres.”

 
AMR principal, Jeff Widick, clarifies that the free offer is for a 3-song demo, and the mobile recording service would be limited to the Foothills to Sacramento area.  To open the conversation, send an e-mail to sales@advancedmobilerecording.com.  The website has the same domain: www.advancedmobilerecording.com.