Interchanging Idioms

Long-Time Arts Administrator Previously Served as Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum Roy Mueller, a highly regarded non-profit arts administrator with deep roots in Southern California, has been appointed Executive Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) following a nationwide search, it was announced by LACC Board Chair Joanne Crawford-Dunér. Mueller, who is also an accomplished musician, previously served as Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, where he led the museum through a successful four-year $5.2 million capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Prior to that he was Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum, where he developed innovative art and science education programs for a diverse community audience. “I am pleased to welcome Roy to the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Crawford-Dunér. “His exceptional non-profit arts le...

Renowned Chorus Seeks Talented Boys and Girls Ages 8 to 12 Who Love to Sing Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC), one of the nation’s leading children’s choirs, is holding auditions for boys and girls ages eight (by September 1, 2012) to twelve on May 31 and June 1, 2 and 4, 2012, in Pasadena. Previous singing experience is not necessary, but audition appointments are required. LACC’s program focuses on training children who may not necessarily have had previous singing experience, but who are dedicated to achieving excellence in vocal technique, choral singing and classical music. Successful candidates will demonstrate the ability to match pitch, follow instructions, and thrive in a structured, but supportive learning environment. Children audition in groups of five to ensure their comfort, and no preparation is necessary. Under the artistic direction of Anne Tomlinson, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, currently in its 26th season, provides a comprehensive music education and pe...

AWARD FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ART Duain Wolfe, Chorus Director for the Colorado Symphony, has been awarded The 2012 Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art. “I am overwhelmed and truly honored by this award,” said Mr. Wolfe. “In a nation where ten percent of the population is actively involved in choral singing, it is humbling to be accorded such a tribute. The professional choral arts embrace a wide range of organizations and I am especially proud that two of Colorado's finest choruses that are models of high professional standards, the Colorado Symphony Chorus and the Colorado Children's Chorale, are sharing this tribute with me.” VP for Artistic Administration at the Colorado Symphony, Anthony Pierce, added “Duain is a remarkable resource for the Colorado Symphony, and I can’t emphasize enough how fortunate we are to have him make the commitment that he does to this community and the state of Colorado.” “As an artis...

LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS’ SPRING CONCERT FEATURES CHORAL WORKS SPANNING 14 CENTURIES Program Includes Earliest Known Example of Polyphony Dating from 1260 to World Premiere by Nicholas Nicassio Saturday, May 12, 2012, 4 PM Sunday, May 13, 7 PM at Pasadena Presbyterian Church The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) illuminates the transcendent spirit of humanity with a dynamic program spanning 14 centuries of musical expression at its 26th Annual Spring Concert on Saturday, May 12, 4 PM, and Sunday, May 13, 7 PM, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Singing about joy, love, laughter and hope in six languages, the choristers offer a mix of classical, folk and contemporary works. Among numerous highlights are Sumer is icumen in, a medieval song dating from 1260 believed to be the oldest existing example of polyphony, and the world premiere by LACC’s Young Men’s Ensemble of Los Angeles-based composer Nicholas Nicassio’s Sleep Now, O Sleep Now based on text by James Joyce. Ot...

The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the Walt Disney Concert Hall debut of Bach’s oratorio St. John Passion – one of the greatest masterworks of all time – in two back-to-back historically informed performances with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, performing on period instruments, on Palm Sunday weekend, Saturday, March 31, 8 pm, and Sunday, April 1, 2012, 7 pm. These concerts complete the Chorale’s multi-season trilogy of historically informed performances with the nation’s foremost Baroque ensemble of Bach’s three major choral works, which also includes the B Minor Mass, presented by the chorus in March 2008, and St. Matthew Passion, performed by the Chorale in March 2010. More vivid, dramatically intense and unbridled than its later counterparts, St. John Passion is scored for an intimate ensemble of soloists, four-part choir and instrumentalists ranging from lute and viola da gamba to oboe, strings and basso continuo. A core of 40 singers from the Chorale comprise the choi...

The Los Angeles Master Chorale presents the Walt Disney Concert Hall debut of Bach’s oratorio St. John Passion – one of the greatest masterworks of all time – in two back-to-back historically informed performances with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, performing on period instruments, on Palm Sunday weekend, Saturday, March 31, 8 pm, and Sunday, April 1, 2012, 7 pm. These concerts complete the Chorale’s multi-season trilogy of historically informed performances with the nation’s foremost Baroque ensemble of Bach’s three major choral works, which also includes the B Minor Mass, presented by the chorus in March 2008, and St. Matthew Passion, performed by the Chorale in March 2010. More vivid, dramatically intense and unbridled than its later counterparts, St. John Passion is scored for an intimate ensemble of soloists, four-part choir and instrumentalists ranging from lute and viola da gamba to oboe, strings and basso continuo. A core of 40 singers from the Chorale comprise the choi...

LA PHIL’S "SOUNDS ABOUT TOWN" SERIES PRESENTS JAMES CONLON CONDUCTING LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS AND AMERICAN YOUTH SYMPHONY IN WORLD PREMIERE BY ICELANDIC COMPOSER DANÍEL BJARNASON AS PART OF SHAKESPEARE-THEMED PROGRAM Sunday, March 4, 2012, 7:30 PM at Walt Disney Concert Hall Other Featured Works Include Willcocks’ The Glories of Shakespeare and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet The LA Phil’s prestigious Sounds About Town series continues with a Shakespeare-themed program featuring renowned conductor James Conlon conducting two of the country’s leading youth ensembles – the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) and the American Youth Symphony (AYS) – in the world premiere of The isle is full of noises… by Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and co-commissioned by LACC and AYS on Sunday, March 4, 2012, 7:30 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The ensembles also perform Sir David Willcocks’ The Glories of Shakespeare, which draws on text...

Los Angeles Master Chorale continues the season with Bruckner’s full-scale choral masterpiece Mass in E minor on Sunday, February 12, 2012, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert marks the first time any of Bruckner’s major choral works have been performed in Disney Hall. To complement the expressive and poignant masterwork, Music Director Grant Gershon also conducts Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, a contrasting but equally compelling piece filled with both ritual and fireworks, and Brucker’s motet Os Justi. Bruckner, born to Austrian peasants and a musical protégé from an early age, completed the Mass in E minor for eight-part chorus and wind orchestra in 1866. It is a work that illustrates more than any of his others the composer’s unique style – a mix of romantic fully Brucknerian harmony with blending and contrasting vocal and instrumental textures, and the restrained and austere power of Renaissance polyphony. “It is one of my favorite Bruckner pieces and is such a...

Sunday, February 12, 2012, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall Music Director Grant Gershon Conducts Brucker’s Mass in E minor and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms Los Angeles Master Chorale continues the season with Bruckner’s full-scale choral masterpiece Mass in E minor on Sunday, February 12, 2012, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concert marks the first time any of Bruckner’s major choral works have been performed in Disney Hall. To complement the expressive and poignant masterwork, Music Director Grant Gershon also conducts Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms , a contrasting but equally compelling piece filled with both ritual and fireworks, and Brucker’s motet Os Justi. Bruckner, born to Austrian peasants and a musical protégé from an early age, completed the Mass in E minor for eight-part chorus and wind orchestra in 1866. It is a work that illustrates more than any of his others the composer’s unique style – a mix of romantic fully Brucknerian harmony with blending and c...

Distinguished Concerts International New York Presents a weekend of concert in honor of the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Psalms & Songs for the New Year An Afternoon of Beautiful & Inspirational Choral Works Sunday, January 15 at 2:00pm ~ Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center & The Peacemakers WORLD PREMIERE by Karl Jenkins Over 300 musicians join together for the first world premiere of major work by Karl Jenkins to take place in the US, featuring text by Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday, January 16 at 7:00pm ~ Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents two sublime concerts of choral music on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, inspired by Dr. King and peacemakers the world over. The concert on Sunday, January 15 at 2pm at Avery Fisher Hall welcomes 2012 with Psalms & Songs for the New Year, featuring John Rutter’s magnificent and emotionally-charged Mass of the Children , Leonard Bernstein’s colourful C...

Chorus Rehearsing at Lambert Monday, November 20 to help ease holiday travel stress Thanksgiving is the busiest, and perhaps most trying travel time of the year. The St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON® Chorus hopes to alleviate some of that transportation stress through the power of music. On Monday, November 21, conductor Kevin McBeth and the entire IN UNISON Chorus will take their rehearsal on the road, performing for airline passengers at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The group, comprised of 125 singers from churches across the St. Louis region, will rehearse its upcoming A Gospel Christmas concert at the airport’s new Meet and Greet area, located by the baggage claim carousels. It’s hoped the rehearsal will help get Lambert travelers in the holiday spirit as they head out for Thanksgiving. The group will begin its rehearsal at 7pm; it’s expected to last about an hour. Special programs are planned at Powell Hall throughout the month of December and include: · ...

Tune in to NPR's All Things Considered to hear Eric Whitacre talk about his vitrual choir featuring more than 2,000 singers from around the world. Click here to watch WQXR's live webcast of the unveiling of Eric's Virtual Choir 2.0 at New York's The Paley Center For Media tonight at 6 pm ET.

Conductor Antoni Wit leads all-star cast featuring Stacey Tappan, Nicholas Phan and Hyung Yun in music's most daring, audacious choral masterwork April at the Colorado Symphony begins with one of the most thrilling choral masterworks of all time: Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Acclaimed conductor Antoni Wit, soprano Stacey Tappan, tenor Nicholas Phan, baritone Hyjng Yun, and the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Colorado Children's Chorale are featured in this all-star cast for two performances on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3. Composed in 1837, Carmina Burana remains one of the most popular works in the classical music repertoire thanks to its universal appeal, risqué and provocative subject matter, and pure "rock concert appeal." Today, O Fortuna - the opening and closing to Carmina Burana - can be heard in films ranging from Excalibur to Natural Born Killers to The Hunt for Red October, as well as dozens of action movie trailers and commercials. Often regarde...

Light & Gold, Whitacre’s #1 Billboard Classical Chart Topping Decca Debut out on CD April 5th, 2011 On April 7th, 2011 composer Eric Whitacre will reveal his VIRTUAL CHOIR 2.0, the record breaking online video, in a world premiere event at The Paley Center For Media. This virtual choir, the largest assembled online in history, sings Whitacre’s composition “Sleep”, a track off of his new Decca recording, Light & Gold, which will be released on CD April 5th, 2010. In September 2010, Eric Whitacre put out a call to his network of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for singers to submit video recordings of themselves singing parts of “Sleep”, with a goal of creating the largest online choir of at least 900 singers. http://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir. The effort was a massive success. By the time entries closed in early January 2011 2052 people from 58 countries around the world submitted videos of their performances!

Carmina burana is set to 11th and 12th century poems and dramatic texts written by German students and clergy. Themes of satire, greed, seduction and worldly pleasure combine with memorable tunes to make this evocative work one of the most popular choral masterpiece of all time. Antoni Wit, conductor Stacey Tappan, soprano Nicholas Phan, tenor Hyung Yun, baritone Colorado Symphony Chorus / Duain Wolfe, director Colorado Children's Chorale / Deborah DeSantis, director ROUSSEL / Suite No. 2 from Bacchus et Ariane ORFF / Carmina burana Tickets are available online at coloradosymphony.org or call the box office at 303.623.7876.

This spring, the musical offerings at Trinity Wall Street will be richer and more ambitious than ever, highlighting the church’s commitment to presenting holy music in its hallowed spaces. The performances and music accompanying worship services range from Johann Sebastian Bach’s sacred masterpieces (including the St. Matthew Passion) to a new series for the reflective season of Lent that will explore civil rights activism through jazz and storytelling.

The St. Louis Symphony announced the appointment of Kevin McBeth as the Director of the IN UNISON® Chorus, effective January 1, 2011. He will conduct the chorus and orchestra for the “Lift Every Voice” Black History Month Celebration concert on February 18, 2011. McBeth succeeds the founder of the IN UNISON® Chorus, Dr. Robert Ray, who after 15 years, retired at the end of last season. Following an extensive and collaborative search process that involved the IN UNISON® Chorus Advisory Committee, President and CEO Fred Bronstein , Music Director David Robertson and Vice President of Artistic Administration Bret Dorhout , McBeth emerged as the unanimous choice. Kevin McBeth, Director of the IN UNISON® Chorus: “I've been a fan of the entire St. Louis Symphony organization since my arrival 15 years ago. I look forward to an incredible future with the IN UNISON® Chorus. It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be chosen. With just a few weeks before our first concert, I'm very ...

Music Director Tom Hall and Baltimore Choral Arts Society presents two holiday concerts for the entire family in December, including Sing-Along Messiah at Goucher College on December 17 where the entire audience can join in to sing the magnificent choruses of Handel's Messiah. And to wrap up their holiday offerings, Baltimore Choral Arts presents "Christmas for Kids" featuring Ronnie the Reindeer in an original children's story.

Album Includes Three World-Premiere Recordings and Guest Appearances by the King’s Singers and Other Artists In May 2010, Eric Whitacre joined a handful of composers to have secured an exclusive, long-term recording contract with a major label when he agreed to a global deal with Decca. Whitacre recorded his debut Decca album Light & Gold in London at the beginning of August with a choral group including the Eric Whitacre Singers and Laudibus (“It truly feels like driving a Ferrari” Whitacre said of working with the choir of elite professional choral singers). The album, to be released on October 19th, includes some of Whitacre’s best-loved choral works as well as three world-premiere recordings. This will be the first time Whitacre has both recorded and conducted his own music. The Five Hebrew Love Songs will feature the excellent Pavao Quartet, and The Stolen Child will feature the incomparable King’s Singers. All of the soprano solos will be sung by Grace Davidson. ...

American composer Nico Muhly, noted for his versatility and ingenuity as much as his age, acts as a guest host on WQXR’s Q2 channel this week with a focus on the choral music that has been both his passion and obsession for many years. A Good Understanding , the first to two new releases on Decca, presents Muhly’s own choral compositions as performed by the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale under the direction of Grant Gershon. The second release, I Drink the Air Before Me , is a large-scale ballet scored for chamber orchestra and written to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Stephen Petronio Dance Company. A Good Understanding is currently available on iTunes and both releases receive full distribution on September 21, 2010 in both digital and physical formats. "Choral music is my first love,” states Muhly. “Even though my voice broke in 1994, I still return to the emotional landscapes of Byrd, Tallis, Gibbons, Howells, and Britten as a sort of home base for al...