CBC Music Invites Choirs to Create Artist Pages

A CBC Music artist page is your online gateway to Canada’s vast and diverse musical community. It is a multifaceted tool for self-promotion so that, no matter what genre you specialize in, you can showcase your valuable contributions to our cultural landscape.

With the creation of a CBC Music artist page, you can:

• Create an artist profile that includes a bio, photos, links to your website(s) and social media accounts.
• Upload (unlimited amounts of) your music and videos to be seen and heard by the public. Listeners can create custom playlists with artist-uploaded tracks.
• Promote your upcoming events on the CBC Music concert calendar. This calendar is searchable by date, location and genre, and is one of the most comprehensive concert listings in Canada.
• Maintain a personal blog where you can provide up-to-date news about your activities.
• Gain fans who can “like” your page. You then gain an automatic fan feed that emails your fans whenever you add new music, announce an event, or make any other significant changes to your page.

In addition, CBC Music periodically features various artist pages, so there’s a chance you could receive added exposure.

Bruneau Centre for Excellence in Choral Music Established at Memorial University of Newfoundland

The Bruneau Centre for Excellence in Choral Music at Memorial University of Newfoundland is being created through a generous donation of $1 million from Drs. Jean and Angus Bruneau. The announcement was made recently at Memorial’s School of Music on the university’s St. John’s campus.

The new centre will promote and foster research and community projects that seek to understand, encourage and enhance the powerful impact that choral singing can have on individuals and communities. It will support projects that have the potential to stimulate excellence in community music-making locally, nationally and internationally.

Read the full press release here.

Nova Scotia Youth Choir Auditions

The Nova Scotia Choral Federation is announcing this year’s auditions for the Nova Scotia Youth Choir.  This season’s guest conductor will be Elise Bradley from the Toronto Children’s Chorus. This ensemble draws the most talented singers ages 16-25 from across the province and is dedicated to providing them a challenging opportunity to work, develop and perform music together under the leadership of talented local educators and the most accomplished Canadian conductors.

Audition dates are as follows:  Wolfville on February 3rd, Liverpool on February 8th, Halifax on February 9th, Sydney on February 22nd, and New Glasgow and Truro on February 23rd.   Visit the Nova Scotia Choral Federation website, www.nscf.ns.ca for detailed information and to register for an audition.  You can also call the NSCF office at 423-4688 (toll free in NS 1-888-672-3969) or email office@nscf.ns.ca.

Submit Your World Choral Day Event

Many of you took part in World Choral Day celebrations this past December 9th, 2012. Hundreds of organizations around the world did, creating a platform for thousands of singers across the globe to unite in song and friendship, transcending all barriers in a universal message of peace and understanding.

                                                       Tell us how did it go!!!

We are interested in knowing what was sung, what organization(s) took part, how many singers were involved, what was sung, how many people were in attendance. When compiling this information globally, we can further measure the scope and relevance of this important event and make it grow every year. You can help us by taking two minutes to submit your event on www.worldchoralday.org and upload your photos or video of your celebration.

Remember to mark your calendar for December 8th, 2013 so you can join us again this year!

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, January 13, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

Choral Concert celebrates the mass

This week on Choral Concert Peter Togni will celebrate the western world’s oldest musical form; the mass.

There has been more music set to the words of the mass than any other text since the beginning of western music. That’s because the mass, and its essential parts —the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei—have been the centre of Christian worship for over a thousand years and it is almost always presented in some form of singing.

This Sunday you will hear SMAM (Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal) in a live performance of the Berliner Mass by the Estonion composer Arvo Part, as well as a truly astounding recording of a 40 (yes 40!!) part mass setting by the great renaissance composer Alessandro Striggio as well as two beautiful mass segments by Karl Jenkins and Igor Stravinsky.

Go to  CBCMUSIC.CA after January 17th and check out the new choral stream!!!!  A 24/7 collection of a wide choral gems from J.S. Bach to John Rutter. Perfect programming for choral music lovers performed by some of our greatest choirs like the Elmer Iseler Singers, The Elora Festival Singers and Musica Intima.

7th International Amadeus choral composition contest

Information on this annual international contest of choral composition being held for the seventh time in 2013 and sponsored by Consejería de Educación y Cultura of Gobierno de Extremadura, may be found in several languages on the web site: http://concurso.coroamadeus.es/  or download the English pdf:  ftp.indiccex.es/documentos/triptico-concurso-2013-VII-bases.en.pdf

A Celebration of Life for Diane Loomer, C.M.

A 'Celebration of Life' will be held to remember and rejoice in Diane's remarkable sojourn here on earth. The format will be a concert sung by her 3 latest choirs, Elektra, Chor Leoni and EnChor. There will also be chances for all of us to sing together. It will be on January 11th (7:30pm) at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver. You are all invited to attend. Be sure to get there early as there are no reserved seats and it will likely be quite full.

A Celebration of Life for Diane Loomer, C.M.
Friday, January 11, 2013 * 7:30pm
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC
6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver

La journée m'enchante 2 février 2013

La journée du 2 février 2013, plusieurs groupes chanteront partout au Québec et dans le monde entier.
L’intention du projet est de créer ainsi une énorme vague de joie et d’amour avec les gens touchés par la tristesse et la solitude.

Depuis la première édition en 2005, des groupes totalisant 2400 "enchanteurs" ont laissé des traces de sourires à plus de 10000 personnes dans toutes les régions du Québec. L’idée du projet a pris naissance en 2005 au Québec et au fil des années a pris de l’ampleur pour s’étendre à l’échelle internationale: des groupes du Nouveau Brunswick, de Belgique, d’Italie et de France se sont joints ainsi au projet! L’objectif à chaque année est de faire chanter la planète. Vous êtes invité à votre tour, à faire partie de la vague 2013.

Pour inscrire un groupe ou pour obtenir plus d’informations, vous êtes invité à communiquer avec moi par courriel ou à visiter le site internet du projet à : www.joie.ca.cx

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, January 6, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

Choral Concert presents “Beethoven bookends”

Choral Concert starts with a bang this week, with the opening crash of the finale of Beethoven’s ninth symphony.  It’s the first of 2 great choral works created by Ludwig von Beethoven that you will hear on choral concert this week. 

We’ll start the show with a live performance of the finale of the 9th Symphony with Toronto’s
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, and finish with the Choral Fantasy in a performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir, and pianist Anton Kuerti.

In between these two great masterworks you will also hear a beautiful rendition of Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Munich Pro Arte Orchestra.

Don’t forget that CBCMUSIC.CA has lots to offer for classical music lovers, there are 10 classical streams, available 24 / 7. You can also check out the Choral Concert blog plus extensive videos and concerts in all genres.

World Youth Choir Announces Changes for Summer Session in 2013

Due to the unstable economic situation in Europe, The World Youth Choir Foundation has announced their decision not to organize a regular summer session with the usual recruitment procedure in 2013. However, there will still be opportunities for more than 1000 World Youth Choir alumni members to choose to gather again in Portugal, at the Lisbon summer Music Festival in June 2013. Further special projects are possible for 2013 and will be announced on the World Youth Choir web site.

Information on the recruitment process for the 2014 summer session in Croatia and neighboring countries hosted by Jeunesses Musicales Croatia, and other new plans will become available later in 2013.

For information and announcements: http://www.worldyouthchoir.org/

Listen online to the CBC Christmas Sing-In

The 33rd annual CBC Christmas Sing-In, presented as part of World Choral Day 2012, is now available for listening online at CBC Music. The Sing-In features music by Honegger, Joubert, Villette, Howells, Duruflé, Warlock, Godfrey Ridout, Mark Sirett, Jonathan Dove, Fredrik Sixten, Derek Holman, Paul Halley, Julian Wachner and others, performed by the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, with director of music Jonathan Oldengarm at the organ, the Sing-In Brass led by trombonist Guy Bernard, and the audience of more than 1,200 all under the direction of conductor Jordan de Souza.
Link: music.cbc.ca/play/concert/CBC-Christmas-Sing-In-from-Montreal-2012-2012-12-09

CBC/McGill Youth Choir Gala: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Free podcast from CBC Music: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! read by Jonathan Goldstein and featuring the 200 young voices of the 10th annual CBC/McGill Youth Choir Gala and guest conductor Erica Phare, and a jazz trio led by Josh Rager. Available now, until January 6, 2013, from http://cbcmusic.ca/mcgill