L’Association des communautés chorales canadiennes a l’honneur d’annoncer les finalistes pour l’édition 2013 du Concours national pour chœurs amateurs canadiens

Précieuse tradition chorale canadienne, le prestigieux Concours national pour chœurs amateurs canadiens de l’ACCC inspire les chœurs à viser l’excellence, met en valeur les chœurs amateurs de toutes sortes et de toutes les traditions, et encourage la création et l’exécution d’œuvres canadiennes. Ouvert à tous les chœurs amateurs du Canada, le concours attire des participants d’un littoral à l’autre du pays.

Les finalistes pour 2013 sont les suivants :

Catégorie 1 : Chorales d’enfants    
Spurrell Studio Choir – Natalie Spurrell (Oakville, ON)

Catégorie 2 : Chorales de jeunes, voix aigues
Calgary Girls Choir (Brava) – Elaine Quilichini (Calgary, AB) 
Vocum (Canterbury High School) – James Caswell (Ottawa, ON) 
WoCo (Etobicoke School of the Arts) – David Ambrose (Toronto, ON)

Catégorie 3 : Chorales de jeunes, voix graves 
Testostertones (Catholic Central High School) – Don Sills (Seaforth, ON) 
St. Michael's Choir School Tenor Bass Choir – Teri Dunn (Toronto, ON)

Catégorie 4 : Chorales de jeunes, voix mixtes
Coastal Sound Youth Choir – Carrie Tennant (Vancouver, BC) 
Chorale De La Salle – Robert Filion (Ottawa, ON) 
Medway Madrigal Singers – Jeff Beynon et Kathy McNaughton (London, ON)

Catégorie 5 : Chorales universitaires, voix mixtes
University of Manitoba Singers – Elroy Friesen (Winnipeg, MB) 
University of Saskatchewan Greystone Singers – Gerald Langner (Saskatoon, SK) 
Western University Singers – Victoria Meredith (London, ON)

Catégorie 6 : Chorales d’adultes, voix mixtes
Chorale Saint-Jean – Laurier Fagnan (Edmonton, AB) 
Guelph Chamber Choir – Gerald Neufeld (Guelph, ON) 
Spiritus Chamber Choir – Timothy Shantz (Calgary, AB)

Catégorie 7: Chorales de chambre, voix mixtes
I Coristi Chamber Choir – Debra Cairns (Edmonton, AB) 
That Choir – Craig Pike (Toronto, ON)

Catégorie 8 : Chorales d’hommes, voix égales
Primus: Amabile Men's Choir – Carol Beynon (London, ON)

Catégorie 9 : Chorales de femmes, voix égales
Canadian Mennonite University Chamber Choir – Janet Brenneman (Winnipeg, MB) 
Elektra Women's Choir – Morna Edmundson (Vancouver, BC) 
Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble – Christina Murray (Halifax, NS)

Catégorie 11 : Musique contemporaine
Quintessential Vocal Ensemble – Susan Quinn (St. John’s, NL) 
Spiritus Chamber Choir – Timothy Shantz (Calgary, AB) 
University of Regina Chamber Singers – Dominic Gregorio (Regina, SK)

Les lauréats seront annoncés à Festival 500 Sharing the Voices, festival international de musique chorale qui aura lieu à St. John's, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador du 3 au 10 juillet. Des prix en argent comptant seront décernés pour les meilleures prestations dans chaque catégorie. Le chœur ayant la meilleure interprétation d’une œuvre canadienne, toutes catégories confondues, se verra aussi décerner un prix en argent. Le prestigieux Grand prix Healey Willan du Conseil des Arts du Canada sera remis au chœur qui donne globalement l’interprétation la plus convaincante sur les plans de la musicalité, de la technique et du programme.

Chaque chœur a créé une page d’artiste sur CBC Music permettant au public d’écouter les prestations et de mieux connaître les chœurs participants. Les liens à la page d’artiste de CBC de chaque concurrent et à la diffusion audio sont affichés au portail du Concours national pour chœurs amateurs canadiens de l’ACCC. Prière de visiter le site 
http://choralcanada.org/ACCC_fr/choeurs_amateurs_canadiens.html.
 
Les prestations exceptionnelles de participants seront diffusées à l’émission Choral Concert de la chaine Radio 2 de la CBC au cours des prochaines semaines. 

Le Concours national pour chœurs amateurs canadiens est un programme distinctif de l’Association des communautés chorales canadiennes, l’organisme de services nationaux du Canada pour les chœurs et communautés chorales. Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements, prière de consulter le
site www.choralcanada.org.

Concordia School of Music: Singspiration Concordia University College of Alberta August 12-17, 2013

Concordia University College of Alberta Worship & Music Symposium Friday, August 2 – Saturday, August 3

Friday, August 2, 2 - 4:30 pm
Choral Reading Session, presented by Northwest Music - gospel music and spirituals
Trinity Lutheran Church, 10014 – 81 Avenue
Dr. Joy Berg and Dr. James Abbington
Registration Fee: $20.  Register for this by contacting Joy Berg at joy.berg@concordia.ab.ca

Friday, August 2, 7 pm
Hymn Festival: Music from the African American community
Trinity Lutheran Church, 10014 – 81 Avenue
A free-will offering will be taken in support of the hymn festival.

Saturday, August 3, 9 am - 4:30 pm
Symposium: Bringing Tradition into 21st Century Worship
Concordia University College of Alberta, 7128 Ada Boulevard
Guest presenter, Dr. James Abbington, Associate Professor of Church Music and Worship, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Registration fee: $75 (before July 5). 

For more information & to register, visit  http://music.concordia.ab.ca/symposium

Summer Choral Workshop: How Can I Keep From Singing? July 22 - 26, 2013 Kaslo, British Columbia

For choral singers of all abilities wanting an opportunity to SING during the summer.

Instructors: Eva Bostrand, Karen Behn, Robert Casgrain

Registration Fee: After May 15, $475

Registration & Information
www.kaslosummerworkshops.ca
info@kaslosummerworkshops  780.438.9080

i Coristi Chamber Choir New Music Director - New Season

At its final concert of the season, i Coristi Chamber Choir announced the appointment of its new Music Music Director, Rob Curtis. Mr. Curtis takes over the helm from retiring Music Director, Dr. Debra Cairns, who founded the choir nineteen years ago. The appointment follows an extensive search and interview process, which also involved conducting the choir in rehearsal.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Rob Curtis, is a doctoral candidate in Choral Conducting at the University of Alberta. He will be conducting his doctoral recital Sunday, June 9 (in Convocation Hall, U of A), and then putting the finishing touches on his doctoral thesis exploring the choral works of JUNO Award winning composer Malcolm Forsyth.  Rob began his association with i Coristi in 2004, when he spent a year as the choir's assistant conductor. Rob went on to conduct various other choirs, including Sine Nomine Chamber Choir and the Alberta College Women's Choir, and currently he conducts the University of Alberta Concert Choir and serves as assistant conductor of the Richard Eaton Singers. He also holds a degree in piano performance, and is active in the Edmonton area as an accompanist, church musician and adjudicator.

For the upcoming season, Rob Curtis has planned a series of three exciting concerts -  i Coristi Chamber Choir's twentieth anniversary season.

To begin its 20th season, i Coristi presents Lives (Saturday, November 16, 2013, 7:30 pm). In this concert, i Coristi encounters a variety of people (both real and fictional), through music that they inspired, including works by Estacio, Lukaszewski and Whitacre.

For its second concert, Voices (Saturday, February 22, 2014, 7:30 pm), i Coristi moves from music inspired by persons, to music inspired by peoples - a variety of world cultures, including works by Tormis, Brahms and Somers.

In its final concert, Primavera (Saturday, May, 24, 2014, 7:30 pm), i Coristi celebrates the coming of spring as it presents paeans to spring by Mendelssohn and Dove, and rejuvenating songs of love by Morley and O'Regan.

All concerts are held in Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037 - 84 Avenue, Edmonton.

Auditions for 2013-2014 Concert Season

Monday, June 17, starting at 7 pm
Tuesday, June 18, starting at 7 pm
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 10037 - 84 Avenue, Edmonton (enter through door off of parking lot; free parking available in parking lot)

i Coristi Chamber Choir extends an invitation to experienced singers to audition for its 2013 - 2014 season - under the direction of its new Music Director, Rob Curtis.

Prepare a song or aria that best demonstrates your vocal capabilities (classical repertoire recommended). An accompanist will be provided.
You will also be led through vocalises, aural, and sight reading exercises.

To schedule an audition, visit http://www.icoristi.com/Auditions.html
Or contact David Garber:  contact@iCoristi.com

St-Lawrence Choir seeks Artistic Director

The St-Lawrence Choir is seeking a new Artistic Director for the 2014-2015 season. Please click here for more details. http://www.choeur.qc.ca/the-artistic-director/

Le Chœur St-Laurent est en quête d’un nouveau directeur artistique pour la saison 2014-2015. Veuillez cliquer ici pour plus d'informations: http://www.choeur.qc.ca/fr/directeur-artistique/

Deadline July 1, 2013

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

Choral Concert goes to the Opera

This week on Choral Concert Peter Togni takes us to the Opera! Some of the most beautiful music ever written for choirs come from Operas or are inspired by Opera and we are going to devote this entire encore program to these glorious musical moments.

You’ll hear the tender “Humming Chorus” from  Puccini’s Madam Butterfly, “Va Pensiero” from Verdi’s Nabucco, opera inspired masses from Schubert and Berlioz and much more.

It’s all meant to stir your heart and rouse your passion - as only the greatest operatic moments can.

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

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, May 26, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

Choral Concert celebrates the day’s last glow

This week’s Choral Concert is dedicated to the Vespers service, an evening service in the Christian church. The tradition goes back to very early Christian times, at least the year 500.

In this encore edition of Choral Concert Peter Togni revels in music from the Vespers service. Performed during the day’s last glow,  it capitalizes on the time when the angle of the sun is just right to reach inside the church and light up the stained glass windows, leaving the interior literally glowing with magical light. The composers of the time obviously knew this, and took full advantage of its special atmosphere with music for the Vespers service.

This Sunday on Choral Concert we are dedicating our entire program to music for the day’s last glow. You’ll hear one of the most famous Vespers compositions of all time, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, music from the Russian Orthodox tradition. It’s full of praise, reverence, meditation and penitence.

You’ll also hear a piece that host Peter Togni calls “one of the most beautiful pieces that Mozart ever came up with.” From his Vespers, the "Laudate Dominum".

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

Formation pour chefs de choeur et choristes du 28 juin au 6 juillet 2013

Pour chefs débutants, intermédiaires ou avancés, dirigeant tout type de répertoire, pour les enseignants en musique et les chefs de pupitres. 6 niveaux disponibles

Gestique, Étude de partitions, Technique de répétition et de direction, Technique vocale, Exercices pratiques, Pédagogie et plus encore 

LA FORMATION POUR LES CHEFS

• Une semaine intensive qui permet au stagiaire d’acquérir ou de parfaire ses connaissances des différents aspects de la direction chorale.
• Du temps de laboratoire tous les jours devant un choeur témoin pour pouvoir appliquer les apprentissages théoriques.
• Des enseignements personnalisés et basés sur les besoins de chaque stagiaire.
• Une évaluation personnelle du stagiaire est faite à la fin de la semaine suite à quoi il reçoit une attestation selon les notions maîtrisées.

LES OBSERVATEURS

• Il est possible d’assister à la formation sans toutefois bénéficier de temps de répétition avec le choeur témoin. Il n’y a pas d’évaluation pour les observateurs.

LA FORMATION POUR LES CHORISTES    UNE NOUVEAUTÉ CETTE ANNÉE
(FORMATRICE : Julie Beaulieu)

Julie Beaulieu est reconnue pour ses cours de technique vocale très efficaces. Elle a développé un langage gestuel imagé adapté aux besoins vocaux ainsi qu’aux diverses situations musicales.

• Deux jours intensifs qui permettent aux choristes d’acquérir ou de parfaire leurs notions de technique vocale, de pose de voix, d’activation des résonnateurs, d’annotation de partitions, etc...
• Cette formation est offerte sans frais aux choristes faisant partie du choeur témoin de la forma- tion des chefs de choeur du 29 juin au 5 juillet 2013. 

LE CHOEUR TÉMOIN

• L’Alliance des Chorales est à la recherche de 40 choristes qui souhaitent faire partie du choeur témoin. Celui-ci permet aux chefs en formation d’expérimenter leurs apprentissages quotidien- nement.
• La semaine se termine par un concert où les chefs en formation dirigent tous une pièce travaillée avec le choeur témoin durant la formation.
• Un cahier de partitions vous sera envoyé dès que possible pour que vous arriviez prêts. Peu de temps est consacré à l’apprentissage des pièces.
• La présence est obligatoire tous les jours, du 29 juin au 5 juillet 2013, selon l’horaire déterminé.

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, May 19, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

Choral Concert Classics!

This week on Choral Concert Peter Togni brings us the Choral Concert classics. Over the past four years the Choral Concert team has built up a list of favourite pieces – yours and ours – that have always had the biggest and best response.

On this encore program you will hear great choral works like Handel’s Zadok the Priest, Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem and the 40 voice motet Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis.

You will also hear some of Peter Togni’s interesting and slightly unusual favourites, pieces like Columba Aspexit by the 12th century Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, and Stravinsky’s Laudate Dominum in a classic 1960’s recording with the CBC Symphony Orchestra and the Festival Singers of Toronto.

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

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, May 12, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

The Anglican Choral Tradition

This Sunday Peter Togni explores the Anglican choral tradition from convention through to innovation.

The conventional side will be the best of the best: The Vancouver Chamber Choir doing Handel, the Cambridge Singers doing Thomas Tallis and the Tallis Scholars doing even more Tallis. It will be a feast for the ears!

On the innovative side you will hear the music of Nico Muhly, a young American composer steeped in the British choral tradition through his Episcopalian upbringing – and who has gone on to put a distinctive contemporary stamp on the traditional British sound. You will hear a collection of his most beautiful works performed by the amazing Los Angeles Master Chorale conducted by Grant Gershon.

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.

CHORAL CONCERT, with host Peter Togni Sunday, May 5, 2013 9:00 - 11:00 am, (9:30 - 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2

Choral Concert presents “Mysterious World’s”

This Sunday Peter Togni brings legends, fairy tales, distant lands and cloud capped mountains, music that invokes mysterious places, and mysterious worlds.

In this encore broadcast of Choral Concert our feature choir is Pro Coro Canada, who will bring us a program called “Once Upon a Time” a concert full of legends, heroes and far away places. You will hear the music of Bo Holten, Ugis Praulins, and the Nova Scotian composer and rising star Cy Giacomin.

You will also hear mysterious music by the American composer Eric Whitacre, and the Estonian Cyrillus Kreek.

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