Choral Conducting Workshop

John Rosser

Be inspired at a choral conducting workshop in Dunedin on 24 March.  John Rosser will present Giving Direction, a workshop on choral conducting, as part of the NZCF Association of Choral Directors (ACD) new programme of professional development. Apart from the training offered, this is an opportunity for conductors to meet an established conducting mentor, who will be able to provide advice and support.

The workshop will be held on Saturday 24 March from 9.30am to 5.00pm at the College of Education Music Dept.
Download the application form

Saturday 24 March Workshop
The workshop, which will have a very practical focus, is aimed at all conductors, regardless of experience or type of choir. It will include some of the following topics:

• Building a vocabulary of gestures to interpret a particular piece of music – phrasing, articulation, dynamics and expressive markings, entries, releases, etc.
• Vocal knowledge for the conductor – applied with reference to the workshop choirs’ music.
• Rehearsal techniques – efficient rehearsals in which choir members sing for almost all of the time and they absorb the musical style as they learn notes and rhythms.
• Hints on repertoire and programming.
• A forum on recruitment, auditioning and other issues.
• Two local choirs will be present at the workshop as the demonstration choirs, and conductors will work with them on the choir’s repertoire.

Sunday 25 March Mentoring Sessions
John will be available on the Sunday after the workshop for one-hour coaching sessions, at which matters of particular interest can be discussed.
Costs

• Workshops: ACD members - $55; NZCF Individual members - $70; Non-members - $85.  This includes tuition, lunch and teas. Half-day rates (no lunch) also available.
• Mentoring sessions (one-to-one or shared) - $55 (excl GST) per hour.

For more information or to register
Contact Di Lenihan (tel 027 698 8649) or Carole Randall (tel 027 295 6477)

Chinese Garden Tours and Tea

We have joined forces to bring you
unforgettable Chinese Garden
guided tours and a relaxing cup of tea
Sundays 2-3 pm, only $15
Contact Julia on tel. 454 5383
tours@cityofdunedinchoir.org.nz
No Eftpos. Bookings are essential. 

The first tour is on Sunday 19 February.

The Sixteen

Have you ever heard such beautiful singing? This is the UK choir The Sixteen performing Miserere Mei Deus.

Apparently the music was written by Allegri, a setting of Psalm 51, and used only at special Mass in the Sistine Chapel. Public reproduction was forbidden until Mozart, at age 14, transcribed the whole work from listening to it twice only. Instead of excommunication, Mozart was praised by the Pope and the ban was lifted.

Hear one of the most beautiful soprano voices soaring ... enjoy!

The Dreaded Ninth Symphony

Did you know that there's a supposed curse on composers who write, or attempt to write, their 9th symphony? They either die during its composition, or shortly afterwards. Of course the curse doesn't apply to those of us who are musically challenged, for the full quirky story read on here

Half a dozen soloists

We are getting really excited now about the next City of Dunedin Choir concert -  

Beauty of Baroque 

Rehearsals started last Tuesday and straight away we made a huge dent in the Handel Utrecht Te Deum. Sounding so powerful - what a big sound! Handel certainly knew how to compose a good tune. We also took a wee bite from the Bach Magnificat - how grand!

The soloists have now all been signed up for this concert - a wonderful line-up:

Pepe Becker (soprano)
Grace Park (soprano)
Amanda Cole (mezzo-soprano)
Christopher John Clifford (countertenor)
Stephen Chambers (tenor)
Julien van Mellaerts (bass)               Read more about his concert and mark the date in your diary!

VC3 status update

"Virtual Choir 3 submissions closed on 2nd February 2012. We received 3727 videos from 2934 people in 73 countries singing one or more parts of Water Night."  http://virtualchoir.ericwhitacre.com

Is that not amazing? It takes heaps of guts to stand in front of a microphone and camera and sing your choir part solo for a recording - which is oh, so unforgiving! Add to that the fact that Eric Whitacre's "Water Night" is not an easy work. I take my hat off to all these brave singers. Now we have to wait for the processing of the final video... watch this space.