The New Jersey Choral Consortium Newsletter
Vol. 11, No. 3, September, 2021
Editor: Susan Metz
This newsletter is published four to six times a year for members and friends of the New Jersey Choral Consortium. To unsubscribe from this mailing list or update your preferences, click the applicable link at the end of this email. Unsubscribe will take effect immediately, whether or not you click Submit. To add someone else to our mailing list, sign up here.
|
|
We recently posted Covid resources for choruses on our Chorus Connection membership portal, where they're available to at least 1 person from each member chorus. We'll keep adding to it as we find more resources. Here's a rundown of what you'll find there.
Of the 12 choruses that responded to last month's membership survey about Covid plans, almost all were planning to rehearse in person indoors in the fall, with vaccines, masks and distancing required for performers. Some were planning live concerts, some outdoors, some virtual, some hybrid, some undecided. On the portal, you'll find a summary of the survey results with a list of the choruses that responded. If you want to ask those choruses about their plans, members can contact other members via the portal; to find out how, log in and read "How to Do More on Chorus Connection" on the home page.
We also posted Covid policies from these member choruses: Cantabile Chamber Chorale, Monmouth Civic Chorus, Philomusica Concert Choir and Princeton Pro Musica. If you'd like us to add your chorus Covid policy to the portal, please email Sue Metz, NJCC President.
You'll find more Covid resources on the portal, such as guidelines for resuming live singing, tips for singing properly with a mask, and a list of masks designed for singers. A recent addition to our list: NJCC member Ember Vocal Ensemble designed and sells the Ember SingSafe Mask.
If you need help accessing the portal, please email Sue Metz, NJCC President.
|
|
Welcome to 2 new members!
Continuo Arts Foundation, Candace Wicke, Founder, President & Executive Director. Based in Summit, Continuo Arts offers a comprehensive Intergenerational Choral Program inclusive of children through adult, senior citizen to professionals.
Greater Philadelphia Choral Society, William P. Gorton, Founding Artistic Director. Based in Cherry Hill, NJ, Greater Philadelphia Choral Society is new on the scene. Singers wanted for their inaugural concert: Vivaldi's Gloria and Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors on December 3 at St. Rose of Lima Church in Haddon Heights, NJ.
|
|
New members are welcome at any time. Your membership is valid for the calendar year. Everyone in an NJCC member chorus is automatically an NJCC member. Join online or print our membership form to mail with your check (and tip off your colleagues so your chorus doesn't pay twice). First-year organizational dues are half-price -- $25 instead of $50! Individual members who aren't in an NJCC member organization can join too; individual dues are $25 every year.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Congratulations to NJCC member Princeton Pro Musica and conductor Ryan Brandau for winning 3rd Prize in the 2021 American Prize in Conducting, Community Division. More American Prize contest winners will be announced in coming months.
Schola Cantorum on Hudson recently changed its name to Ember Choral Arts. Directed by Dr. Deborah Simpkin King, their programs include NJCC member Ember Vocal Ensemble, which performs in both NJ and NY.
|
|
If your member chorus has a message you'd like to see in our newsletter, post it on the Bulletin Board in our Chorus Connection membership portal, or email us.
|
|
Chorus Connection's Covid survey of almost 600 choruses shows results by type of chorus: barbershop, community, professional, symphony and youth, so you can zero in on choruses similar to yours.
Is your chorus planning an innovative arts education program? The GVK Foundation offers grants for new arts education initiatives. Applications are due 9/30/21.
Speaking of arts education, the Choralosophy podcast interviewed an epidemiologist last month about how to manage risk in children's choirs with the Delta variant upon us.
The German barbershop harmony association BinG! posted a technical comparative study of software for virtual choir rehearsals. They found one that allowed 50-100 singers to sing together and hear each other with minimal delay, compared to others that only worked with up to 10 singers.
NJCC's online Chorus Calendar can help you prevent date conflicts and duplicated repertoire as you're planning your concerts for the 2021-22 season. Take a look at the Chorus Calendar on our website to see what events are already scheduled by other choruses in your area. This will work best if all our members remember to post events as soon as they're decided. If you know the date, you can post an event before all details are firmed up; you can update it on our Chorus Connection membership portal later.
Food for thought: "Hip-hop helped me hear that every genre was in a certain sense a hustle, an attempt to sell listeners some things they wanted and some they didn't know they wanted." - Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 9/13/21.
|
|
We like to share opportunities and news of interest to choral music lovers in NJ. If you have something you'd like us to share in our newsletter, post it on the Bulletin Board in our Chorus Connection membership portal, or email us.
|
|
Mozart on the Meadow
Sat, September 25, 1:30pm – 5:00pm
Bedminster, NJ
Music in the Somerset Hills and Center For Musical Excellence present a program from the age of Mozart, focusing on vocal and choral music. The concert will feature opera arias and duets, as well as a complete performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, conducted by Stephen Sands, with Min Kwon (piano) and the Somerset Hills Chorus. As well as being a fundraiser, Mozart on the Meadow is a fall festival. Guests are encouraged to roam the grounds before and after the concert, to visit the various sideshows and entertainments, and to sample the refreshments that will be on sale. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.MozartontheMeadow.com
Harmonium Choral Society "Choral Cosmos"
Sat, October 23, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Sun, October 24, 3pm – 5pm
Grace Church, Madison NJ
The season begins in October with the Chamber Singers performing "Choral Cosmos", a charmingly eclectic offering that includes Russian works from Taneyev to jazz, modern composers Mari Esabel Valverde, Melissa Dunphy and Tarik O’Regan, and Renaissance works from Palestrina to Francesca Caccini. Additional Information: All of our singers are vaccinated and we will be following the science for safety protocols all year. Please make sure to check our website harmonium.org for changing requirements of each venue. Visit harmonium.yapsody.com for tickets
Singers Welcome: Choral Reading of Mendelssohn, Elijah
Sun, November 14, 4pm – 7pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, Rt 206 at Cherry Hill Road, Princeton NJ
Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs (http://musicalamateurs.org) Conductor: Chris Loeffler Choral singers welcome. No auditions. Vocal scores provided. $10 admission for singers (or annual membership). Free for students and non-singing guests. Members of the community gathered together for the common and joyful enterprise of making music, to sing through for their own pleasure the great works in choral literature, with chorus, orchestra, and soloists as the works require. The meetings are informal readings in which any musically interested person may join the chorus. There are no separate rehearsals and no auditions. Conductors usually do some preparation with the chorus before the sing-through. This varies from minimal snatches for well-known pieces to a complete review for unfamiliar works. For further information email musical.amateurs@gmail.com
Harmonium Choral Society "Goodness and Light"
Sat, December 11, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Sun, December 12, 3pm – 5pm
The Presbyterian Church in Morristown
In December the full chorus presents Goodness and Light, which will include the world premiere of composer-in-residence Martin Sedek’s Goodness and Light for chorus and Merynda Adams, harp. Seasonal offerings include Britten’s Ceremony of Carols (SSA) and Donald St. Pierre’s Songs of Sweet Accord (TTBB) and gems from Brandon Williams to Elaine Hagenburg. Additional Information: All of our singers are vaccinated and we will be following the science for safety protocols all year. Please make sure to check our website harmonium.org for changing requirements of each venue. Visit harmonium.yapsody.com to purchase tickets.
Winter Songs XV: Messiah Capital Singers of Trenton
Sun, December 12, 4pm – 6pm
Sacred Heart Church 343 South Broad Street, Trenton, New Jersey
Capital Singers of Trenton, under the direction of Artistic Director and Conductor Vinroy D. Brown, will perform the Christmas portion of the Messiah and other holiday works with orchestra and piano accompaniment. Ticket Information can be found at capitalsingers.org.
Orpheus Club Men's Chorus Holiday Concerts
Sat, December 18, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Sun, December 19, 4pm – 6pm
Central Unitarian Church, 156 Forest Ave # 1, Paramus, NJ 07652
Learn more about NJCC member choruses via our Chorus Calendar and Member Choruses website pages. If you represent a member chorus, you can post your chorus events on our Chorus Connection membership portal. That's how they get to our website Chorus Calendar and our newsletter. Questions? Browse our FAQs page or email us.
|
|
New Jersey Choral Consortium is an all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, supporting, and strengthening our state's vibrant choral arts community. Visit our website to find out more.
|
|
|
|
|
