Vermont ACDA

The Green Mountain Chorus :  “The Great American Songbook”

Greg Morrill, Director

Featuring the Chorus and Chapter quartets, there will be a tribute to some of the great American composers such as Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and others. Our special guest quartet is JOKERS WILD, 1994 International Champions of the Barbershop Harmony Society, whose powerful singing and unique arrangements have been captivating audiences for 20 years.

Saturday, May 19, 2PM & 7:30PM, at the South Burlington High School.

TICKETS: $20, $15 Seniors, $5 students www.greenmountainchorus.org, Facebook, or call 802-505-9595 Order Early!

“GET REAL” getaway, a nine day workshop for girls who love to sing.
Kristen Carmichael-Bowers and Mary Ellen Harlow are the directors of this summer camp, held in Killington, VT, July 27-August 4, 2012.

See below for  more information or contact Brattleboro Music Center  802.257.4523 for details and registration.
GET REAL! getaway
Nine Day Workshop For Girls Who Love to Sing
July 27 – August 4, 2012

GET REAL Getaway is an intensive nine day workshop for girls ages 15-18 who love to sing. Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
THE WORKSHOP INCLUDES:
- One private lesson
- Three coachings on a piece of music*
- Sight reading and ear training
- Tips on: vocal health, coping with nerves, auditioning, and performance etiquette
- Improvisational singing
- Listening to vocal music and addressing performance practices of the past and present
- Choral singing

WORKSHOP LOCATION
Get Real Getaway is held in beautiful Killington, Vermont. Daily rehearsals and the final perrformance will be held in Church of Our Savior — an old stone church with lovely acoustics.

RESIDENTIAL LIFE
We will live in the guest house directly across the street from the church. Participants, workshop leaders and support staff will live as a community, sharing the cooking (with vegetarian options) and cleaning.

A TYPICAL WORKSHOP DAY
We’ll be up early to start the day with a breakfast which will include warm scones, followed by a walk and toning together. The rest of the morning will be spent making music and honing our vocal and musical skills. After lunch, there will be several hours of rest and time for recreation: swimming, outdoor and indoor games, and a trip to a special off site destination one afternoon.
After supper, we’ll rehearse once more and then retire to the house for chatting and a snack before bed.

GET REAL GETAWAY CONCERT
On Saturday afternoon at 6 pm the nine day workshop will culminate in a special performance during which each of the participants will sing a solo and several pieces will be sung in chorus. Family and friends are invited to join us as we celebrate the participants’ accomplishments and enjoy the performance.

GET REAL GETAWAY’S TALENTED, ENTHUSIASTIC WORKSHOP LEADERS

Kristen Carmichael Bowers,
artistic director / voice coach

Kristen has a Master of Arts in Music degree, with a focus on vocal pedagogy from Smith College. She has performed musical theater and opera, and has presented numerous programs of diverse repertoire that highlight her versatility as a recitalist. A passionate and dedicated teacher, Kristen has led vocal workshops since 1986 and serves on the voice faculties of The Putney School, Northern Stage, and the Brattleboro Music Center. Her students adore her for her supportiveness, encouragement and wacky sense of humor.

Mary Ellen Harlow
choral director

Mary Ellen Harlow retired in the fall of 2010 from a long career at Mill River Union High School. At Mill River she had three large ensembles and four small auditioned ensembles. As a pianist she has collaborated with soloists and chamber ensembles. Her music theater direction includes shows from You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown to Kurt Weill’s little known Johnny Johnson. Mary Ellen is very happy to return to the Get Real Getaway vocal program this summer.

Diane Chartrand
accompanist

Diane Chartrand is the Library/Media Specialist at Clarendon Elementary School and Assistant to Minister of Music Rip Jackson at Grace Church in Rutland. She enjoys accompanying local students for auditions and performances. She has three grown sons who have all migrated to California.

SUPPORT STAFF
In addition to the camp’s two main directors, there will be teaching interns and a house coordinator and videographer, Jason Bowers, on-site to ensure that everyone and everything is taken care of.

BRATTLEBORO MUSIC CENTER
e n r i c h i n g  l i v e s  t h r o u g h  m u s i c
38 Walnut Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 802.257.4523 bmcvt.org

Hinesburg Artist Series Celebrates 16th Anniversary

The 16th Annual  Hinesburg Artist Series concert will be Sunday March 25, 4:30PM at St. Jude Church in Hinesburg.  The   South County Chorus and the Hinesburg Artist Series Orchestra under the direction of Rufus C. Patrick will perform the Beethoven Mass in C, John Rutter’s arrangement of  For the Beauty of the Earth, Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem, and Awake the Harp from Haydn’s Creation. Featured guest artists are soprano Amy Frostman, alto Linda Radtke, tenor Adam Hall, bass Gary Moreau and percussionist Nicola Cannizzaro. The violin quartet of Jane Kittridge, David Gusakov, Ann Strubler and Kathleen Kono will perform Sonata II in D by Telemann.

Please join us for this amazing anniversary performance

Tickets are available at the door or from the Hinesburg Recreation Department – call 802-482-4691 for reservations and the Brown Dog Bookstore in Hinesburg. Adults $15.00   Students and Seniors  $10.00

Saturday, March 3,  7:30 p.m., Grace Congregational Church

Grace Church and Castleton State College welcome “Essence of Joy“ from the Pennsylvania State University School of Music. “Essence of Joy”, directed by Dr. Tony Leach, will present an upbeat concert of African-American Spirituals and Gospel music.

The concert will also feature the Grace Church Choir, Castleton State College Collegiate Choir, House Blend and Mill River Senior Chorus. The performance will come to a glorious finish with the combined ensembles directed by Dr. Leach. Please join us for this wonderful celebration of music! A free-will offering will be received. “Essence of Joy” is one of ten choral ensembles in the Penn State University School of Music. Organized in November 1991, the choir has performed sacred and secular music from the African and African American traditions all over the United States and in Poland, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. “Essence of Joy” has performed at the Lincoln Center and the Schomburg Museum in New York City, and has sung for many national music conferences for organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education. The ensemble’s mission is to learn, present, and promote African and African-American sacred and secular music in an effort to entertain, inspire, affirm and unify the worldwide community.

Director and founder, Dr. Tony Leach, is an Associate Professor of Music and Music Education at the Pennsylvania State University. His choirs have performed at festivals throughout the United States and Canada and all over Europe. He frequently appears as a guest conductor for choral festivals and workshops, including the Vermont All State Music Festival in Spring 2011. He has presented seminars and workshops for professional and music organizations in America and beyond, and is also a well-known organist, piano accompanist, and composer/arranger.

How does one chorus say “Happy Birthday” to another chorus?  By giving a concert for them, of course.

Essence of Joy, an ensemble from Penn State University under the direction of Anthony Thomas Leach will celebrate the Essex Children’s Choir 25^th anniversary in concert  on March 4, 3 p.m., at St. Michaels College McCarthy Arts Center.

Many Vermont music fans were introduced to Dr. Leach as choral director for the 84^th annual Vermont All State Musical Festival, held May 4-7, 2011, in St Albans.  In a short time, Mr. Leach built rapport with high school singers from all over the state and formed them into a unit that delighted audience and singer alike and “rocked” the cavernous Collins-Perley Sports Complex.

Now, in Essence of Joy, Vermonters will see the quality of music Dr. Leach fosters with young singers over an extended period of time.  Organized in November 1991 by Dr. Leach, the ensemble performs sacred and secular music from African and African American traditions.  It has released five compact disc recordings, (available for purchase at the concert.)

At Penn State, Dr. Leach teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education and directs The University Choir, as well as Essence of Joy.  Before Penn State, he taught in Maryland and New York City.  His choirs have performed widely in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South Africa.  Dr. Leach also has extensive experience as guest conductor for choral festivals, including the 2004 World Youth Choir in South Korea.  He has presented seminars and workshops for many professional music organizations and is a past national chair of the American Choral Directors Association Repertoire and Standards Committee on Multicultural & Ethnic Perspectives.

Dr. Leach’s commitment to and expertise in choral music education makes him and his ensemble a particularly appropriate group for Constance J. Price to invite to Vermont to contribute to the 25^th anniversary-year celebration of her Essex Children’s Choir of Vermont, a model for children’s music education that has enriched the lives of children throughout Vermont and the United States.

The Essex Children’s Choir was formed in 1985 when former students from Essex Middle School approached Ms. Price, their music teacher, and asked her to continue working with them.  Since the beginning, the program has nurtured musical understanding and voice production, incorporating principles of Hungarian composer, Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967).  It emphasizes the use of the folk song tradition and children’s natural proclivities for repetition and movement.

During its quarter century, the Essex Children’s Choir has  collaborated with artists nationally and locally, including its own alumni/ae and Heidi Soons, harpist. Karen Reed, accompanist, has been with the Essex Children’s Choir from its inception.  The Choir has performed at international, national, and Vermont conferences; on National and Vermont Public Radio; and on local television. Its annual Twelfth Night program, held in early January, has become for many in the community a profoundly special way to end the holiday season.

The Essence of Joy concert will be held at the McCarthy Arts Center, Saint Michael’s College, Sunday, March 4^th at 3 p.m.   Tickets are $10.00 ($7.00 student) and will be sold at the door.  The concert is sponsored by the Fine Arts Department at Saint Michael’s College. For more info call 863-9161.

UPDATE, January 9:

I have selected the music for the Winter semester for the Ladies’ Night Out Women’s Chorus of Rutland VT. The title of the program is “Peace and Hope in 2012” and includes Schubert’s Motet on Psalm 23, Schubert’s “Faith in Spring,” Bach’s “Sheep may Safely Graze”, Mendelssohn’s “Lift Thine Eyes”, Gwyneth Walker’s “Tree of Peace”, arrangements of “If I had a Hammer”, “Hey Jude” Copland’s “At the River”, a Madrigal-”Sweet Content”, “Old Irish Blessing” arr. Agay, “Let there be Peace on Earth” arranged by Jay Althouse and others!

We have a pianist, and a number of singers signed up for the semester,  but still need more women singers of all vocal ranges!  Concerts will be May 8-12  (exact schedule tbd) and rehearsals are every Tuesday starting Jan 24 from 7-9 pm at the Rutland Middle School Music Room.

I am asking all interested singers to contact me so I can hear them sing before placing them in the group. This is not an audition as such, but simply a get-together to share some singing so I can meet all the singers before the season starts!

Please let your friends and singers know about this wonderful semester of music and camaraderie with LNO 2012.
–Lucy Tennenbaum

====================

Ladies’ Night Out Women’s Chorus is getting ready for an exciting 2012 season, with rehearsals starting Tuesday, January 24. All interested women singers should contact director Lucy Tenenbaum to confirm your placement into the choir. If you haven’t sung for me before, I will want to hear you, but no audition is required—it’s more of a friendly sing along setting, no pressure! The choir has 13 rehearsals in the season, with several performances the first week of May (as yet to be scheduled). We practice at the Rutland Middle School Music room from 7-9pm. Singers must be able to carry a tune and blend their voices. We make rehearsal CDs for each voice part in a sectional rehearsal early in the year, so everyone has music to work with to learn their parts.

Come join LNO and have a wonderful winter and spring of singing and getting to know new and old friends. We have a social time at each rehearsal so everyone has a chance to get to know each other. Making wonderful music together is one of the goals of the group, but equally important is the opportunity to form a community of women singers who are supportive of one another.

Call Lucy at  [802 775 8004 or email lucytune@sover.net ]to set up a get-together to sing, or confirm your intent to sing this season. Hope to hear from you soon.

The Young Singers Chorus of VT is currently accepting new singers! Our spring 2012 rehearsals begin today, Tuesday, January 10 at U-32 High School in Montpelier. There are three different ensembles which rehearse at different points throughout the evening: JR Treble (grades 1-4) meets from 4-5pm; SR Treble (treble voices, grades 5+) meets from 5-6:30pm; and the Mixed choir (mixed voices, grades 5+) meets from 6:30-9pm. Led by conductors Piero and Andrea Bonamico, with pianist Mary Jane Austin and manager Stefanie Weigand, these ensembles will be preparing for the annual Pops Concert which is taking place on Sunday, May 20th at the Barre Opera House.
Don’t hesitate to drop in to rehearsal or email Stefanie to get some more information about joining one of our ensembles!

On Monday, January 23rd, the Mad River Chorale will be starting rehearsals as well and is accepting new singers. This adult, community-based choir rehearses on Mondays from 6:45-8:45pm at Harwood Union HS in South Duxbury. Led by conductor Andrea Bonamico, this chorus is preparing for their spring concert series, which will be taking place in various locations around Central VT on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 3-5.
New singers are welcome, just drop by a rehearsal and give it a try!

Here’s a quick listing for the 10 days before Christmas 2011!

Check out the Vermont ACDA events/concert calendar for details about upcoming concerts!

• Christmas with Counterpoint and VSO Brass, Dec. 15-19
• Oriana Singers ~ Bach’s Mass in B minor, Dec. 16
• Vermont Youth Concert Choral, Dec. 16-17
• Social Band, Dec. 17-18
• Middlebury Messiah Sing, Dec. 18
• Mad River Chorale, South Burlington Community Chorus,
  Young Singers Chorus of Vermont, Dec. 22-23

and coming up in the New Year 2012:

• Essex Children’s Choir of Vermont ~ Twelfth Night Celebration, Jan. 7

ACDA members: If you’d like to add your concerts to our calendar, please send info/poster/picture to Jeff Rehbach, ACDA webmaster, at rehbach @ middlebury.edu

The Essex Children’s Choir will present the Twenty-Fifth Twelfth Night Celebration, on ‎Saturday, January7, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., at the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel, at Saint ‎Michael’s College in Colchester.‎

Twelfth Night Celebration commemorates the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem with gifts of gold, ‎frankincense, and myrrh, bringing to close the twelve days of Christmas. The message of peace ‎and good will shall ring through a collaboration of artistry in music, dance, and prose. ‎

The message of Christmas will be re-told through choral literature by G.F. Handel, Benjamin ‎Britten, Harry T. Burleigh, John Rutter, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and carols of African-American, ‎Dutch, English, German and Japanese traditions. Joining the Choir in a collaboration of ‎Vermont artistry are Heidi Soons, harp; Wayne Hobbs, tenor; Benjamin Dickerson, baritone; Full ‎Circle, recorder consort; Susan Summerfield, organ; the Wheeler Trombone Quartet; Grady Shea, ‎reader; and the Adirondack Ballet Liturgical Dance Ensemble, Kathy Koester, artistic director, ‎from Plattsburgh, NY . ‎

We invite you to experience the splendor of silver as the Choir fills your senses with its own ‎tradition of closing the Holiday season through the power and joy of music. Donations will be ‎received. In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be held Sunday, January 8th at 4:30 ‎p.m. Please call 863-9161 or www.essexchildrenschoirofvermont.org for more information. ‎

Check out the Vermont ACDA events/concert calendar for details about upcoming concerts!

Here’s a quick listing (* added Nov. 29)

• Bella Voce, Dec. 3-4
• Vermont Choral Union, Dec. 3-4
• UVM Catamount Singers, Dec. 6
• Maiden Vermont, Dec. 10-11*
• Counterpoint, Dec. 10-11*
• Green Mountain Chorus and Barre-Tones, Dec. 11
• Middlebury College Lessons & Carols, Dec. 11
• Oriana Singers, Dec. 16
• Vermont Youth Concert Choral, Dec. 16-17
• Middlebury Messiah Sing, Dec. 18
• Mad River Chorale, South Burlington Community Chorus,
  Young Singers Chorus of Vermont, Dec. 22-23

ACDA members: If you’d like to add your concerts to our calendar, please send info/poster/picture to Jeff Rehbach, ACDA webmaster, at rehbach @ middlebury.edu