Chicago a cappella
Okay, the annual ritual of program selection is done. Another year is set for Chicago a cappella. Woo hoo!
What are we going to sing? I want to tell you about the research part, and I'll give you a sneak peek in the process.
In the fall of 2008, we're doing a new program called The British are Coming! -- a celebration of the finest English a cappella choral music, reaching all the way back to the 15th century and going to the present day. Actually, we'll start with recent music, work our way backwards in time, and then return to the present.
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This blog entry comes "hot off the press" or "hot from the studio" from guest blogger Betsy Grizzell, a longtime mezzo-soprano with Chicago a cappella. She writes:
Chicago a cappella comes alive in front of an audience. Audiences regularly comment on how we seem so accessible and at ease. From the stage, we talk to them, we joke, we look them in the eye. But there's none of that at a recording session! Just unforgiving technology and a critical ear in the booth.
One of the hardest things about recording is the strain on the voice. A nighttime session means you're coming from whatever it is you do during the day (teaching, "regular job", wrangling infant twins...) into a demanding, every-mistake-is-recorded-for-posterity gig. Last week was the first session for our current CD project, and at least half of us were sick. And the blowers for heat were loud, so they had to be turned off. So now we're tired, sick, and shivering, trying to sing shimmery soft passages. We managed two shimmery pieces, and moved on to maybe our toughest piece of the whole project, Carol Barnett's Hodie. Hodie starts very softly, and gradually gets louder and louder, higher and higher, with a relentless tempo. Exhausting. If you're sick, you might start losing your ability to phonate on some pitches. Or that floaty E you've always had sinks like the Titanic. So you figure out how to make it happen. Kathryn Kamp & I often swap parts when her soprano passaggio is raw and my alto break is wasted. Susan Shcober will oomph her volume to help cover my dead zone, and I might hum along with her to help when she's tired.
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Tonight at 7:30pm, a new recording project by Chicago a cappella will take its first steps in the studio. We don't have a title for the new release, but the album will be a "Holidays a cappella" compilation of the best from our popular December concerts. Jim Ginsburg of Cedille Records will be in the booth as executive producer, and our music director Patrick Sinozich will be leading the sessions. We don't have a conductor, so the ensemble will be self-led as we are on stage.
The recording will take place at a secret location, because we don't want people knocking on the doors; we need our concentration. Recording is hard work! There are sessions this month and next, and we anticipate a fall 2008 release. Watch this page for more on the recording and editing process, and thanks to Cedille Records for taking us on for a second CD release on that fabulous label.
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At the National Gallery in Washington DC last week, an unusual piece of music had its premiere. Called "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," the work takes its title from the Wallace Stevens poem of the same name. Several things make it unusual: (1) the piece has thirteen movements; (2) it is composed for high school men's chorus and piano, not unique in itself but because each is stylistically an entity unto itself; (3) the movements can be arranged aleatorically, a la John Cage, by the throw of a die (and was in this case by one of the female singers present, who threw a pair of fuzzy dice).
Most unique of all -- I don't think I've ever seen this anywhere else -- each of the thirteen movements was written by a DIFFERENT composer. In this case, the roster of composers includes some of the giants working in the field today: Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, David Conte, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (of "El Hambo" and "Four Shakespeare Songs" fame, for those longtime CAC fans reading this), Daniel Gawthrop, Rollo Dilworth, Matthew Harris, Daniel Gawthrop, Tarik O'Regan, Stephen Hatfield, Ola Gjielo, and Christopher Delp.
That is twelve, and I am the thirteenth. Woo hoo! What an honor. I got stanza # 2 to compose:
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In a few short weeks, Chicago a cappella will take to the stage with the program we call "Romanticism and Rock'n'Roll."
Okay, now you're wondering: what the heck is that?
I was asked that same question a few years ago, when I had created a program called "Baroque and Beatles." That program was only a concept when I went to a board meeting a few months before the concert. Tom Huyck from the board asked me, "Jonathan, what in the world is that concert going to be like?" I described it as best I could, which was still mostly conceptual, since the program hadn't yet been created, and he responded with something like "Huh."
Of course, "B&B" has gone on to become one of our most popular programs, a favorite on our tours and one that the singers love. In fact, it's because of "B&B" that "R&R&R" exists. Here's what happened:
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I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow on vacation, and I just added 274 new tracks to my iPod. The old playlist was getting stale.
Here's some of what I added to my iPod:
—Música de Latinoamerica -- a choral sampler mostly from Venezuelan choirs and composers, compiled by the publisher "earthsongs" in Oregon, some of which will appear on our upcoming "Voces latinas" concert in April
—Forestier: Masses (sung by Chicago a cappella -- still one of my favorite projects ever)
—Fauré Requiem recorded by John Rutter and Cambridge Singers (typical British reserve from the soloists, but great choral singing and orchestral playing)
—Huff: Requiem, SSAATTBB with soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists, plus organ, strings, and chimes (this was a demo that Chicago a cappella did for the publisher Hinshaw Music in 1999-2000 -- terrific music that I later conducted at Unity Temple with the volunteer choir)
—Orban: Mass No. 6 (SSAA with piano) -- also a demo for Hinshaw by the Budapest Girls' Choir, fabulous, lush, rich singing not normally associated with treble choirs, and a piano part reminiscent of Debussy
—Perotin by the Hilliard Ensemble -- 12th-century French cathedral music, one of my desert-island albums
—Spirituals by Chanticleer (Where the Sun Will Never Go Down) and Chicago a cappella (Go Down, Moses)
—and on the non-classical spectrum: two by Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road), two by Lyle Lovett (Joshua Judges Ruth and Lyle Lovett and his Large Band), a folk compilation called "The Art of Fingerstyle Guitar," two by the Irish band Clannad, one by Anúna, the great Celtic choir from Dublin (semi-classical, really), Enya's "Watermark," a great "Digital Duke" Ellington album from 1987 conducted by Mercer Ellington, and Harry Connick Jr.'s early "We Are In Love."
Aloha! -- Jonathan
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This week's guest blogger is the renowned composer Stacy Garrop, whom we have had the pleasure and privilege of commissioning to write two pieces for Chicago a cappella this season. Her very brief bio is that she's an Associate Professor in Composition at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. Her more substantial bio is at her website, www.garrop.com. She writes below about being commissioned to write new choral music. Enjoy her eloquence! -- Jonathan Miller, Artistic Director, Chicago a cappella
Getting Back to My Roots: Adventures in Writing Jewish Music for Chicago a cappella
An Offer I Couldn't Refuse
Last spring, Jonathan Miller asked me if I'd accept a commission to write two new religious-themed works for Chicago a cappella's 2007-08 season. Busy as my composing schedule is these days, I have a distinct weakness for writing choral works and will find a way to squeeze more time out of a day to write them. And who can refuse an opportunity to work with the singers of Chicago a cappella?!
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Okay, I have a question for you, based on my lifelong love of spirituals.
Are African-American spirituals "classical music"? If so, why? If not, why not?
And if some arrangements are more "classical" than others, how come?
I'm not asking about the political-correctness side of the question -- rather, more about the musical aspects.
This is not a trick question. I've got my own ideas about it (which I'll flesh out more next time), but I am more interested in what the rest of you think. The whole thing struck me as a little odd, so I thought I'd ask the community what it thinks and feels about this.
Let us hear from you.
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Okay, I know the choral world is incestuous. Chicago a cappella, for example, started with a bunch of singers from Holy Name Cathedral and Congregation B'nai Jacob, and people they knew. I called everyone I knew, mostly Holy Name people, to start finding the singers who would make up that original team of nine. CAC has morphed over time and now is largely composed of Chicago Symphony Chorus and Grant Park Chorus people.
But this week I found out (see if you can follow this one) that Jayson Rodovsky, who is the editor at the Jewish press -- this is the man who both sold me a bunch of pieces for the recent CAC concert AND is the distributor for the Max Janowski scores I represent -- also happened to be the roommate of my dear friend Rick Childress, who founded His Majestie's Clerkes, which is now Bella Voce.
How did I learn of this world-shrinking connection? Total quirkiness.
Two nights ago I found myself in Manhattan with about four hours to kill. I was between a meeting in Westchester County and another in New Jersey. I had turned in my rental car at 49th and 8th, and had to get myself to Penn Station to take a train. I wanted something unusual and stimulating to relax and recharge me after a tough few weeks. So I asked the guy at the rental place what would be a fun way to spend an hour, and where would be fun to walk, between where I was and where I was going (the train station is at 33rd and 8th, a little less than a mile away). The dreadlocked attendant said, "Well, just walk down Eighth Avenue, slowly. It's total New York. You'll go through Times Square and all that."
Well, it seemed like a waste of a lovely Tuesday night in New York to just go to the train, but I decided to saunter after all. Pretty soon, my eye caught the cover of Time Out New York, so I paid $2.99 for a copy and turned to the classical music listings. Wouldn'tcha know it, but the Winchester Cathedral Choir, which I hadn't heard in 14 years, was singing at St. Thomas Church on 5th Avenue at 7:30. I called up and asked if my dear old friend Rick Childress was on the roster, and was assured that he was. So that made up my mind: I would go hear the Cathedral Choir.
The concert was lovely. The church itself is magnificent, home to the only church-based choir school in the USA. The singers (12 men and 15 boys) sang music from Byrd and Bach to Poulenc to James MacMillan. They even did Bach's "Komm, Jesu, Komm," the double-choir motet that I put on "Baroque and Beatles," and acquitted themselves admirably with impeccable German diction. I must say that I do favor women's voices over boys, though I can certainly understand the appeal and the tradition that the male-only choir carries forward.
And I couldn't help chuckling through it all at what a small world it really is.
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Tonight was the debut of "Days of Awe and Rejoicing," and it exceeded my already-high expectations. The feeling in the room (Gottlieb Hall at the Merit School of Music) was electric. I enjoyed the pre-concert talk with Rabbi Elliott Gertel and Cantor Deborah Bard; as it turned out, they both had a lot more to say than we could cram into 20 minutes, so next time I have a panel with three people, we'll start earlier!
The singing was exquisite. As you'll recall if you're following this blog, I've served as Hebrew diction coach for this program, and along with all else, the diction was superb, garnering praises. Trevor Mitchell tore up his "Hineni," Kathryn Kamp did wonderful things with "Avinu Malkeynu," and Susan Schober made time stop with her solo in "Ani Ma'amin."
In fact, Patrick Sinozich (our music director) and I were talking after the show, and he too said that he had felt that time had stopped during the concert, or that it was timeless. The first half flew by... there was barely time to breathe or blink, it seemed, and we were then already at "Hava Nagila" (which really is a piece of work... with its energy and virtuosity, the only thing I can compare it to is Hoss Brock's a cappella version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that he did for us about five years ago).
The audience was a combination of die-hard fans and subscribers as well as lots of people who came for the Jewish connection. Many people from Rodfei Zedek (where I do the choir for high holidays and also lead some Shabbat services as soloist) came who had never heard Chicago a cappella before. THAT was great fun, sharing that part of my life with those wonderful people, including Rabbi Gertel. There were also many people who brought either friends or family or both.
I hear from our staff that we have 281 tickets pre-sold for Evanston on Sunday night, so if you've been on the fence about attending, get your order in right away, or plan to go to Oak Park where we have a little more capacity!
I hope to see you here this weekend. This concert is some of the finest work this ensemble has ever done.
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