[The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from 25 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across th...

How does a W.A. Mozart’s majestic Requiem sound when sung by hundreds of Singers? Find out at our next festival Laurea Mundi Budapest!   One of the most powerful things is when many people are singing together as one. This is what our Festiv...

This post was originally posted to the Embro Thistle Singers blog.  Isn't it the truth?  Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.  What is it that is holding you back?  Have you thought that maybe YOU should be the director of t...

I. A WATER WHEEL TURNS Inside water, a water wheel turns. The star circulates with the moon. We live in the night ocean wondering, What are these lights? Texts by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks © 1995 Coleman Barks. Used by permission. ...  moreI. A WATER WHEEL TURNS Inside water, a water wheel turns. The star circulates with the moon. We live in the night ocean wondering, What are these lights? Texts by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks © 1995 Coleman Barks. Used by permission. Performed by the Millennium Consort, Martin Neary, conductor, and the Pomona College Choir, Donna Di Grazia, director. Water Ruminations is a setting of six poems by the thirteenth-century poet Rumi, in English translations from the Persian by Coleman Barks, for double choir and organ. The poetry sings of literal and spiritual connections between water and sky, a drop of water and human life, flowing water and love, drinking water and its container, the giddiness of spring and rolling seas, and the ocean's gifts and singing. Its images, from 800 years ago, speak to us with both vivid immediacy and transcendence. The idea for the piece originated with the Mellon Elemental Arts Initiative, which proposed funding activities that would involve students in ar...    less

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] A while back I went to a workshop run by the amazing Su Hart who has spent around 25 years working with the Baka people of Central Africa. Living in the ra...

"Suite de Lorca" by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Text by Federico García Lorca. Performed by the Chamber Singers ensemble of The Girl Choir of South Florida on Friday, May 18, 2012, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Artistic Directo...  more"Suite de Lorca" by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Text by Federico García Lorca. Performed by the Chamber Singers ensemble of The Girl Choir of South Florida on Friday, May 18, 2012, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson. Translated Text: 1. Cancion del Jinete (Song of the Horseman) Cordoba. Distant and alone. A black nag, the giant moon, and olives in my saddlebag. Even if I know the way, I never will reach Cordoba. Over the plain, through the wind, a black nag, the bloody moon. The Reaper is watching me from the tall towers of Cordoba. Oh, such a long road! Oh, my valiant nag! Oh, the Reaper awaits me before I ever reach Cordoba! Cordoba. Distant and alone. 2. El Grito (The Scream) The arc of a scream curves from hill to hill. Ay! From the olive trees, a black rainbow over the blue night. Ay! Like a viola's bow, the scream has made the long strings of the wind vibrate. Ay! (The people of the caves put their ...    less

Conductor: Ronell Onate Musica Sacra Choir Festival Phil- Am Life Auditorium September 17, 2011

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Choirs are not meeting at the moment so lots of you have gone online to sing. Given that it will be just you singing at a screen, what can you do to get the ...

In this way has happened on the 14th In... Canto sul Garda International Choir Festival & Competition too. This year more than 450 Singers came from 10 countries to share their musical knowledge and sing together in one of the most beautiful parts of Ital...

[The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from almost 30 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions ac...