There might be readers of this blog who want to mount a really big work with a relatively small Choir. In which case I thought I’d share some thoughts on our current Project to perform Verdi’s Messa di Requiem in Guildford on November 24th 201...

Ekele Maria - Paschal St. Val Abugu (Virtual performance by Friends of St. Val). This is a Marian song written with the words of the Hail Mary prayer. Suitable for use in the Catholic Church for reverence and honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This October, as part of Queensland Mental Health Week 2017, the School of Hard Knocks is excited to head to the Sunshine Coast, and we invite you to join our un-auditioned Project Choir—the inaugural ‘Absolutely Everybody’ Sunshine Coas...

 [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Back in 2012 The Guardian started a Project called Six Songs of Me that asks which songs matter most to each of us on a personal level (the pro...

We are a cultural nonprofit-organization devoted to amateur choral music. In the Asociación Cultural Reyes Bartlet we have the Reyes Bartlet Choir and the David Goldsmith Youth Choir. We manage the Choral School in Puerto de la Cruz and the Project for ...  moreWe are a cultural nonprofit-organization devoted to amateur choral music. In the Asociación Cultural Reyes Bartlet we have the Reyes Bartlet Choir and the David Goldsmith Youth Choir. We manage the Choral School in Puerto de la Cruz and the Project for school Choirs. We also organize the Festival of Antique and Baroque Music in Puerto de la Cruz.  

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

Traditional African-American spiritual This concert was the culmination of a six-week Project which creates a Choir from scratch for one night only. Each winter and summer, Chris Rowbury gathers a random bunch of singers from in and around Ipswich. The...  moreTraditional African-American spiritual This concert was the culmination of a six-week Project which creates a Choir from scratch for one night only. Each winter and summer, Chris Rowbury gathers a random bunch of singers from in and around Ipswich. There are no auditions and all songs are taught and learnt by ear. Usually eight songs are learnt in six two-hour sessions and in the winter are performed at St. Peters by the Waterfront, Ipswich. http://chrisrowbury.com  

Zulu civil rights song, one which came to be sung at political funerals in the 1980s. What have we done? We shall meet in heaven This outdoor performance was the culmination of a six-week Project which creates a Choir from scratch for one night onl...  moreZulu civil rights song, one which came to be sung at political funerals in the 1980s. What have we done? We shall meet in heaven This outdoor performance was the culmination of a six-week Project which creates a Choir from scratch for one night only. Each winter and summer, Chris Rowbury gathers a random bunch of singers from in and around Ipswich. There are no auditions and all songs are taught and learnt by ear. Usually eight songs are learnt in six two-hour sessions and in the summer are performed outdoors near Ipswich. http://chrisrowbury.com  less

Ever since its creation in 1999, Arsys Bourgogne has developed a distinctive Project highlighting six centuries of vocal repertoire. Conducted by the Luxembourg native Pierre Cao, the Choir is now considered to be among the best in Europe. Using a fle...  moreEver since its creation in 1999, Arsys Bourgogne has developed a distinctive Project highlighting six centuries of vocal repertoire. Conducted by the Luxembourg native Pierre Cao, the Choir is now considered to be among the best in Europe. Using a flexible formation, ranging up to 32 singers, Arsys explores all choral repertoire, both a cappella and accompanied, from early music – Renaissance, Baroque, Classical – through Romantic and 20th century music to that of the present day. As an enthusiastic advocate of modern repertoire, Arsys regularly commissions new works by living composers. Conductor Pierre Cao, very attentive to the historical context of each era, sculpts the text of each work with patience and humanity, giving Arsys its unique sound unanimously acclaimed by professionals and public alike:”The sound of this Choir is of incredible homogeneity and clarity: perfect intonation, respect of the vocal line and diction, dynamics, and a particular emphasis on the words, which bestows increased life...    less

I think I’ve started a new Project that is going to keep me learning new musical skills for a long time….. I love working on choral arrangements, however the more I do and the more I think about them, the more I actually learn. I am extremel...