The concert "ACH! PG Carnivalesque" under the patronage of Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk Tech, attracted several hundred people who listened to daring performances of popular pop music hits. During the performance we heard choral arrangements of...  moreThe concert "ACH! PG Carnivalesque" under the patronage of Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk Tech, attracted several hundred people who listened to daring performances of popular pop music hits. During the performance we heard choral arrangements of hits such as: "Dancing Queen", "Memory", "California Dreamin'" and "Maria". This time it was not Mozart or Bach, but ABBA, Queen and songs from the musical West SIDE Story that graced the walls of the Gdansk University of Technology in carnivalesque musical artistic creations. Jazz musicians performed along with the choir, and the musical effects were accompanied BY a unique lighting arrangement, which required appropriate space and audience arrangement. The more-than-hour-long performance BY the Academic Choir of the Gdańsk University of Technology, conducted BY Prof. Mariusz Mróz and accompanied BY musicians from the Music Academy in BYdgoszcz, ended with joint singing, encores and a standing ovation.  less

The concert "ACH! PG Carnivalesque" under the patronage of Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk Tech, attracted several hundred people who listened to daring performances of popular pop music hits. During the performance we heard choral arrangements of...  moreThe concert "ACH! PG Carnivalesque" under the patronage of Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk Tech, attracted several hundred people who listened to daring performances of popular pop music hits. During the performance we heard choral arrangements of hits such as: "Dancing Queen", "Memory", "California Dreamin'" and "Maria". This time it was not Mozart or Bach, but ABBA, Queen and songs from the musical West SIDE Story that graced the walls of the Gdansk University of Technology in carnivalesque musical artistic creations. Jazz musicians performed along with the choir, and the musical effects were accompanied BY a unique lighting arrangement, which required appropriate space and audience arrangement. The more-than-hour-long performance BY the Academic Choir of the Gdańsk University of Technology, conducted BY Prof. Mariusz Mróz and accompanied BY musicians from the Music Academy in BYdgoszcz, ended with joint singing, encores and a standing ovation.  less

Perhaps this is a little on the early SIDE but as we all know, choral christmas preparations begin many months in advance!   

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] I get regular emails from people asking questions about songs and copyright. I’m certainly no expert, but I have written a few articles that you migh...

[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...

[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...

This was originally published on the Embro Thistle Singers blog.  The phrase is that curved line in a piece of music that is like climbing a mountain.  You start out with lots of excitement.  It is hard work to go up that slanted SIDE an...

One of my favorite choir tricks was to telling my singers to ‘aim for the top SIDE of the pitch.’  This was, of course, because they were singing flat, and I thought the imagery would give my singers a way of thinking about an abstract co...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   When I’m booked to run a singing workshop for someone, I always make sure that I get there early. I usually arrive to find people milling aroun...

Performed BY Universitair Koor Antwerpen at their Christmas Concert "Once Upon A December" on December 19, 2017.