[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I wrote about getting feedback from singers and choir leaders. But not all feedback is equal.   Feedback can come in many forms: speech, wr...

this is the version used in the Lutheran hymn book

Loving this acappella version from Romeo and Juliet!

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I believe that everyone can sing. If you want to know more, you can read “Everyone can sing...

SINGING When the soul first put on the body's shirt, the ocean lifted up all its gifts. When love first tasted the lips of being human, it started singing. Texts by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks © 1995 Coleman Barks. Used by permission. ...  moreSINGING When the soul first put on the body's shirt, the ocean lifted up all its gifts. When love first tasted the lips of being human, it started singing. 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 a...    less

Irina Stiglich Choir is a Bulgarian youth mixed ensemble, led by the artistic guidance of its conductor Marina Koleva, accompanied by the pianist Svetlin Hristov. The choir's mission is to nurture Bulgarian talent and instill a love for choral art among ...  moreIrina Stiglich Choir is a Bulgarian youth mixed ensemble, led by the artistic guidance of its conductor Marina Koleva, accompanied by the pianist Svetlin Hristov. The choir's mission is to nurture Bulgarian talent and instill a love for choral art among young individuals aged 16 to 35. It honors Bulgaria's choral traditions while occasionally embracing contemporary trends in choral performance, employing techniques like body percussion and mise-en-scène to enhance their vocal craft. Founded as Pastoral - female chamber choir in 1987, nowadays the ensemble carries the name of its originator Irina Stiglich. Тhe choir's repertoire encompasses (or includes) works by both Bulgarian and international composers, spanning eras from the Renaissance to modern times. They've embarked on concert tours across the country and abroad participating in international choral festivals and competitions. The choir's transformation into a mixed youth ensemble occurred in early 2020. It strives to rekindle Bulgarian choral tradit...    less

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Not being a regular concert-goer myself, I often wonder why people make the effort to go to concerts.     'A Choral Voyage' concert by d...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Once upon a time it was fairly easy to work out how much your labour was worth.     You would toil in the fields all day and at the end ...

[this is an updated version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I wrote about 10 ways to be a better choir member. This was prompted by an earlier post on whether you need singing lessons or not i...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Of course it depends on how complex the song is and how many verses there are.   Photo by Frodo Babbs   But how long does it take to ...