City of Dunedin Choir

Magpie, Song and Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:43:00 +0000

Magpie, Song & Dance concert on Saturday 26 May 2012, 7:30 pm at Knox Church.

We invite you to enjoy this performance!

The City of Dunedin Choir and the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, conducted by David Burchell, are pleased to present a concert of romantic music ranging from somewhat melancholy to excitingly vibrant moods and soaring melodies.

The programme will include Rossini's Thieving Magpie, Brahms' Song of Destiny, Borodin's Polovetsian Dances (from Prince Igor), Sibelius' Karelia Suite, and Mozart's Concerto in A for Clarinet with young soloist Nicole Batchelar, who is now in her third year of a B.Mus. focusing on conducting and composition.

Her performance instrument is the clarinet, which she has been playing for over ten years. In 2011 Nicole started teaching clarinet at Saturday Morning Music Classes, where she also assists with conducting the Junior Symphonia, with Aart Brusse. In the same year she had an opportunity to conduct her own composition, The Quake, with the Dunedin Youth Orchestra.

Admission vouchers are on sale now - get yours today!

Rising to the Occasion

noreply@blogger.com (Rosi Crane) — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:37:00 +0000

At the Sales Table on Tuesday, the challenge for the bakers was 'May is Music Month.'

Didn't they do well? Biscuits in the shape of quavers.

And, I suspect the hand of one of our native-born German speakers - in these Mozart Kuchen.
BRILLIANT!

We are a winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Mon, 07 May 2012 08:30:00 +0000

City of Dunedin Choir wins runner-up in the Arts and Culture category of the 2012 TrustPower Dunedin Community Awards!

We are so excited! We appreciate the recognition of almost 150 years of contributing to Dunedin's culture, providing a platform for young and old to perform, making the wider community all the richer for it.

Winner of this category was the Fringe Festival - congratulations to their intrepid band of volunteers.

The awards competition received a record 102 entries - the community spirit is alive and kicking in this southern city!

Song of Destiny

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:52:00 +0000

We are singing Brahms' Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) with the Dunedin Youth Orchestra on Saturday 26 May at Knox Church. Do come along and enjoy our performance!

Enjoy this recording by Orchestre Revolutionairre et Romantique and the The Monteverdi Choir
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

Admission vouchers for our concert are now on sale!

Here's a translation of the German text:

You wander above in the light

on soft ground, blessed genies!

Blazing, divine breezes

brush by you as lightly

as the fingers of the player

on her holy strings.

Fateless, like sleeping

infants, the divine beings breathe,

chastely protected

in modest buds,

blooming eternally

their spirits,

and their blissful eyes

gazing in mute,

eternal clarity.

Yet there is granted us

no place to rest;

we vanish, we fall -

the suffering humans -

blind from one

hour to another,

like water thrown from cliff to cliff,

for years into the unknown depths.

Am Neujahrstag

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:48:00 +0000

This is a live recording from 2003 of The Elysian Singers of London singing the beautiful motet Am Neujahrstag (On New Year's Day) by Felix Mendelssohn. City of Dunedin Choir will be recording this work with TVNZ next week, for transmission on the broadcaster's Praise Be programme.

What an achingly beautiful song of praise!

How to breathe when you sing

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:10:00 +0000

Alexander Massey

Alexander Massey has created a series of seven videos to demonstrate how to breathe when you sing. Have a look, it is well worth the time and effort to adopt good breathing technique - it will enhance your enjoyment of the singing experience and produce satisfying results.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4106258C0A0DD571

How cool is this?

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:44:00 +0000

Three amazing young German violinists... enjoy!

Fundraising Garage Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:33:00 +0000

Saturday 14 April, 9 am – 1 pm

North East Valley Salvation Army Hall

North Road, NEV, Dunedin.

All donations of goods will be most welcome. The sale will include plant, cake, book, clothing and craft stalls as well as general garage items. Come along on the 14th and find the treasure waiting just for you!

Why are we raising funds?

The Choir will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2013 with a Festival of Choral Celebration which will include concerts, a newly commissioned work and the publication of our history. The major celebrations will occur at Labour Weekend with a Massed Choir Concert. We need a truckload of money to make all this happen, and with your help we'll be able to do it. Everyone will be invited to the events during our celebrations in 2013!!

Getting ready for the big sale on Saturday!

See more photos at

Preparation for Monster Garage Sale 13 April 2012

Thank you everyone, we made a profit of about $3000!!

Baroque celebration enjoyable

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:49:00 +0000

Beauty of Baroque, Knox Church, Friday, March 30

Knox Church in Dunedin was packed on Friday evening for "Beauty of Baroque", presented by City of Dunedin Choir, Southern Sinfonia, David Burchell, guest organist Simon Mace and six soloists - sopranos Pepe Becker and Grace Park, mezzo-soprano Amanda Cole, counter-tenor Christopher John Clifford, tenor Stephen Chambers and bass Julien van Mellaerts.

Handel filled the first half of the programme, beginning with Utrecht Te Deum (1713), a grand work with sacred text for choir, soloists and baroque orchestra. From the very intro of this work, I felt the orchestra set a good performing standard for the entire evening, bright toned with well-judged subtle trumpet gilding.

The choir too, was in excellent form, generally well-balanced, despite the 23 to 7 ratio of basses to tenors, but I had mixed feelings about some of the solo work.

Soprano duet To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin, achieved a fine blend, but some of Becker's later work, although well-intoned, showed disappointing technical support at climactic exposures. Cole's lower register lacked fullness of tone, with lower melodic phrases regularly falling short in projection. Her When thou tookest upon thee ... was totally overshadowed by glorious woodwind counter melodies.

Commendable counter-tenor tone quality was regularly lost through "head in the book" syndrome, consequently undermining vocal ensemble balance.

Tenor and bass delivered with beautiful tone, intelligent phrasing, and prudent strength. Laetatus Sum (Charpentier) and J S Bach's Magnificat showed similar vein, though a highlight was a tenor solo sung by Chambers with realistic fortitude and conviction.

A brilliant performance of Concerto in B Flat for Organ Op 4 no.2 by Handel showed Burchell as master of the pipe organ. Supreme dexterity ensured clarity and unblemished co-ordination throughout four short movements of contrapuntal texture. Nicholas Cornish conducted the ensemble from his position at 1st oboe.

Review in the ODT, 2 April 2012, by Elizabeth Bouman

Were you there? What did you think of this performance? We welcome feedback from the audience!

Tuesday rehearsal for Beauty of Baroque

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Enjoy these images from last night's rehearsal for the Beauty of Baroque concert on Friday evening. The rehearsal went very well, although it is always initially difficult to get used to the different space and acoustics, when we first rehearse in the concert venue. The start of the rehearsal was accompanied by frowns, but by the end of the evening there were smiles all round and David declared the sound to be quite astounding - this is going to be a good concert!

Beauty of Baroque
Friday 30 March, 7:30pm at Knox Church

The City of Dunedin Choir presents the grandeur and exuberance of the pearls of Baroque music.

Conductor: David Burchell
Soloists: Pepe Becker (soprano), Grace Park (soprano), Amanda Cole (mezzo-soprano), Christopher John Clifford (countertenor), Stephen Chambers (tenor) and Julien van Mellaerts (bass)
Orchestra: Southern Sinfonia

Programme:
Bach: Magnificat (BWV 243)
Handel: Utrecht Te Deum and Organ Concerto Op. 4 no. 2 in B Flat
Charpentier: Laetatus sum

The programme includes the breathtaking Magnificat composed by J.S. Bach in 1723. The impact of this great choral work derives essentially from Bach’s remarkable ability to balance, yet at the same time to exploit to the full, the spiritual and dramatic elements of the concise text of the Magnificat. It is a sublime pearl from an era rich in choral glory.

Stephen Chambers (tenor), recently described as having a “beautiful lyrical tenor voice”, is in Dunedin on a rare visit home. This is an opportunity to witness his progress on the international stage.

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music. The style started around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word baroque is derived from the Portuguese word "barroco", Spanish "barroco", or French "baroque", all of which refer to a "rough or imperfect pearl".

Utrecht Te Deum a Hymn of Praise

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:07:00 +0000

Handel wrote the Utrecht Te Deum in early 1713, and it was performed together with his Utrecht Jubilate at the Thanksgiving service for the Peace of Utrecht in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on 7 July. It was his first composition for a state celebration, and helped to establish his reputation as a composer in London.

Handel's Utrecht Te Deum is the opening work in City of Dunedin Choir's concert "Beauty of Baroque" on Friday 30 March, 7:30 pm in Knox Church, George Street, Dunedin

A Step Bach in Time

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:23:00 +0000

The Bach Magnificat, which the City of Dunedin Choir will sing on March 30, is at the centre of an 800-year tradition of music at St Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Bach spent almost the last 30 years of his life and where his body lies to this day.

The Magnificat was one of the pieces he wrote in his first year as cantor of the school attached to the church – St Thomas School, one of the oldest schools in the world (founded 1212).

Among his teaching and performance responsibilities – including choirmaster and teaching Latin at St Thomas School – his duties also included composition: cantatas for church services every Sunday and other holy days in the church calendar, as well as masses and motets for special occasions.

The Latin Magnificat was required to be sung at least three times a year, on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday and Whitsunday.

He wrote a version of the Magnificat (BWV243) – the only one which still exists – in 1723, his first year in his new Leipzig post.

Considering the complexity of this music – and that he wrote the St John Passion shortly afterwards – we can only wonder at the musical skill of the choir, and particularly the nine-year-old boys who sang the high (treble) parts singing such difficult music with little rehearsal time.

Bach and his family lived in an upstairs apartment at the boarding school. After playing and conducting at church on Sunday (with services often three to four hours), Johann Sebastian would start work on the music for the following week, often finishing within a few days. The music copyists would come to his apartment on the Wednesday afternoon and then he would start rehearsals for the next Sunday.

The choir boys were chosen from throughout the region by scholarship exams. The successful few would receive food, board and education in Leipzig, a large university town in eastern Germany (in Bach’s time, about 30,000 population and a major centre of music) until, aged 20, they left the school with a small sum of money to help pay for their further education.

The school, church and choir continues the musical tradition today, 800 years after its founding, having survived the Reformation (Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg, less than 70km north of Leipzig, in 1516), the unification of Germany in 1871, wars, Nazism, Communism and the re-unification of Germany after 1990. The Nazi and subsequent Communist regimes put great value on singing and used the church choir as a showpiece, touring the choir through Eastern and Western Europe. The school’s musical tradition was maintained and practice continued through revolution and war. Even during World War 2, when the boys were boarded outside the town, they continued to sing every Sunday in the church, where Bach’s remains are buried.

He originally wrote the Magnificat in E flat (BWV243a) for Christmas 1723 and reworked it in D major for Easter 10 years later, the form we sing today.

The Magnificat is notable for its brevity – at slightly less than 600 bars, it is considerably shorter than the Credo from Bach’s Mass in B Minor, which the City of Dunedin Choir sang last year. With the exception of the words “omnes generationes” (every generation), which receive particular treatment, each of the 12 movements represents a stanza of St Luke’s narrative of the conversation between Jesus’ mother-to-be Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Both are pregnant – Elizabeth with the future John the Baptist and Mary somewhat surprisingly.

Elizabeth praises Mary for maintaining her faith and Mary responds: “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit doth rejoice in God my saviour… for behold from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed”. The Magnificat is based on these words.

By Scott Blackwell

Don't miss City of Dunedin Choir's concert "Beauty of Baroque" where Bach's Magnificat will be the featured work. Friday 30 March, 7:30 pm in Knox Church, George Street, Dunedin

Magnificat

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:56:00 +0000

Statue of Mary and Elizabeth at the Church of the

Visitation at Ein Kerem in Israel, on the site where the

meeting between Mary and Elizabeth is said to have taken

place, with Mary singing her song of praise.

Johann Sebastian Bach had risen to the high point of his musical career when he was appointed Cantor of the Thomasschule at St Thomas Church in Leipzig in 1723, aged 38 – the position he held for 27 years, until his death.

Among his myriad teaching and performance responsibilities – including choirmaster and teaching Latin at St Thomas School, one of the oldest schools in the world (founded 1212) – his duties also included composition: cantatas for church services every Sunday and other holy days in the church calendar, as well as masses and motets for special occasions.

The Latin Magnificat was required to be sung at least three times a year, at Christmas Day, Easter Sunday and Whitsunday. Considering he was required to produce these pieces at least three times a year for almost 30 years, it’s surprising then that only one Magnificat still exists – the BWV243 in D major completed in 1733.

He originally wrote the Magnificat in E flat (BWV243a) for Christmas 1723 and reworked it in D major 10 years later, the form we sing today, but this time for use at Easter.

The Magnificat is notable for its brevity – at slightly less than 600 bars, it is considerably shorter than the Credo from Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

With the exception of the words “omnes generationes” From the Archives (every generation), which receive particular treatment, each of the 12 movements represents a stanza of St Luke’s narrative of the conversation between Jesus’ mother Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Both are pregnant – Elizabeth with the future John the Baptist and Mary somewhat surprisingly.

Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith and Mary sings the Magnificat in response: “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit doth rejoice in God my saviour… for behold from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed”. What a remarkable statement from a girl in her position, pregnant, vulnerable and liable to be punished or even stoned.

Half of the 12 movements in the Magnificat are choruses and the others for solo voices, including a rare alto-tenor duet.

We’ve all been intrigued during practice by the possibility of hidden numerological significance in the “omnes generationes” (No. 4 p. 17), perhaps relating to the numerological value of Bach’s name, or the 41 entries of that phrase coinciding with the generations of Jesus’ ancestry. Others postulate this is nonsense as the phrase (“all generations shall call me blessed”) clearly refers to future generations, not past.

Bach often included clever numerical conundrums so we can’t rule it out.

By Scott Blackwell

Don't miss City of Dunedin Choir's concert "Beauty of Baroque" where Bach's Magnificat will be the featured work. Friday 30 March, 7:30 pm in Knox Church, George Street, Dunedin

Medieval Delights at the Fringe

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Coming soon in the 2012 Dunedin Fringe Festival: a Dunedin Medieval and Renaissance Society production SEX *DEATH*MAGIC: Renaissance Poetry Unbound

Before reality TV, there was poetry: illicit sex and thwarted desire, queer romance and crossdressing, witchcraft, suicide, and bloody murder; Renaissance poets saw it all. Celebrate International Poetry Day with the verse of Spenser, Wyatt, Marlowe, and Shakespeare as you’ve never quite heard it before.

Mistress Hilary Norris presides over a motley but talented troupe of actors, dancers, and musicians.

Also in the 2012 Fringe Festival, featuring medieval musicians and a poetic narrative in blank verse:
The Fire of Life: A Journey to the Underworld and Back

FireBugs present a spectacular theatre production using fire, dance and music in a show for all ages. The show explores the birth, theft and epic recapturing of the Fire of Life. Come with us on a quest to the Underworld to return the flame to its rightful place.

Thursday 22 March, 8.00pm
Friday 23 March, 8.00pm
Saturday 24 March, 8.00pm
Chingford Park, North Rd, NEV
$10/$5

Dunedin Medieval and Renaissance Society
Office 3, Lower Ground Floor, Carnegie Centre, 110 Moray Place
Email: ignatius@dunedinblog.co.nz
Phone: 021 453 191

Pearls of Baroque

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:32:00 +0000

Our Beauty of Baroque concert on March 30 includes some of the most sublime pearls from an era rich in choral glory.

Baroque music was written from about 1600 to approximately 1750, and coincided with a great growth of wealth and trade in Europe. The growth of trade led to an unprecedented sharing of ideas in science and the arts. As a result, music flourished, particularly in the great cathedrals and with a new wealthy audience of traders and tradesmen.

This era saw the birth of the industrial revolution and the chaotic growth of city states. Perhaps in reaction to the grime, ugliness and poverty of life in the burgeoning cities, the art and music of the Baroque era is of exaggerated beauty compared with the stark beauty of early Renaissance music.

The term Baroque is thought to have originated from a Portuguese word meaning an irregular shaped pearl. The new music forms were certainly radically different from earlier forms – with so much more artifice and decoration, each phrase perfumed with ornate turns and curlicues.

The term Baroque initially implied strangeness and extravagance in art. It was only applied to music of that era in the 20th century.

Opera and the orchestra were both creations of the era as were many musical forms which shaped all the European music which followed – particularly polyphonic (many voiced) forms such as the fugue and canon. Baroque music was considered as much an intellectual challenge as it was an artistic and spiritual feat.

Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243), written in 1733, is an intellectual masterpiece, for sure, but it also a musical gem of breathtaking beauty. Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum (1713) was his first major choral work in English, and his first commission for the English Royal family, which established his career in London. And Charpentier was a prolific French composer of the late 1600s, often associated with the author Moliere, but now less well known outside France than Bach and Handel.

By Scott Blackwell

Larnach Links

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0000

To raise funds for the Choir's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2013, a group of Choir members visited Larnach Castle and environs on Sunday 4 March, accompanied by professional guides Jane Edwards and Lyndsey Garden. On the itinerary for the afternoon were:

Larnach Castle grounds, a ‘Garden of International Significance’ (one of only four in NZ)
Extensive tour of castle and grounds
BYO lunch in the historic stables
Other points of interest on Otago Peninsula linked with William Larnach.

The Choir members reported they had a most enjoyable time and learned interesting facts about the life and times of William Larnach, who came to Dunedin in 1866 as manager of the Bank of Otago. He soon became quite prosperous, gathering large amounts of money through land speculation, farming investments, and a timber business. Between 1873 and 1887, Larnach constructed a large mansion on the ridge of Otago Peninsula, now known as "Larnach Castle". Larnach himself took up residence in 1874.

The photos in the slide show are by Deborah Dons.

Here is what Deborah had to say about the outing:

On a very cool, sunless Dunedin morning, a good number of keen Choir members, some with family and friends, met to take the Larnach Links Tour with Larnach Castle tour guides, Jane Edwards and Lyndsey Garden. We were taken on an informative, interesting and colourful journey on Dunedin’s attractive peninsula following the life and interests of William Larnach.

The bus drove along the inner peninsula road at sea level stopping at various locations where we learnt of William’s early years in Dunedin, his attraction of the peninsula, and the challenges he endured – or at least his builders and staff – in his choice of building site and construction of the property we know as Larnach Castle. We strolled through the gardens admiring the plantings and spectacular views and toured the castle learning more of Larnach himself, his family, life in the 19th century and earlier times of the settlement of Dunedin; and of the present owners and their love for and development of the property as an historical attraction for locals and tourists alike.

We called into the charming and historic Pukehiki Church before returning to the car park at Anderson’s Bay. Altogether, we were treated to a wonderful day and the sun finally shone on us to end a great tour. I would recommend the day to everyone should the tour be offered again. Thank you Jane and Lyndsey.

More Oppurtunities to Sing!

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:39:00 +0000

David Burchell

If singing at choir once a week isn't enough for you, David Burchell now runs three other vocal groups which you might be interested in:

The Choir of St Joseph's Cathedral (Roman Catholic)
Rehearses 7-8:15 pm on Thursdays, and for most of the year sings twice a month at the Sunday 10am Mass (2nd and 4th Sundays); four services during Holy Week. Non-Roman Catholics are welcome; Altos, Tenors and Basses especially so! All ages 7 to 70+. A small group of Junior Choristers rehearse Thursdays 6:30-7:30pm; we're looking for new recruits!

All Saints' Church Parish Choir (Anglican)
Rehearses 6:15 - 7:30pm on selected Wednesdays, and sings roughly twice a month, at the 10:30 Mass (3rd Sunday) and at occasional weekday evening services for feast days. All voices welcome (of any religious conviction!). All ages 7 to 70+. The Choristers (children) also lead the singing at the Family Mass on the first Sunday of the month; new recruits wanted!

Saturday Morning Music: Adults' singing class
Saturdays 10:05 - 10:55am at George St School during school terms. This small group is a mixture of teenagers and adults, and we focus both on the basics of singing through unison group singing, and try our hand at some two- and three-part music too, and endeavour to have fun in the process. We would welcome more singers - complete novices welcome!

Please talk to David Burchell if you are interested in singing in any of these choirs, or contact him via info@cityofdunedinchoir.org.nz.

Choral Conducting Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:28:00 +0000

John Rosser

Be inspired at a choral conducting workshop in Dunedin on 24 March. John Rosser will present Giving Direction, a workshop on choral conducting, as part of the NZCF Association of Choral Directors (ACD) new programme of professional development. Apart from the training offered, this is an opportunity for conductors to meet an established conducting mentor, who will be able to provide advice and support.

The workshop will be held on Saturday 24 March from 9.30am to 5.00pm at the College of Education Music Dept.
Download the application form

Saturday 24 March Workshop
The workshop, which will have a very practical focus, is aimed at all conductors, regardless of experience or type of choir. It will include some of the following topics:

Building a vocabulary of gestures to interpret a particular piece of music – phrasing, articulation, dynamics and expressive markings, entries, releases, etc.
Vocal knowledge for the conductor – applied with reference to the workshop choirs’ music.
Rehearsal techniques – efficient rehearsals in which choir members sing for almost all of the time and they absorb the musical style as they learn notes and rhythms.
Hints on repertoire and programming.
A forum on recruitment, auditioning and other issues.
Two local choirs will be present at the workshop as the demonstration choirs, and conductors will work with them on the choir’s repertoire.

Sunday 25 March Mentoring Sessions
John will be available on the Sunday after the workshop for one-hour coaching sessions, at which matters of particular interest can be discussed.
Costs

Workshops: ACD members - $55; NZCF Individual members - $70; Non-members - $85. This includes tuition, lunch and teas. Half-day rates (no lunch) also available.
Mentoring sessions (one-to-one or shared) - $55 (excl GST) per hour.

For more information or to register
Contact Di Lenihan (tel 027 698 8649) or Carole Randall (tel 027 295 6477)

Chinese Garden Tours and Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:24:00 +0000

We have joined forces to bring you
unforgettable Chinese Garden
guided tours and a relaxing cup of tea
Sundays 2-3 pm, only $15
Contact Julia on tel. 454 5383
tours@cityofdunedinchoir.org.nz
No Eftpos. Bookings are essential.

The first tour is on Sunday 19 February.

The Sixteen

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:14:00 +0000

Have you ever heard such beautiful singing? This is the UK choir The Sixteen performing Miserere Mei Deus.

Apparently the music was written by Allegri, a setting of Psalm 51, and used only at special Mass in the Sistine Chapel. Public reproduction was forbidden until Mozart, at age 14, transcribed the whole work from listening to it twice only. Instead of excommunication, Mozart was praised by the Pope and the ban was lifted.

Hear one of the most beautiful soprano voices soaring ... enjoy!

The Dreaded Ninth Symphony

noreply@blogger.com (Rosi Crane) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:31:00 +0000

Did you know that there's a supposed curse on composers who write, or attempt to write, their 9th symphony? They either die during its composition, or shortly afterwards. Of course the curse doesn't apply to those of us who are musically challenged, for the full quirky story read on here

Half a dozen soloists

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:37:00 +0000

We are getting really excited now about the next City of Dunedin Choir concert -

Beauty of Baroque

Rehearsals started last Tuesday and straight away we made a huge dent in the Handel Utrecht Te Deum. Sounding so powerful - what a big sound! Handel certainly knew how to compose a good tune. We also took a wee bite from the Bach Magnificat - how grand!

The soloists have now all been signed up for this concert - a wonderful line-up:

Pepe Becker (soprano)
Grace Park (soprano)
Amanda Cole (mezzo-soprano)
Christopher John Clifford (countertenor)
Stephen Chambers (tenor)
Julien van Mellaerts (bass) Read more about his concert and mark the date in your diary!

VC3 status update

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:49:00 +0000

"Virtual Choir 3 submissions closed on 2nd February 2012. We received 3727 videos from 2934 people in 73 countries singing one or more parts of Water Night." http://virtualchoir.ericwhitacre.com

Is that not amazing? It takes heaps of guts to stand in front of a microphone and camera and sing your choir part solo for a recording - which is oh, so unforgiving! Add to that the fact that Eric Whitacre's "Water Night" is not an easy work. I take my hat off to all these brave singers. Now we have to wait for the processing of the final video... watch this space.

Rowan sings Ode to Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Leta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:07:00 +0000

Beethoven's 9th Symphony like you've never heard it before!

Bolero at Copenhagen Railway Station

noreply@blogger.com (Rosi Crane) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:39:00 +0000

The best-ever flash mob ... simply enjoy!!

As one of the first professional symphony orchestras ever Copenhagen Phil (Sjællands Symfoniorkester) did a flash mob at Copenhagen Central Station on May 2nd 2011 playing Ravel's Bolero. Conductor is Jesper Nordin.