"Arts In Depth" with WSKG Host Bill Snyder
Singing About the Passage of Time
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The Cayuga Vocal Ensemble presents ‘Passages’
WSKG (https://wskg.org/tag/choral-music/)
The Cayuga Vocal Ensemble presents ‘Passages’
The Southern Tier Singers Collective performs music from a 16th Century manuscript.
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers perform ‘Dixit Dominus’ by the young George Frederick Handel and Josef Rheinberger’s ‘Mass in E-flat’.
VOICES Multicultural Chorus presents their Fall Concert ‘We Can Be Kind: Joy and Inspiration in Song’ https://acithaca.org/groups/voices/on Sunday, December 7 at 4pm in Ithaca’s First Baptist Church. Artistic Director Lorrene Adams joins us to talk about finding uplifting music to inspire the audience, and the inspiration she finds in leading the ensemble.
Photo credit: Affiliated Choruses of Ithaca
The Southern Tier Singers Collective presents a concert for All Souls’ Day.
The Downtown Singers of Binghamton present ‘A Concert of Hope and Peace’ featuring music by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir Edward Elgar, and Sir Michael Tippett.
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton presents ‘A Moses Hogan Celebration’ in Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church, featuring countertenor Derek Lee Ragin.
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers join with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra for a concert
The VOICES Multicultural Chorus present ‘Exploring Ithaca’s Heritage Through Song’.
The Cantata Singers present ‘The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass’ in Watkins Glen.
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton sings about ‘Love, Longing, and Lechery’.
The Southern Tier Singers’ Collective perform ‘O Vos Omnes: Music of Repentence and Redemption’.
The Cantata Singers of Elmira have been invited to be among an international array of choral group performing ‘The Music of Karl Jenkins: 75th Birthday Celebration’ in Carnegie Hall.
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers perform Requiems by Gabriel Faure and Maurice Durufle. Conductor Gerald Wolfe joins us to talk about the similarities and differences between this two works, written 50 years apart.
Photo credit: Affiliated Choruses of Ithaca
The VOICES Multicultural Chorus presents ‘Big Bands and Ballads: Swing Through the Season’ on December 8.
The Southern Tier Singers’ Collective is a new ensemble comprised of choral musicians from across the region. They present their premiere concert with music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Francesco Soriano, and Tomas Luis de Victoria. Conductor William Culverhouse joins us to talk about the program and the ensemble.
Photo credit: Binghamton University Music Department
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton presents ‘Words and Music’ at United Presbyterian Church on Chenango Street in downtown Binghamton.
We hear from Catskill Choral Society music director G. Roberts Kolb who is leading them in two performances of Franz Joseph Haydn exuberant oratorio ‘The Seasons’. Maestro Kolb has produced a new English edition of the work.
Photo credit: Catskill Choral Society
Maestro Cornelia Laemmli Orth of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra joins us to talk about the performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ with the Ithaca College Choir. Also on the program is the Sinfonia No.5 of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the Flute Concerto in D, “The Goldfinch” by Antonio Vivaldi.
Photo credit: Cayuga Chamber Orchestra
The Cantata Singers of Elmira perform music by Breesport native Dan Forrest at the Church of the Redeemer in Sayre. Conductor Will Wickham and Cantata Singers president Sally Davis join us to talk about Forrest’s music and his deep roots in the Elmira area. We also learn a bit of the history of the Cantata Singers.
Three choruses from Binghamton University present a concert in many languages
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers perform music by Part, Whitacre, and Lauridsen
The VOICES Multicultural Chorus perform their Fall Concert: ‘The Spirit of Home: Many Homes — One Voice’ on December 9 at 4pm in the First Baptist Church in Ithaca. Conductor Lorrene Adams joins us to talk about this wide-ranging concert, and the joys and challenges of programing a concert when there are so many good choices for it. http://wskg.org/audio/lorrene.mp3
Photo credit: VOICES Multicultural Chorus
The Binghamton University Music Department presents ‘Venetian Traditions’, music for multiple choruses by Heinrich Schütz, Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Salamone Rossi. The new Director of Choral Activites, Bill Culverhouse joins us to talk about those traditions. Also on the program is the first suite of ‘Ancient Airs and Dances’ by Ottorino Respighi led by orchestra conductor, Timothy Perry. http://wskg.org/audio/venetian.mp3
Photo credit: Binghamton University Music Department
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers and Chamber Singers led by Gerald Wolfe perform Franz Schubert’s final choral work, the profounc Mass in E flat, and the Chamber Singers sing ‘When I close my eyes, I dream of peace’ by Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist. http://wskg.org/audio/schubertmass.mp3
Photo credit: Ithaca Community Choruses
The Binghamton University Chorus and Orchestra presents a concert of the ‘Missa in Angustiis’ by Franz Joseph Haydn, known as the ‘Lord Nelson Mass’, and two works by Gabriel Faure, the ‘Requiem’ and the ‘Cantique de Jean Racine.’ This is Professor Bruce Borton’s last concert with the ensemble before retirement. He tells us about the works on the program and why he choose them. http://wskg.org/audio/lordnelson.mp3
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers are joined by the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra for a program of three works: Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’, Antonin Rejcha’s ‘Te Deum’, and ‘Three Moravian Songs’ by the late Karel Husa. The ‘Gloria’ is well-known, but the ‘Te Deum’ is not, and Gerald Wolfe talks about how it is an unjustly neglected masterpiece. http://www.wskg.org/audio/0114wolfe.mp3
Photo credit: Ithaca Community Chorus
The VOICES Multicultural Chorus presents ‘Rivers of Life’ this weekend, Saturday, December 10 at 1pm in the First Baptist Church, 309 North Cayuga Street in Ithaca. Artistic Director Lorrene Adams has chosen music about rivers for the 65 voice ensemble. Bob Keefe and the Surf Renegades are the special guests. For ticket information you can go to riversoflife.brownpapertickets.com. http://wskg.org/audio/1209voices.mp3
Photo credit: VOICES Multicultural Chorus
The Binghamton University Chorus and Orchestra present Johannes Brahms’ ‘A German Requiem’. Conductor Bruce Borton talks about Brahms’ long journey to complete his largest work, which was a great departure from any other requiem written until that time. http://wskg.org/audio/1130requiem.mp3
Photo credit: Binghamton University
The Binghamton University Chorus and Orchestra present Johannes Brahms’ ‘A German Requiem’. Conductor Bruce Borton talks about Brahms’ long journey to complete his largest work, which was a great departure from any other requiem written until that time. http://wskg.org/audio/1130requiem.mp3
Photo credit: Binghamton University
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton is presenting ‘Musical Migrations’, music of composers who came to the United States for many reasons. Selections include music from early settlers to New England, Moravian settlers to North Carolina, short-term resident Antonin Dvorak, and composers who fled Europe before World War Two. Conductor Bruce Borton talks about the stories of these composers and what influences they brought to American music. http://wskg.org/audio/102016madrigal.mp3
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton is presenting ‘Musical Migrations’, music of composers who came to the United States for many reasons. Selections include music from early settlers to New England, Moravian settlers to North Carolina, short-term resident Antonin Dvorak, and composers who fled Europe before World War Two. Conductor Bruce Borton talks about the stories of these composers and what influences they brought to American music. http://wskg.org/audio/102016madrigal.mp3
The Ithaca Community Chorus and Chamber Singers, under the direction of Gerald Wolfe, are performing Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ in their spring concert. Mozart died before completing it, so friends of Mozart’s pitched in to finish it. Later scholarship has found sketches that Mozart might have intended as part of it. The Community Chorus is presenting the Levin edition of it. Gregorio Allegri’s ‘Miserere mei’ is also on the program, a work also associated with Mozart. http://wskg.org/audio/ICCRequiem.mp3
Photo credit: Ithaca Community Choruses
The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton and Dance Stories, the resident dance company of the Endicott Performing Arts Center join to present ‘Tanzen und Singen’. The program features two rarely performed works, the Choral Dances from Benjamin Britten’s opera ‘Gloriana’ and Gian-Carlo Menotti’s madrigal fable ‘The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore’, as well as madrigals about dancing and dance performance by Dance Stories. http://wskg.org/audio/unicorn.mp3
Photo credit: Tomais Ashdene via Flickr
Karl Jenkins’ ‘The Armed Man — A Mass for Peace’ was written only 16 years ago, and yet it is performed regularly, which is unusual for a contemporary work that is so musically challenging. The Cantata Singers of Elmira are presenting it on Sunday, February 28 at 3pm in the First United Methodist Church in Horseheads. As we hear from conductor Will Wickham and chorister Susan Nagle, the challenges are emotional as well. http://wskg.org/audio/jenkins.mp3
Photo credit: The Cantata Singers
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is performing at Ithaca College and as part of the Oneonta Concert Association series this week. They are Canada’s first professional choral group dedicated to Afrocentric music of all styles, including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and blues, and was named in honor of the late-19th-century composer and musicologist Nathanial Dett. We talked with conductor Brainerd Blyden-Taylor who was in Toronta before the Chorale started their tour. http://wskg.org/audio/nathanieldett.mp3
Photo credit: Nathaniel Dett Chorale
WSKG TV is airing Great Performances: From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2016 on January 1 at 7:30 pm. As part of the program, the Vienna Boys Choir will be performing two of the selections. Endicott native Matthew Beach is currently singing with the Vienna Boys Choir. They were just back from a performance tour around German and Switzerland when he was able to chat with us via Skype from the school in Vienna. He tells about how he became a chorister, what it’s like living in a palace in a park on an island in the Danube River, and how busy their academic and musical schedules keep them. http://wskg.org/audio/matthewbeach.mp3
Photo courtesy Tami Beach
The Downtown Singers have been presenting Handel’s Messiah since 1983. This year they are collaborating with the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra for their annual performance under the baton of Marisa Crabb, now in her third year of conducting the group. They welcome soloists Brenda Dawe, Kasey Stewart, Carlos Santelli, and Timothy LeFebvre for a performance on Saturday, December 19th at 7:30 in the Forum on Washington Street in downtown Binghamton. http://wskg.org/audio/marisamessiah.mp3
Photograph courtesy Pierre Malherbet
The VOICES Multicultural Chorus of the Ithaca Community Choruses is joined by the quintet Honey Child for their Winter Concert on Saturday, December 12 at 3pm in the First Baptist Church on Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca. The program is an exploration of the many influences on what makes American music American. Artistic Director Lorrene Adams talks about the program and the history of the chorus.
Photo courtesy VOICES Multicultural Chorus and the Ithaca Community Choruses
The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers present a concert of Negro Spirituals led by Dr. Baruch Whitehead, on Sunday, December 13 at 3pm in the Hockett Family Recital Hall at Ithaca College. Dr. Whitehead talks about the history of the Negro Spiritual, and about the importance of Ithaca resident Dorothy Cotten, who served as education director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along side Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and used music as part of her mission. http://wskg.org/audio/dorothycotton.mp3
Photo courtesy of The Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers
Conductor Timothy Perry leads the Binghamton University Orchestra and Chorus in Carl Orff’s “Scenic Cantata” Carmina Burana this weekend. Choral conductor Bruce Borton and baritone soloist Thomas Goodheart talk about the history of the work and why it is so popular. Other soloists are soprano Stacey Geyer and tenor Steven Nanni.
The Cornell University Chorus presents the premiere of a new work by composer Adrienne Albert: Malala. It is inspired by Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel prize winner. The composer talks about being commissioned to write a new work for the Cornell University Chorus and how Malala’s life and work inspired this new music. http://wskg.org/audio/Malala.mp3
Photo courtesy Adrienne Albert
Bruce Borton, Artistic Director of the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton, talks about their upcoming concert, From Stage & Screen, music from opera and operetta and the Broadway stage, Academy Award-winning songs, and Disney classics. For this concert the choir will perform their Saturday evening concert at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Norwich, and their Sunday afternoon concert at United Presbyterian Church in Binghamton. http://www.wskg.org/audio/stagescreen.mp3
Photo courtesy Marta Wlusek via Flickr
Conductor Colin Armstrong speaks with WSKG’s Bill Snyder about the Catskill Choral Society’s presentation of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis, more commonly know as the “Lord Nelson Mass. All four soloists are from Binghamton University’s Master of Music in Opera program: Stacey Geyer, soprano; Lindsay Brown, alto; Jordan Schreiner, tenor; and Josiah Davis, bass. Dr. Armstrong explains why the work got its alternate title, and why it’s such an important and much-loved work.
Photograph Courtesy of ricoeurian via Flickr
Conductor Gerald Wolfe speaks with WSKG’s Bill Snyder about the Ithaca Community Chorus’ performance of Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem. It is not a requiem in Latin in the traditional sense that Mozart’s, Verdi’s, or Faure’s are, but comforting words from scripture in a language that Brahms’ listeners would have understood. After the death of Brahms’ mother, he added an extra movement with a soprano solo. It’s one of the most beloved works in the choral repertoire.
Photograph courtesy of Zabowski via Flickr
Bill Cowdery and Will Wickham speaks with WSKG’s Bill Snyder about the two concerts featuring JS Bach’s Mass in b minor. It’s a reunion concert of the Cantata Singers, bringing back many former members of the group, and there’s also a talk about the work and the previous works that Bach “recycled” into the Mass. http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-1033955.mp3
Photograph courtesy Cantata Singers