Welcome Back CPC!

Hello Chorus!
Welcome back after what I hope was a sunny, warm and restful summer.
Be sure to check here for some extra information about our upcoming performances for the year. We have a fantastic season planned and I will be adding some content throughout the season for you to enjoy. The idea is that the information here should inspire you and increase your knowledge of the music that we perform.

Yours in song,
TIM

Rajaton HERE WE COME!

Hi CPC'ers,
It has been a long, long time since I have updated any blogs. That seems to be the first sentence for a lot of bloggers. Although, this blog was never intended to operate like a regular blog, simply another way to communicate with you and other interested wanderers.
In any case, here are a few videos of Rajaton.

Dobbin's Flowery Vale
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ucpx11Xfpbk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Butterfly
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oghj7y4hluU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You Can't Stop Me!
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vYZYUBE6-wM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rajaton sings ABBA
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Yt2JhyFTt8o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Enjoy!

Villa-lobos Choros no. 10

Another group of videos to get you in the mood as we prepare for the CPO Virtuosity Festival!

Mahler's 3rd Symphony 5th movement

Here is great performance of Mahler's 3rd Symphony with Claudio Abbado conducting the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir Vienna, Tolzer Knabenchor and Anna Larson, mezzo-soprano:

Enjoy CPC ladies!

A fun way to learn your solfege

Through the magic of Facebook I discovered that friends from across the continent had started to share a video made by David Newman, a colleague and friend from the Carmel Bach Festival. David teaches at James Madison University and is a fantastic singer! He clearly has a bit of time on his hands despite having two young girls and has put his time to good use to create many fun and educational videos on basic elements of ear training and harmonic progressions. Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks David!  you are going viral!

Our memories given a voice through music

Thank you to all CPC members for a wonderful start to our season. I can't think of a better way to be in solidarity with our neighbours, friends, family and colleagues around the world than through music. As I read news articles, editorials and watched documentaries this past week about the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 I was reminded how music provides us with a voice to express our raw thoughts and emotions. I don't know about you but I long for an opportunity to respond to the daily barrage of news with a more complex and, perhaps elevated, form of expression in music.

I hope you felt as civically engaged as I did last week. As the anxiety of the news ramped up, we focused more and more on the fine details of a piece of art that provides us with so many ways to remember. Coupled with Beethoven's "redoubtable" 9th Symphony, this was a program to remember with a finale for all time.

I also hope that you understood the wonderful announcement from the stage that the CPO now has a formal funding program that supports the development and performance of new works for orchestra & chorus. Yes, you and I will be directly involved in creating and shaping the music of today and tomorrow! Be proud of this. As we all discovered last Thursday and Friday, out community and world wants to be musically engaged with music from the past and the future. Let's continue to engage through our voices and our music!

Carmina Burana Translation

Here is a link to a fairly reliable translation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana".

http://www.northshorechoral.org/seasons/05-06/CarminaBuranaTextandTranslation.pdf

CPO Mahler's 2nd an inspiration!

I have very few words to describe both the excitement and euphoria our CPO's performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony in the Jack Singer Concert Hall this past Friday and Saturday evening. Mahler's music jumped off the page and into the hearts and minds of all in attendance. You, the chorus, played such a huge role in the performance even if only for the final 15 minutes! I can't begin to thank you enough for your musical commitment, vocal prowess, memorization and overall professionalism! You inspired so many, including audience, orchestra, fellow singers and myself. I hope you know how much impact you had on this performance because I don't think I will stop hearing about it for some time!

Yours in song,
TIM

Kodaly and Curwen's hand signs

Here are a couple of resources for those of you interested in studying up on your hand signs for the solfege system. Below is a link to the hand signs. Enjoy
http://www.classicsforkids.com/teachers/training/handsigns.asp

How to sing a Major and Relative Natural Minor Scale on Solfege with Han...

Here is a nice little lesson in singing a major and a minor scale with solfege and Curwen hand signs

Porgy & Bess videos

These videos will take you through the medley, mostly in order. Enjoy!

Prometheus pictures

Prometheus stealing fire and living his eternal struggle

How to tie a bow-tie

Thank you to Jim Weisert for expertly helping to tie and teaching many of us how to tie a bow-tie prior to the CPO's Sing-Along Messiah performance on Sunday, December 5.
Here is some proof:

Borak Forte Program donations

Several choristers have asked how to proceed when a friend, relative or associate, or the a chorister themelves, wishes to make a donation to the chorus. Please know that all donations to the chorus will receive a tax receipt from the Calgary Philharmonic Society, allowing a tax deduction for the donor. Also, please ask whether a donor works for a company that does "employee gift matching".

Many of Calgary's large companies will have the Calgary Philharmonic on their list of charities that qualify for matching all or a portion of an employee's charitable donation. We can turn $100 into $200 as easy as that.

If  the donor directs the donation to the Forte Program, then the CPC will receive the benefit. All donations to the Forte program are flagged by the development office for the chorus's exclusive benefit.

Any cheques should be made out to " Calgary Philharmonic Society - Forte Program" and a note may be made at the bottom "Calgary Philharmonic Chorus".

Donation Cheques, or any other inquiries about the donation process should be directed to:

 

Alison Geskin

Director of Development

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

205 - 8th Ave SE

Calgary AB T2G 0K9

tel: 403- 571- 0273

The Okanagan Trip: Great Memories!

CPC Choir trip to Okanagan

We left Calgary in a snow storm in the morning of May 5, worried that we might have to turn around due to poor road conditions in the mountains. But as we drove west the sun shined through and the roads were suddenly perfect!

This was the beginning of an absolutely amazing choir trip in the blossoming sunshine of the Okanagan. Upon our arrival, we  had a rehearsal in Kelowna with music director and conductor Rosemary Thomson, the Okanagan Symphonic Orchestra and their community choir. The programme for the concerts consisted of the same piece the  Okanagan Symphonic Orchestra played for their inaugural performance exactly 50 years before, The Symphony No.9 d minor, Op. 125 by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Also,for the occasion a piece was commissioned, titled Quaternity a Cantata of Seasons by composer Imant Raminsh Principal Second Violin with the OSO since 1978. It was indeed a rare delight to have the composer perform his own work in the orchestra and being able to benefit from his contributions for the performance.

During the stay many of us managed to make time for important activities, such as wine tasting, golfing, hiking, shopping or just relaxing between rehearsals and concerts. The following nights we performed in Penticton and Vernon, with all performances being sold out! The community is very supportive of their Symphonic Orchestra and was proud to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Choir music is so powerful and it becomes even more significant as you get to know the special people who take part in it.  What would life be without music?

Josée Robitaille

An introduction to maestro Jean-Marie Zeitouni

Here is a link to a video on Jean-Marie Zeitouni's new position as Music Director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

http://vimeo.com/15608751

Also, here is a link where you can learn a bit more about Maestro Zeitouni and some of his thoughts on Handel's Messiah.

http://vimeo.com/2498737

Thinking ahead to Prometheus!

The Calgary Philharmonic Chorus is involved in two interesting programs back to back in February 2011. The first will be performing selections from Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" and the second will be the Canadian premiere of a new piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom called "Prometheus." Both are huge undertakings since they are back to back in our season.

Anyone interested in hearing a performance of "Prometheus" this weekend by the Jeffry Biegel (piano), the Pacific Symphony and the Pacific Chorale should tune-in on-line. The

Read more about "Prometheus" in the following article on the Pacific Symphony webpage:
http://www.pacificsymphony.org/main.taf?p=8,1,1,1&npr=82

Here is the link to the live broadcast by kusc classical fm 91.5 which can be heard on-line.
http://www.kusc.org/Programming-ProgrammingHighlights-PacificSymphony.aspx

Alice Demo Dancing Under the Gallows H264 No TCB

St. Andrew's United Church

Our workshop on Saturday, October 16, 2010 is at St. Andrew's United Church in SW Calgary.
This is a new venue for us and suggested by Karen Nell-Bennett, director of Revoice.
Click below to find it on Google Maps.
St. Andrew's United Church
924 Heritage Dr. SW, Calgary

Fall Chorus Workshop

Our fall workshop is fast approaching!
This year we are very fortunate to have Bruce Pullan, recently retired conductor of the Vancouver Bach Choir.
Watch a video clip with Bruce Pullan below from last fall.