Artistic Council and Education Outreach Reports
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Programming – Chris Foss
All of Libby’s 5 movement work “You” is performance ready for the premiere next week at Penn State. Libby was gracious enough to come in and coach the ensemble on the work, and she also provided insight into a lot of her motivations behind the movements. Happy to see the Music Accord project finally come to fruition!
All of the repertoire for our Lessons and Carols show has been programmed, ordered, and we are distributing it now for flex time preparation. Rehearsals will begin on tour in the coming weeks. Patricia Kirkpatrick has found amazing options for the spoken portions of the program, and we will make final decisions about those and incorporate them in the coming months as well.
We are developing new policy surrounding the speaking moments in our shows. Our new aim is to have the moments roughed out and drafted a full year in advance of the show’s first performance. They will be useful for sales and marketing materials in booking new shows and media appearances.
Our first collective round for brainstorming repertoire for the 20-21 show Brave took place last week. A lot of great pieces were found, and we’re also quite excited about the number of options from female composers/composers of color!
Production – David Geist
We have had a busy and exciting last couple of weeks! Notably we had our first week of touring of the season as well as our concert with the incredible Lorelei ensemble. We opened this year's touring program, Alone Together, at Texas Lutheran University in Sequin, TX, followed by a residency at the University of Oklahoma (also my alma mater!) in Norman, Oklahoma. We had an incredible time at OU, and it definitely stood out as one of our favorite residencies we have done on the road. We worked with four different choirs, two local high schools and two collegiate ensembles, and we did a lecture demonstration for the music school's convocation, on top of performing our regular touring show as well. We were able to connect with a multitude of incredibly talented and passionate young singers, and I spoke with many faculty members at the university that stated how inspiring it was to have us there. The head of the music department told me was the best residency they have ever had! You can check out a lot of pictures from our time at OU on our facebook page.
We also just wrapped up our collaboration with Lorelei, and from both a musical and personal perspective, this experience was a major success. The women of Lorelei are not only brilliant musicians, but also truly wonderful people. Getting to connect and create with another group that is trying to advance choral and classical music is such an honor, and we all learned a lot from our time together. It is also pretty crazy to think we put together our combined repertoire in literally 4 hours of rehearsal time!
Next week we are hitting the road again, and will be premiering in full all of the pieces Libby Larson wrote for our Alone Together program at Penn State in State College, PA. We will also be starting to work on music for Christmas!
Education Outreach – Sam Green
High School Residency
September began our High School Residency with school concerts at East Ridge, Southwest, and Monticello. East Ridge was especially welcoming; their entire administration staff wanted to get a photo with us as soon as we arrived! Next month, the artists will be splitting off into teams and begin our first run outs for Masterclasses, in which we will set goals for our year together in addition to coaching the choirs on their current repertoire.
Minnesota Boychoir Residency
Similarly, the artists performed a 60-minute concert for the MBC and their families in September. The audience was effusive with praise. We will begin Masterclasses with them in October, as well.
National Outreach
Our first tour to Texas Lutheran University (Seguin, TX) and the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) included outreach activities for college and high school students. At TLU we debuted an Outreach menu item called “Making Music in the Real World: What Comes After College?”. The lecture consisted of personal accounts of our professional experience before and during Cantus, and it opened up for great Q&A. While in Oklahoma, we were able to masterclass 2 high school choirs, 2 college choirs, and performed during their music majors’ convocation class. Some wonderful photos can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/OUCatlett/ (Sept 12-14)
David Howard, Assoc. Director of Choral Activities, OU
Sam:
Please relay our heartiest thanks to the rest of the guys. Thank you for sharing your artistry with our students. I know that they are inspired! The concert last night was beautifully sung.
Best wishes to you for the rest of your tour!
Roland Barrett, Director, School of Music, OU
Jacob,
Please convey my heartfelt gratitude to all the group members for an absolutely wonderful job here at OU this week! It was probably the most inspiring, thoughtful, meaningful, and artistic residency I’ve ever experienced. From start to finish…..outstanding!
Safe travels today, best of luck with the remainder of the tour, and I hope our paths cross again at some point in the future!
Brian Dobbins, Professor of Tuba, OU
Sam,
Thank you all so much for performing today at Convocation. It was a fantastic performance and educational hearing your experiences.
Spread the word that Cantus offers a variety of educational outreach opportunities locally and around the country each year. If you know educators/organizations interested in working with us, refer them to education@cantussings.org, or contact Sam at sgreen@cantussings.org.
All of Libby’s 5 movement work “You” is performance ready for the premiere next week at Penn State. Libby was gracious enough to come in and coach the ensemble on the work, and she also provided insight into a lot of her motivations behind the movements. Happy to see the Music Accord project finally come to fruition!
All of the repertoire for our Lessons and Carols show has been programmed, ordered, and we are distributing it now for flex time preparation. Rehearsals will begin on tour in the coming weeks. Patricia Kirkpatrick has found amazing options for the spoken portions of the program, and we will make final decisions about those and incorporate them in the coming months as well.
We are developing new policy surrounding the speaking moments in our shows. Our new aim is to have the moments roughed out and drafted a full year in advance of the show’s first performance. They will be useful for sales and marketing materials in booking new shows and media appearances.
Our first collective round for brainstorming repertoire for the 20-21 show Brave took place last week. A lot of great pieces were found, and we’re also quite excited about the number of options from female composers/composers of color!
Production – David Geist
We have had a busy and exciting last couple of weeks! Notably we had our first week of touring of the season as well as our concert with the incredible Lorelei ensemble. We opened this year's touring program, Alone Together, at Texas Lutheran University in Sequin, TX, followed by a residency at the University of Oklahoma (also my alma mater!) in Norman, Oklahoma. We had an incredible time at OU, and it definitely stood out as one of our favorite residencies we have done on the road. We worked with four different choirs, two local high schools and two collegiate ensembles, and we did a lecture demonstration for the music school's convocation, on top of performing our regular touring show as well. We were able to connect with a multitude of incredibly talented and passionate young singers, and I spoke with many faculty members at the university that stated how inspiring it was to have us there. The head of the music department told me was the best residency they have ever had! You can check out a lot of pictures from our time at OU on our facebook page.
We also just wrapped up our collaboration with Lorelei, and from both a musical and personal perspective, this experience was a major success. The women of Lorelei are not only brilliant musicians, but also truly wonderful people. Getting to connect and create with another group that is trying to advance choral and classical music is such an honor, and we all learned a lot from our time together. It is also pretty crazy to think we put together our combined repertoire in literally 4 hours of rehearsal time!
Next week we are hitting the road again, and will be premiering in full all of the pieces Libby Larson wrote for our Alone Together program at Penn State in State College, PA. We will also be starting to work on music for Christmas!
Education Outreach – Sam Green
High School Residency
September began our High School Residency with school concerts at East Ridge, Southwest, and Monticello. East Ridge was especially welcoming; their entire administration staff wanted to get a photo with us as soon as we arrived! Next month, the artists will be splitting off into teams and begin our first run outs for Masterclasses, in which we will set goals for our year together in addition to coaching the choirs on their current repertoire.
Minnesota Boychoir Residency
Similarly, the artists performed a 60-minute concert for the MBC and their families in September. The audience was effusive with praise. We will begin Masterclasses with them in October, as well.
National Outreach
Our first tour to Texas Lutheran University (Seguin, TX) and the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) included outreach activities for college and high school students. At TLU we debuted an Outreach menu item called “Making Music in the Real World: What Comes After College?”. The lecture consisted of personal accounts of our professional experience before and during Cantus, and it opened up for great Q&A. While in Oklahoma, we were able to masterclass 2 high school choirs, 2 college choirs, and performed during their music majors’ convocation class. Some wonderful photos can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/OUCatlett/ (Sept 12-14)
David Howard, Assoc. Director of Choral Activities, OU
Sam:
Please relay our heartiest thanks to the rest of the guys. Thank you for sharing your artistry with our students. I know that they are inspired! The concert last night was beautifully sung.
Best wishes to you for the rest of your tour!
Roland Barrett, Director, School of Music, OU
Jacob,
Please convey my heartfelt gratitude to all the group members for an absolutely wonderful job here at OU this week! It was probably the most inspiring, thoughtful, meaningful, and artistic residency I’ve ever experienced. From start to finish…..outstanding!
Safe travels today, best of luck with the remainder of the tour, and I hope our paths cross again at some point in the future!
Brian Dobbins, Professor of Tuba, OU
Sam,
Thank you all so much for performing today at Convocation. It was a fantastic performance and educational hearing your experiences.
Spread the word that Cantus offers a variety of educational outreach opportunities locally and around the country each year. If you know educators/organizations interested in working with us, refer them to education@cantussings.org, or contact Sam at sgreen@cantussings.org.