Artistic Council and Education Outreach Reports
| 5._artistic_council___education_outreach_reports.pdf |
Artistic Council & Education Outreach Reports
Communications – Paul Scholtz
Cantus Activities Week by Week
Communication highlights
Operations/Production – Zac Colby
I am so proud of Cantus as we survived the first leg of our Asian tour. South Korea was a great experience with two nice concert halls and wonderful audiences. China was a bit of a disaster. We performed very well, but the conditions were really tough with long travel days, constant requests for more things than in our contract, illness among more than half of the singers, and some less than ideal accommodations. All that being said, we sang incredibly well and the audiences love us. We got to experience China in a way that I would guess most Americans don't get to, and did our best all things considered.
We are quickly turning around just had an incredibly successful rehearsal with Sweet Honey, again given less than ideal communication from them. By the time you read this, I'm sure the performance will have been great. We really owe it to our office who has been organizing and dealing with this program in our absence. We look forward to flying to Taiwan on Monday to participate in an incredible festival and then to come home for a few days and then head to Alaska on tour. This year is turning out to be quite the endurance test for all of us and we look forward to further challenges.
Programming – Chris Foss
After our first show in China, the presenter expressed concern over the length of show. Although the original length satisfied our contractual obligations, we ultimately made the decision to add about 15 more minutes of signing to the show, to great success. It’s also a testament to the musicianship of our substitute Nick Karageorgiou that he was able to prepare those pieces at such short notice.
We’ve begun rehearsing a 5-movement mass choir piece for our shows in Taiwan, and just learned the composer has made some changes, so we’ll be expecting to receive those when we land in Taiwan next week. We’ll also receive a shorter mass choir piece by the same composer that will function as an encore.
The next week will see us finalize speaking moments and materials - the last materials for the fall show Discovery of Sight. The show will premiere on our Alaska tour after we get back from Taiwan.
We’ve officially finalized our repertoire for the spring show For the Beauty of the Earth. Sheet music will be ordered in the next few months, and new arrangements have been assigned, and they will be due in December.
Education Outreach – Sam Green
High School Residency
The teachers have received their HSR Teacher Handbooks, and we are all preparing for our initial visits to each school in October. Our first visit will include a 60-minute concert with opportunities for Q&A. It’s always a great way to kick off our time with our schools!
International Outreach
Cantus provided two workshops while we were in China. Due to poor communication from the presenter and the language barrier, we were forced to throw together two guided performances. These would have been a total bust if it weren’t for our outstanding interpreter. The day before we left for Asia, our presenter asked us to provide workshops about the “development of a cappella.” We were later informed this meant the development of Western vocal music. We were caught with our hands tied as we only had enough music that Nick was comfortable with. I provided our interpreter with music history speaking points, and a chronological list of music we were prepared to perform. Our first workshop took place at what appeared to be a Karaoke Singing School, for an enthusiastic audience of older adults. After our time with them, we were mauled for photographs. The final workshop took place in the afternoon the same day of a 3:30am call time to catch a flight to Tianjin. On the bus ride to the hotel, our interpreter passed on the request from our presenter to provide 20 minutes worth of lecture on the development of Western vocal music, 15 minutes of music that was not on that evening’s concert, and then 15 minutes of “Interaction with 8-10 children.” Parts of the request were odd, other parts were impossible. We did our best to fulfill the request with the help of our interpreter, and ended the workshop with Q&A.
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.
Communications – Paul Scholtz
Cantus Activities Week by Week
- September 3 - Asia Tour (S. Korea)
- September 10 - Asia Tour (China)
- September 17 - Sweet Honey Concert!
- September 24 - Asia Tour (Taiwan)
Communication highlights
- Sweet Honey collaboration details
- Preliminary Inquiries with possible future collaborating artists
Operations/Production – Zac Colby
I am so proud of Cantus as we survived the first leg of our Asian tour. South Korea was a great experience with two nice concert halls and wonderful audiences. China was a bit of a disaster. We performed very well, but the conditions were really tough with long travel days, constant requests for more things than in our contract, illness among more than half of the singers, and some less than ideal accommodations. All that being said, we sang incredibly well and the audiences love us. We got to experience China in a way that I would guess most Americans don't get to, and did our best all things considered.
We are quickly turning around just had an incredibly successful rehearsal with Sweet Honey, again given less than ideal communication from them. By the time you read this, I'm sure the performance will have been great. We really owe it to our office who has been organizing and dealing with this program in our absence. We look forward to flying to Taiwan on Monday to participate in an incredible festival and then to come home for a few days and then head to Alaska on tour. This year is turning out to be quite the endurance test for all of us and we look forward to further challenges.
Programming – Chris Foss
After our first show in China, the presenter expressed concern over the length of show. Although the original length satisfied our contractual obligations, we ultimately made the decision to add about 15 more minutes of signing to the show, to great success. It’s also a testament to the musicianship of our substitute Nick Karageorgiou that he was able to prepare those pieces at such short notice.
We’ve begun rehearsing a 5-movement mass choir piece for our shows in Taiwan, and just learned the composer has made some changes, so we’ll be expecting to receive those when we land in Taiwan next week. We’ll also receive a shorter mass choir piece by the same composer that will function as an encore.
The next week will see us finalize speaking moments and materials - the last materials for the fall show Discovery of Sight. The show will premiere on our Alaska tour after we get back from Taiwan.
We’ve officially finalized our repertoire for the spring show For the Beauty of the Earth. Sheet music will be ordered in the next few months, and new arrangements have been assigned, and they will be due in December.
Education Outreach – Sam Green
High School Residency
The teachers have received their HSR Teacher Handbooks, and we are all preparing for our initial visits to each school in October. Our first visit will include a 60-minute concert with opportunities for Q&A. It’s always a great way to kick off our time with our schools!
International Outreach
Cantus provided two workshops while we were in China. Due to poor communication from the presenter and the language barrier, we were forced to throw together two guided performances. These would have been a total bust if it weren’t for our outstanding interpreter. The day before we left for Asia, our presenter asked us to provide workshops about the “development of a cappella.” We were later informed this meant the development of Western vocal music. We were caught with our hands tied as we only had enough music that Nick was comfortable with. I provided our interpreter with music history speaking points, and a chronological list of music we were prepared to perform. Our first workshop took place at what appeared to be a Karaoke Singing School, for an enthusiastic audience of older adults. After our time with them, we were mauled for photographs. The final workshop took place in the afternoon the same day of a 3:30am call time to catch a flight to Tianjin. On the bus ride to the hotel, our interpreter passed on the request from our presenter to provide 20 minutes worth of lecture on the development of Western vocal music, 15 minutes of music that was not on that evening’s concert, and then 15 minutes of “Interaction with 8-10 children.” Parts of the request were odd, other parts were impossible. We did our best to fulfill the request with the help of our interpreter, and ended the workshop with Q&A.
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.