FY16 November Artistic Council & Education Outreach Reports
Communications – Matthew Goinz
Cantus Activities Week by Week
• 10/19 Rehearsal, open rehearsal, AC & company meetings, NDSU Choral Symposium performance (featured ensemble)
• 10/26 Whitewater WI (w/outreach); Burlington IA (w/outreach); Emporia KS (w/outreach); programming meeting
• 11/2 Lincoln NE (w/outreach); Indiana PA (outreach residency); NY Carnegie Neighborhood; NY Music Mondays
• 11/9 Ensemble off
• 11/16 Rehearsal, HSR visits, MNACDA concert; Williams Bay WI; Romeo & Juliet, AC & company meetings
Communication Highlights
• Matt Tintes Fargo ND interview
• Chris Foss Emporia KS radio interview
• Chris Foss & Adam Fieldson Lincoln NE radio interview
• Matthew Goinz Indiana PA radio interview
• Joe Gregorio, Jane & James Clementi at NYC Music Mondays show
• Romeo & Juliet – met with Libby Larsen, Bill McCallum, Carla Steen, & Trish Santini – deadlines, donor event date, ’16 workshop dates, continue to develop vision statement
Press & Media
Burlington IA
http://www.thehawkeye.com/news/local/cantus-appears-featuring-grandson-of-burlington-woman/article_39bae1e3-5453-5593-9c12-19dfecf2d431.html
http://www.thehawkeye.com/news/local/cantus-does-civic-music-october/article_2ecd7c6b-fb81-5f7e-8506-638fd9a7dcd8.html
Fargo ND
http://www.inforum.com/variety/3866190-sweet-sounding-homecoming-ndsu-grad-returns-vocal-group
Emporia KS
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/article_01c536d9-298d-524a-a20b-e84d0bb63fe1.html
Colorado Public Radio
http://www.cpr.org/classical/story/watch-cantus-sings-haunting-music-ysaye-barnwell
Lincoln NE
Daily Nebraskan
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/arts_and_entertainment/unl-grads-return-to-lincoln-for-acapella-performance-at- lied/article_9c8948f2-8118-11e5-9e85-8be36f0979d6.html
UNL Today – Cantus | UNL Alum Story
http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/alumni-return-to-campus-for-lied-performance/
Hixson Lied Website – Cantus | UNL Alum Story
http://arts.unl.edu/music/news/alumnus-adam-fieldson-returns-unl-lied-performance-nov-3
Arts on the Air – Chris Foss Interview | UNL Alum Story
http://kzum.org/index.php/arts-on-the-air/
Journal Star – Calendar | Cantus
http://journalstar.com/print/calendar/performing-arts-calendar/article_16d836c6-90f5-5f8a-9301-22c2cb11fa70.html
Journal Star – Best Bets | Cantus
http://journalstar.com/entertainment/best-bets-oct--nov/article_05b344d1-f70b-5515-b07f-3750805b1a26.html
Journal Star – Review
http://m.journalstar.com/entertainment/music/review-nothing-but-love-for-cantus-at-the-lied-center/article_f0b62f59-7eb4-5ee4-9439-40653250c150.html?mobile_touch=true
NYC
http://www.clubfreetime.com/blog/archive/58
From Presenters
Burlington, IA
Hello Matthew...we truly enjoyed having your here! While for Bea and her family it was an extra special concert, I know that the entire audience fell "in love."
Barbara McRoberts, President of Burlington Civic Music
==========
“What supreme performances of sophisticated and moving songs with every word understandable. This was an evening of awe, with expectations surpassed, where perfection of musical skill and polish enabled revelation of meaning and feeling. What a fortunate and memorable musical experience for the Chamber Singers to enjoy with the Burlington music community.”
Elaine Reding, ED of the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa
Fargo, ND
Thanks so much for joining us at the symposium. I’ve heard many compliments about your program and the ensemble singing. Congrats to you and all of Cantus.
And – remind Tintes – Once a Bison, Always a Bison!
Mike
Michael Weber
Associate Director of Choral Activities
Challey School of Music
North Dakota State University
==========
Our pleasure to have Cantus at NDSU. Such a smart program-well executed and a pleasure to hear. And, it was great to have Matt Tintes back on home turf. Thanks again-stay in touch.
Bill Law
Director of Development /Division of Performing Arts
Executive Director/BisonArts
Emporia, KS
Hey Matthew!
We sooo enjoyed having you, as well! So glad you enjoyed your time here. Many have commented how much they enjoyed the show.
Safe travels to and from your next performances and have a happy holiday season!
Warmly,
Rebecca
Rebecca Romano
Marketing Manager and Development Coordinator
Emporia Arts Center
815 Commercial St.
Emporia, KS 66801
(620) 343-6473
www.emporiaksarts.org
Indiana, PA
Good Evening,
My name is Amber Leitsch and I am a member of IUP's Chorale. I just wanted to thank you for all of the work you put into having Cantus come and perform here! Not only were they extremely wonderful and helpful during their Q and A sessions and rehearsals, but they were a pleasure to work with and performing with them was an experience I will never forget.
Thank you for all that you do!
Sincerely,
-Amber Leitsch
New York
Zac,
You guys must get loads of messages from grateful composers, so I know I run the risk here of being a complete cliché. Oh well!
Thank you yet again, from the bottom of my heart, for the stunningly beautiful and deeply felt performances you and the guys have been giving of To My Brother. I don't think I can adequately express to you how gripped I was by your performance last night, and especially by your performance of my piece with the Clementis in attendance. Suffice it to say that I was a leaky mess listening to you guys sing my music so beautifully, and knowing that it now somehow has become a brighter part of the Clementis' difficult journey. They were deeply touched by your performance and likewise grateful for the very moving tribute to Tyler in words and in song.
For my part, I can say that collaborating with Cantus has been one of the "mountaintop" experiences of my career thus far. I will forever remain thankful to the group for taking a chance in commissioning me, and for breathing so much life and compassion into those little black dots on the page. I felt inspired, uplifted, and filled with awe and wonder hearing you sing my piece. This is also a bit cliché to say, but I didn't know how good the piece could be until I heard you sing it. It's difficult to imagine it ever sounding better than it did last night.
I hope you will accept my deepest apology for being a nitpicky bastard. It is something I struggle with on a daily basis -- in conducting, composing, writing, and even in child-rearing -- and I hope it's not what you and the other guys, with whom I hope you will share my message, remember me by. All I can say is that it comes from a good place. Sometimes it's a strength, and sometimes, well, you know.
Safe travels back to MN. I hope you enjoy some well-deserved down time at home.
I ardently hope our paths cross again someday, through collaboration, or otherwise. Thank you for sharing your gifts with this world so starved for experiences of beauty and joy that you can bring them through song. And thank you for sharing them with me.
Good luck in the rest of this season and best wishes as you plan the next!
Very gratefully yours,
Joe
--
Joseph Gregorio
===========
Thank you, Matthew--your performance clearly brought joy to many people. We were happy to present you, and we're glad to hear you had a good experience at Music Mondays.
Enjoy your time back home, and best wishes for the holiday tour season coming up!
Aaron
Aaron Wunsch, pianist
Faculty, The Juilliard School
Artistic Director, Music Mondays
Artistic Director, Skaneateles Festival
===========
Dear Matt,
Thank you for the wonderful note and for joining us on the series this season.
I heard absolutely lovely things about your performance and am sad that I could not make it myself!
Please do stay in touch.
Best,
Tiffany
Tiffany Ortiz
Associate, Family Programs
The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212-903-0786
Fax: 212-903-9797
Mobile:
tortiz@carnegiehall.org
carnegiehall.org
weillmusicinstitute.org
Production – Matt Tintes
-We are gearing up for our annual “Christmas with Cantus” concerts. As per usual, we have less rehearsal time for CWC than we’d like, which is something we’re going to try to remedy going forward. That said, I think we are in a really good spot. Before this week (Nov. 16-20), we only had two days of rehearsal together (which was just enough to sing through everything once), and then we occasionally rehearsed CWC music during our two week tour. However, the singers have really taken it upon themselves to prepare their music, and after a great rehearsal yesterday (Mon., 11/16), I am very optimistic that this show will not only be ready by our first performance (on Sun., 11/22), but that it will be something we can be proud of.
The new singers continue to improve and become an integral part of the “fabric” of the organization. Especially during the run of our home concerts, and then after going on a two week tour that took us all over the Midwest and Northeast, it really feels like these guys are part of the group, and no longer “the new guys”. Even though they’ve been contributing since they began with us in August, these past few weeks have really felt like a unified, solidified, Cantus.
Programming – Chris Foss
Our monthly Romeo and Juliet committee meeting was a success, including setting dates for a brief spring workshop and donor event, identifying more specific goals and upcoming deadlines for Libby, and also a really valuable discussion on scope and vision of the project. We won’t have another meeting until January.
Planning for 17-18 touring show is also underway, with a date set for experimentation with the St. Thomas engineering lab (March 7).
The materials for our application to the World Choral Symposium were assembled and sent off on time, including recording samples and letters of support from Dale Warland and Byron Adams.
Jeff Beal and I have continued correspondence, and it turns out he just accepted a gig scoring a documentary about soldiers with PTSD, which is very much in line with his composing project with us.
Would You Harbor Me is in it’s final stages of programming for the spring, and we are fully expecting it to be finalized in the next programming meeting. We also decided to do a very short call for scores to possibly have more materials to fill some gaps in the rough program. That process should be done very soon.
We have just finished submitting songs for Covers 2016 and will begin the process of listening/voting soon. Also this year a few people submitted famous albums to be considered as a whole. These will be added to consideration for their potential impact to the show.
Education Outreach Coordinator - Sam Green
High School Residency
This week was our first master class visit with our HSR schools. Split into trios, we established goals for the upcoming year with each school, and had the opportunity to coach the choirs during their school days. Our next workshop days will come in mid-January.
HSR students were encouraged to visit open rehearsals and attend our Christmas Concerts.
We received 7 applications for HSR candidates for 16-17. Chris Foss and I will evaluate the applications, and then present recommendations to the rest of the company.
National Outreach
Whitewater, WI, had a full-voiced mixed ensemble that took German diction coaching from a couple of Cantus singers, and a scrappy men’s group that made huge strides in stage presence and vocal production after working with us! Burlington, IA, enjoyed a house full of well-behaved 1st-6th graders for an hour long school concert. Emporia, KS, had an attentive audience of music majors and professors for a lecture demonstration. Great questions were asked following our presentation. Univ. Nebraska-Lincoln alums Chris and Adam had a wonderful homecoming, where we had the opportunity to work with Rocktavo (on a piece arranged by Chris while he was a grad student) and the University Singers. Especially rewarding was our 3 day residency working with choirs in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The collaboration with area high school male singers and the university choir received a fantastic audience reaction, and the singers of Cantus were able to make memorable impressions with director Ryan Beeken and his students.
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.
Cantus Activities Week by Week
• 10/19 Rehearsal, open rehearsal, AC & company meetings, NDSU Choral Symposium performance (featured ensemble)
• 10/26 Whitewater WI (w/outreach); Burlington IA (w/outreach); Emporia KS (w/outreach); programming meeting
• 11/2 Lincoln NE (w/outreach); Indiana PA (outreach residency); NY Carnegie Neighborhood; NY Music Mondays
• 11/9 Ensemble off
• 11/16 Rehearsal, HSR visits, MNACDA concert; Williams Bay WI; Romeo & Juliet, AC & company meetings
Communication Highlights
• Matt Tintes Fargo ND interview
• Chris Foss Emporia KS radio interview
• Chris Foss & Adam Fieldson Lincoln NE radio interview
• Matthew Goinz Indiana PA radio interview
• Joe Gregorio, Jane & James Clementi at NYC Music Mondays show
• Romeo & Juliet – met with Libby Larsen, Bill McCallum, Carla Steen, & Trish Santini – deadlines, donor event date, ’16 workshop dates, continue to develop vision statement
Press & Media
Burlington IA
http://www.thehawkeye.com/news/local/cantus-appears-featuring-grandson-of-burlington-woman/article_39bae1e3-5453-5593-9c12-19dfecf2d431.html
http://www.thehawkeye.com/news/local/cantus-does-civic-music-october/article_2ecd7c6b-fb81-5f7e-8506-638fd9a7dcd8.html
Fargo ND
http://www.inforum.com/variety/3866190-sweet-sounding-homecoming-ndsu-grad-returns-vocal-group
Emporia KS
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/article_01c536d9-298d-524a-a20b-e84d0bb63fe1.html
Colorado Public Radio
http://www.cpr.org/classical/story/watch-cantus-sings-haunting-music-ysaye-barnwell
Lincoln NE
Daily Nebraskan
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/arts_and_entertainment/unl-grads-return-to-lincoln-for-acapella-performance-at- lied/article_9c8948f2-8118-11e5-9e85-8be36f0979d6.html
UNL Today – Cantus | UNL Alum Story
http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/alumni-return-to-campus-for-lied-performance/
Hixson Lied Website – Cantus | UNL Alum Story
http://arts.unl.edu/music/news/alumnus-adam-fieldson-returns-unl-lied-performance-nov-3
Arts on the Air – Chris Foss Interview | UNL Alum Story
http://kzum.org/index.php/arts-on-the-air/
Journal Star – Calendar | Cantus
http://journalstar.com/print/calendar/performing-arts-calendar/article_16d836c6-90f5-5f8a-9301-22c2cb11fa70.html
Journal Star – Best Bets | Cantus
http://journalstar.com/entertainment/best-bets-oct--nov/article_05b344d1-f70b-5515-b07f-3750805b1a26.html
Journal Star – Review
http://m.journalstar.com/entertainment/music/review-nothing-but-love-for-cantus-at-the-lied-center/article_f0b62f59-7eb4-5ee4-9439-40653250c150.html?mobile_touch=true
NYC
http://www.clubfreetime.com/blog/archive/58
From Presenters
Burlington, IA
Hello Matthew...we truly enjoyed having your here! While for Bea and her family it was an extra special concert, I know that the entire audience fell "in love."
Barbara McRoberts, President of Burlington Civic Music
==========
“What supreme performances of sophisticated and moving songs with every word understandable. This was an evening of awe, with expectations surpassed, where perfection of musical skill and polish enabled revelation of meaning and feeling. What a fortunate and memorable musical experience for the Chamber Singers to enjoy with the Burlington music community.”
Elaine Reding, ED of the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa
Fargo, ND
Thanks so much for joining us at the symposium. I’ve heard many compliments about your program and the ensemble singing. Congrats to you and all of Cantus.
And – remind Tintes – Once a Bison, Always a Bison!
Mike
Michael Weber
Associate Director of Choral Activities
Challey School of Music
North Dakota State University
==========
Our pleasure to have Cantus at NDSU. Such a smart program-well executed and a pleasure to hear. And, it was great to have Matt Tintes back on home turf. Thanks again-stay in touch.
Bill Law
Director of Development /Division of Performing Arts
Executive Director/BisonArts
Emporia, KS
Hey Matthew!
We sooo enjoyed having you, as well! So glad you enjoyed your time here. Many have commented how much they enjoyed the show.
Safe travels to and from your next performances and have a happy holiday season!
Warmly,
Rebecca
Rebecca Romano
Marketing Manager and Development Coordinator
Emporia Arts Center
815 Commercial St.
Emporia, KS 66801
(620) 343-6473
www.emporiaksarts.org
Indiana, PA
Good Evening,
My name is Amber Leitsch and I am a member of IUP's Chorale. I just wanted to thank you for all of the work you put into having Cantus come and perform here! Not only were they extremely wonderful and helpful during their Q and A sessions and rehearsals, but they were a pleasure to work with and performing with them was an experience I will never forget.
Thank you for all that you do!
Sincerely,
-Amber Leitsch
New York
Zac,
You guys must get loads of messages from grateful composers, so I know I run the risk here of being a complete cliché. Oh well!
Thank you yet again, from the bottom of my heart, for the stunningly beautiful and deeply felt performances you and the guys have been giving of To My Brother. I don't think I can adequately express to you how gripped I was by your performance last night, and especially by your performance of my piece with the Clementis in attendance. Suffice it to say that I was a leaky mess listening to you guys sing my music so beautifully, and knowing that it now somehow has become a brighter part of the Clementis' difficult journey. They were deeply touched by your performance and likewise grateful for the very moving tribute to Tyler in words and in song.
For my part, I can say that collaborating with Cantus has been one of the "mountaintop" experiences of my career thus far. I will forever remain thankful to the group for taking a chance in commissioning me, and for breathing so much life and compassion into those little black dots on the page. I felt inspired, uplifted, and filled with awe and wonder hearing you sing my piece. This is also a bit cliché to say, but I didn't know how good the piece could be until I heard you sing it. It's difficult to imagine it ever sounding better than it did last night.
I hope you will accept my deepest apology for being a nitpicky bastard. It is something I struggle with on a daily basis -- in conducting, composing, writing, and even in child-rearing -- and I hope it's not what you and the other guys, with whom I hope you will share my message, remember me by. All I can say is that it comes from a good place. Sometimes it's a strength, and sometimes, well, you know.
Safe travels back to MN. I hope you enjoy some well-deserved down time at home.
I ardently hope our paths cross again someday, through collaboration, or otherwise. Thank you for sharing your gifts with this world so starved for experiences of beauty and joy that you can bring them through song. And thank you for sharing them with me.
Good luck in the rest of this season and best wishes as you plan the next!
Very gratefully yours,
Joe
--
Joseph Gregorio
===========
Thank you, Matthew--your performance clearly brought joy to many people. We were happy to present you, and we're glad to hear you had a good experience at Music Mondays.
Enjoy your time back home, and best wishes for the holiday tour season coming up!
Aaron
Aaron Wunsch, pianist
Faculty, The Juilliard School
Artistic Director, Music Mondays
Artistic Director, Skaneateles Festival
===========
Dear Matt,
Thank you for the wonderful note and for joining us on the series this season.
I heard absolutely lovely things about your performance and am sad that I could not make it myself!
Please do stay in touch.
Best,
Tiffany
Tiffany Ortiz
Associate, Family Programs
The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212-903-0786
Fax: 212-903-9797
Mobile:
tortiz@carnegiehall.org
carnegiehall.org
weillmusicinstitute.org
Production – Matt Tintes
-We are gearing up for our annual “Christmas with Cantus” concerts. As per usual, we have less rehearsal time for CWC than we’d like, which is something we’re going to try to remedy going forward. That said, I think we are in a really good spot. Before this week (Nov. 16-20), we only had two days of rehearsal together (which was just enough to sing through everything once), and then we occasionally rehearsed CWC music during our two week tour. However, the singers have really taken it upon themselves to prepare their music, and after a great rehearsal yesterday (Mon., 11/16), I am very optimistic that this show will not only be ready by our first performance (on Sun., 11/22), but that it will be something we can be proud of.
The new singers continue to improve and become an integral part of the “fabric” of the organization. Especially during the run of our home concerts, and then after going on a two week tour that took us all over the Midwest and Northeast, it really feels like these guys are part of the group, and no longer “the new guys”. Even though they’ve been contributing since they began with us in August, these past few weeks have really felt like a unified, solidified, Cantus.
Programming – Chris Foss
Our monthly Romeo and Juliet committee meeting was a success, including setting dates for a brief spring workshop and donor event, identifying more specific goals and upcoming deadlines for Libby, and also a really valuable discussion on scope and vision of the project. We won’t have another meeting until January.
Planning for 17-18 touring show is also underway, with a date set for experimentation with the St. Thomas engineering lab (March 7).
The materials for our application to the World Choral Symposium were assembled and sent off on time, including recording samples and letters of support from Dale Warland and Byron Adams.
Jeff Beal and I have continued correspondence, and it turns out he just accepted a gig scoring a documentary about soldiers with PTSD, which is very much in line with his composing project with us.
Would You Harbor Me is in it’s final stages of programming for the spring, and we are fully expecting it to be finalized in the next programming meeting. We also decided to do a very short call for scores to possibly have more materials to fill some gaps in the rough program. That process should be done very soon.
We have just finished submitting songs for Covers 2016 and will begin the process of listening/voting soon. Also this year a few people submitted famous albums to be considered as a whole. These will be added to consideration for their potential impact to the show.
Education Outreach Coordinator - Sam Green
High School Residency
This week was our first master class visit with our HSR schools. Split into trios, we established goals for the upcoming year with each school, and had the opportunity to coach the choirs during their school days. Our next workshop days will come in mid-January.
HSR students were encouraged to visit open rehearsals and attend our Christmas Concerts.
We received 7 applications for HSR candidates for 16-17. Chris Foss and I will evaluate the applications, and then present recommendations to the rest of the company.
National Outreach
Whitewater, WI, had a full-voiced mixed ensemble that took German diction coaching from a couple of Cantus singers, and a scrappy men’s group that made huge strides in stage presence and vocal production after working with us! Burlington, IA, enjoyed a house full of well-behaved 1st-6th graders for an hour long school concert. Emporia, KS, had an attentive audience of music majors and professors for a lecture demonstration. Great questions were asked following our presentation. Univ. Nebraska-Lincoln alums Chris and Adam had a wonderful homecoming, where we had the opportunity to work with Rocktavo (on a piece arranged by Chris while he was a grad student) and the University Singers. Especially rewarding was our 3 day residency working with choirs in Indiana, Pennsylvania. The collaboration with area high school male singers and the university choir received a fantastic audience reaction, and the singers of Cantus were able to make memorable impressions with director Ryan Beeken and his students.
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.