Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy lets kids be kids (Jane DeLoach Morison)

We are engaged in our annual campaign for the Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy. Recently, someone from a charitable foundation told me in a letter that while our organization was worthwhile we did not fall into their mission.

So our administrator asked me, “Do they truly know who we are and what we do?”

I started thinking about what we truly do, and I realized it is simple: We help children.

We give them responsibility. We give them accountability. We give them leadership opportunities. We give them community service opportunities. Some of our kids are singing to raise money for a children’s hospital, yet their own parents can’t afford medical care. Some are singing to raise money for hunger charities, yet they go home to an empty refrigerator.

We believe kids have only a ... continue reading

Appeal for choristers for poignant Christmas memorial (Rhiannon McDowall)

Organisers of a festive remembrance event are appealing for choristers to provide some musical accompaniment to the event.

Every year the council holds a 'Tree of Light' ceremony at Macclesfield Cemetery to help families remember their loved ones at Christmas.

Bereaved relatives are invited to write a Christmas message to their loved ones on a star which is then hung on a 30ft tall yew tree at the cemetery.

The tree lights are ... continue reading

Mansfield Choral Society to present Messiah at Palace Theatre

Mansfield Choral Society will share their joy of singing with a civic concert this weekend at the town’s Palace Theatre.

They are joined by new voices from the local community to perform Handel’s sacred oratorio, Messiah, on Saturday, November 1, at 7.30pm.

Although Mansfield Choral Society has ... continue reading

Cuban choir to bring joyous music (Pauline Zulueta)

High River’s Gift of Music series will be featuring a different kind of classical music this November as the Creole Choir of Cuba will perform at High River United Church on Nov. 1.

“These are musicians that are representative of a different culture,” said Michèle Wheatley-Brown, artistic and executive director of High River Gift of Music Society. “We have had world music here before...but to have such a big group is something we’ve never done before.”

The choir is comprised of ten members from Camagüey, Cuba who each have classical music training. The group shares the ... continue reading

Maasai Choir to Perform in Helena [Pamoja Ministries]

HELENA, MT - A message of faith and fearlessness is coming from the continent of Africa and it is spreading right here in North America. This fall, the En-kata choir from Tanzania, East Africa, is sharing songs and stories about the awesome power of God at work in their community. The ‘Why Such Fear?' Tour 2014 will be in Helena, Montana at Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church on October 8th, at Helena Alliance Church on October 10th, at Helena Valley Faith Center on October 11th and 12th with their moving performance.

Choir member Naitapuaki Lengina explains the title of the tour: “In our lives, we have challenges, but since our God is with us, Why Such Fear?” Her own story is an example of the hope and good news coming from a continent that in the West is more often known for having to ... continue reading

Mousehole Choir unite Cornish singers to support Newlyn's Fishermen's Mission [CMScott]

Five Cornish choirs sang their hearts out to raise £2,500 for Newlyn’s Fishermen’s Mission.

Mousehole Male Voice Choir joined Mevagissey Male Choir, Nankersey Male Choir, Newquay Male Voice Choir and the Polperro Fishermen’s Choir to raise a Redruth church roof for the mission.

The event was orchestrated by Mousehole MD Stephen Lawry whose members were keen to mark their support for Cornwall’s fishermen after they suffered a cataclysmic winter.

The concert was compered by ... continue reading

2 students make All-Region Choir; SSHS Choir’s Fall Concert Monday at FBC (mySSnews.com)

Two Sulphur Springs High School Choir students advanced from the All-Region Choir to Pre-Area Choir auditions Saturday.

Senior Teresa Botello and junior Sarah Bennett competed at All-Region Saturday, Sept. 27,  at Pine Tree Junior High School in Longview. Both students’ vocal skills earned them a spot in the All-Region Choir, qualifying them to try-out for the Pre-Area Choir in November.

“Both of the girls learned ... continue reading

Choir wows its audience (Hucknall Today)

Nottingham’s Albert Hall echoed to the sounds of Songs and Music from Stage and Screen, which was the theme for Bestwood Male Voice Choir’s 62nd Annual Gala Concert.

The concert, supporting the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research charity, delighted an appreciative audience which included prestigious guests Wendy Start, the Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, and Professor Chris Bunce (research director for the charity) among others.

The combined talents of ... continue reading

Central choir shares stage with Under the Streetlamp (Richmond Register)

Madison Central High School’s madrigal choir never had a better professional performance experience than it did Thursday evening, said its director, Lisa Jury.

The school’s 30 top-tier choir students performed two songs on the EKU Center for the Arts stage Thursday evening with Under the Streetlamp.

The group was formed by ... continue reading

Nigerian gospel (Nigerian gospel)

Gosple musicis a kind of African, motivational Christian music that has become a major part of Nigerian music. In the 1960s the Evangelical Church of West Africa Choir was popular, and in the early 1970s Bola Aare, Sola Rotimi, Good women Choir, Ebenezer Obey and later, Panam Percy Paul, Onyeka Onwenu, Lanre Teriba (ATORISE), Tope Alabi, Asu Ekiye, Keffi, and Sammie Okposo were notable. Also, in the early 1970s & 80s Arch Bishop Benson Idahosa's choir, The Christian Redeemed Voices were known for their gospel sound. He the late Bishop, would purchase instruments for the choir and each one of them would be mastered by skillful musicians. The Bishop would challenge his student pastors and young adult church members to pick up instruments and play them. Play them...they did, no training only the gift of God deposited and called out by the Bishop. There was a lady by the name of Minister Dorothy James (Evangel Temple, USA) and Rev. David Mporampora(Uganda)they transformed gospel music in West Africa. Nigeria in particular. I would say without a doubt, they laid the foundation of the sound we now hear. Many students were from other West African nations and they took that sound and ... continue reading

Perfect way for Choral Society to recruit Friends (Banbury Guardian)

Banbury Choral Society hosted its Friends launch event on Friday in the Great Hall at the stunning location of Broughton Castle.

The choir, conducted by musical director Julian Harris, sang a programme of music that was both moving and uplifting, interspersed with solo pieces by young students from the Youth Outreach Scheme.

The event was attended by Lord and Lady Saye & Sele, the Mayor of Banbury Councillor Sean Woodcock, and Sir Paul Hayter, the choir’s president.

The four pieces sung by the choir were all composed in the 18th Century and perfectly suited the setting.

Haydn’s Te Deum was followed by Bach’s well-known Jesus Joy of Man’s Desiring, Mozart’s Ave Verum and, completing the evening, Handel’s coronation masterpiece Zadok.

While I felt Ave Verum was sung a little too slowly, all the pieces were beautifully balanced and showed the choir’s talent to the full. It was fun that the solo pieces were ... continue reading

Shewey to be honored for service to bell choir ( Deb Holland Meade County Times-Tribune staff)

STURGIS | Dedicated, enthusiastic, hard-working and fun.

That's how Mimi Shewey describes the bell choir members she has been hanging around for more than 40 years at the First Presbyterian Church in Sturgis.

What's special about this relationship is that the members of the choir would describe their director in the same manner.

The church will a host a reception to honor Shewey for her 41 years of dedication to the Chapel Bell Choir from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5 in the Erskine Club Room at the church.

Shewey gave birth to the Chapel Bell Choir at the church in 1973 and it's been going strong every since.

"I just got the idea that our church should have a bell choir," she said. "I thought the idea was great."

So, Shewey went to visit the ... continue reading

Choir Boy Looks at Homosexuality in a Black Prep School (Steven Leigh Morris)

At first, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s study of five, black prep-school students (Jeremy Pope, Nicholas L. Ashe, Donovan Mitchell, Grantham Coleman and Caleb Eberhardt), along with their stern headmaster (Michael A.Shepperd) and a visiting white professor (Leonard Kelly-Young) from the Civil Rights era, might seem schematic. The “group drama” about opportunity and its lack in a callous world is carved from plays ranging from Trevor Griffith’s Comedians to Herbert Ross’ Steel Magnolias.

Eventually, however, McCraney’s poetical-musical style, along with Trip Cullman’s perfect staging, transforms a stock scenario into a kind of oratorio: The five students, as part of the school choir, punctuate the action with ... continue reading

Albacappella bring harmony to Deeside village fun day (Deeside Piper)

A CULTER-based women’s choir used their talents to help out another Deeside village recently, performing at the Durris Fun Day event.

The Albacappella barbershop-style harmony singers, who normally rehearse in Peterculter’s Heritage Hall on Wednesday evenings, went along to the Fun Day on September 20 to help raise funds for the Durris Village Hall and community,.

Albacappella member Sarah Hopkins told the Piper: “Hundreds turned out for the event and we were delighted to help.”

The whole Durris community were involved including the Primary School Parents and local churches, and those who ... continue reading

Threshold Choir in Lawrence comes alive to sing for the dying (DONALD BRADLEY The Kansas City Star)

LAWRENCE

The open door lets the women’s singing waft into the cool evening.

Had someone passed by on the narrow, residential street in this college town, they may have slowed, stopped even. And listened in the dark to the two-round, a cappella harmony coming from the small, white house.

But they likely would not have recognized a tune or lyric. The songs are not for them.

They are for the dying.

The women inside make up Lawrence’s new Threshold Choir. The idea is for members to go in small groups to a hospice setting, hospital or home and sing softly at the bedsides of those near death.

At the recent rehearsal, member Anne Haehl tells the ... continue reading

Choir Boy' melds music and message at Geffen (Los Angeles Times)

A transformation happens to the students of Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys whenever they open their mouths to sing. As soon as these feisty adolescents give themselves over to the Negro Spirituals that inspired their ancestors, the jousting, bickering and name-calling that have been dominating their extracurricular lives no longer seem all that important.

A similar change happens to Tarell Alvin McCraney's drama "Choir Boy" whenever these characters switch from speech to song. A play with a plot that could easily be incorporated into a season of "Glee" moves from prose to ... continue reading

Choral Chameleon Joins MYTHOS at 92Y, Set for 10/6

Singers from Choral Chameleon have joined the lineup of exciting guest performers in MYTHOS! Choral Chameleon presents a vocal experience like no other. Led by founder and artistic director Vince Peterson, this unique ensemble of the city's most versatile and adventurous professional singers performs vocal thematic journeys through kaleidoscopic elements of new works and uncovered gems, sitting shoulder to shoulder with revered classical works. Vince Peterson is the founder of Choral Chameleon, a ground-breaking vocal ensemble in New York City, which ... continue reading

U-E senior sings her way to state choral performance

ENDICOTT – K Morgan Prikazsky describes herself as a shy person who doesn’t try to flaunt her talents.

The 17-year-old Union-Endicott High School senior said she hopes to break her habit of keeping to herself during an opportunity to sing with hundreds of student musicians from across the state.

Prikazsky, of Endicott, was chosen as one of about a dozen students in the Southern Tier as a ... continue reading

Cootamundra Public School choir success -Cootamundra Herald

COOTAMUNDRA Public School choir students have achieved a first place and a highly commended at the Wagga Wagga Eisteddfod held at Charles Sturt University on Friday September 5.

The eisteddfod, held annually, attracts choirs from schools around our region to compete in various choral sections.

The infants Year Two choir performed two pieces, ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ from the movie, Frozen, and a contrasting piece, ‘Pretty little ditty’.

The students were commended for ... continue reading

Choral society plea for men with passion -Henley Standard

Henley Choral Society is seeking new singers to join them to sing the Bach St John Passion in German on March 14 in 2015.

There are no auditions and new members will be performing with Tenor Nicolas Mulroy, who has gained international recognition for his performances as The Evangelist.

Music director Benjamin Goodson, 23, explains: “I am so thrilled to have the privilege of performing this magnificent piece of music in Henley.

“For me, this sublime work is ... continue reading