ARC is pleased to announce that they have officially hired Torri Airhart as Artistic Director!
 
You may know Torri as the Principal Director of Up2Something and She’s Up2Something. Now, he is taking a new direction into shaping how ARC looks, feels, and exists for those already within the organization and those who join ARC’s future. Torri is excited to continue with ARC in a new role and continue work with an amazing group of singers and staff, as he splits his time between conducting and being their new AD.
 
“My ideal for ARC is where people can feel comfortable, happy, accepted, stimulated and refreshed, regardless of their job, religion or financial status. I want ARC to be a place where everyone is learning, and where musical literacy is celebrated. Rather than restricting ourselves to the stereotypical adult show choir, we can embrace a wide variety of music - recognizing that in doing so we are becoming better singers and musicians, and that we are pushing ourselves and the organization down the road in our ever evolving learning journey.”
 
Learn more about ARC by visiting their website: https://www.archoirs.org/
Follow ARC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archoirs 
 
ARC is a recreational choir and the only prerequisite is that you can match pitch. Their members range from 18-85+ years and come to rehearsal with a wide spectrum of musical training and ability, many having never sung in a choir before! ARC is a great place to stretch yourself and learn the joys of choral music and community.
 
Vision: Bringing the Calgary community to its feet by awakening, nurturing and sharing the magic of voices in harmony.

Mission: To provide creative and challenging opportunities for adults to enrich their lives and our community through musical expression and Performing Arts

The Calgary Foundation is pleased to announce the Douglas Parnham Memorial Scholarship for Choral Music, a scholarship opportunity which supports students studying music, specializing in Choral Music and Music Education.

There is one scholarship valued at $1,000. The deadline to apply is May 15 at midnight. 

Applicants must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Be studying music, specializing in Choral Music and Music Education.
• Be enrolled in third year of study or beyond of an undergraduate degree or studying at the Graduate level.
• Be attending University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, Ambrose University, MacEwan University, Concordia University of Edmonton or The King’s University.
• Demonstrate a choral background, passion for teaching, music education for youth and leadership in choral conducting.

 
For more information and to apply for this scholarship, please visit the Calgary Foundation website here. To access the Student Awards Online Portal, select the scholarship from the list and click 'Apply Now'.

If there are any questions, please contact studentawards@calgaryfoundation.org.   

The Messiah Project is an Against the Grain Theatre and Opera InReach collaborative effort giving two schools from across Canada a professional filming and recording experience and a pre-show feature for the premiere of the internationally acclaimed Messiah/Complex! 

Two Canadian choirs, whose members are aged 14-18, will perform the “Hallelujah Chorus”  from Handel’s Messiah in a video that will be featured in the pre-show event of Against the Grain’s Messiah/Complex. On top of singing the piece, choirs will create a filmed version of their performance. The final product will result in a video of both choirs’ performances combined, but each choir will receive a video of their group’s performance.

The chosen choirs will receive:

• A professional recording and filming opportunity
• A filmed “music video” of their Hallelujah Chorus performance 
• A meet-and-greet chat with an artist from Messiah/Complex
• A feature in the pre-show experience of Messiah/Complex including interviews and discussion with selected students and ensemble leaders
• A feature on both Opera InReach & Against the Grain’s websites

Secondary school choirs in Canada, or community choirs for singers aged 14-18, are eligible to apply.

HOW TO APPLY
​To apply, submit either a video or written response that allows us to get to know your choir and community. All official submissions must be submitted through our Google Form by your teacher/conductor. If you create a social video, generate some buzz for your choir by sharing it and tagging @operainreach and @atgtheatre using the hashtag #themessiahproject. 

For written responses, there will be a form field in the application as well as an option to upload an image or sample of your work.

Application Deadline: October 15th, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. 

For more information, visit the Opera InReach website: ​https://www.operainreach.com/the-messiah-project​

The Sound Space conducting workshop will serve Calgary conductors who work in schools, community ensembles, and faith community settings. This one-day workshop targets the needs of emerging conductors, teachers near the outset of their careers, university music students, and instrumental conductors wanting to gain choral experience. 

This workshop will take place Saturday 25 September 2021 in Calgary.

The Sound Space workshop provides cross-training in four fundamental tasks of the conductor:

• How can conductors foster a sound space? 
• How does vocal tone and expression determine conducting gesture and pedagogy?
• How can conductors bring scores to life through analysis and by taking personal ownership of the music? 
• How can conductors combine the technical and the expressive in their gesture?

Participants will receive full-group instruction, small-group instruction, and individual instruction. The entire workshop will be structured around four choral pieces. Participants are asked to study all four pieces in advance, and to prepare one of them to conduct and receive coaching during the final masterclass.  

Registration Deadline: 15 August. Registrations after the deadline will be considered if space is available.

For more information and to register for this workshop, please visit the Spiritus Chamber Choir website.

After missing performing for over a year, the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers are excited to announce a unique and COVID-19 friendly “Car Choir” event from the safety of our own vehicles. Under director Dr. Timothy Shantz, the Madrigal Singers will be performing together using microphones, hearing each other through the car radios.

The concert will take place on Saturday, March 13 at 11AM, in Parking Lot N at the University of Alberta (closest to the Fine Arts Building and HUB Mall), and the performance will last between 60-75 minutes.

Audience members can get tickets for $25 per car, as well as pre-purchase brunch options, courtesy of Under The High Wheel. Ticket-holders will be able to choose from three brunch options, which will be handed out upon arrival to the event. 

Please note, brunch options must be purchased by Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Online ticket sales will also cut-off 2 hours prior to the event, and there will be no opportunity to purchase tickets at the event.

Tickets and brunch can be purchased here: https://subline.ualberta.ca/portals/11

Elk Island Regional Honour Choirs are pleased to announce their spring 50/50 Fundraiser, taking place from February 15 to March 30, 2021. The prize for this 50/50 will be half of ticket sales, to a maximum of $2,500.

The Choirs are operated by the Elk Island Regional Honour Choirs Association and offer three auditioned choirs for students residing in the Strathcona County and surrounding areas. Choristers range in ages from 5 to 19. The choirs exist to enrich the musical experience of gifted amateur singers and are funded in part by membership fees, fundraising, business sponsorships and grants. Choirs practice weekly, with three concerts annually, including the Imagine Concert, which raises funds for a cause important to the choristers. In addition, the Secondary choir tours within Canada and the Junior choir performs at local schools. All of the choirs participate in additional events such as performing at music festivals, the Festival of Trees, at nursing homes, churches, sporting and other public events.

For more information on this fundraiser and the Elk Island Regional Honour Choirs Association, please visit their website: http://www.elkislandchoirs.ca/

4TH ANNUAL CHORAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION
DEADLINE EXTENDED: 11 January 2021

Chronos Vocal Ensemble is an ambitious nonprofessional choir based in the Edmonton area. Founded in 2013, we deliver compelling and high-calibre choral performances in Edmonton and beyond. In 2015, we won the Healey Willan Grand Prize in the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Chronos has released three recordings, each including new music by Canadian composers: Presenting Chronos Vocal Ensemble (2015), The Simplest Way: The Music of Trent Worthington (2016) and Fresh:New Music from Canada (2018). The choir has performed at Podium both in 2016 (Edmonton) and 2018 (St. John’s). In March 2020, Chronos appeared at the Northwest Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Spokane, WA. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in the initial part of the 2020-21 Season, Chronos Vocal Ensemble has produced outdoor performances, experimented with virtual and in-person rehearsal styles, and released two virtual-choir-style recordings including the premiere of Matthew Emery’s new work “Breathe”. Now, we are pleased to launch the 2020 edition of the Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Composition Competition.

For 2020 we are seeking a composition that will feel timely and relevant for performance in spring 2021 but which will also be meaningful beyond the short term. We also prefer to select a winning entry that will provide for flexibility in the means of rehearsing and producing a premiere performance if necessary. This may mean limited in-person rehearsal, a premiere in virtual-choir style, or with a reduced number of singers.

The competition prize has been generously provided by an anonymous supporter for the fourth consecutive season.

Eligibility

• Composer must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or landed immigrant. 
• The work submitted must be original, not an arrangement of a pre-existing work or melody. 
• The composition must not have been commissioned, published, performed or recorded at the time of entry, and must remain so until premiered by Chronos Vocal Ensemble within the following year. 
• Entries employing a text under copyright must provide proof of permission.

Prizes

• The winning composition will be premiered by Chronos Vocal Ensemble in 2021 in live or recorded format. The composer will receive a recording of the performance.
• A prize of $1500 will be awarded.
• Chronos Vocal Ensemble will champion the winning composition and promote the work further as warranted. 

Full guidelines and submission instructions are found at https://chronosvocalensemble.com/new-music/choral-composition-competition/

Long & McQuade is proud to announce that their annual reading clinics will be offered in a virtual format this year. All sessions are FREE and there will be something for everyone! 

AUGUST 19 — three sessions of secular music presented by  Willi Zwozdesky
 
1) High School and Adult Community Choir
2) Middle School and Children's Choir
3) Advanced Mixed-Voice and Equal Voice Choir
 
AUGUST 20 — sacred music led by Joseph Martin
 
1) Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.
2) General Worship and Ordinary Time
3) Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost

To register and for more information about any session please email Tracy Richardson at 
trichardson@long-mcquade.com. Be sure to indicate the specific session(s) you are interested in joining.

THIRD ANNUAL CHORAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION
Deadline: December 15, 2019
Chronos Vocal Ensemble is an ambitious nonprofessional choir based in the Edmonton area, and the Healey Willan Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Founded in 2013, we perform an annual season of concerts in Edmonton and tour regularly in the surrounding area. The ensemble has released three recordings: Presenting Chronos Vocal Ensemble (2015), The Simplest Way: The Music of Trent Worthington (2016) and most recently Fresh (2018); each recording features new Canadian compositions for choir. Chronos performed at Podium 2016 (Edmonton) and 2018 (St. John’s); in March 2020 the choir will undertake a first international tour, anchored by a performance at the Northwest Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Spokane.
We are pleased to launch the 2019 edition of the Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Composition Competition. This year, for the first time, we are providing a defining parameter for the competition: all entries must set poetry of Sara Teasdale, and the winning entry will be performed on an April 2020 program devoted to settings of this poet.
American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) created a wealth of texts that have since been treated by composers from all over the world, and her lyricism and vivid descriptions of nature and inner life are a treasure trove for those who set words to music. We encourage prospective entrants to learn about the poet and become familiar with this rich material: PoetryFoundation.org. and Poets.org. Complete poetry available in hardcover, paperback and kindle from amazon.ca (not an affiliate link)
 
Eligibility
● Composer must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or landed immigrant.
● The work submitted must be original, not an arrangement of a pre-existing work or melody.
● The composition must not have been commissioned, published, performed or recorded at the time of entry, and must remain so until premiered by Chronos Vocal Ensemble within the following year.
● Composition must substantially be a setting of the words of Sara Teasdale
Prizes
● The winning composition will be performed by Chronos Vocal Ensemble in April 2020. The winner will receive a recording of the performance.
● Prize of $1500 will be awarded.
● Chronos Vocal Ensemble will champion the winning composition and to promote the work further as warranted.
● For a competition winner interested in attending the premiere, Chronos Music Society may be able to contribute to costs.
Full Guidelines and Entry Form available at chronosvocalensemble.com/competition
 

 
Chronos Music Society, c/o 10615 137 St Edmonton AB T5N2H5. 
Charity registration # 820201788RR0001.