Laud to the Nativity

Don't miss our annual holiday concert, "Laud to the Nativity," on December 19 at 7:30 pm in Libby Gardner Concert Hall!

Tickets available through our homepage. See you there!

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who attended and made our first concert of the season, "Made in America," a great success! Special thanks to Spence Kinard for narrating the program and tying everything together.

Mark your calendars now for our December concert, "Laud to the Nativity," on Saturday, December 19. This season has started out with a bang, and it's sure to only get better!

Fall Concert

Saturday, October 17
7:30 PM, Libby Gardner Concert Hall
Tickets available through Kingsbury Hall or our website. May also be available at the door the night of the concert

Don't miss it!

Facebook Fans

Make sure you join the Salt Lake Choral Artists Facebook Fan Page to not only keep up with all the latest news and concert announcements, but also take advantage of some great media!

We already have a lot of pictures from previous events, with more sure to come, and we've just begun featuring songs on our music player. The first featured song is a live performance of an arrangement of George Gershwin's "'S Wonderful." Since our first concert this season features American music, this is a great way to get in the mood!

New songs will be added periodically, and we'll also feature videos from our new YouTube channel.

If you are already a member of facebook, join our fan page today! If you're not a member, sign up for free and hop on board! You won't be sorry!

Season Tickets

Tickets for our 2009-2010 are now available for purchase.

You may buy tickets for individual concerts or buy season tickets. Prices and further information can be found on our website.

Buy season tickets before October 10 and receive an Early Bird discount: get the entire season for only $50!

Visit our website to purchase. We've got a great season of music lined up---you won't want to miss a single concert!

SLCA is on YouTube!

The Salt Lake Choral Artists now has its very own YouTube channel! You can view it here. Arvo Pärt's "Te Deum" is the first video available (in four parts due to length) with more on the way.

Subscribe, rate, and spread the word! And keep watching!

SLCA's 2009/10 Concert Season

We're ready to go on our new concert season, and we're very excited! Season brochures will be available soon. In the meantime, use this note to mark your calendars now! You won't want to miss any part of this season.

October 17: Made in America
Moving past pop and rock and roll, the Salt Lake Choral Artists explore the roots of American music. The choir will sing selections from Carol Barnett's "Bluegrass Mass," along with traditional folk music, African-American spirituals, gospel music, jazz, and music from the American musical theater. Also including sacred and secular music by living American composers, this concert truly represents a melting pot of styles.

December 19: Laud to the Nativity
Featuring soprano Carol Ann Allred, tenor Todd Miller, and mezzo-soprano Laura Garff Lewis, Respighi's "Laud to the Nativity" charmingly and intimately tells the nativity story through the eyes of the shepherds. Dr. Allred will also direct the Salt Lake Choral Artists in Ariel Ramirez' "Navidad Nuestra," which sets the Christmas story against a tapestry of traditional Latin American dance styles and instrumentation. The concert will include the music of Arvo Part, selections from Sergei Rachmaninoff's "All Night Vigil," and familiar favorites by John Rutter.

February 20: Beatlemania
John, Paul, George, and Ringo: those four iconic names that changed the face of pop music forever. Experience the British Invasion all over again as the Salt Lake Choral Artists sing the classic music of Lennon and McCartney as well as music by artists that both influenced and were influenced by the Beatles. With Get Back, a live Beatles cover band, and the award-winning vocal ensemble T minus 5, this is sure to be a night to remember!

May 15: Lux Aeterna - Eternal Light
Light: hope, faith, life, joy. Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna," a beautiful work for choir and chamber orchestra, fully expresses the idea of light in both its soaring, majestic phrases and its moments of quiet serenity. With texts drawn from a variety of sacred Latin sources, the piece emphasizes heavenly light. The Salt Lake Choral Artists will also premiere "One Light," a newly commissioned work by Ray Shattenkirk that draws its inspiration from religious poems from many faiths.

Free Concert!

Don't miss the concert of the last weekend session of the Summer Choral Institute, featuring John Rutter's "Psalmfest." This concert is free, and you'll get to hear the choir along with a chamber orchestra and soloists George Dyer and Carol Ann Allred.

This is a very exciting event and a great way to wrap up this part of this year's SCI. Tell all your friends! And come with them!

Details:

Saturday, August 8
7:30
Libby Gardner Concert Hall
School of Music, U of U campus
FREE!

See you there!

Our First CD Release!

The Salt Lake Choral Artists are proud to present their first CD release:

He Loves Me, sacred choral works by David R. Naylor


David Naylor is a Utah composer, and SLCA is proud to promote the works of local artists. You may hear samples of some of the tracks here, and you may purchase the CD at our boutique (online soon or in person at an SCI event or any concert), or from any choir member.

Thank you for your support!

Free concert!

There's a free concert tomorrow night (Saturday, July 11) in Thompson Chamber Hall at the University of Utah. It begins at 7:30, and features music for women's voices. There's folk songs, Broadway tunes, and everything in between. Come for a fun, free night of great music!

Utah Composers and more conducting

July is a busy month for the Salt Lake Choral Artists. Don't miss the next great SCI sessions we've got lined up!

Session 5: July 13-19

Session 5 is titled "Utah Composers: Sacred and Secular Choral Music by Composers from Utah." Especially good for families, this session is in collaboration with the Madeleine Choir School. Elementary and junior high students will enjoy daily choral rehearsals at the Madeleine Choir School. Additionally, they can choose enrichment classes in subjects such as composition, violin, handbells, conducting, keyboard, and movement. The youth portion of this session lasts from July 13-19.

Adult singers will enjoy singing sacred and secular choral music by Mack Wilberg, Ronald Staheli, Thomas Durham, David Naylor, Cameron Rose, Jane Fjeldsted, Marie Nelson Bennett, Murray Boren and others. The adult portion of this session lasts from July 16-19.

The session concludes with a free Saturday evening concert and a Sunday performance at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Intermediate/Advanced Conducting Workshop: July 13-17

Raise the level of your artistic, technical, and aural conducting skills. Scheduled in conjunction with the Salt Lake Choral Artists Summer Choral Institute, students will have opportunities to conduct the Institute Choir as well as members of the SLCA Chamber Choir in standard choral literature. Selected repertoire will include the sacred and secular music of Utah composers. Topics of discussion include advanced score study and preparation, performance practice, diction, rehearsal techniques, and ensemble unity. The week's activities will culminate in two public performances featuring selected conductors from the class.

The workshop is taught by Dr. Brady R. Allred.

As always, visit our webiste to register. You may also register at the door.

We'll see you there!

Upcoming SCI

The first session of the Summer Choral Institute was a great success! Miss it? It's all right---there are more chances! Three more sessions are almost upon us already!

SESSION 2 (July 7)

Session 2 is titled “An Evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein.” Come experience the beauty and power of these award-winning composers at their best, without the costumes and stage lights!

SESSION 3 (July 9-11)

Session 3 is titled "Girls' Night Out: Choral Music for Women." For the first time ever, SCI is hosting a session devoted to music just for treble voices. Repertoire will include popular folk music, Broadway showtunes, and Gustav Holst's "Hymns from the Rig Veda" with harp accompaniment.

SESSION 4 (July 14)

Session 4 focuses on Mack Wilberg's "Requiem," which was premiered in 2007 and recently recorded by the Tabernacle Choir. Come experience this beautiful new composition.

Visit our homepage to register and get more information. See you there!

God Bless America

The first session of the 3rd annual Summer Choral Institute ends today, culminating in a big patriotic concert at 7:30 in Libby Gardner Concert Hall.

The SCI Choir will be joined by the 23rd Army Band in such favorites as "God Bless America," "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor," and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

And best of all, it's FREE!

See you there!

Conducting Workshop and SCI Session 1

Don't forget that the third annual Summer Choral Institute is starting in only two weeks!

The first event is the Choral Conducting Workshop for beginning to intermediate conductors.

Become the conductor you have always wanted to be! Improve your rehearsal techniques and conducting skills in a friendly and nurturing class setting. Subject matter includes tips for selecting choral literature, score study and preparation, dynamic phrasing, acquiring and using meaningful conducting gestures, effective rehearsal techniques, performance practice, diction, and beautiful singing. Students will have daily opportunities to conduct the class as a lab chorus, and to sing in the Salt Lake Choral Artists Summer Institute Chorus. Conducting sessions are videotaped for personal evaluation. Participants receive a packet of music at the beginning of the week for use during the class.

This workshop runs from June 22-26.

Session 1 is titled "God Bless America: Patriotic Music from the USA" and will be accompanied by the 23rd Army Band. Repertoire will feature Howard Hanson's "Song of Democracy," as well as patriotic favorites including "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "God Bless America." Popular favorites include "Bring Him Home" and "This Land is Your Land," plus an Armed Services Medley complete with flag ceremony and color guard. Come celebrate your love for America!

Visit our website to get more information and register for SCI!

Enemy Slayer tomorrow!

Don't miss the Utah premiere of Mark Grey's Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio.

The Salt Lake Choral Artists, along with a full symphony orchestra, will perform this work on Saturday, May 2, at 7:30 pm in Libby Gardner Concert Hall at the University of Utah. The piece also features the photography of Deborah O'Grady. The evening promises to be a unique experience you won't soon forget. Don't miss it!

Tickets are available through Kingsbury Hall or at the door.

Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio

Visit our website for ticketing information.

Water Passion After St. Matthew

In the spirit of supporting other local choral groups, let me encourage you to attend the upcoming Utah premiere of Tan Dun's "Water Passion After St. Matthew," which will be performed by the University of Utah Singers and A Cappella Choir on April 10 and 11 at Libby Gardner Concert Hall.

This is a unique work that has only been performed a handful of times in the world since it was written in 2000. It bridges Eastern and Western cultures, blending Tibetan chant, overtone singing, electronic music, and Bach, culminating in a unique shared cultural experience for both performers and audience members.

Performers and audience members of this piece will experience a remarkably wide range of vocal style, from four-part chorales to overtone singing, Tuvan throat-singing, and elements of Peking opera. Western instruments are used to produce the sounds of Chinese, Mongolian, and Middle Eastern cultures. On stage will be seventeen filled, transparent water basins lit from below that are played as instruments by percussionists, thus creating a unique auditory and visual experience, all based around the universal theme of rebirth. Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see this work performed live.

For more information and to hear a clip from the piece, check out the Singers website.

And for the legally minded out there, let me add that this work is partially funded in thanks to Fine Arts Fees.

Early Summer Planning

Now is a great time to start planning what you want to do this summer. How about enjoying some choral singing? The third annual Summer Choral Institute runs June through August and is sure to have something to suit your style and schedule.

Information on each of the nine sessions is available here. Watch this space for information on registration as it gets closer. We are also listed on ACDA's page for Choral Festivals and Workshops.

Plan to attend one, two, or even more sessions of the Summer Choral Institute! All the fun of singing with none of the pressure of auditioning. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity!

Te Deum Concert: February 21

Don't miss your chance to hear the Salt Lake Choral Artists partner with the University of Utah Singers to perform Arvo Pärt's "Te Deum." This is a unique, haunting, and beautiful work not often performed in the area. Also on the concert program is another setting of the "Te Deum" text by Petr Eben, and several Eastern European folk songs.

The University of Utah Singers will also be giving a sneak preview of what they are preparing for their European tour this spring.

Tickets are still available! Talk to any choir member, visit our website, call the Kingsbury Hall ticket office, or get them at the door. You won't want to miss this wonderful concert!

Details:
Saturday, February 21
7:30 PM
Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah Campus

Tickets available now!

Even though our next concert isn't until February 21, it's not too early to buy your tickets.

Along with the University of Utah Singers, SLCA's February concert will feature Arvo Part's haunting "Te Deum" and other Eastern European works. It will certainly be an evening of unforgettable music.

Purchase your tickets by visiting www.saltlakechoralartists.org, speaking to any choir member, visiting the Kingsbury Hall box office, or through www.kingsburyhall.org. You won't want to miss this concert!

Tribute to Jay Welch

Jay Welch, who is not only a pivotal figure in SLCA's history---he founded the choir, then called the Jay Welch Chorale---but also a great man in general, passed away recently.

Read a tribute to him here.

Thank you, Jay! You will be missed by many.