International Choir

by Guest Blogger on October 22, 2012

A choir, otherwise known as a chorale, is an organized group of singers that typically takes part in church services or performs regularly in public. International choirs not only perform in front of local audiences, but they also do extensive overseas tours, delighting audiences across the world. A choir is usually led by a conductor and can sing with or without musical accompaniment. They perform in various locations such as churches, school halls and opera houses. Oftentimes, several different choirs may come to together to form a mass choir for special occasions.

Some of the top International choirs include the Stellenbosch University Choir, the Guangdong Experimental Middle School Choir and the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers. They are the best international choirs in their respected categories: mixed, youth and chamber choir. Other categories that choirs fall into include male, female, folklore, jazz, gospel and sacred music. The most common type of choir is the mixed choir and consists of male and female members. Men’s choirs consist of tenors, baritones and basses while women’s choirs typically consist of sopranos and alto voices. The International Choirs listed above have competed and won at the World Choir Games in their various categories and are ranked the best in the world by Musica Mundi.

In order to join one of these choirs, you will need to find out when they are having auditions for new members. Once at the audition, make sure you do warm-up vocal exercises before performing in front of the choir directors. Finally. Your choice of song can make or break your audition. Make sure it’s a song that you have memorized and is appropriate. Before going to the audition, sing the song that you have chosen for your audition in front of friends and family in order to get comfortable with performing in front of people. When auditioning for the choir, sing out so that the choir directors can hear you. You can add some movement to your performance, but not a choreographed dance routine and above all, make sure that you have fun.

Many choirs will require that you be able to read music. If you don’t know how to do this, you can do research on the Internet or ask a musician to bring you up to speed. Choir directors will be looking if you can sing in tune and if you have a good sense of rhythm. They will also take note of your diction so persons with a harsh accent may have a difficult time joining choir. Finally, you’ll be judged on your tone as well as your breath control. If you have been singing in choirs from an early age, you will hold a distinct advantage simply because of your experience. The more experiences you have had as a child, the better prepared you’ll be as an adult.

Since International choirs do tours in various places across the world, you will need to make sure you have the requisite travel documents such as a passport and in some cases a visa. Joining an international choir can be the experience of a lifetime as you’ll have the opportunity to travel to new and interesting places and meet people from different cultures. It’s an experience you won’t ever soon forget.

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Chorus Competition

by Guest Blogger on October 22, 2012

Each year, there are several choir competitions that are held in different parts of the world. These competitions give choirs a chance to showcase their talents as well as a chance to meet members of other choirs from across the world. Some of the more popular choir competitions include the World Choir Games, the Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival and the International Music Choir Festival. Both professional and amateur choirs can participate in various categories at these competitions.

The World Choir Games is the largest choir competition in the world. It is held every 2 years on different continents and is designed for amateur and professional choirs from across the world to compete against each other regardless of race or genre of music. It is organized by the Interkultur Foundation with the motto, “Singing together brings nations together”. According to the Interkultur website, the World Choir Games aims “to peacefully unify singing people and nations connected by song in a fair competition.”

The World Choir Games splits its participants into two competitions, the Open Competition and the Champions Competition. Within those two competitions you’ll find several categories that choirs compete in such as the Young Male Choirs, Mixed Youth Choirs, Female Choirs, Jazz, Gospel, Barbershop, Folklore and many others. The Champions Competition is designed for choirs that have international competitive experience and have already proven their ability concerts or other international choral competitions. The Open Competition is designed for any amateur choir to participate, even those with limited experience at the national or international level. Each category will be evaluated by a panel of seven music experts on a 100 point scale. Depending on your score, you will be awarded a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal. For those choirs that fall outside of the medals, they’ll be awarded with a Certificate of Successful Participation.

Before the World Choir Games, a Qualification Concert is held for choirs competing internationally for the first time or choirs that would like to obtain a decision on which competition they should participate in based on their current level of artistic achievement. A panel of five judges will be responsible to only make a decision on whether a choir should enter the Open Competition or the Champions Competition. No certificates or points will be awarded at the qualification concert.

For choirs looking to not just enter an international choir competition, but to win it, they’ll need to extensively hone their skills on the local concert scene. You should be performing at local festivals or at similar events. If possible, you can get professional singers to help the choir with it’s presentation and to give it an opinion for song choices, costume selection and general choreography. To register for the World Choir Games, you’ll need to fill out the registration form available at www.worldchoirgames.com. You’ll need to submit basic information about your choir such as it’s name and where it is based as well as other contact information such as an email address or telephone number.

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Choral Competitions

by Guest Blogger on October 15, 2012

There are some amongst us blessed with mellifluous voices which can put listeners in a deep trance. While some prefer going solo, others feel being part of a collective “body of singers” enhances their ability to improvise with their voices and to hone their God gifted art. It is this fortunate lot who take up choral singing on a regular basis.

Choral competitions are held on a very professional basis. Each Festival has a Director who oversees every aspect of the competition. The judging is based on several aspects of voice control and range. Various factors are considered such as the ability to sing in total sync with musical accompaniment and background accompaniment, the richness and fullness of the voice, clarity in intonation and the ability to emote whilst performing in front of a large audience. Finer parameters being judged include Dynamics, Choreography, Precision, creativity and transitions. Of utmost importance is the clear pronunciation of vowels and consonants. No matter how good the singer and how melodious the lilt in his voice, nothing puts judges off more than garbled words that cannot be easily comprehended. One could say that these choral competitions strive to find the sparkling diamond from within a field of gold, as most of the competitors are almost equally matched in terms of their skill-sets and preparation.

Choir competitions are held in varying stages and for a host of categories. The most popular categories are Boy choirs, College and University choirs, Community choirs, male choirs, women’s choirs, Open choirs and Cappella style(unaccompanied singing). The format of the competitions generally remains more or less same across the board, although there might be some differences in organization and event management. Various repertoires are tested such as Basque singing and folklore, polyphony, barbershop music, Gospel music and vocal jazz. Selections take place based on an audition which is generally held over an entire day. Of late, choral singing has ventured into uncharted territory. Very recently, a winning Philippine squad enthralled the audience with a flawless performance of the title song of the hit series “Glee”. As time moves on, as with everything else, Choral singing too will absorb new influences in order to maintain relevance among youth.

The Show Choirs National Championship in Branson, Missouri is one of the most coveted titles in choral singing. Held in spring, it began in 1996 and has been going great guns since. What adds glitz is the fact that is held in historic sites like the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles or the Genesee Theater in Chicago. The World Championships take place once in two years. You can read all about it at http://www.showchoirs.org/

The Carmel Bach Festival that takes place annually in California is one of the most famous Choral festivals. It not only is a festival showcasing amazing vocal talents, it also incorporates related pre-concert talks and lectures that delve deep into the history and finer aspects of the performances. All related info can be accessed at http://www.bachfestival.org/

The WAVE’s Choir Competition is a Choral competition that is promoted by the Radio Channel 94.7 the Wave, a CBS venture. It receives a multitude of entries over a few weeks and some very eager contestants. The winner is voted via an online poll, making it a sort of “American Idol” format. This year’s stand-out performances can be viewed at http://947thewave.cbslocal.com/2011/11/15/the-waves-choir-competition-top-entries/

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Choir Groups

by Guest Blogger on October 15, 2012

What You Should Know About Choir Groups

A choir is simply a group of singers performing together in unison. Choirs may either be composed of amateur singers who perform for social and musical purposes, or professional singers who are paid for their skill.

Choir music in the United States traces its beginnings to Stoughton, Massachusetts. Harvard graduate Elijah Dunbar is credited for holding the first known choir singing meetings at his home in Stoughton, New England in 1762.  A couple of decades later, the Stoughton Musical Society was established in the same area. This makes the group the oldest choir in the United States.

There are different types of choir groups. One of these is college men’s choir, or a group of college men who share a passion for music and singing. The oldest college men’s choir in the United States is the Harvard Glee Club which was founded in 1858. There’s also community boys choir, with the Pasadena Boys Choir considered as the oldest in the United States.  Another type of choir group is the Bach choir, or an ensemble that performs German musical works from the late 16th century to 18th century. The oldest Bach choir in the United States is Bach Choir of Bethlehem that was founded in 1898.

Joining Choirs

Joining a choir can be an enjoyable experience for any individual, especially to one who is musically-inclined. Aside from providing an opportunity to express one’s love for music, joining a choir can also allow an individual to learn many life skills and build friendships.  Being in a choir also teaches a person to work with others, understand the concept of accountability and learn how to discipline himself, among others.

For younger individuals, joining a choir teaches them how to bond with others in working towards a common objective and setting aside personal differences for the sake of the goal.  As they learn a piece of music, choir members develop skills like self-awareness and self-critique. They are also challenged to work harder in order to churn out outstanding performance every time they sing. Through public performances, choir members also learn stage presence. Being in a choir also boosts the self confidence even of the shyest individual.

How to Join a Choir

Joining a choir may be a fun experience but it’s not for everyone. Obviously, one should have the voice to be able to join a choir. A person interested in joining a choir has to undergo an audition before being accepted into the group. Any individual interested in joining a choir should inquire first if there are any vacancies in the group, and sign up for an audition.

During an audition, an individual aiming to join a choir should wisely choose a song. The selected song should allow the person to show off his or her musical prowess. Before the audition, the individual should memorize the song. He or she should also perform the song before family and friends in order to build enough confidence for the audition.

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Barbershop Sheet Music

by Guest Blogger on October 11, 2012

Barbershop singing is considered to be one of the oldest musical brands in the USA. It is part of the music history in the US since the late 19th century. Since then, this brand of music has been patronized by a lot of people as part of the American music in the same breadth as jazz. However, there is little literature available which discusses the evolution of this musical genre from past to present.

It is said that it is the kind of social climate which helped developed barbershop music. During its infancy stage, the middle class had no exclusive men’s club or organization to congregate. The saloon was a natural place for those less cultured while the barbershop became the meeting place of the highly esteemed members of the society.

The sounds of barbershop genre were quite unique. They tended to start and end on the low key note of the musical scale. This usually crowds the singer off his appropriate voice register, constraining him to sing too far down in his tonal piece.

In the US, there are barbershop groups that became famous as early as 1843 when Emmit’s Virginia Minstrels started to gain foothold in the music genre. By 1880, a lot of barbershop quartets were performing on a regular basis before minstrel shows in the Americas. The decade of the 1890’s ushered in an era of more songs developed in American than the previous decades. Sheet music covers would include photos of the singers who first sang the song. For these songs to sell, it is a must that artists perform in the public. For instance, the song Sweet Adeline did not fare well until the Quaker City Four sang it while in New York in 1903. Because of this, it became one of the barbershop quartet big hits.

Towards the end of 1920s saw the waning of barbershop quartet. Jazz was getting grounds along with a development toward using minor seventh chords by famous artists. The rise of this genre was a move away from the musical style of barbershop music. And with the production of vehicles, people had become mobile away from home. Parlor piano was gradually replaced by the radio and the so called crooners became famous with the use of microphone. By the year 1938, there were few amateur barbershop quartets left and the craft is moving towards obscurity.

There are several websites which cater to barbershop sheet music. One is http://www.harmonymarketplace.com/orderingmusic.html. To order arrangements from this site, one should contact Harmony Marketplace at marketplace@barbershop.org. Costs include a per copy / licensing fee which rangers from $1.65 to $3.70 depending on selection and membership status. Shipping fees are applicable. In said website, there is an excel file which details the full music catalogue for proper selection.

Another website where one can buy barbershop music is http://instruments.thefind.com/instruments/info-barbershop-sheet-music. In said website, one buy sheet music from $2 to $20. There are some music which does not charge shipping costs. The site has filtering mechanism for ease in navigation on which brand of music to choose from.

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