Recap of the 2013 ACDA National Conference in Dallas: Friday

Friday at ACDA in Dallas

Friday morning for me began with attending the two year college reading session. The session was well-attended and the music was all quite good; once again, another quality reading session.

Next up I attended Debra Spurgeon's interest session which centered on the release of her new book "Conducting Women's Choirs: Strategies for Success" (published by GIA). You can read my review of this book here. Debra was able to gather all but one of her chapter writers for this session. Those attending were Hilary Apfelstadt, Lynne Gackle, Lori Hetzel, Mary Hopper, Iris Levine, Jeannette MacCallum, Janna Montgomery, Joelle Norris, Sandra Peter, Sandra Snow, Phillip Swan, and Shelby Wahl. Nancy Menk was not available as she was on tour with her choir. Debra was kind enough to also acknowledge other contributors to the book who were in attendance such as myself, Joan Szymko, Carol Barnett, and Sharon Paul.

Debra had each chapter author give a thumbnail sketch of their contribution and the session went very well and was highly attended. I especially liked Jeannette McCallum's words about the Venetian ospedali and her negative view toward pieces presented these days for women's choirs made available by composers and publishers which are just poor rewrites of SATB music (this is a pet peeve of mine as well, and I talk about it in the interview Nancy Menk did with me for the book).

After the session ended all the authors and their audience walked over to the GIA booth where they sold and signed the book for those who wanted a copy. I dropped over  an  hour later after and they were still signing books! For those of you who work with women's choirs, you really should buy this wonderful book.

I skipped the 2 PM concert in order to continue doing some off the beaten track activities. I attended a Paul Head/University of Delaware session of "Into the Mind"; these are thirty minute informal sessions with directors performing at the conference (usually with their choir in attendance)  talking about the music they are doing and details of their work. These session also provided some Q and A time as well. Head's session was quite good and the Swiss composer Ivo Antognini was there since Head was doing a piece of his- Ivo proved to be quite a sweet guy. He even stood up and directed the choir for a bit and admitted he had never directed a choir before- it was a cute moment.

Paul Head

I had also earlier attended two other "Into the Mind" sessions. They were Karen Thomas' excellent session with her women's choir Chroma where Karen talked about their repertoire, including the tone-color requirements of singing Bulgarian folk music and Jerry McCoy's session where he shared all sorts of great details and tips on how to successfully record your choir and choose your repertoire in order to gain a slot on a divisional or national conference concert session.  For those in the audience Jerry's tips were great info. The Into the Mind sessions were new for ACDA- I think they are a keeper.

After Head's session I went and watched Ken Fulton work with young collegiate conducting students. The repertoire they were working on were the openings of the Faure and Durufle Requiems. Fulton was great to watch and the main thing he kept stressing to the young conductors was to not rush these openings, especially not to be in such a gosh darn hurry at cadences, and to keep soft dynamic levels under control. Each conductor did a great job and I believe they left with some new ideas from Fulton.

The 4:30 concert session was excellent. Phillip Brunelle's Vocalessence sang an unusual program of music in Spanish, much of it from the New World. Vocalessence sang this program very well. The same was true of the Houston Chamber Choir directed by Robert Simpson They sang a quite difficult program with great skill and a very broad dynamic range. The focus of their program was Dominic DiOrio's kaleidoscopic "A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass" for SATB and marimba. Those of you looking for a fine choral piece with percussion by a rising young composer should definitely look at this piece (published by G. Schirmer catalog #HL 50498607.

Dominic DiOrio

The absolute highlight to me of this conference (other than the War Requiem) was the performance on this session by the Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West directed by Richard Nance. Here is their program:

Exultate                                 by Brian Galante
When David Heard                  by Thoma Weelkes
Luxuriosa Res                        by Zdenek Lukas
Sept Chansons                       by Francis Poulenc
(three of these were sung)
Northern Light                        by Eriks Esenvalds
So I'll Sing with my Voice        by Dominick Argento

Galante's Exultate was full of prismatic color and energy. This is a very exciting new piece in manuscript by Brian and I would love to hear it again. The choir sang this excellent concert opener with energy and precision. The Weelkes was a perfect contrast, sombre yet still full of wonderful richness. The chansons by Poulenc are filled with potential tuning landmine issues, yet this choir never faltered as they traversed passages which have tripped up many a good choir. The French diction was perfect. Northern Lights was a premiere with the composer in presence all the way over from Europe. This was an amazing piece and utilized tuned water glasses and hand chimes. The texts were creatively assembled (I am sorry I cannot give accurate details of them as I seem to be missing my concert program) and the piece displayed a creative, individual voice, something we all are hoping to hear from composers. Esenvalds has used choir and handbells for concert music before to great effect- I would just hope that he does this only occasionally and not overuse the idea.

Brian Galante

Eriks Esenvalds (apparently looking up at King Kong?)

The concert ended with a delightful tune by Argento in the style of an Alice Parker spiritual. As this amazingly varied program ended the audience erupted into wild applause- the conducting was masterful yet never got in the way of the choir or the scores, and the singing was perfection in every detail. Dynamics ranged from a hush to a roar, diction was perfect, tone quality changed from piece to piece, and phrasing was always natural and fluid. I think everyone in the audience knew they had just heard a performance of a lifetime by Nance and the choir. I saw Richard later that night and he indeed called it the highlight of his career!

Richard Nance

COMING UP: FRIDAY EVENING CONCERT AND THE NCCO RECEPTION

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Concert Review: The DePaul University Choirs

Saturday night, March 2nd, I attended the DePaul University choral program concert. For those of you not familiar with DePaul, it is a large university right in the heart of Chicago's near north side. The music program is strong, and the voice and opera program especially so. The choral program was run for years by Clayton Parr, but this year Steven Grives, a very fine conductor, has taken over the reins.

I attended their early fall concert- a very impressive program which held the Allegri Miserere (beautiful singing on the soprano solo by Kaitlin Foley), a very strong performance of the Bach Singet dem Herrn and other quite challenging works. The early fall program was well-sung and was a very impressive collaboration between the singers and Grives in their first concert together.

Last night was a program of Norwegian music (plus music by other Scandinavian composers) titled, Nordic Portraits: From  Grieg to Gjeillo. In the tail end of our Chicago winter and with snow on the ground here, this northern music really felt appropriate and natural. The singing was strong and resonant (a DePaul voice program standard) and beautifully sculpted by Grives' fine conducting.

DePaul currently has two mixed ensembles- the top ensemble University Singers, which is composed of upperclass music majors (mostly voice or opera majors) with some grad students, and the larger Concert Choir which is mostly freshman music majors.

In regard to the University Singers, I noticed a marked improvement from that early Fall concert to last night in the tenor section in regard to unification of section sound. The altos also seem to be hitting their stride and taking more ownership of lines in certain pieces where they can shine and not be overshadowed by the soprano section. All in all, there was a distinct improvement in many areas of choral singing from Fall to now- and of course, we all want to hear a group, even one as already very skilled such as the University Singers, grow and mature. I also liked Grives' plan for this concert in regard to placement of the singers. On his left were sopranos and tenors mixed, with altos and basses mixed on his right. Grives calls this a modified mixed seating chart. And on this program, with numerous duet octave lines between sop/tenor or alto/bass the use of this seating chart was brilliant. I have to admit, I am a seating chart junkie- yet I know the general public doesn't even notice the nuances that can go into this aspect of the choral world.

While the program title mentions Norwegians Grieg and living composer Gjeillo and held multiple pieces by them, I felt other pieces by other composers were also highlights of the program. Finnish master composer Einojuhani Rautavaaras' Suite de Lorca was riveting. The University Singers and Grives really dug into this piece and all its strange beauty. Soloist  Kaitlin Foley was spot on in the Ratuvaara. For those interested in the Suite de Lorca, here is a video of the fine University of Delaware choir singing the piece under the direction of Paul Head:

Other highlights of the evening included the Grieg Ave Maris Stella with its tricky modulations never tangling up the University Singers, a very fun, uptempo folk song Oi tai buvo, by Kacinskas, about harvest and fertility, and the manly men of the Concert Choir resonantly singing a Norse tale about King Olaf I, with a very effective solo by baritone Samuel Thompson. And speaking of the Concert Choir, I was very impressed by them. They sang as well as the top ensemble at many universities I visit across the country!

The evening was very successful and well-received by the audience. I am glad to see Grives take these already fine singers on the road to further choral excellence. He has already programmed a wide variety of fine choral music this season, thus proving his knowledge of the repertoire. I expect Grives will grow this program and continue to expose his singers to the best we have to choose from in the choral repertoire. Bravo to Steven Grives and the DePaul choral program. I will keep coming back to hear you!


GRIVES BIO

Steve Grives is currently Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Choral Ensembles at DePaul University  in Chicago, IL. This academic year, Steve will conduct the University Singers and Concert Choir, prepare the chorus for "La Boheme" with the DePaul Opera Theater, and prepare the choirs for performances of Beethoven, Symphony No 9 with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and the DePaul Symphony Orchestra.

Steve has held academic appointments at several institutions, and has practical experience in the areas of choral conducting, orchestral conducting, early music and opera. Prior to his position at DePaul, Steve served as the director of choral activities at South Dakota State University for nine years. Known for their committed and engaging performances, SDSU choirs performed with guest artists and conductors including Charles Bruffy, Joseph Flummerfelt, Cantus and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. From 2010-12, Steve was the Patricia Noethe Pierce Distinguished Artist in Residence at SDSU, leading university choral ensembles in major works across the region. Ensembles under Steve's direction have performed at state and regional choral conferences, and at major national and international venues.

Outside of his work at SDSU, Steve directed the Dakota Men's Ensemble and produced and conducted opera and oratorio performances in South Dakota independently and with the Heartland Opera Troupe. With Heartland Opera, Steve conducted the premiere of University of Michigan composer Kristin Kuster's chamber opera The Trickster and the Troll, and produced an annual "Messiah Sing" with professional soloists and orchestra. 

Steve earned a B.A. in Music from Bowdoin College where he studied conducting and early music with Robby Greenlee, double bass with George Rubino, and piano with Martin Perry. His M.M. is from the University of Maine, where, under Dennis Cox, Steve conducted the Collegiate Chorale and was the assistant conductor of the University Orchestra. At Maine, he studied voice with Ludlow Hallman and piano with Kathryn Foley. He received the D.M.A. in choral conducting and literature from the University of Colorado studying with Lawrence Kaptein and Joan Catoni Conlon. Steve conducted the Collegiate Chorale at CU, and assisted the choral faculty in preparing festival and choral/orchestral performances. Steve has participated in conducting masterclasses and summer programs and has sang in choirs under such distinguished conductors as Marin Alsop, Charles Bruffy, Simon Carrington, Dennis Keene, John Rutter, and Duaine Wolfe.
 
Steve is a member of several professional organizations including ACDA, Intercollegiate Men's Choruses Inc., and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Steve currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal as editor of the "Choral Reviews" column. He is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, guest lecturer, choral clinician, and adjudicator.