News

In partnership with CBC, the WSO and Sistema Winnipeg are hosting an Instrument Donation Drive from April 8-21.  As the Sistema Winnipeg program grows, our new students are in urgent need of instruments.  We are collecting any and all orchestral instruments that members of the public would be willing to donate to students who want to experience the magic of learning to play an instrument within a group environment. 

I’ve included an e-postcard and included a short description here. You can drop off your new and used instruments at the CBC Studio (541 Portage Ave) or the WSO Box Office (555 Main Street) during office hours. Please share this email with your staff and colleagues.

I’m working closely with Sherrie Novak who is helping us to ensure the drive is successful in getting instruments into the hands of eager children in the Sistema Winnipeg program. If you have any questions, please contact Sherrie at novaksherrie@gmail.com. If you’d like, she can send you a poster or arrange to have some dropped off at your organization.

Listen to Terry MacLeod and Marcy Markusa and the Morning Radio team every weekday morning from 5:30 - 8:30 a.m. on CBC Radio One 89.3 FM/ 990 AM to hear more about Sistema Winnipeg and how these instruments are impacting their lives!

In the hands of a child, these musical instruments represent change, joy and hope. Thanks for your support and interest in sharing the gift of music with children who otherwise would not have the opportunity!

Dr. Elizabeth Grant, will be leading the Brandon Community Choir to participate in the World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia.   Dr. Grant is the founding director of the Brandon Conservatory Chorale and is recognized for the many choirs she has led for the past 40 years. 

The 8th World Choir Games will bring the international flair of the Choir Games to one of the most traditional singing regions in the world in the summer of 2014.  The ten day tour will provide a truly unique experience with custom tours and awe-inspiring venues along with warm audiences, renowned composers, educators, conductors and musicians.

Choristers interested in participating in this event or for more information please contact: elizabethgrant2@gmail.com  Choristers from all regions welcome.

Come sing and celebrate in Riga, Latvia!

A preview of The Full Monte is now on our YouTube channel, as well as on our website.

NEW ITEMS have been added to Camerata Nova's online auction, including a personalized tour of the WA, tickets for the WSO, Canzona, the Manitoba Children's Museum, and much more. Check it out here!

Several activities are happening around The Full Monte concerts. See our website for details on an early music workshop on Saturday April 6th from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. Also, there will be pre-concert talks on Saturday April 6th at 7:15 pm and on Sunday April 7th at 2:15 pm.

Under the direction of Artistic Director, Maestro Yuri Klaz, both concerts will feature some of the Phil’s most popular selections from its wide-ranging repertoire, including classic works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Faure and Brahms, along with more modern fare by Andrew Lloyd Webber and traditional folk songs.

In announcing these two additional dates, board President Barry McArton reflected on the Phil’s commitment to community, both in Winnipeg and beyond. “The opportunity to travel beyond the perimeter to perform in Morris will be a highlight of an already exciting 90th Anniversary season. And, we are also very pleased and honoured to support Winnipeg Harvest by performing on the Bardal Concert Series.”

If you missed out attending the Phil’s sold-out performances of Holiday Memories and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, you won’t want to miss another wonderful afternoon with the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir filled with beautiful melodies, stunning harmonies and pure love.

Concert Details

Morris, MB at the Southern Manitoba Convention Centre

Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 3pm (doors open at 1pm)

Tickets:  Advance – Adult $25, Senior/Student $20

Avalable at t the Door - Adult $30, Senior/Student $25.

Call Charlene 204-746-2832 or 1-866-746-2832

www.sm-cc.com

 

Winnipeg at the Neil Bardal Funeral Centre, 3030 Notre Dame Ave

Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 2:30pm

Tickets:  $20 All proceeds to Winnipeg Harvest. A non-perishable food item would also be welcome with your ticket purchase.

Call 204-949-2200

www.nbardal.mb.ca

Winnipeg, MB -- Canzona will close its 24th season on Sunday, March 24, in Westminster United Church, performing J.S. Bach's dramatic oratorio St. John Passion.

During the first winter that Bach was responsible for church music at the St. Thomas & St. Nicholas churches in Leipzig, he composed the St. John Passion for the Good Friday Vespers services of 1724.

"The St. John Passion is one of J.S. Bach's leading masterpieces,"says Henry Engbrecht, Artistic Director and Conductor. "It is highly dramatic because of the many emotional 'crowd' choruses. There are beautiful solo arias for all voices, and stirring chorales (the people's hymns) that provide a frequent change of pace." The audience will have the opportunity to sing along in two of these hymns.

Joining the Choir as soloist, is Winnipeg baritone Mel Braun. Well known as a performer in the musical community, Mr. Braun also heads up the vocal program at the University of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music. Several of Canzona's 'rising stars' have trained under Mr. Braun and welcome the opportunity to sing with him in this production. Canzona's soloists in this production include Jan van derHooft, Kris Kornelson, Stephen Haiko, Marni Enns, Sarah Kirsch, Kirsten Schellenberg, Aaron Hutton and Victor Engbrecht. Local baroque orchestra MusikBarock will once again accompany the Choir in the splendid acoustics of Westminster United Church.

Canzona remains committed to providing opportunities for young singers to perform together in a high-art ensemble together with seasoned artists and a professional orchestral accompaniment.

Canzona: 'St. John Passion' BWV 245 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Henry Engbrecht, Artistic Director & Conductor

7:00 p.m., Sunday, 24 March 2013 Westminster United Church, 745Westminster at Maryland

Tickets: adults $25; seniors $22; students$12; available at McNally Robinson Booksellers, by calling Canzona at(204)942-1917, and at the door.Visit canzonachoir.com or email info@canzonachoir.comMedia inquiries: Elise Anderson at (204) 284-9926

Contest submissions must fall into one of the following categories: a) An arrangement of a folksong or set of folksongs from one of the Atlantic Provinces (Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island); b) An original choral composition based on a text with an obvious direct connection to Canada's East Coast.  This may include a text by an East Coast writer or a text with Atlantic Canadian subject matter.  If in doubt concerning the suitability of a proposed text, please contact director@atlanticvoices.ca for clarification.

All styles of composition will be considered, but one of the judging criteria is the suitability of the work for performance by Atlantic Voices, so entrants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with our choir and particularly with some of our recent concert programmes. In addition, although all submissions will be accepted and adjudicated equally, entrants are strongly encouraged to avoid submitting new arrangements of songs which have already been repeatedly arranged for choral performance or songs which Atlantic Voices has previously performed on multiple occasions.  For a list of choral arrangements that Atlantic Voices has performed please visit our website: www.atlanticvoices.ca.

Specifications:

The arrangement being submitted must not have been previously published for any choral combination (SSA, SSAB, SAB, SATB, etc.).

The composition or song cycle should be no more than 6 minutes in length.

Works for any of the following voicings will be considered: SATB, SAB, SSAA, SA. The composition may be unaccompanied or have piano accompaniment.  Instrumental obligato may be included; however, please avoid extensive solo voice parts.

The work should be of no more than moderate difficulty -- it should be within the capabilities of our volunteer community choir.

If the text and music are not in the public domain, it is up to the entrant to ensure that he or she has the right to use the text and/or music in his or her work and be prepared to show supporting documentation.

The entrant must acknowledge anyone who has aided substantially in the creation of the work, such as a co-arranger or a teacher who has provided a substantial creative contribution and could conceivably claim rights to the work.  (Please note that multiple composers will not be awarded multiple prizes.  In such a case, a single cash prize would be awarded, and it would be up to the parties to determine equitable distribution of the funds.)

Entries will be judged blindly on quality of musical ideas, competency of choral writing, and appropriateness for performance by Atlantic Voices. In order to maintain anonymity in the judging process, the composer/entrant's name should not appear on the score, but only on a detachable cover page.  The detachable cover page should clearly indicate the name of the submission, the name of the composer/arranger, and the number of pages in the score.  The submission should include only the name of the piece, on each page, and the page number should be clearly indicated.   Please avoid submitting entries under a pseudonym.

The choir reserves the right to ask for modifications to a prospective winning entry before awarding either of the prizes.  Entries will be reviewed initially by a two-person panel consisting of Atlantic Voices' Director and one other qualifying choral director/adjudicator, chosen by Atlantic Voices.  The panel will provide the executive of Atlantic Voices with a shortlist of entries.  The executive, together with Atlantic Voices' Director, will determine the awarding of the two prizes.  Should no submitted work be deemed deserving of an award, or should only one work be judged deserving, Atlantic Voices reserves the right not to award one or both of the cash prizes.

Atlantic Voices may choose, at a later date, to program a non-winning entry into a scheduled concert.  In this circumstance, Atlantic Voices will contact the entrant to arrange for permission and/or modifications to the score and to make arrangements for financial remunerations.

The choir is interested in developing long-term connections with promising new choral composers and arrangers, and so we encourage entrants to send the organizers a brief c.v. and/or bio.  However, you need not send any supporting documents, and the prior experience or musical reputation of the contest entrant will not be taken into account in the judging.

Please submit your work in musical score, preferably produced through music notation software.  Entries in the form of sound recordings will not be accepted (no CDs, please).

Please provide your mailing address, phone number, and an e-mail address for contest correspondence.  Atlantic Voices shall not be held responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries.

Copyright for all entries will remain with the composer; however submitted scores become the physical property of Atlantic Voices, and will not be returned to entrants.  The choir will have the exclusive right to perform the winning compositions for 2 years.  By submitting an entry to the contest, the entrant agrees to be bound by Atlantic Voices' Choral Composition Contest entry rules and regulations established herein.  Entry into this contest constitutes permission to use winner's name for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation.

Contest entries must be received electronically or postmarked no later than October 31st, 2013.  Late submissions will not be accepted.  Changes or modifications to any submitted score will be accepted until midnight on the closing day of the contest, October 31, 2013.

If mailing your work, please send one copy of each entry to: Atlantic Voices Choral Composition Contest 2013 82 Prince Albert Street Ottawa, ON K1K 2A1

Submissions in .pdf format are also welcome.  Please e-mail to: director@atlanticvoices.ca and cc president@atlanticvoices.ca.

The Association of Canadian Choral Communities presents the 2013 edition of the celebrated National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs, in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts, CBC Music and Festival 500: Sharing the Voices. Complete Press Release attached.

L’Association des communautés chorales canadiennes présente l’édition 2013 du célèbre Concours national pour chœurs amateurs canadiens, en collaboration avec le Conseil des Arts du Canada, CBC Music et Festival 500 Sharing the Voices.

Carolyn Nielsen, VP Communications
Association of Canadian Choral Communities
Association des communautés chorales canadiennes

www.choralcanada.org

With the creation of a CBC Music artist page, you can:

• Create an artist profile that includes a bio, photos, links to your website(s) and social media accounts.
• Upload (unlimited amounts of) your music and videos to be seen and heard by the public. Listeners can create custom playists with artist-uploaded tracks.
• Promote your upcoming events on the CBC Music concert calendar. This calendar is searchable by date, location and genre, and is one of the most comprehensive concert listings in Canada.
• Maintain a personal blog where you can provide up-to-date news about your activities.
• Gain fans who can “like” your page. You then gain an automatic fan feed that emails your fans whenever you add new music, announce an event, or make any other significant changes to your page.

In addition, CBC Music periodically features various artist pages, so there’s a chance you could receive added exposure.

How do I create a CBC Music artist page?

It’s easy! But you need a CBC Music member profile first. You can create one by clicking the red “JOIN” button on the CBC Music homepage and following the steps. Once you’re finished, you’ll be given the option to create an artist page within your member profile. You can create and host as many artist pages as you’d like on a single member profile. That way, if you are in several groups, or manage a roster of artists, you can manage a separate artist page for each of them.

Last month alone, CBCMusic.ca received over 3 million page views. Exposure of this magnitude is invaluable for any choir!

To get started, please go to http://music.cbc.ca/artistsignup/

For more information, please read our FAQ: http://music.cbc.ca/faq/faq.aspx

Contact Ben Duinker at benjamin.duinker@radio-canada.ca for further inquiries.

Long & McQuade’s Music Education Celebration Contest
$100,000 in prizes to be awarded.

2 Ways for the School to Enter

1. Submit a photo of your music group displaying Long & McQuade’s logo, or
2. send us an audio clip of your musical group playing or singing a piece of your choosing (one entry per school.)

Prizes

• First 250 pictures will receive a free $100 L&M gift card.
• First 300 audio submissions will receive a free $200 gift card.
• We will randomly draw
  • 2 bonus $1500 L&M gift cards from the list of authorized photo submissions and
  • 4 bonus $3000 L&M gift cards from the list of authorized audio submissions.

Qualifications

• In order to qualify for the bonus gift card draw, Long & McQuade must be granted permission to use the picture or audio submission for promotional purposes.

Get your local school involved. Help Long & McQuade support music education in Canada.

To register, please click here:

• http://www.long-mcquade.com/promos/web/Contest2012/register.php

Contest runs until February 28, 2013.