For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level. 

This week on In Unison: a sneak peek of a conversation on socially conscious repertoire that focuses on environmentalism and the growing anxiety regarding climate change. Dr. Kirsten Hedegaard, founder of the EcoVoice Project and director of choral activities at Loyola University Chicago, will moderate a discussion exploring how composers are engaging with this issue in a variety of ways and how choral music provides a unique opportunity to grapple with the climate crisis.

We hope to see you in San Francisco for the Chorus America Conference, May 31 - June 2, 2023. More information is available at chorusamerica.org.  

Music excerpts 

• “Fire,” by Katerina Gimon, performed by Loyola Chamber Choir, directed by Kirsten Hedegaard
• “Earth Song,” by Frank Ticheli, performed by Loyola Chorale & Chamber Choir, and University of Illinois  (chorus members from Urbana-Champaign, Springfield, and Chicago campuses), directed by Kirsten Hedegaard 

Episode references

• Chorus America conference
• Dr. Kirsten Hedegaard
• The EcoVoice Project
• New Earth Ensemble

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic

For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level. 

Building on a shared understanding that songs are stories and choruses and singers are storytellers, today’s episode with Dr. Antonio C. Cuyler will give us a sneak peek at his Chorus America conference session where we explore the question: How can we envision and manifest antiracism in every aspect of our field, from repertoire to the way choral organizations are structured?  

We hope to see you in San Francisco for the Chorus America Conference, May 31 - June 2, 2023. More information is available at chorusamerica.org.  

Music excerpts 

• “Chains,” written by Gary Hines, performed by Sounds of Blackness
• “Optimistic,” written by Gary Hines, performed by Sounds of Blackness
• “Total Praise,” written by Richard Smallwood, performed by Richard Smallwood and Vision

Episode references

• Chorus America conference
• Dr. Antonio C. Cuyler
• Access, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Cultural Organizations
• Arts Management, Cultural Policy, & the African Diaspora
• Alysia Lee, Baltimore Children & Youth Fund
• “Hold Fast to Dreams,” by Joel Thompson, performed by the Atlanta Master Chorale, Dr. Eric Nelson, conductor; Joel Thompson, accompanist (YouTube)

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic

For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level. 

One of the most important ways we can learn about each other is by singing each other’s songs. This belief is at the heart of conductor, singer, and vocal activist Melanie DeMore’s work. Join Melanie for this workshop and session where she will ground us in what it means to be solidly human and challenge us to be more understanding and empathetic through the connection of singing together.

We hope to see you in San Francisco for the Chorus America Conference, May 31 - June 2, 2023. More information is available at chorusamerica.org.  

Music excerpts 

• “Aćhe-o-kwa” by Melanie DeMore, performed by Melanie DeMore and St. Paul’s Episcopal School Choir
• “Sending You Light,” written and performed by Melanie DeMore

Episode references

• Chorus America conference
• Melanie DeMore
• All One Tribe Collective
• Obeah Opera
• Threshold Choir

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic

For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level. 

Today’s episode is with Karen Hopper, the Associate Director of Performance Strategy at Razorfish, where she helps Fortune 100 clients make smart decisions about their creative marketing using data.  Karen will be leading the session “Unleash Your Fundraising With Digital Scale,” and today we’ll get a small taste of what Karen’s session will be all about. 

We hope to see you in San Francisco for the Chorus America Conference, May 31 - June 2, 2023. More information is available at chorusamerica.org.  

Music excerpts: 

• Alleluia, by Jake Runestad, performed by Kantorei, directed by Joel Rinsema
• Before Spring, by Mari Esabel Valverde, text by Amir Rabiyah, performed by Cantus

Episode references

• Chorus America conference
• Karen Hopper
• Jason Max Ferdinand Singers
• Andy Crestodina
• Kantorei
• Cherry Creek Schools
• The M+R Guide to Effective and Ethical Direct Response Creative
• Choral Arts

Today on In Unison, we’re chatting with composer and director Karmina Šilec of Carmina Slovenika and Executive Artistic director Shira Cion of San Francisco-based Kitka about the upcoming premiere of the newly commissioned opera, “BABA: The Life and Death of Stana.”  This new opera offers an innovative, non-narrative take on Balkan epic story-singing traditions and explores themes of gender, otherness, choice, virginity, sexual identity, and the complexities of interpreting these Balkan gender-transformation stories through a contemporary, liberal, western gaze.

Music excerpts

• "Fly Trembling Spirit," by Kelly Atkins, performed by Kitka
• “Heyamoli,” by Tamar Buadze, performed by Kitka

Episode references

• BABA: The Life and Death of Stana
• Karmina Šilec 
• Choregie technique

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic

Today on In Unison, we’re chatting with Craig Hella Johnson, founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare, a grammy-winning choir based in Austin, Texas that is comprised of distinctive solo artists from around the country who are also committed to the highest level of ensemble performance.

Music excerpts

• “Let the River Run,” by Carly Simon, performed by Conspirare, featured on the album A Company of Voices
• “Springtime,” from How Little You Are, by Nico Muhly, performed by Conspirare, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and the Texas Guitar Quintet, feaured on the album The Singing Guitar
• “Hold On,” traditional spiritual, arranged by Isaac Cates, performed live by Ordained and Conspirare at Conspirare Christmas 2021
• “The Coolin,” from Reincarnations, by Samuel Barber, performed by Conspirare, featured on the album Samuel Barber, An American Romantic

Episode references

• Conspirare Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
• Unity: Songs of Invitation virtual choir project

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic

Today on In Unison, we’re heading across the pond to chat with Robert Hollingworth, the director of I Fagiolini, a solo-voice ensemble based in the UK. Robert also co-hosts a very choir-nerdy podcast called Choral Chihuahua, and his passion for bringing choral music to the masses definitely helped to inspire the In Unison podcast.

Music excerpts

• “Draw on, sweet night” by John Wilbye, performed by I Fagiolini, featured on the album Draw On Sweet Night
• “Dixit Dominus,” by Claudio Monteverdi, performed by I Fagiolini and the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, featured on the album Monteverdi: the Other Vespers 
• “Le jardin clos,” from Le Cantique des cantiques, by Jean-Yve Daniel-Lesur, performed by I Fagiolini, featured on the album Amuse-Bouche

Episode references

• I Fagiolini Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
• Sing the Score on YouTube
• Draw On Sweet Night album pre-sale
• Choral Chihuahua Podcast

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic