Kickstarter for ESV 2 →

by Jeremiah Selvey

Thanks to all of our supporters, we have embarked on a project that continues our work from the last couple of years. This time we decided to do a Washington State Tour and recording of a double CD for international distribution.

We really are spreading the love, thanks to people who have decided to support the cause. We need to raise $5,000 by Jan 2. Will you help us to accomplish that goal by sharing our Kickstarter campaign and by considering giving yourself? Help us get this amazing music out to the world!
 

Seattle Hospitality

by Jeremiah Selvey

During “Empowering Silenced Voices,” our out-of-town singers truly felt blessed to have a “home away from home,” where they could rest in preparation for a week of intense music-making. We are doing it again—another project of music with a cause, and we could use your help with some Seattle Hospitality.

Chorosynthesis Singers comprises professional singers from all over the country. During the Seattle portion of our next project (Empowering Silenced Voices 2.0), we are seeking potential hosts for these out-of-town guests. Did you know that by providing singers with a comfortable stay in Seattle it enables them to do a really good job in their performances with us? By helping them, you help us...GREATLY! So thank you for taking this into consideration...

If you can't host a singer in your home, perhaps you could volunteer to provide meals for our singers? We are looking for a sponsor for Saturday night's post-concert reception and Sunday and Monday's dinners (during our recording session). If you are interested or know someone who connects with music and social justice and might be able to help out, please let us know.

If you can host a singer in your home, here's what we hope for from volunteers to host these singers...

  1. Time Frame: Saturday, January 14 (afternoon) through Tuesday, January 17
  2. Location: Preferably close enough for singers to use public transportation to get to/from rehearsals and performances without exorbitant travel times. Rehearsals are at Seattle Pacific University.  (Don't let this keep you from volunteering, as we may be able to work something out.)
  3. Overall Goal: Keep our singers well rested and able to stay focused (without too much stress) on their work with Chorosynthesis Singers.
  4. Expectation: Basic room and board (including specified meals, if possible), assisting with transportation (as able and willing), separate beds for each singer, laundry options, WiFi, access to full bathroom, and accommodations for allergies (food, pet). If you have access to a piano or keyboard, even better; or maybe you won't mind them practicing a little at home (if appropriate).
  5. More specifically, we ask the following:
    1. Hosts will arrange for water, coffee/tea, and other light snacks for non-meal times.
    2. Host will provide breakfast every morning Sunday through Tuesday.
    3. Host will provide dinner (or food that the singer can self-prepare) on Saturday (late afternoon) with time to arrive at the venue by the call time.
    4. It would be appreciated if hosts would provide lunch (or lunch food that singer can self-prepare) on Sunday and Monday.
    5. It would be appreciated if hosts could arrange to assist singers with transportation (including car rides or a drop-off at a light rail station or key bus stop).
    6. Hosts should disclose any pets or possible exposure to food allergies.
    7. Hosts should provide separate beds for each performer, even if 2 performers are sharing a room.

If any of these points pose a challenge for you, but you are interested in helping out, PLEASE talk to us. We might be able to work something out.

Please contact us at chorosynthesis@gmail.com with the subject line Seattle Hospitality to get the conversation started. Thank you!

     

    4th New Choral Music Reading Session

    by Jeremiah Selvey

    It is the middle of summer, and the sun is shining brightly, soon to set in the topographically stunning city of Seattle. Meanwhile, in the darkness of night, a South American composer goes to the bar because his Internet connection at home stopped working. While in the bar, he begins to Skype with Seattle singers, educators, and conductors who make up an ad hoc reading choir at the New Choral Music Reading Session that Chorosynthesis is hosting. This event is the third reading session of Chorosynthesis, and this time, we get to see some of the interesting personalities and lives of our composers.

    Not only have the members of this ad hoc choir been able to experience the amazing compositions that are unpublished and on topics of social justice, but they also get to know more about the backgrounds of the pieces through conversations with the composers. They also get to discuss frankly and openly their perspectives of experiencing the work for the first time as a singer. This reading session is definitely not your typical reading session.

    As they walk out the door, they take their music packets full of scores, including the contact information of the composers they were able to meet. Some of them will be in touch with these living composers, and they just might find the treasure that they seek for their own performing contexts as they get to know any number of these composers.

    *****

    On October 2, 2016, Chorosynthesis will host its 4th New Choral Music Reading Session, sponsored in part by the University of Washington School of Music. We invite all stakeholders to join us:

    • Educators
    • Composers
    • Professional Solo/Chamber Singers
    • Conductors & Singers of MANY types of choirs:
      • Professional
      • Church
      • Community
      • Academic (secondary, college)

    Learn about our past and future calls for scores, meet composers, sing through new music on themes of social justice, and take a packet home with you. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

    To register and secure your free packet, fill out the form here: www.chorosynthesis.org/reading-session-sign-up.

    Diversifying Voice Training in Colleges & Universities?

    by Jeremiah Selvey

    The performance field of singing has diversified. This diversification indicates to universities and conservatories that we might want to consider the way we are training singers. Training to perform opera and/or musical theater roles is indeed a good path for some singers, but we are at a crossroads where specialization in oratorio or chamber music is also possible. A career as an independent, entrepreneurial singer is now possible for more people, especially if we give them the administrative and marketing skills necessary to achieve their goals and dreams in today's market. Who's with us in helping shape the future education of today's singers?

    Previews of our Empowering Silenced Voices Concert

    by Wendy Moy

    Click on the following link to watch previews of our upcoming "Empowering Silenced Voices" Concert on March 19, 7:30 pm at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Seattle.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnqoMxzvjkPQf_G4DqzxHuNbz6QcRRnvY

    Support our Empowering Silenced Voices Concert!

    by Wendy Moy

    Change the world through music!

    For several years now, Chorosynthesis has been envisioning a project that would involve the performance of new, high-quality works by living composers. We would honor the excellence of these composers by performing their works with a chamber chorus of professional singers (Chorosynthesis Singers) and Co-Artistic Directors Wendy Moy and Jeremiah Selvey. Essential to the concept of the project was connection to the vision and mission of Chorosynthesis, more specifically engaging community and providing platforms for collaboration. Both passionate about issues of social justice, Wendy and Jeremiah decided to include compositions centered on social justice.

    On Sunday, March 13, 2016, the singers and conductors will arrive from all over the country for a week of daily rehearsals (17.5 hours in total), including a dress rehearsal in the performance space on Thursday, March 17 with our cellist, clarinetist, and pianist. Then on Saturday, March 19 at 7:30pm, Chorosynthesis Singers will present “Empowering Silenced Voices,” a concert of new choral works on the theme of social justice, as part of the Wayward Music Series at the Good Shepherd Chapel in the Seattle neighborhood of Wallingford. Believing that music has the ability to bring together communities, this concert will highlight voices that have been silenced throughout history by exploring topics such as child abuse, terrorism, war, non-heteronormative love, natural disaster, women’s rights, and civil disobedience.

    Check our our Kickstarter Campaign at http://kck.st/1Phzv3X

    Chorosynthesis Singers Accepted As Part of Wayward Music Series

    by Wendy Moy

    We are excited to announce that Chorosynthesis Singers will be part of the Seattle Wayward Music Series in 2016. Each month, Nonsequitur and a community of like-minded organizations and artists present ten concerts of adventurous and experimental music in the gorgeous Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center: contemporary/post-classical composition, free improvisation and the outer limits of jazz, electronic/electroacoustic music, new instruments, phonography, sound art, and other innovative musics. Save the date: March 19, 2016 for the Empowering Silenced Voices Concert.

    Grant Received!

    by Wendy Moy

    Chorosynthesis has received a grant towards its upcoming performance projects. Stay tuned for more details!

    Social Capital and Your Choral Program: Creating a Culture of Success and Sustainability

    by Wendy Moy

    Wendy will present her paper, "Social Capital and Your Choral Program: Creating a Culture of Success and Sustainability," at the Northeast College Music Society Regional Conference on March 20 at Boston University. See below for the abstract.

    This session will examine the role of culture and social capital in the development of a highly successful community chorus. The presenter will share her current ethnographic research on the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices of the Seattle Men’s Chorus, the largest community chorus in North America and largest gay men’s chorus in the world.  This chorus has created a culture of high quality performances spanning diverse musical genres from Brahms to the Beatles.  They have graced concert halls around the world sharing their message of music and social justice.  Most recently they toured in Germany with the commissioned work, For a Look or a Touch by Jake Heggie on the subject of homosexual persecution during the Holocaust. Every holiday, they perform over nine sold out shows for the community at Benaroya Hall, the home of the Seattle Symphony.

    This research revealed that the Seattle Men’s Chorus possess all three types of social capital (bonding, linking, and bridging), which have been leveraged to build a chorus of 300+ members, create an expanding audience demographic, and establish an institution that is a core component of the musical community. Particular attention will be given to the mission/vision of the chorus as well as the partnerships between the chorus, community, and educational institutions such as the vocal coaching program with the University of Washington.  Applications to other choral organizations and academic contexts will be addressed as well as directions for further research.

    Presenting Dr. Moy and Dr. Selvey

    by Wendy Moy

    Wendy and Jeremiah successfully defended their dissertations at the University of Washington. Wendy's dissertation was entitled, Come Together: An Ethnography of the Seattle Men's Chorus Family. Jeremiah's dissertation was entitled, Visual and Aural Modes of Perception in Choral Performance Evaluations. Both Wendy and Jeremiah will be presenting their research at upcoming conferences.