WVC Summer Sings
As 2020 has turned out to be a year unlike any other, so too will the 2020 Summer Sing season. We’re reformatting our Sings for this year to keep our NYC choral community connected, while maintaining the distance needed to keep everyone safe and healthy.
The West Village Chorale Summer Sings, begun in 1972, provide a musical treat for New Yorkers. Under the batons of leading local choral-group conductors, with music scores provided, choral music enthusiasts can participate in the singing of great choral masterpieces. Our Sings have been noted for their friendly, informal atmosphere and high quality of musical performance.
This summer, we’ve lined up Summer Sing conductors from NYC and beyond to provide, using Zoom, a weekly series of “Summer Sing-style” sing-throughs and lessons on classic and favorite choral works, along with other singing-related topics.
Online registration for each Monday’s Sing will open the Thursday morning before; we’ll provide the links below.
We are happy to offer these these weekly Sings free of charge, though we are grateful for any donations offered to help us cover the cost for the series.
For all sings, we will provide a link to download a public-domain score, or the score will be shown on the screen during the sing.
In the interest of time, some Sings may feature selections of the listed works.
Click here to download a complete list (requires Adobe Acrobat).
All Sings are Mondays at 7:30pm
August 10
Bach: Magnificat
Ryan James Brandau, Artistic Director, Amor Artis
Click here to register for the Sing
Click here to download selections from the public-domain score
Want a chance to see/chat with your fellow singers before the Webinar?
Click here for an invite to a Zoom Happy Hour from 6:45pm – 7:25pm.
At 7:25pm, we’ll close the Happy Hour down and direct everyone to log in to the Webinar.
**Note, you must register for the Webinar and Happy Hour separately!**
August 17
Beethoven: Mass in C Major
Beethoven: Hallelujah from the Mount of Olives
Patrick Gardner, Director, Riverside Choral Society; Director of Choral Activities, Rutgers University
August 24
Dona Nobis Pacem—Variations on a Theme
Michael Conley, Director of Music Ministries, Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco;
Former Artistic Director, West Village Chorale
(Previously this summer…)
July 6
Brahms: Requiem
Philip Cheah, Music Director, Central City Chorus; Music Director, Amuse Singers, Co-Artistic Director, Cheah Chan Duo
Download selections from the public-domain score here (requires Adobe Reader)
Click here to download Movement VII (Final Movement)
(Note that the score will also be shown on-screen during the Sing.)
July 13
Dvořák: Requiem (Offertorium and Hostias)
Matthew Lewis, Artistic Director, St. George’s Choral Society
Download selections from the public-domain score (requires Adobe Reader)
July 20
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine
Colin Britt, Artistic Director, West Village Chorale
Watch on YouTube (Live Streaming!)
Download the public-domain Requiem score.
Download the public-domain Cantique score.
Download our Virtual Summer Sing Technology Cheat-Sheet for some suggestions for viewing the conductor and score on-screen at the same time.
July 27
Mozart: Requiem (K. 626)
Dusty Francis, Artistic Director, NYC Master Chorale
Download the public-domain score here (requires Adobe Reader)
August 3
Mary D. Watkins: Dark River
Featuring Brianna Robinson, Soprano
A new opera/oratorio based on the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer
Tianhui Ng, Music Director, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Boston Opera Collaborative, and White Snake Projects;
Associate Professor of Music, Mount Holyoke College
The West Village Chorale is thrilled to be partnering with Music Director Tianhui Ng, the Pioneer Valley Symphony and WomenArts to offer a Summer Sing of Mary D. Watkins’ Dark River.
Watkins’ work could not be more timely at this moment; the Sing will feature arias with words from some of Hamer’s historic speeches, as well as video featuring a synced score and some short talks by the composer.
A portion of the donations from this Sing will go to WomenArts, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of women artists in all art forms.
Resources for this Sing are available here, (scroll to “Resources”) including a range of MIDI files to aid in learning the choral parts, and biographical and background information on Fannie Lou Hamer and her role in the Civil Rights movement.
In support of the work of a living composer, portions of the score are available for purchase at a modest cost (hard-copy or download) via the composer’s website; they will be shown on-screen during the sing.
–>
Have an idea for a piece we should sing or a topic we should feature? Let us know! Send an email to westvillagechorale@gmail.com