Choral Blog
(Explanation from Dick Frantzreb: Choruses are organizing, rehearsing and planning concerts. This blog is devoted to the Sacramento area's renaissance of live choral singing. Send your news to info@sacchoralcalendar.com.)
- Ukrainian Alleluia. I think many of us will be interested
in Craig Courtney's Ukrainian Alleluia. Here's what Courtney
wrote by way of description in an e-mail yesterday (2/25/22): ""I have
been to Ukraine twice, as part of the Music in World Culture ministry to
support musicians who have suffered discrimination under the Russian regime.
Many of them were denied entrance into conservatories and many had their
instruments confiscated. Ukrainian Alleluia was written in response to
the stories of suffering I heard there.
A few years ago, I was invited to direct a 1,000-voice Ukrainian choir performing this piece. It happened in November in an unheated concert hall, crowded to the point that people were standing in the aisles. When we reached a climactic, dissonant chord followed by silence near the end of the piece, the entire crowd gasped. It was as if all of their suffering was present in that chord and it pierced their hearts. This piece is even more relevant today."
You can find Courtney's 4-minute Ukrainian Alleluia on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gnb5z-UT6A It's performed by the Beckenhorst Singers under Courtney's direction ─ more information at this link.
- The Sacramento Valley Choral Coalition is the nonprofit
organization that launched the SacSings choral festivals in 2014, 2015, 2016
and 2018 -- along with display advertising in the Sacramento Bee for choral
concerts, an almost-monthly newsletter, and other projects to promote choral
music in our region. The Coalition has been inactive for the past
several years, and it needs new members on its Board of Directors to give
energy to new projects to nurture the post-pandemic revival of live choral
music. Contact Dick Frantzreb at the e-mail address above if you're
interested in being part of the Coalition's board, and I'll convey your
interest to the current board.