June 24, 2009

Washington Men's Camerata - When I Was A Young Man

Under the direction of Frank Albinder (formerly of Chanticleer) the Washington Men's Camerata has become one of the nation's foremost men's choirs. In this recording, they focus on classic glee club literature, a testament to the power of men’s voices raised in song. 9050 CD 16.95

Listen to "Homesick Blues"

Posted by acapnews at 12:00 AM

June 16, 2009

Theater of Voices - The Little Match Girl Passion

Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall especially for Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices, David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Setting Hans Christian Andersen's fable in the format of Bach's St Matthew Passion, Lang elevates the suffering of the little match girl with poignant, evocative music. Lang's piece is scored for four voices and a few percussion instruments, played by the singers. They sing the sad story of a little girl who freezes to death selling matches on the street during a cold winter's night. In notes Lang wrote to accompany the Carnegie Hall premiere last October, he says he was drawn to Andersen’s story because of how opposite aspects of the plot played off each other. "The girl's bitter present is locked together with the sweetness of her past memories," Lang says. "Her poverty is always suffused with her hopefulness. There's a kind of naïve equilibrium between suffering and hope." 9059 SACD 19.95

Posted by acapnews at 12:00 AM

June 15, 2009

Stile Antico - Song of Songs

The beautiful and often erotic poetry of the Song of Songs found some of its most sumptuous settings in the motets of Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria and other Continental 16th-century masters. Sung here by Britain's "brightest new stars" of Renaissance polyphony, the singers of Stile Antico, these staples of the choral repertory have never before sounded so vital or texturally rich. 9023 CD 18.95

Posted by acapnews at 10:11 PM

June 9, 2009

Conspirare - A Company of Voices

This DVD capture the exquisite sound of the American choral group Conspirare, as heard and seen on a nationally televised, one-hour concert airing nationally on PBS. Repertoire on the disc ranges from classical works by Lauridsen and Whitacre to arrangements of popular songs by Carly Simon and Dolly Parton. Taped live in October 2008 at Austin’s Long Center for the Performing Arts, A Company of Voices — Conspirare in Concert is a production of KLRU-TV, Austin, Texas, with executive producers Dick Peterson and Marion Lear Swaybill and director Karen McLaughlin. 9024 DVD 21.95

Posted by acapnews at 11:51 PM

June 1, 2009

Christine Bass - Vocal Transformation For Secondary School Choirs

From the classroom to the concert stage, experience a high school choir's vocal transformation from beginning to advanced level. Step by step, through daily practice and using proven techniques this experienced educator transforms these young singers' singing into a free, healthy, blended and mature sound. ""Vocal Transformation" is on of the most remarkable teaching tools for conductors that I have ever seen. Christine Bass absolutely understands the progression of teaching vocal technique from beginning to advanced stages, and expertly demonstrates these concepts in a manner not previously done in video. "Vocal Transformation" not only provides information on how to teach concepts of vocal production, color, vowel unification, intonation and such, but actually shows the remarkable improvement of the choirs over time as these concepts are consistently taught. It's a "must have" in your library!- Z. Randall Stroope" 5091 DVD 39.95<

Posted by acapnews at 9:48 PM