“The show, produced by singer and arts journalist Chloe Veltman, will cover the vocal music scene in the Bay Area as well as national and international artists. The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation recently supported the project with a $25,000 grant.

“I’m a longtime fan of Terry Gross and Michael Krasny,” said Veltman of her vision for the show. “My goal is to bring that same high level of intelligence and depth to my conversations with vocal musicians as they do with cultural figures, authors and filmmakers.”

For those of us who live far from San Francisco, you can listen to KALW’s live stream online at http://www.kalw.org/listen.html. Upcoming shows are described below, and you can find the show’s website at http://www.voicebox-media.org.

Hooray for Community Choruses, January 15, 2010 10pm KALW 91.7 FM
There are more than 500 choruses in the Bay Area and one in five Americans sings in a choir. Why are Americans so passionate about singing for pleasure?

Men with high voices, January 22, 2010 10pm KALW 91.7 FM
Once upon a time, countertenors wouldn’t go about publicizing the fact that they sang high. These days, male sopranos and altos are kings of the classical and pop worlds.

Mavens of Cabaret, January 29, 2010 10pm KALW, 91.7 FM
VoiceBox explores the vocal pyrotechnics of the smoothest cabaret artists from the Bay Area and beyond

That’s good news because singing in one of the 270,000 choruses in the U.S., such as a community chorus or a school or church choir, is strongly correlated with qualities that are associated with success throughout life, the study finds. Greater civic involvement, discipline, and teamwork are just a few of the attributes fostered by singing with a choral ensemble.

Chorus America first evaluated the benefits of choral singing and its impact on communities in a 2003 study. The results from this latest research support and advance earlier findings that choral singers exhibit increased social skills, civic involvement, volunteerism, philanthropy, and support of other art forms, when compared with non-singers.

“The prototype of a choral singer is how Americans aspire to see themselves today: as active, involved citizens with a broad range of creative interests and concerns for their communities,” says Ann Meier Baker, the President and CEO of Chorus America.

Adults who sing are remarkably good citizens.

A few of the current study’s major findings for adult singers include:

* Choral participation remains strong in America with 32.5 million adults regularly singing in at least one of 270,000 choruses nationwide.

* Choral singers exhibit higher levels of civic involvement, with choristers almost 3 times more likely to be officers or committee members of local community organizations such as the PTA.

* Seventy-eight percent of choral singers indicated they “at least sometimes” volunteer their time in their community, while only 50% of the general public say the same.

* Seventy-four percent of choral singers agree or strongly agree that singing in a chorus has helped them become better team leaders or team participants in other areas of their lives; nearly two-thirds agree or strongly agree that being in a chorus has helped them socialize better in other areas of their lives.

* Choral singers donate 2.5 times more money to philanthropic organizations than the general public.

* Ninety-six percent of choral singers surveyed who are eligible voters said they vote regularly in national and local elections; only 70% of the general public cites the same level of participation.

* Civic engagement also extends to patronage of other art forms, with choral singers at least 2 times more likely to attend theater, opera, and orchestra performances as well as visit museums and art galleries.

The 2009 study included a new component that explicitly examined the effects choral singing has on childhood development. The results show children who sing in choirs display many of the enhanced social skills found in adult singers, substantiating earlier conclusions that singing in childhood is likely to have an enormous influence on the choices individuals make later in life. Additionally, both parents and educators attribute a significant proportion of a child’s academic success to singing in a choir.

Children who sing in choruses have academic success and valuable life skills.

Several of the study’s major findings for young singers include:

* There are approximately 10.1 million American children singing in choruses today.

* The majority of parents surveyed believe multiple skills increased after their child joined a chorus. Seventy-one percent say their child has become more self-confident, 70% say their child’s self-discipline has improved, and 69% state their child’s memory skills have improved.

* More than 80% of educators surveyed—across multiple academic disciplines—agree with parent assessments that choir participation can enhance numerous aspects of a child’s social development and academic success. Educators also observe that children who sing are better participants in group activities, have better emotional expression, and exhibit better emotional management.

* Ninety percent of educators believe singing in a choir can keep some students engaged in school who might otherwise be lost—this is particularly true of educators (94%) who describe the ethnicity of their schools as diverse.

* Children who participate in a chorus get significantly better grades than children who have never sung in a choir. Forty-five percent of parents whose children sing state their child receives “all or mostly A’s” in mathematics (vs. 38% of non-choir parents) and 54% get “all or mostly A’s” in English and other language arts classes (vs. 43%).

The decline in choral singing opportunities for children is of concern.

While the 2009 study determined there are numerous academic and social benefits resulting from a child’s participation in a chorus, it also pointed to an alarming trend suggesting that these opportunities are not available, or are being reduced or eliminated from schools across the country. More than one in four educators responded that there is no choir program in their schools. Additionally, more than one in five parents said that there were no choral singing opportunities for their children in their communities.

A conclusion of the 2003 study was that choral singing is an accessible entry point for arts exposure, with fewer barriers—economic, cultural, and educational—than posed by other art forms. This is still true today, suggesting that the decrease in choral singing opportunities in schools and communities is a missed opportunity for bolstering student achievement and engagement in their schools.

“The data in this report suggests that it would be a mistake not to leverage the benefits that choruses bring to children, adults, and the communities they serve,” observes Todd Estabrook, Chairman of Chorus America. “Simply put, if you’re searching for a group of talented, engaged, and generous community members, you would do well to start with a chorus.”

A large percentage of the American population appears to be drawn to choral singing and the desire to participate in the communal expression, creation, and performance of beautiful music. Whatever motivates choral singers to sing, the data indicates that choral singing is a thriving and growing form of artistic expression in America, and can be acknowledged not just for providing great musical performances, but for advancing many of the positive qualities associated with success in life both for children and adults.

from Chorus America: http://www.chorusamerica.org/about_choralsinging.cfm

All those hours practicing the piano pay off big time by biologically enhancing a person’s ability to quickly recognize and mentally process sounds that carry emotion, according to a new study.

The study, from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., offers a new line of evidence that the brain we end up with is not necessarily the same brain we started out with.

“We are measuring what the nervous system has become, based on an individual’s experience with sound,” Nina Kraus, director of the university’s groundbreaking Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, said in a telephone interview.

Click here for the full story.

On Sunday, Feb. 15, in Vernon, an extraordinary thing happened.

A concert.

A concert that became a meeting of hearts and minds.

The Vernon Chorale and The Hartford Chorale Chamber Singers, conducted by Ehren Brown, and The Alfred E. White Chorale, conducted by Ingrid Faniel, presented “A Choral Celebration of Black History Month” at the First Congregational Church of Vernon. It featured an original composition by UConn choral guru Dr. Peter Bagley, and separate performances by all three choirs, as well as a stunning finale by the three choirs combined.

That this event was scheduled at all was notable, overdue, and admirable.

But the great part is what happened once all were gathered in that church; once the concert actually happened and the music took off.

The singing was rousing.

The church was full to the brim.

And everyone sang eventually: choirs and audience; black and white; musicians and amateurs; believers and skeptics.

They all sang these words by Hezekiah Walker, led by the Alfred E. White Chorale, as a finale:

“I need you, you need me.

We’re all a part of God’s body.

Stand with me, agree with me.

We’re all a part of God’s body.

“It is His will, that every need be supplied.

You are important to me, I need you to survive.

You are important to me, I need you to survive.

(repeat 3X)

“I pray for you, You pray for me.

I love you, I need you to survive.

I won’t harm you with words from my mouth.

I love you, I need you to survive.

(repeat 8X)

“It is His will, that every need be supplied.

You are important to me, I need you to survive.”

The tune is as simple and profound as the words. Profound because anyone can sing the tune and everyone needs the words.

Mutual respect.

That is how societies survive and democracies thrive.

Our president is trying to tell the other leaders in Washington that.

A nonviolent affirmation of justice and mutual respect — that’s how we’ll get through the storm together.

This song might be a good one to teach in our schools, especially where there is race tension, or there are troubled kids.

Every school.

And in our Congress.

Sing those verses over and over and just try to keep your heart hardened.

This concert was performed for a mostly white audience in a mostly white church and led (taught) by black singers — in honor of black history.

We affirmed that it is a history that matters to us all.

How about that?

Maybe music can change hearts.

Maybe it simply reflects change of heart.

Maybe it feeds the hearts and minds of those able to listen and willing to change.

Maybe something is happening in America.

And hard times can teach us.

As President Barack Obama likes to say: “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Copyright the Journal Inquirer. Reprinted with permission.

Full article below.

By KATHLEEN MEGAN | The Hartford Courant
February 12, 2009

Scott Lilly at the Center for American Progress floats a timely reminder to the good folks in Congress currently bristling about the stimulus package: arts jobs are jobs, regardless of your opinion of what they produce. He quotes Rep. Jack Kingston’s (R-GA) remarks when complaining about the NEA funding (now removed) from the bill:

“We have real people out of work right now and putting $50 million in the NEA and pretending that’s going to save jobs as opposed to putting $50 million in a road project is disingenuous.”

Which suggests, of course, that artists, cultural managers, stagehands, gallery staff, technicians, costume designers, and anybody else involved in artistic pursuits aren’t actually working, or earning a paycheck, or supporting their families, or any of the other productive things road workers might do. Or, to put it more bluntly, arts workers are not ”real people.”

It’s perfectly fair to challenge the ‘’stimulus potential” of any line item in the massive bill. And there are legitimate arguments to be made that one form of spending or incentive works more quickly, more effectively, more efficiently than another. But this particular line of attack, suggesting that the arts don’t involve people doing jobs, is staggering in its ignorance.

Before we go railing off on conservative politicians, however, we might look for the same bias and blindness among ourselves. I was at a conference panel recently, for example, in which an architect from a well-respected firm with extensive cultural facility projects to their credit made an astounding admission: up until their most recent project, that involved direct discussion with a wide range of practitioners, they hadn’t thought of a cultural facility as a workplace. A performance/display space, an audience chamber, and a public venue, to be sure. Even an administrative office tucked away in the back. But the entire building as a daily workplace for professionals and tradespeople? A novel idea.

Perhaps that explains why so many cultural facilities have spaces that can’t be cleaned, lightbulbs that can’t be changed without massive machinery, and offices and common spaces that cramp and confound the folks who come to work there every day.

Somewhere between our lofty rhetoric about the power of the arts, and our mechanical arguments about social and civic benefits, there seems to be a disconnect in our message. The arts are people. They don’t just serve people or help people, they are people. It’s astounding that anyone would understand otherwise.

By JEFFREY JOHNSON | SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
October 26, 2008

As Edward Cumming conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony from memory, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, in the opening program of the 2008-2009 Masterworks Series in Mortensen Hall, responded with a fiery performance.

Familiar as this work is, conducting it from memory is no small feat, given that there are some 2,600 measures of detailed textures and cues. But it put Cumming in direct and unbroken contact with the orchestra, and the level of intensity was magnified.

Cumming began the first movement by backing his feet onto the extreme left-hand corner of the podium. He was facing the celli section diagonally, looking like an Olympic gymnast getting ready for a tricky combination in a floor routine. He readied his arms and stood motionless for what seemed a good 20 seconds.

Then, from the opening downbeat through the two sweeping scales that precede the final cadence, the entire movement came across as continuous and uninterrupted compositional thought. The orchestra produced a vivid and massive sound.

The second movement developed the intensity of the first, with Cumming giving agile cues for entrances of the rhythmic motive that drives this scherzo. He took the trio at a tempo disputed by some Beethoven scholars, one that is slower than typically heard. The tempo allowed space within the driving intensity of the music and seemed an effective idea in the larger context of the performance as a whole.

“O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! (Oh friends, not these tones!)” With these words, sung by baritone Anton Belov, the symphonic world of instruments became vocal. This invocation consists of Beethoven’s own words, and it precedes the text by Schiller. Belov was later joined by soprano Elona Ceno, mezzo-soprano Ela Zingerevich and tenor Tadeusz Szlenkier, who made an impression with spirited singing during his solo in the “Turkish-March” episode.

But it was the Hartford Chorale, prepared by the incomparable Richard Coffey, who stole the show. They stood en masse at the return of what Wagner called the “schreckensfanfare” (horror fanfare), and it then became clear that they intended an intensification of their own — they sang the lengthy German text from memory. The sense of collective focused energy was overpowering, unbroken from the choir to us. How can one hear this kind of direct communication and not be moved? The challenges of this demanding movement were met. The passage during which the familiar “Joy” theme combines with the more austere “Seid umschlungen, millionen! (Be embraced, you millions!)” had a clarity, both in diction and direction, that became a celebration.

The closing gesture of the symphony was met with an instantaneous standing ovation. The audience stood in a single gesture, one that balanced the moment when the chorale stood just prior to its entrance. The ovation lasted 10 minutes, solid and unbroken through three complete calls.

This was a monumental event.

Afterward, it was almost difficult to place the performance of Beethoven’s First Symphony, an engaging performance that opened the concert, as having taken place on the same evening.

Cumming also conducted the First Symphony from memory and did not use a podium. He was at eye level with the players and created the sense of chamber music with an ensemble that was greatly reduced in comparison with the orchestra used for the Ninth Symphony. The wind writing came across as being particularly colorful in this performance. Chuckles were peppered throughout the hall as Cumming wound the orchestra note by note, his smile growing bigger with each mischievous gesture.

“Lucky you!” said Cumming from the stage as he concluded his pre-concert talk earlier in the evening. “A whole year of Beethoven. It doesn’t get any better than that!”

Indeed, it doesn’t.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant