Mt. Tabor Choral Festival March 5, 2010
Warner Pacific College
Mt. Tabor Choral Festival
Friday, March 5, 2010
Cost $175
You will receive a warm-up time, performance, and ensemble clinic.
Please remember this is a state qualifying event
The Warner Pacific College Choir will perform from 12-1pm so bring your lunches and have a listen.
If you have any questions please contact
Josh Weir, Festival Coordinator
503-527-1104
wsmusic@warnerpacific.edu
2010 Sacred Choral Music Workshop: Save the date!
The Sacred Choral Music Workshop is sponsored by OR ACDA and Sheet Music Service of Portland.
The headline clinician will be well-known composer, Lloyd Larson. (Bio...>)
Co-chairs (R&S) for Music in Worship, Jim Regin and Ralph Nelson, will also lead reading sessions.
Friday, Jan. 29 (6:30-9:45 pm) and Saturday, Jan. 30 (8:30 am-4 pm)
St. Francis Episcopal Church, 8818 SW Miley Road, Wilsonville, OR 97070 • stfranciswilsonville.org
We will have reading sessions, conducting master class, and presentations by outstanding nationally
and locally known choral conductors. Special Lent and Holy Week displays will be provided by Sheet
Music Service of Portland. Questions?
Are you interested in being a student conductor for the master class?
Contact Ralph Nelson (ralph.nelson@yahoo.com) or Jim Regin at jimbosjazz@hotmail.com
Lloyd Larson says work in his local church in Maple Grove, Minnesota is catalyst for much of his choral writing
L
loyd Larson earned a B.A. from Anderson University of Anderson, Indiana in 1976 and a M.C.M. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville, Kentucky in 1979. He has done additional graduate work at Southern Baptist Seminary, The Ohio State University, and Northern Baptist Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.
Since 1982, Lloyd has been an active composer and arranger for several major publishing companies. His compositions include more than 500 choral octavos and numerous Christmas and Easter cantatas, keyboard collections, vocal solo and duet collections, instrumental works for solo and ensembles, orchestrations, and handbell settings. The resulting notoriety has placed him in constant demand as a clinician throughout North America. It is Lloyd’s work in his local church that continues to be the catalyst for much of his writing. He currently directs the adult choir in his home church in addition to being involved in worship planning and leadership.
Lloyd and his wife, Marci, live in Maple Grove, Minnesota. They have three children: Stephanie, married to Brandt; Philip, married to Kylee; and Jeff, a college student.
Small Ensemble Festival set for April 24, Linn-Benton Community College, Albany.
Here's the latest information. Read this first...
And here is one way to register...PDF form (print it off, fill it out, mail it in)
And here is another way to register...ONLINE.
July 1, 2009 was one of those magical days in the life of Oregon ACDA. It was a day when several different people took on new duties within the organization. Following are those changes:
PRESIDENT – Sue Schreiner, Director of Choirs at Wilsonville High School, began her two year term in this critical role and relieved Russ Otte of his duties. Sue was elected to President-Elect in a special election held in 2008 after Tom Isaacson resigned.
PRESIDENT-ELECT – the results of our 2009 election bring Matt Strauser, Director of Choral Activities at Corban College, to a new role on the board. Matt has served Oregon ACDA in other capacities in recent years. He will become president in 2011.
PAST-PRESIDENT – Hal Eastburn leaves the board after more than twenty years of service to Oregon ACDA. Be sure to thank Hal for all of his work in ACDA over these years. Russ Otte moves into this position for the last two years of his six year tour of leadership.
Contact information for each of these people as well as all other members of the Oregon Board can be found by clicking on the “Leadership” tab.
A Win, Win, Win, Win, . . . event!
by Russ Otte
October 28, 2009
I
arrived at the First United Methodist Church of Corvallis to the sounds of voices singing a work by Eric Whitacre. I didn’t know the exact schedule for the Oregon Youth Festival Choir, but wasn’t surprised that my 9:30 AM arrival was late for the start of rehearsal. I knew that I was coming in to Day 2 of a two day event. The entrance to the church was awash in the black and orange of Oregon State University with several college students still at the “registration table”.
Since I am now retired and on the outside of the high school choral scene, I asked for a copy of the schedule for the day. With this information in hand I know that I can choose between Festival Choir rehearsals led by Eric Whitacre, or a rehearsal of the combined OSU MeisterSingers & Bella Voce with Whitacre, or a rehearsal of the OSU Chamber Choir with Whitacre, or a Masterclass with Hila Plitmann (that’s Eric’s wife), or ….. What a full day of choral festival activities
Before I really get to making a decision, I meet Kari Whitacre (sister of Eric) who works as Development Director for Community Outreach of Corvallis. I learn that this whole event is her idea! All facets of this two day event will raise funds to benefit her agency. WOW!! Making music with one of the giants of American choral music, learning, and becoming an ensemble helps the homeless and hungry of Corvallis. Awesome!!
Day 1 was devoted to high school choirs that traveled from around the state. Each choir received a workshop with Dr. Steve Zielke, Director of Choral Activities at OSU, and a workshop with composer/conductor Eric Whitacre.
A voice masterclass for five high school soloists was conducted by Ms. Hila Plitmann and the choirs combined for a performance of Sleep with Whitacre conducting. I can only imagine the excitement of the high school musicians as they worked with the composer twice on this day. One hundred percent of the entry fees for this event are donated to Community Outreach, Inc.
Day 2 has brought together 110 singers from fourteen schools to form the Oregon Festival Choir. Each student paid a $100 participation fee to spend the day working with maestro Whitacre.
I am impressed with this group of musicians who also understand that music making is about community, and in this case, the community includes hungry and homeless men, women and children. What a win, win! The students increased their knowledge of music and created a new community of musicians that reached out to an even larger community of citizens.
Jason Taylor, Director of Choirs at Newberg HS said “This event shows value in the Oregon choral experience, and for my students, it’s a blessing for a composer to truly teach the intent of his music. It’s nice to not say ‘The composer was trying to portray’, or ‘I think he was meaning …’ in our classes when singing Eric’s music.”
I got to observe a rehearsal of the OSU Chamber Choir with Eric Whitacre and a masterclass of OSU voice students with Ms. Plitmann (she and Eric are married) that included one of my former students from Ashland. Another win, win!
The photos that are included in this story continue the win, win, win theme. Jim Johnson is the volunteer photographer for Community Outreach. He donates his time and materials to document the projects of Community Outreach. My thanks to him for sharing professional photos for this report. He can be reached at JimJohnson@crowseyeimagery.com.
I didn’t get to stay for the evening concert; however, I can imagine that it was quite a celebration with more than 275 voices concluding the concert under the leadership of that guy that is Kari’s brother. I'm certainly impressed by all the musicians who gave of themselves to raise at least $30,000 for the needy in the 
Corvallis community. This is a project worth imitating in other communities!
Reported by Russ Otte, Past President of Oregon ACDA.
For more information on this event see: http://oregonstate.edu/cla/music/chorus/whitacrefestival09
The following links will provide multiple photos taken by Jim Johnson of Crows Eye Imagery.
http://www.crowseyeimagery.com/raiseyourvoice/index.html#49
http://www.crowseyeimagery.com/raiseyourvoice/index.html#87
http://www.crowseyeimagery.com/raiseyourvoice/index.html#85
http://www.crowseyeimagery.com/raiseyourvoice/index.html#82
http://www.crowseyeimagery.com/raiseyourvoice/index.html#56
by Russell Otte
Have you heard all of these choirs this year?
Western Oregon University w/Solveig Holmquist;
Warner Pacific College w/Thomas Miller;
Umpqua Community College w/Jason Heald;
Corban College w/Matthew Strauser;
Eastern Oregon University w/Peter Wordelman;
University of Oregon w/Sharon Paul;
Oregon State University w/Steve Zielke;
Linn-Benton Community College w/James Reddan;
George Fox University w/Loren Wenz;
Clackamas Community College w/Lonnie Cline;
Linfield College w/Anna Song;
Concordia University w/Kurt Berentsen.
Well, I did - yesterday (April 21) in Bauman Auditorium on the campus of George Fox University.
I know, I know many of you had to work. I'm sorry!
For more than twenty-five years I've missed these things, but now get to attend. I'm writing this because I hope that more of us who love choral music and care about the art form will find out about the 2010 Oregon ACDA Collegiate Choral Festival.
Too many people missed the '09 edition. I'm asking the chair of the event to get out more public announcements so that choral music lovers can attend.
In the course of about six hours, I heard more than four hundred singers present seventy pieces of choral music as interpreted by twelve directors. What a FEAST!
I'm not sure who planned it or how it happened, but the final piece was "Depart in Peace" by Ken Galbreath.
Yes I heard Bach, and Billings, Byrd , Britten and Bruckner. Also Copland, Childs, Dawson, Dinerstein, Gawthrop, Hogan and Whitacre. Then Villette, Durufle, Clausen and Lauridsen. I heard a piece in Swahili, and a folksong from the Hezhe tribe of China, and a "bomba" from northern Ecuador. OK, so you get the idea. The literature was diverse and wonderful. Only one piece was programmed by two choirs and yet that was interesting as well.
If you want to know more about this event, go to http://syntereo.com/index. Some of the history of the Oregon Collegiate Choral Festival is presented, and I'm rather sure that material from the '09 edition will soon be posted. Then watch your ACDA website calendar for April 2010 to find out when and where this event will spring up again. The price is right - FREE! I plan to become a regular. I hope to see you!
RUSS
2008 Gold Award winners announced
Congratulations to the Oregon choral directors and choirs in earning the ACDA Gold Award for 2007-2008! (Click here for list)
This is the first year of an annual award program initiated by Oregon
ACDA to recognize excellence in choral performance statewide. Oregon
choirs are eligible by earning two or more scores of 81 or higher at
a District, League or Invitational sanctioned choral festival
or contest held in 2007-2008. Sanctioned events require use of the ACDA/OMEA/OSAA
adjudication system with approved forms and certified adjudicators.
This award program recognizes all choirs earning, in a sanctioned festival,
at least two scores of 81 or higher regardless of whether they also qualify
for the tape pool for the OSAA High School State Choral Championships.
The Gold Award also recognizes outstanding performances of various choral
categories-- high school, middle school, elementary, community or church
-- regardless of choir size and gender. In addition, it is possible for
more than one choir from a single school to earn the award provided that
each choir attains the qualifying scores in performance at a sanctioned
event.
If your choir has qualified for the Gold Award but hasn't received the award yet, please contact Oregon ACDA Adjudications Chairperson Jim Angaran at <info@juniperjewel.com>. In your e mail please provide the following details of your qualifying performance:
Name of school
Name of choir
Name and e-mail address for festival
site chairperson
Name of festival and date
Names and scores received of certified
judges
Classification of choir (MS/1A/2A, 3A.
etc.)
Choral directors-- you may find something new and positive from
ACDA to encourage you and your choir’s efforts upon opening your
mail this spring!