NJCC Annual Meeting to Feature Panel Discussion on Recruiting and Retaining Good Singers

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1 A Newsletter of the New Jersey Choral Consortium Vol. 5, No. 2 February 3, 2015 Consortium Calendar Saturday, February 14, 2015, 11-1 Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Choral Consortium, with Panel Discussion on Recruiting and Retaining Chorus Members, at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, South 2 nd Avenue, Highland Park, NJ See details in article at right. Saturday, March 7, Meeting of the Board of Directors of NJCC will be held at Renaissance at Raritan, 1 Renaissance Blvd., Franklin Township. Any interested NJCC member is welcome to attend; please RSVP to Rhoda Wolin at rhodabwolin@aol.com Saturday, March 21, 2015, 11-1 Workshop on Audience Development, presented by John McEwen, Executive Director of the NJ Theatre Alliance, at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, South 2 nd Avenue, Highland Park, NJ See the article on the next page. Saturday, June 13 All- day Men s Choral Workshop, hosted by the Greater South Jersey Chorus and Jason Bishop, GSJC Muisic Director, at Grace Episcopal Church in Haddonfield. More information will be available soon. COMING IN JULY Summer Sing In More information coming soon NJCC Annual Meeting to Feature Panel Discussion on Recruiting and Retaining Good Singers The NJ Choral Consortium will hold its Annual Meeting on Saturday, February 14, 2015, from 11 am to 1 pm at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, South 2 nd Avenue, Highland Park, NJ The meeting, which had to be rescheduled from November, will include the election of officers and board members and a report on finances by outgoing Treasurer Laura Babcock. Light refreshments will be served. The slate of officers to be elected is: president, Kathy Hannan; vice President, Marina Alexander; secretay, Ruth Anderman; and treasurer, George Steward; and at-large trustees: Laura Babcock, Erwin Petri, Steven Russell, George William Swope, and Rhoda Wolin. Terms are for two years. However, Kathy Hannan has agreed to serve as president for one year more only. Following the short business meeting, NJCC will present a panel discussion with members of several NJCC choruses offering ideas that they have used in recruiting new singers to their choruses, what techniques they used to improve the musical skills of their members, and the ideas they implemented to keep everyone happy. Scheduled panelists include Marina Alexander, music director of the Arcadian Chorale; Don MacGowan, membership chair of Masterwork Chorus; and others still to be confirmed. Please come to the discussion with your questions and with examples of ideas that have worked in your chorus. If you would like a particular topic discussed, please it in advance to: info@njchoralconsortium.org and we will forward it to the panelists. NJCC Receives Honor from Morris Arts Kathy Hannan, NJCC President, and Rhoda Wolin, outgoing NJCC Vice President, recently received word that the New Jersey Choral Consortium is the recipient of Morris Arts 2015 Outstanding Arts Advocate Award. The two women were asked to accept the award on the consortium s behalf. The consortium is being recognized for its accomplishments, commitment and contribution to encouraging and fostering the arts in the community. Since its inception, the NJCC has had the encouragement and backing of Morris Arts, formerly called the Morris County Concil on the Arts. The award will be presented on Wednesday, March 25, at 6:30 pm at the Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, in Morristown, NJ, in a ceremony called Celebrate the Arts. All interested members of the consortium are invited to attend the ceremony. If you wish to attend, please Kathy at hannan01@aol.com so that she can reserve a space for you.

2 March Workshop To Focus on Audience Development The New Jersey Choral Consortium is pleased to offer a workshop on Audience Development for community choruses by John McEwen, Executive Director of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. The workshop will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2015, from 11 am to 1 pm in the Parlor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, South 2 nd Street, Highland Park. The workshop is free to all members of the consortium. Like the choral consortium, the Theatre Alliance is composed of members of a particular arts form theater and offers its members throughout the Garden State help in advancing their art. Unlike the NJCC, membership is limited to professional theater organizations. The New Jersey Theatre Alliance began in 1981 with a membership of five professional theatres. Today, there are 35 members in 17 of the state s 21 counties, all sharing a spirit of collaboration with each other. The state s arts community and colleagues in the service industry view the Theatre Alliance as a nationwide leader in developing model programs that foster collaboration, cooperation, and audience development. Mr. McEwen has been the Executive Director of the Theatre Alliance since He also serves as Vice President of ArtPRIDE NJ. He has extensive experience in fundraising, development and long-range John McEwen, Executive Director of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance planning with several major arts organizations. Mr. McEwen realizes that differences exist between professional theater groups and amateur community choruses. Nonetheless, he believes that many of the models that his Alliance follows can help the community choruses of New Jersey grow in a sound way. He will share what techniques his theater groups have used and also talk about collaborations, some unusual, that have created new audiences. Come with other members of your chorus and learn some powerful new ideas for attracting new audience members. To reserve your space, contact info@njchoralconsortium.org. W The NJCC has still not received payment from a few choruses for their yearly dues, and will not list their upcoming concerts until dues are received. IMPORTANT FOR EVERY CHORUS: Please check the website ( regularly to make sure it is up-to-date with your concert information and that someone from your group has sent us the information on the NJCC concert submission form.

3 Concert Listings for February, March and April February Saturday, February 14, 5:30 and 8 PM The Princeton Singers Steven Sametz, Artistic Director My Funny Valentine The Princeton Singers offers a sampler of Valentine s bonbons presenting love in its many guises glorious, sad, funny, awkward. From the Renaissance to the premiere of a new work, Love Advice, by Pulitzer Prize- wining composer Aaron J. Kernis for The Princeton Singers 30th Anniversary, and a reprise of Stephen Paulus s I Love. Princeton University Art Museum Sunday, February 22, 2015 Sharim v Sharot Dr. Elayne Robinson Grossman, Musical Director Sharim v Sharot s Mercer County Jewish Choral Festival Jewish Choirs based in Mercer County, NJ, come together for a lecture by Scholar- in- Residence Dr. Mark Zuckerman, then sing. Adath Israel Congregation, 1958 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrenceville, NJ March Saturday, March 7, 8 PM Masterwork Chorus Come Away Sun Min Lee, Guest Conductor Concert selections will include Brahms Opus 31, Three Quartets. Calvary Episcopal Church, 31 Woodland Avenue, Summit, NJ Saturday, March 7, 8 PM Harmonium Choral Society Anne Matlack, Artistic Director Dark Night of the Soul Featuring the mesmerizing title work by Ola Gjeilo and the world premiere of the complete choral setting of Farlon Alemen by Andrea Clearfield United Methodist Church, 50 S. Park Place, Morristown Sunday, March 8, 3 PM Harmonium Choral Society See listing above.

4 Saturday, March 14, 2015, 7:30 PM The Shrewsbury Chorale Maestro Anthony LaGruth The Shrewsbury Chorale Performs Mozart and Rutter. First Presbyterian Church of Freehold, 118 West Main Street, Freehold, NJ Saturday, March 14, 8 PM Ars Musica Chorale Dusty Francis, Music Director Darkness into Light Zoltan Kodaly s Missa Brevis, Leonard Bernstein s Chichester Psalms, and a stunning new piece by by Ars Musica s Composer- in- Residence, Joshua Groffman. West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ Saturday, March 14, 8 PM Coro Lirico Warren Helms, Music Director Puccini's "Gloria Mass" and his opera arias and choruses Church of the Redeemer, 36 South Street, Morristown, NJ corolirico.net Saturday March 14, 8 PM Summit Chorale Dr. Thomas Juneau, Artistic Director Alleluia! Featuring new works for choir by John Conahan, Jake Runestad, Martin Sedek, and many others Christ Church, 66 Highland Avenue, Short Hills NJ April Friday, April 17, 8 PM The Ridgewood Choral Marjorie Vandervoort, Music Director Music for On and Off the Stage Classical selections, including Vaughan Williams Magnificat for contralto solo, female chorus, flute, and piano, plus selections from Opera and Broadway for women s chorus. West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood Saturday, April 18, 5:30 and 8:00 PM The Princeton Singers Steven Sametz, Artistic Director On The Town Music flows from composers to performers to audience, creating a living environment. Complementing the Princeton University Art Museum s exhibition, City Lost and Found, we look at the way the worlds of the composer, the performer and audience interact, influence, and shape each other. Works from Guillaume DuFay and Heinrich Isaac to Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and featuring the premiere of a new work by Steven Sametz. Princeton University Art Museum

5 Saturday, April 18, 7:30 PM Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers Anne Matlack, Artistic Director Heart and Hand Works from John Dunstable to Eleanor Daley, Orlando di Lasso to Nils Lindberg, Cristobal Morales to John Tavener, from sublime to silly Grace Episcopal Church, 4 Madison Avenue at Kings Road, Madison Members of the New Jersey Choral Consortium Arcadian Chorale Ars Musica Chorale Cantabile Chamber Chorale Caritas Chamber Chorale Capital Singers of Trenton Celebration Singers singers.org Central Jersey Choral Society Children s Chorus of Sussex County Choral Art Society of New Jersey Choral Arts of Southern New Jersey Concord Singers Concordia Chorale and Concordia Youth Chorale Coro Lirico Greater South Jersey Chorus Harmonium Choral Society Kinnara Ensemble Masterwork Chorus Monmouth Civic Chorus Morris Choral Society New Jersey Chamber Singers New Jersey Choral Society New Jersey Gay Men's Chorus New Jersey Youth Chorus North Jersey Chorus Orpheus Club Men's Chorus Philomusica Concert Choir Princeton Pro Musica Princeton Singers Pro Arte Chorale Ridgewood Choral, Inc. Ridgewood Singers, Inc. Schola Cantorum on Hudson Sharim V Sharot Shrewsbury Chorale Summit Chorale