Eight conducting fellows from across the U.S. and Canada have been selected by the Carnegie Hall Choral Institute and the Young People's Chorus of New York City to take part in the Transient Glory Symposium, led by 2011 MacArthur Fellow and symposium artistic director Francisico J. Núñez, which from February 15 to 18, will provide three days of intensive training workshops and performances of new music commissioned for young voices for the Transient Glory series.
Transient Glory was created in 2001 by Mr. Núñez to spotlight the children's chorus as a serious and glorious instrument during that fleeting period of time when a child's voice imbues music with a particular poignancy and innocence and to demonstrate that young performers are capable of music-making of the highest quality.
The Carnegie Hall Institute is a program of the Weill Music Institute designed for choral teachers that annually offers a series of workshops and concerts, each aimed at introducing participants to different approaches to preparing and conducting music for chorus. The Transient Glory Symposium will enable participating conducting fellows, associates, and auditors to communicate and demonstrate to their students and audiences back home that new music can be approachable and accessible, especially to young people.
The eight conducting fellows will work one-on-one with composers Derek Bermel, John Corigliano, Douglas J. Cuomo, David Del Tredici, Paquito D'Rivera, Michael Gordon, Bright Sheng, and Joan Tower; artists-in residents the JACK Quartet and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; Francisco Núñez; and Guest Conductors Grant Gershon, Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale; Professor of Music at Ithaca College Janet Galván; and Artistic Director/Founder of VocalEssence Philip Brunelle in three days of workshop activities in score analysis, technique, and rehearsals leading up to evening concerts at Le Poisson Rouge (February 16), the 92nd Street Y (February 17), and Zankel Hall (February 18).
Hosted by WNYC's John Schaefer, each concert will be a festival in itself, including mini-concerts within the whole. Every Transient Glory composition will be followed by a related chamber work, as well as the world premiere of a one- to two-minute choral work written for the occasion by each composer. In addition, Mr. Schaefer will interview each composer about his or her musical decisions and thinking.
The selected fellows, all conductors and teachers in the profession, are:
Ana Alvarez will conduct and work with Bright Sheng on The Boatmen's Song, his 2004 Transient Glory commission. Currently a DMA student at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, Ms. Alvarez is conductor of the University of Toronto Women's Chorus and a member of MacMillan Singers.
Karen Cooksey will conduct and work with David Del Tredici on Four Heartfelt Anthems, his 2003 Transient Glory commission. Ms. Cooksey currently serves as associate chorus master at Los Angeles Opera, where she has assisted Associate Conductor/Chorus Master Grant Gershon and conducted offstage ensembles since 2008.
Jennah Delp will conduct and work with Douglas J. Cuomo on Fortune, his 2007 Transient Glory commission. Ms. Delp joined the artistic staff of the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley this past fall as the assistant conductor for the Ensemble and Vocalise choirs.
Composer/conductor Dominick DiOrio will conduct and work with Paquito D'Rivera on Tembandumba, Mr. D'Rivera's 2010 Transient Glory commission. Mr. DiOrio was a participant in YPC's first choral symposium at NYU in 2005. He is currently director of choral activities and associate professor of music at Lone Star College-Montgomery.
Rebecca Lord will conduct and work with Derek Bermel on A Child's War, his 2006 Transient Glory composition. Ms. Lord is the associate director of choral activities at UCLA and the chorus master for the Arizona Musicfest.
