Essential Voices USA to Lead Public Rehearsal of A THEODORE ROOSEVELT ROUND, 5/19

Conductor Judith Clurman, with singers from Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA, will lead a public rehearsal of A Theodore Roosevelt Round by Thomas Cabaniss on Monday, May 19, 2014 at 7 PM, at the Apple Store, 1980 Broadway, corner of West 67th Street & Broadway, New York City.

This piece is from the collection Sing Out Mr. President, published by G. Schirmer Music and recorded on Sono Luminus.

They will be joined by a representative of forScore and learn how to use the music software for their I PADS.

Sing Out Mr. President was commissioned by Judith Clurman for 16 contemporary composers to write short choral pieces based on the words of 16 American presidents for this collection that combines American history, culture and music. This collection was featured on NPR for President's Day in 2011 as well during President Obama's 2013 inauguration.

Sing Out Mr. President includes George Washington- Washington Round (Michael Gilbertson); John Adams- John Adam's Prayer (Jake Heggie) ; Thomas Jefferson- Opinion Is Power (Larry Hochman); James Madison- Round (Milton Babbitt) ; Andrew Jackson- One Man with Courage Makes a Majority (Nico Muhly) ; Abraham Lincoln- The Ballot Is Stronger than the Bullet (Jason Robert Brown) ;Theodore Roosevelt- A Theodore Roosevelt Round (Thomas Cabaniss) ; Woodrow Wilson- I Believe in Democracy (Andrew Lippa) ; Franklin Delano- Roosevelt Admonition of FDR (Samuel Adler) ; Harry Truman -Truman (David Ludwig) ; Dwight David Eisenhower -Eisenhower Round (Paul Moravec) ; John Fitzgerald Kennedy -Freedom's Road (Robert Beaser) ; Ronald Reagan -Moral Courage (Jesse Wiener) ; William Jefferson Clinton- An Ode(Zachary Wadsworth) ; George W. Bush -A Simple Oath (Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum) and Barack Obama -With Hope and Virtue (Georgia Stitt).

Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA (EVUSA), one of New York's preeminent choral ensembles, brings together a roster of seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers. With this unique choral model, created by Clurman, the size of the ensemble is constantly changing, dictated by the specific musical needs of each project. The ensemble is completely at home in New York's iconic performance venues. EVUSA performs regularly at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in "The Composer Speaks" series and on the Carnegie Hall subscriptions series with The New York Pops. The ensemble participated in the Leonard Bernstein Celebration at Symphony Space and has been in an ensemble in residence with National Public Radio. The group performed on the critically acclaimed CD Celebrating the American Spirit (Sono Luminus) featuring Kelli O'Hara and Ron Raines, recorded the song "The Music in My Mind" for Marvin Hamlisch's children's book, Marvin Makes Music, and rocked 'the rock' on NBC's national broadcasts of the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting in 2011 and 2012. A highlight of its 2012-2013 season was EVUSA's participation in the Presidential Inaugural activities, including a sing-along of the "Sing Out, Mr. President" cycle at the "Church of the Presidents" in Washington, D.C. The ensemble's CD was featured on NPR on Inauguration Day 2013. During the 2014-2015 they will perform at Carnegie Hall, present Composer Speaks Programs with music by Bach and Mozart, and collaborate with Harvard University professor Carol J. Oja in celebration of her forthcoming book Bernstein Meets Broadway. In addition, EVUSA has a new Sono Luminus recording is on the way, which will include "Songs of Freedom: A Celebration of Chanukah" and "Set Me as a Seal" by Nico Muhly.