Ragazzi Celebrates End Of Season With Virtual Concert, June 6

Nearly 200 boys aged 5-18 will raise their voices in Ragazzi Boys Chorus' end of the year concert Rising Together in Song.

Utilizing the groundbreaking Ragazzi Virtual Studio technology that allows singers to perform together from home over the internet, this online performance will feature pieces sung by all of Ragazzi's groups, including Music & Movement, Primary, Ragazzi Premiere, Avanti, Concert Group, Choral Scholars, and Young Men's Ensemble. With Rising Together in Song, the chorus' members will rejoice in the power of music and celebrate Ragazzi's collective efforts to persevere in the face of adversity.

Led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue, Rising Together in Song will stream at 4pm PDT Sunday, June 6, 2021. A suggested donation of $25 per viewer is encouraged to support the world-renowned Ragazzi Boys Chorus, which has cancelled all of its in-person concerts and tours during the pandemic. For information or to reserve streaming access the public may visit Ragazzi.org or call 650-342-8785.

Rising Together in Song will stream performances recorded by members singing together in real-time from home, a feat made possible by Ragazzi Virtual Studio, as well as showcasing virtual chorus videos created from individual recordings. Among the concert's repertoire is Dave and Jean Perry's Tumefurahi (We Rejoice!), a jubilant song sung in Swahili, and Andy Beck's Riversong, a shimmering nature-inspired piece. The choristers will perform Z. Randall Stroope's moving Inscription of Hope, echoing a Russian folk melody and featuring text based on an inspiring inscription left on a cellar wall in Nazi Germany. Rising Together in Song will include Amen from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater," Ryan Main's contemporary, heart-pounding rendition of Dies Irae, and the traditional American folk song Nine Hundred Miles, arranged by Philip E. Silvey. In this program, Ragazzi will sing Jim Papoulis' Music Changes the World, extolling the importance of music in a child's life and serving as a call to action to support underserved communities worldwide that have little or no access to music. Michael John Trotta's energetic and hopeful Song of Myself, based on text by Walt Whitman, will also be included, as well as Pinkzebra's soaring Fly Away Home; Aaron Copland's Zion's Walls, a revivalist song invoking togetherness; and Connor J. Koppin's stunning and loving She Walks in Beauty, featuring text by Lord Byron. The singers will perform "Wellerman," arranged by British a cappella folk music band The Longest Johns transcribed by Bruce Yang/HKK, a delightful sea shanty which went viral earlier this year on TikTok. In addition, the concert will feature Leon Dubinsky's We Rise Again. Originally written about a 1980s economic crisis in Nova Scotia, this anthem of hope and resilience remains timely in 2021 following the uncertainties of the last year.

Pivoting to fully-online rehearsals during the pandemic, Ragazzi's virtual program has fostered both individual vocal development and collaboration-the choristers have rehearsed from home and have performed virtual concerts Beyond the Stars in December 2020, Destiny and Discovery in March 2021, and Joy, Awe, and Wonder in May 2021. To enable virtual rehearsals and performances, Ragazzi has employed advanced technology that allows choristers to learn and record their parts. The acclaimed chorus has also implemented a remote rehearsal console called Ragazzi Virtual Studio, which improves audio quality and reduces the latency (delay time) inherent in live video streaming platforms to a point where singers can harmonize in real-time over common internet connections. Pilot tested by Ragazzi choristers, this groundbreaking technology was developed by the JackTrip Foundation, which was launched by Ragazzi parent and software engineer Mike Dickey in collaboration with Chris Chafe and Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. Using Ragazzi Virtual Studio this Fall, Ragazzi held a virtual rehearsal with more than 80 choristers singing together live from the comfort of home-likely one of the largest remote real-time choruses to date.

Peninsula-based Ragazzi Boys Chorus is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's premiere music and performance organizations for boys. Last year, more than 250 boys from over 100 schools in 30+ Bay Area communities participated in the program. Ragazzi means "boys" in Italian and is the term used in opera to refer to children's voices. Ragazzi has performed with the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Symphony Silicon Valley, Masterworks Chorale, and the Stanford University Symphonic Chorus among others. The group has toured throughout the United States and internationally. Ragazzi was honored for its contribution to the San Francisco Symphony's triple Grammy Award-winning recording of Stravinsky's Perséphone, and has five CDs available: A Holiday Collection, Canciones de Alabanza, Magnificat: My Spirit Rejoices, Splendors of the Italian Baroque, and I Dream A World.

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