Click here to hear the full versions of the vocal pieces featured in our all-discipline collaboration, War of the Worlds. You'll hear Vocal Conservatory's own re-creations of Vintage Pepsi and Cheerios radio commercials, along with two Andrews Sisters favorites, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy & Bei Mir Bist du Schön, accompanied by CCA's Jazz Band, with soloist Ella Peters. Finally, be sure not to miss Irving Berlin's' This Year's Kisses, sung by the men of Vocal Conservatory!
This term, Concert Choir and Chamber Ensemble are working together to perform Eric Whitacre's "Five Hebrew Songs." Click here to listen to the first three of these touching love letters.
Notes from the composer:
In thee spring of 1996, my great friend and brilliant violinist Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable.
Because we were appearing as a band of traveling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of troubadour songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer.
Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together. Kalá Kallá (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew. The bells at the beginning of Éyze Shéleg! are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral. --Eric Whitacre
Notes from the composer:
In thee spring of 1996, my great friend and brilliant violinist Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable.
Because we were appearing as a band of traveling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of troubadour songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer.
Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together. Kalá Kallá (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew. The bells at the beginning of Éyze Shéleg! are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral. --Eric Whitacre
Each fall, Envision Vocal Conservatory students present recitals, showcasing solo and small ensemble literature. The repertoire includes classical, theater, contemporary, and original compositions. In partial fulfillment of the Conservatory program, Level III seniors must put together full length recitals, choosing repertoire, producing the event, and promoting their work on their own.
A Ceremony of Carols has become a Vocal Conservatory annual tradition. The multi movement choral work by Benjamin Britten was composed in 1942 while Britten was out at sea, traveling from the US to England. It is scored for three part treble chorus and harp, in eleven movements written in Middle English, Latin, and Early Modern English. Click here to listen to three of the movements, featuring soloists Ella Peters, Zoe Ludena, and Alina Jitpraphai.