This final issue before the American Choral Review transfers to a new home at the National Collegiate Choral Organization features a study of Bach’s use of rhetorical devices in Cantata Ich hatte viel Bekummnernis, BWV 21 and an interview with two singers from the ensemble New York Polyphony.
Repertoire
This edition of the American Choral Review focuses on the discipline and practice of conducting.
In this issue of the Research Memorandum Series, Dr. Sean Linfors provides a brief history of Stephen Paulus’ compositional career, discusses some of his most beloved pieces, and catalogs Paulus’ complete choral works.
Compiled by Dr. Jennifer Flory and Meagan W. Johnson, this issue highlights literature for treble choirs written by American composers in the last 30 years. The index is sorted by composer and will eventually be incorporated into a larger and more inclusive online database.
The lead article documents Shaw’s early years and his rise as a professional conductor with FredWaring and the Pennsylvanians, as well as his process of developing an understanding of choral music as an art. The issue also includes reviews of the documentary Robert Shaw: Man of Many Voices and a recent recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis by the Bach Collegium Japan.
Celebrating Black Choral Music All Year Long
Mike Rowan | February 25, 2022Black History Month was first celebrated in 1924 as “Negro History Week,” founded by Black historian Carter G. Woodson with the aim that Black students in particular would be formally taught about their own heritage and the contributions of African Americans in their schools.
The Return of In-Person Holiday Choral Performances
Eduardo Coyotzi... | December 22, 2021During the 2020 holiday season, singers, groups, and organizations shifted in the face of the ongoing global health crisis and produced virtual or recorded holiday performances. This December, fueled by love for singing, the desire to share joy, and an emphasis on health and safety protocols, choruses adjusted to the times, and shared holiday glee with live audiences once again in innovative ways. Here we spotlight a few unique performances filled with the holiday spirit from this year’s season!
Under the pandemic, the only way for choruses to share concert experiences with their audiences has been online. Learning the ins and outs of video production posed an obvious challenge, but another, less apparent, obstacle has proven to be almost as imposing: licensing the music.
The process is complicated even for a single piece featured in a virtual choir production, but clearing rights for five or ten pieces to create a concert video can be exponentially more difficult. And although the end of the pandemic appears to be in sight, this challenge isn’t going away. For many choruses, a mix of online and in-person programming will become business as usual. We spoke with a cross-section of choral leaders, publishers, and music licensing specialists to create this primer for choruses planning to produce concert videos for online viewing.
In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. Among countless affected performances during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic were eagerly anticipated world premieres—works such as Damien Geter’s African American Requiem with Portland, Oregon’s Resonance Ensemble (for more, see Secular Requiems) that explore timely and meaningful topics and involve collaborations, often spanning long periods, distances, or both. We asked several choruses about their premieres that were put on hold and their developing plans to find a way to share these new pieces of music with the world.

In the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America's magazine, the Voice, we published a number of special features that highlighted the choral community's response in the wake of COVID-19. This section spotlights composers who have risen to the moment by creating new work in direct response to the pandemic, some in unique fashions.