[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Last week I wrote about the kinds of singing that I like (I may not know much about music, but I know what I like!).     Now I want to give...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir] Are you doing your five-a-day for well-being? Here are five things that can help with your feelings of well-being if done daily. five-a-day for wellbeing T...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   “I love singing, but I hAven’t sung for years and I really miss it.”     So why hAven’t you joined a choir or co...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Many choirs will be starting back soon after a long break.   photo by velkr0   This is the perfect time to shake things up a bit if y...

Exultate (Egg-sul-TAH-teh) is a chamber choir and orchestra, based in the Twin Cities, MN, founded in 1996 by Dr. Thomas D. Rossin, conductor. Exultate is the Twin Cities' only professional choir with a self-contained orchestra. The group's normal size is...  moreExultate (Egg-sul-TAH-teh) is a chamber choir and orchestra, based in the Twin Cities, MN, founded in 1996 by Dr. Thomas D. Rossin, conductor. Exultate is the Twin Cities' only professional choir with a self-contained orchestra. The group's normal size is about 45 singers and 22 instrumentalists. Once a year Exultate expands its ranks to become a larger-than-chamber festival choir and orchestra, performing and recording such major works for voices and instruments as A German Requiem by Brahms (sung in English), The Seven Last Words of Christ by Théodore Dubois (also in English), Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, Francis Poulenc's Gloria, the Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Requiems of Gabriel Fauré and John Rutter. Exultate has produced nineteen recordings so far - seven are Christmas albums with unique Christmas carol arrangements, many written especially for Exultate. The other twelve recordings are choral masterworks and works for organ or piano. Please go to www.exultate.org to see more inf...    less

About us/our coming CD: Crossover projects are the hallmark of the Sonux Ensemble. Together with the jazz-saxophonist Stefan Kuchel and the Sirius Quartet, the young men's choir performs contemporary works. The Quartet members describe themselves as arti...  moreAbout us/our coming CD: Crossover projects are the hallmark of the Sonux Ensemble. Together with the jazz-saxophonist Stefan Kuchel and the Sirius Quartet, the young men's choir performs contemporary works. The Quartet members describe themselves as artists of improvisation who break out of the conventional vocabulary of sound for a string quartet. Most pieces on this CD were written especially for the Sonux Ensemble, and thus composed to the singers' strengths. "We hAve worked on these pieces together with the composers, and given them their first performances over the course of the last five years. This disc features only world premiere recordings and, literally, unheard of choral music, " the choir's director Hans-Joachim Lustig notes. The works recorded on this CD focus on the topics of light and love. The eponymous poem by Charles Anthony Silvestri that lends its title to the disc frames and connects the two topics. Silvestri wrote the text in 2012, exclusively for this project. Hans-Joachim L...    less

The Esoterics is a Seattle-based vocal ensemble that is dedicated to performing and perpetuating contemporary a cappella choral settings of poetry, philosophy, and spiritual writings from around the world. While cultivating artistic expression and cultura...  moreThe Esoterics is a Seattle-based vocal ensemble that is dedicated to performing and perpetuating contemporary a cappella choral settings of poetry, philosophy, and spiritual writings from around the world. While cultivating artistic expression and cultural understanding among its singers and audience alike, The Esoterics aspires to reflect the beauty, power, and significance that are inherent in the music of our time.  

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the choir]   I caught a scene from the movie Spartacus the other day. The character played by Tony Curtis was asked to perform a song. He then proceeded to speak ...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   People sometimes welcome a distraction from watching rows of identically dressed choristers singing with books in front of their faces.   Photo by...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the choir]   Many people hAve no idea how a song is learnt by ear. They assume that written music is a must. But don’t forget that people hAve been singing (and l...