The Magnets perform a jazzed up version of Emeli Sande's No.1 hit, "Next to me"

SINGING When the soul first put on the body's shirt, the ocean lifted up all its gifts. When love first tasted the lips of being human, it started singing. Texts by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks © 1995 Coleman Barks. Used by permission. ...  moreSINGING When the soul first put on the body's shirt, the ocean lifted up all its gifts. When love first tasted the lips of being human, it started singing. Texts by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks © 1995 Coleman Barks. Used by permission. Performed by the Millennium Consort, Martin Neary, conductor, and the Pomona College Choir, Donna Di Grazia, director. Water Ruminations is a setting of six poems by the thirteenth-century poet Rumi, in English translations from the Persian by Coleman Barks, for double choir and organ. The poetry sings of literal and spiritual connections between water and sky, a drop of water and human life, flowing water and love, drinking water and its container, the giddiness of spring and rolling seas, and the ocean's gifts and singing. Its images, from 800 years ago, speak to us with both vivid immediacy and transcendence. The idea for the piece originated with the Mellon Elemental Arts Initiative, which proposed funding activities that would involve students in a...    less

Irina Stiglich Choir is a Bulgarian youth mixed ensemble, led by the artistic guidance of its conductor Marina Koleva, accompanied by the pianist Svetlin Hristov. The choir's mission is to nurture Bulgarian talent and instill a love for choral art among ...  moreIrina Stiglich Choir is a Bulgarian youth mixed ensemble, led by the artistic guidance of its conductor Marina Koleva, accompanied by the pianist Svetlin Hristov. The choir's mission is to nurture Bulgarian talent and instill a love for choral art among young individuals aged 16 to 35. It honors Bulgaria's choral traditions while occasionally embracing contemporary trends in choral performance, employing techniques like body percussion and mise-en-scène to enhance their vocal craft. Founded as Pastoral - female chamber choir in 1987, nowadays the ensemble carries the name of its originator Irina Stiglich. Тhe choir's repertoire encompasses (or includes) works by both Bulgarian and international composers, spanning eras from the Renaissance to modern times. They've embarked on concert tours across the country and abroad participating in international choral festivals and competitions. The choir's transformation into a mixed youth ensemble occurred in early 2020. It strives to rekindle Bulgarian choral tradit...    less

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Obvious really, but a choir is a large organism made up of lots of individuals who are working together.     The Tenor by Amyn Kassam &...

[this is an updated version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   For those of us who work to school terms, it is now the summer holidays. Unlike us poor folk here in the UK, the summer break is months long i...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I looked at how you get beyond the written word if you've been learning lyrics from sheets of paper.     This week I want to look a...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I’ve suddenly realised I don’t know what to call myself any more. I used to be a ‘choirmaster’ (a term I got from Gareth Malone and...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   In January 2008 I handed over the reins of my first choir WorldSong to a new musical director after ten years at the helm.     And in ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Many of you know that I avoid using the ‘C’ word: choir. But there other similar terms that I find just as bad: chorus, chorale, chamber ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]We are all creatures of habit. Which is no bad thing until it starts to affect what we do adversely. photo by CTRLF5 How many bad habits have you got into ...