The online publication is for news, announcements, and discussion of matters of interest to choruses and choral singers throughout New England. Look there for accounts of special choral events such as performances, workshops, classes, or community activities, and for stories about people and institutions in the New England choral community. We hope to soon add online discussion groups so people can share experiences and ideas.

There is an "announcements" section for posting such items as concert notices (see also our online choral calendar), auditions for new singers or soloists (see also our chorus directory), and other events, such as fundraising activities, special talks or seminars.

The site is still under development, and we look forward to rapidly making improvements in ease of use, but we hope you will take advantage of it right now. We welcome your ideas, announcements, and other contributions; send them to news@choralarts-newengland.org

Commissions supported by Choral Arts New England

2012 Awards Ceremony held in Boston

Sonja Dahlgren Pryor receives the Lifetime Achievement Award

Grant awards presented to 11 New England choruses;
Sonja Dahlgren Pryor receives Lifetime Achievement Award.

Choral Arts New England held its 28th annual Awards Ceremony on October 14, 2012, at the College Club of Boston, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass. Eleven New England choruses received grants totaling $15,000 and Sonja Dahlgren Pryor, Music Director for over 50 years of Chorus North Shore in in Rockport, Massachusetts, received the Alfred Nash Patterson Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards Ceremony guests

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually by Choral Arts New England to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to choral singing and its culture within New England. Previous recipients are John Oliver, Jameson Marvin, Richard Coffey, David Hoose, Craig Smith, Robert de Cormier, Donald Teeters, Alice Parker, John Bavicchi, Roberta Humez, Mary Whitney Rowe, Blanche Moyse, George Kent, Allen Lannom, Florence Dunn, Daniel Pinkham, Lorna Cooke DeVaron, and Elliot Forbes.

This year's Alfred Nash Patterson Grant recipients are from five New England states: four from Massachusetts, three from Vermont, two from Connecticut, and one each from New Hampshire and Maine.

The 2012 recipients of Alfred Nash Patterson Grants are:

Choral Arts New England Chair Kristin Odmark

• Back Bay Chorale of Boston, Mass., to support the premiere of a new choral work by Mohammed Fairouz, called Anything Can Happen, which was jointly commissioned by the Back Bay Chorale, Grinnell College (Iowa), Cantori (New York City) and Boston University. The piece incorporates multicultural and inter-religious themes. Three movements are in English, with text by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, and two are in Arabic, from the suras, or chapters from the "Injeel," or the original Arabic gospel of Jesus.
• Bella Voce Women's Chorus of Vermont, of Essex Junction, Vermont, for a concert called “Songs of Hope and Freedom,” celebrating spirituals sung by those following the Underground Railroad through Vermont.
• Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, Inc., of Auburndale, Mass., to support their ambitious five-CD recording of the Peterhouse Partbooks.
• Choral Art Society, of Portland, Maine, to support a commissioned work for choir and brass from Kevin Siegfried called Vidimus Stellam, to be premiered at the 25th anniversary Christmas at the Cathedral concerts in Portland in December 2012.
• Counterpoint, of Montpelier, Vermont, to support workshops on choral singing with high school ensembles in New England in spring 2013, which will be recorded by a professional videographer.
• Greater Middletown Chorale, of Middletown, Conn., to support the performance on April 28, 2013 of Letter from Italy, 1944: War's End, a choral-theatrical work by Sarah Meneely-Kyder. The composition is based on the life of a young physician and his family who were haunted by war.
• Greater New Haven Community Chorus, of New Haven, Conn., for a commissioned work by a New England composer to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the chorus.
• Lorelei Ensemble, of Cambridge, Mass., to commission two works for eight women's voices from emerging composers who specialize in the use of multimedia and electronic music. The works will include elements of dance, video, lighting, and amplified voices. The project includes a collaboration with student dancers from the Boston Arts Academy as well as other outreach to secondary and post-secondary schools, including instruction in singing. The performances will be in March or April 2013.
• New Hampshire Master Chorale, of Plymouth, NH, to support a composition by Jonathan Santore exploring themes relating to Latin America and Spain, to be performed November 16–18, 2012.
• Treble Chorus of New England, of North Andover, MA, to support hiring instrumentalists for the chorus's annual holiday concert.
• The Vermont Choral Union, Inc., of Essex Junction, Vermont, to support travel, equipment transportation, and advertising for a series of performances of primarily a cappella choral music in communities throughout Vermont. Possible performance locations include Derby Line, St. Johnsbury, Springfield and Manchester, Vermont.

Paula Folkman and Flossie Dunn lead guests in song

Joseph D'Eugenio, Lorie Martin, Matthew McCaffrey, Kristin Odmark, Heather Tower, and Joyce Kirkpatrick

Nathaniel Pulsifer with Steve and Nancy Chittim Farrand