Reflections of America

Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church
Sunday 28 April 2013, 4:00 pm
103 William Howard Taft Road, Cincinnati

Sponsored by Jake Sweeney FIAT

Visit them at FIATUSAofFlorence.com

Join us as the Camerata focuses on American composers in their annual Spring concert and Silent Auction in the gorgeous wood sanctuary of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. Bring your checkbook & bid on a FIAT for a weekend and other great items! Jake Sweeney FIAT was generous enough to donate an adorable little car (that’s right…a CAR) that you can take home for a weekend of fun. It’s a great chance to score some good swag and help us to fundraise for the Camerata’s musical mission.

The concert features works by Eric Whitacre, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Norman Dello Joio, Morten Lauridsen, the Camerata’s own Ellen Harrison, and the winner of the 2012 Camerata Composition Contest, Costas Dafnis. Read more about Mr. Dafnis and his winning composition right here.

You can help us get the word out!
Download a concert flyer in PDF format here to post in your neighborhood or office…If you have space, use our 11×17 flyer instead!

Bios:

About the work:

Lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri writes:

I really enjoyed writing this text for the American composer Costas Dafnis. He wanted a text which would tie together the themes of the Marian concert in which it would be premiered. So I created this litany to Our Lady, as Virgin, as Mother, and as Queen.

If you can’t wait until the Camerata Spring concert to hear the work, you can purchase an MP3 recording from Mr. Dafnis’ publishing site, Noisi Paintr here for $0.99!

Timeline:

• Commissioned by Voces Capituli (Antwerp, Belgium) to commemorate their upcoming 10th anniversary tour of Rome in 2013.
• February 2012: Completed Virgo Mater Regina, collaboration with poet Charles Anthony Silvestri.
• June 2012: Virgo Mater Regina featured on The Chant Café (blog of the Church Music Association of America).
• December 2012: Heartland Chamber Chorale under Dr. Robert Nance performs Virgo Mater Regina throughout Indiana.
• January 2013: Virgo Mater Regina is published by Walton Music.
• January 2013: Virgo Mater Regina selected as winner of Cincinnati Camerata 2012 Composition Contest.

Virgo Mater Regina

©2012 by Charles Anthony Silvestri

The October Festival Choir 2013

Blessed are They that Sing

Sunday, October 6, 2013 – 4:00 p.m.
Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church Sanctuary (link to MAP)

Compared to most midsize cities across America, Cincinnati has a rich arts culture evidenced by a number of successful annual festivals and performing ensembles. If you’ve never sought choral music experiences, you may never have heard of the Cincinnati Camerata. But, the 2012-13 season marks their 20th anniversary of offering small-arts choral programs to the Greater Cincinnati community.

Founding Camerata director, Chris Miller

Founded in 1992 by director Christian Miller as the Chris Miller Chorale, the ensemble quickly established an enviable reputation as an innovative and independent choir. The group was eventually re-christened the Cincinnati Camerata to emphasize its links both to the musical life of Cincinnati and to the Renaissance camerati—small ensembles who greatly influenced the development of the Italian Renaissance musical style with performances in their patrons’ living rooms.

Miller’s spouse, Bethany Troendly, an accomplished musician in her own right, served as the group’s accompanist and assistant director since its inception. Miller stated, “Early on, Beth and I were most fulfilled by the enthusiasm of all the singers who gave their time and talent to the choir, along with our eclectic and challenging repertory that championed new choral music. We were on the cutting-edge with experimental and remarkably inventive and beautiful new works. Being the first group to perform those scores, to discuss musical architecture with living composers, and to be directly involved in the creative process was incredibly exciting for us.”

Early portrait of the Camerata

Well over one hundred singers have performed with Camerata since its founding, and new music has been a cause for the Camerata ever since. The group has sponsored an international composition contest every year and has performed premieres of the winning works along with presenting prize money to winning composers, even when funds were tight to do so. It’s just one of the things that distinguishes the Camerata’s mission from other ensembles in the area.

Long-time Camerata tenor Darrin Hunter said, “The Camerata fills a certain niche in the Cincinnati choral scene that is very important to a city’s cultural life: it gives a musical outlet to a pool of talented singers who usually have careers outside of professional music. Groups like Vocal Arts Ensemble (mostly degreed singers) and Musica Sacra (a mid-sized choir performing all sacred repertoire with orchestra) have different focuses, and of course, the May Festival is a huge choral institution. The Camerata has always allowed for more diversity than similar groups, both in membership and in the kinds of programming and experiences we bring to audiences and to our own singers.”

Camerata at Tall Stacks

Miller added, “Not many choirs will dress up in period costume to present little minstrel reviews of the history of the Ohio River for the Tall Stacks festivals and then turn around and perform high sacred Marian repertoire each December in a huge church like Mother of God in Covington. In 1999, we toured Eastern Europe and brought American Spirituals to their services as a guest choir. And several years later, we experimented with the Camerata Consort, a select subset of the choir that presented Taverner’s Western Wind Mass as a separate Renaissance concert. And we did it all over the years on a shoestring with unpaid, volunteer singers who simply have talent and a passion to perform. That’s diversity.”

Camerata’s annual Marian concert in 2011

In particular, the annual Marian concert, a program of songs revering the Virgin Mary, has become a Camerata tradition in Cincinnati, with past attendees coming in groups from places with Marianist ties like the University of Dayton. Hunter stated, “The Marian concert is a great antidote to so much of the holiday music you hear piped incessantly through retail store speakers every year, starting before Thanksgiving. The church is gorgeous, and the environment we try to create is serene and respectful of the season. It’s a chance for us to make some beautiful sounds and give an audience an hour away from the hectic grind of Christmas.”

This year’s Marian concert will be held on Sunday December 2nd at Mother of God Church in Covington (119 West Sixth Street) at a new earlier time of 5 pm in the hopes of showcasing the stunning stained glass windows that surround the sanctuary. Hunter remarked, “many of the actual words we sing in this repertoire are inscribed on the church ceiling and in the windows, so it’s only fitting that the audience might see them in dazzling colored light as well!”

Current Camerata director, CCM’s Brett Scott

It will be the second Marian concert conducted by the Camerata’s new director, Brett Scott, an assistant professor of choral conducting at CCM. After the 2009-10 season, and being recognized as a finalist in the prestigious Post Corbett Awards, Miller and Troendly decided to retire and pursue other musical interests, leaving the group with choices regarding artistic direction and leadership. Scott was hired as a full-time director after a year of interim leadership and discussion among Camerata members who ultimately decided to maintain the tradition of the Marian concert and the composition contest as group hallmarks. To maintain high quality and tight focus on small-arts choral offerings for the Cincinnati musical scene, the Camerata’s seasons have been reduced to two concerts per year, the December Marian and a Spring composition contest premiere concert and fundraiser.

It’s always a struggle to maintain an independent arts organization, but with the traditions the Camerata has built over the last twenty years and a refocused and committed outlook, Cincinnati can expect more music to come from this ensemble. Scott said, “Working with university singers in an academic setting and working with community choirs is so different, but it has been a very rewarding experience to lead such a dedicated and talented group of singers as the Camerata. I look forward to continuing the group’s high-calibre performances and engagement in the community, and taking it into new and exciting territory, including an upcoming concert tour to Portugal in the summer of 2013.”

Ave Maris Stella

Mother of God Church, Covington Kentucky
December 02 {Sunday} 2012 5:00 pm
119 West Sixth Street

Enjoy Cincinnati Camerata’s annual Marian concert in a visually beautiful, aurally spectacular space. For the first time, we are moving the time of our concert to late afternoon so that the dazzling stained glass windows of Mother of God Church in Covington will be on full display! Featuring choral works by Diane Loomer, Moses Hogan, Franz Biebl, Giovanni Pergolesi, Josef Rheinberger, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener.

$12.00 at the door (suggested donation). For more information, please contact Penny Schenk at 513-941-5088.

Deadline:

Registration and Submissions for the 2012 Cincinnati Camerata Composition Contest are due no later than 5:00 pm on December 1st, 2012. After that, this page will be removed from our website, and no late submissions can be accepted.

Guidelines for 2012 contest entries:

• One score limit per composer.
• $30 entry fee.
• Mixed choir (SATB), maximum divisi SSAATTBB.
• Unaccompanied. Please provide a piano reduction.
• Recordings or MIDI files are welcome but not required. (Attach to email with score if submitting.)
• Texts may be sacred or secular, but a letter of permission from copyright owner must accompany any submissions using texts not in the public domain.
• Duration: no longer than 5 minutes.

Eligibility

Open to all U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Prize

$500 and a performance during the 2012-13 season.

Registration & Submission Instructions:

1. Please read all three instruction steps carefully and then complete and submit the application form at the bottom of this page. Once submitted, the form itself will be replaced by a green confirmation message that your information was submitted successfully. You will also receive a confirmation email copy of your submitted information.
2. Email your score as an attachment in PDF format to compositions@cincinnaticamerata.com and include your contact information in the body of the email. Also, please be sure that no identifying personal information appears anywhere on the attached PDF score (or any submitted recording / MIDI file, including filenames)! This will help us ensure submissions will be reviewed anonymously.
3. Payment of the entry fee of $30 must be submitted by mailed check. Make the check out to “Cincinnati Camerata” and send it to: Cincinnati Camerata Composition Contest, 7560 Silver Creek Road, Cleves, OH 45002.

Announcement of winner

The winning composition will be announced here on the Cincinnati Camerata website on January 15th, 2013. All applicants will also be notified by email.

Questions:

If you have further questions about your submission, please refer them by email to Ellen Harrison.

If you are interested in signing with the Cincinnati Camerata during the 2012-13 season, please sign up to complete an audition for our director, Brett Scott.

The auditions are very relaxed and informal and short (10 minutes!): he simply needs to hear one short prepared piece of your choosing to understand your individual instrument (he can accompany if you bring sheet music). You may also read a little bit together or vocalize to establish comfortable range.

Auditions will held on Tuesday, August 21st 2012 in the lower level choir room of the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church located at 103 William Howard Taft Avenue (Google map here).

Please follow this link to the registration poll on Doodle.com to pick a time slot on August 21st!

We have also added a second day and time for those who cannot audition on the 21st. The second evening audition time is Tuesday, September 4th from 7 pm to 9 pm in Mt. Auburn’s choir room. Click here to register for the auditions on the 4th.

Returning Camerata members, click here to sign up for times to audition with Brett before and after our first two rehearsals on September 11th and 18th.

*****

If you are unable to audition on the 21st, you may simply contact Brett by email to arrange for another time.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Sunday April 29, 2012 @ 4:00 PM
Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church
103 William Howard Taft Avenue

Enjoy Cincinnati Camerata’s annual wine tasting and silent auction fundraiser concert in the gorgeous wooden sanctuary of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. Featuring works by Brahms, Holst, Hawley, Chatman, Mulholland, Somers, and Chilcott.

$12.00 at the door (suggested donation). Remember to bring your checkbooks to bid on some great auction items…we always manage to gather some great stuff!
For more information, please contact Penny Schenk at 513-941-5088.

Sunday December 4, 7:00 PM
Mother of God Church
119 West Sixth Street, Covington KY

ideo est summa benedictio in feminea forma
quia deus factus est homo in dulcissima et beata virgine
—hildegard von bingen

the highest blessing rests upon the female form
because God became human in the sweetest and most beautiful Virgin

Enjoy Cincinnati Camerata’s annual Marian concert in a visually beautiful, aurally spectacular space. Featuring works by Grieg, Josquin, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Britten, and Tavener.

$12.00 at the door (suggested donation)
For more information, please contact Penny Schenk at 513-941-5088.

Brett Scott is Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Conducting at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, where he directs the select CCM Chorale and teaches conducting and literature at the graduate and undergraduate level. Dr. Scott’s previous position was at the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, where he taught undergraduate and graduate conducting, and directed the University of Rochester Glee Clubs and Chamber Singers.

Originally from Canada, he has received national broadcast as a conductor in that country. An acknowledged expert on and advocate for contemporary choral music, Brett has lectured at regional and national conventions in the United States and Canada. He has published articles in the Choral Journal, American Choral Review, Anacrusis and the Research Memorandum Series, and conducted several regional, national, and world premieres. He has recently been appointed editor of the Research Memorandum Series, published by Chorus America. Brett received his Doctor of Music Arts at the College Conservatory of Music in 2002, and currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife Krista and children Aedhan, Colum and Kenna.

Marian Concert

Sunday December 4, 7:00 PM
Mother of God Church
Sixth Street, Covington KY

*******************************

Spring Concert

Silent Auction and Wine Tasting

Sunday April 29, 4:00 pm
Mt. Auburn Presbetyrian Church
103 Wm. Howard Taft Rd, Cincinnati OH

To schedule an audition please go to http://cincinnaticamerata.pleasebringit.com/public/EbYBixJaIAY to sign up for a date and time.

Available dates are as follows:

1. T 9/13 : 7-8:30
2. T 9/20 : 7-7:45
3. T 9/27 : 7-7:45

If none of these dates work, please call 703-3309. Please prepare a short art song, theater song, or even a hymn that will show off your voice!

The Cincinnati Camerata appointed Portuguese composer and conductor Gonçalo Lourenço (b. 1979, Lisbon, Portugal) as the new Interim Director in January 2011. Mr. Lourenço founded both the Odyssea Choir and the Coro da Universidade Lusófona in 2004, conducting both of them until 2009. He is currently a second-year graduate student in the Masters of Choral Conducting program at CCM, working with Dr. Earl Rivers, Dr.Brett Scott, and Dr. Elmer Thomas.

Commissions of Mr. Lourenço’s music include The Allarya Chonicles for Small Orchestra (based on the fantasy books of Felipe Faria and performed by the Young Musicians Orchestra of Iceland) and Four Christmas Motets (for Maestro J.D. Goddard and the Mastersingers of Ohio).

For more information about Mr. Lourenço, visit him on the web at http://www.myspace.com/gonacalolourenco.

Robert Paterson of New York City is the winner of the 2010 Cincinnati Camerata Composition Competition with his setting of Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep (text by Mary Frye). The panel chose this work, from his cycle Eternal Reflections, for its expressive choral writing, text painting and imaginatively beautiful textures. It will be premiered at the Camerata concert on May 15th 2011 at 4 pm at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church [map] in Cincinnati. The concert will also feature a wine tasting and silent auction to benefit the Camerata. More information about Mr. Paterson’s work can be found on his website at http://www.robpaterson.com.

A statement from Mr. Paterson about the work:
Eternal Reflections consists of settings of the poems A Song on the End of the World by Czeslaw Milosz, Life’s Tragedy by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Do not stand at my grave and weep by Mary E. Frye, the latter being performed this evening. Mary E. Frye was a housewife and florist who became best known as the author of this poem. According to an article in the London Times, “Frye had never written any poetry before 1932, when she and her husband had a young German Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, staying with them. According to Frye, their guest had been concerned about her mother, who was ill in Germany, but she had been warned not to return home because of increasing anti-Semitic unrest. When her mother died, the heartbroken young woman told Frye that she never had the chance to ‘stand by my mother’s grave and shed a tear.’” Although many versions of this uncopyrighted poem exist, the version used in this setting is the one Frye claimed as definitive before she died.

The son of two visual artists, Robert Paterson’s music is often inspired by nature, visual art, machines and American icons. He has been described in the press as “one of the major contenders in American music.” Paterson has received performances in the United States and abroad by many outstanding ensembles, including the Louisville Orchestra, Russian Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, New York New Music Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, California EAR Unit, Ensemble Aleph and at the June in Buffalo Festival. His many awards include a Copland Award, the Brian Israel Prize, the Louisville Orchestra Composition Competition and twice winning the ASCAP Young Composer’s Award.

In 2011, Paterson will receive the Composer of the Year Award from the Classical Recording Foundation for his album, The Book of Goddesses. From 2009-2012, he is the Music Alive composer-in-residence with the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, sponsored by Meet The Composer and the League of American Orchestras. The residency will culminate in a commission for a major new work for orchestra and chorus. Other recent honors include winning the Cincinnati Camerata Composition Competition, the Copland Award, Louisville Orchestra Composition Competition, Brian Israel Prize, two ASCAP Young Composer Awards, and grants from Meet The Composer, the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum and ASCAP, as well as fellowships to Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

***

In addition, the panel announced four finalists for special mention (listed alphabetically): Robert Campbelle, of Bristol, Virginia, was selected for his melodic setting of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”). Israeli composer Gilad Cohen, of Princeton, New Jersey, received commendation for his Hebrew setting from the Song of Songs, Al Mishkavi Baleylot. The jury was impressed by the textures of The Light of Common Day, a setting from Wordsworth by Shawn Crouch of Miami, Florida. They also singled out Alan Shockley, of Lakewood, California, for his peje iesus je, an ancient Coptic Christian text.

We were extremely pleased to find such tremendous talent among the entries, which came from Europe, Asia and the Middle East in addition to the US. Our goal is to attract and encourage the very best in choral music, and the standard of work this year was the highest we have seen. We eagerly look forward to what next year will bring.

This year the jury included Chris Miller (Director Emeritus of the Cincinnati Camerata), Philip Koplow, (Professor Emeritus of composition and theory at Northern Kentucky University), Beth Troendly (pianist and organist), Gonçalo Lourenço (the Camerata’s new Interim Conductor from Setúbal, Portugal) and Nancy Arnest (Cincinnati choral singer).

We hope to see you on May 15th 2011 at 4 pm at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church [map] in Cincinnati for the premiere of Mr. Paterson’s fine work!

*****

Richard Arnest
Secretary and Steward, The Cincinnati Camerata Composition Competition

(If you’re not on our mailing list and would like to receive paper mail, let us know that, too…but, we’d recommend simply bookmarking this site and checking back quarterly to see what we’re up to.)

CLICK HERE to join our paper mailing list.
Simply type your name and mailing address in the body of your email and leave the subject line.

CLICK HERE to join our email list.
You can simply leave the subject line as-is and send us the email.

CLICK HERE to remove your address from our paper list and join our email list instead.
Please include your name and the mailing address you’d like to remove in the body of your email.

---

Marian & Other Sacred Repertoire

A Spotless Rose – Herbert Howells
Angelus ad virginem – 14th century hymn
Advent Carols: Annunciation Carol/The Visitation to Elizabeth/Meditations of Mary – Robert Campbelle
Ave Maria – 12th century chant
Ave maris stella – 9th century chant
Ave maris stella – Javier Busto
Ave maris stella – Trond Kverno
Ave Maria – David Conte
Ave Maria – Anton Bruckner
Ave Maria – Josquin des Prez
Ave Maria – Palestrina
Ave Maria – Robert Parsons
Betelehemu – Via Olatunji
Blessed Be That Maid Mary – English traditional
Ecce! Virgo concipiet – Jan Sweelinck
Festival Te Deum – Benjamin Britten
The Holly and the Ivy – English trad.
Hymn to the Virgin – Benjamin Britten
Hymne a la vierge – Villette
Magnificat – J.S. Bach
Magnificat – Robert Campbelle
Magnificat – Claussen
Magnificat – Charles V. Stanford
Magnificat – Igor Stravinsky
Magnificat! – Peter Morabito
Nativitos – David B. Smith
Nova, Nova – 15th century carol
Nowell, Nowell, Tidings True – 15th century carol
Rejoice in the Lamb – Benjamin Britten
Salve Regina – Orlandus Lassus
Te Deum Laudamus – Robert Campbelle
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme – J. S. Bach

French repertoire

Au joly jeu – Clement Janequin
Il est bel et bon – Pierre Passereau
French Choruses from The Lark – Leonard Bernstein
Les chansons des roses – Morten Lauridsen
Me mere m’envoit au marchet – Peter Morabito
Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orleans – Claude Debussy

Tall Stacks & Regional Repertoire

The Boatman Dance – adapt. Aaron Copland
Deep River – trad. spiritual
The Erie Canal – arr. Chris Miller
On the Lovely Ohio – trad. river song
On the Ohio – arr. John Coates Jr.
The Gift to Be Simple – Shaker tune, arr. Bob Chilcott
Soar Away/Fulfillment/Present Joys – from The Sacred Harp

Works by Friends of the Camerata

Alleluia – Andrew Duncan
Alleluia – Steve McManaman (2002 Camerata composition contest winner)
April Showers, Gentle Showers – Charles Lauterbach
Cecilia – David B. Smith
Incarnation (All Flesh is Grass) – Rick Sowash (1999 Camerata composition contest winner)
Rainy Day – arr. Dana Randall
Requiem for the Extinct – David B. Smith
Shout Joyfully to God/I Will Extol Thee/Waters of Rest – Doug Frank
The Spring – John Harrison (1998 Camerata composition contest winner)
Spirituals & Other Great Music
A Maze (with Grace) – Thomas Albert
All Ye Who Music Love – Baldassare Donato
Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit – arr. William Dawson
Four Pastorales – Cecil Effinger
Hymn to St. Cecilia – Benjamin Britten
If Music Be the Food of Love – Jean Belmont
Italian Salad – Genee
I’ve Been ‘buked – arr. Hall Johnson
Liebeslieder Walzer – Johannes Brahms
Live a-Humble – trad. Spiritual
Masterpiece – Paul Drayton
Missa Gaia – Libby Larsen
O Music, Thou Most Lovely Art – Johann Jeep
The Promise of Living (from The Tender Land) – Aaron Copland
Reincarnations – Samuel Barber
Shoot, False Love, I Care Not – Thomas Morley
Soon Ah Will Be Done – arr. William Dawson
Wedding Cantata – Daniel Pinkham

Encores

In virtute tua domine – Grzegorz Gorczycki
Walking on the Green Grass – Michael Hennigan
Beati quorum via – Charles V. Stanford
The Blue Bird – Charles V. Stanford
Cakes and Ale – Henry Purcell
Contrapunctus I (from Die Kunst der Fuge) – J. S. Bach
I Love My Love – Gustav Holst
Lebenslust – Franz Schubert
Long Time Ago – Aaron Copland
My Sweetheart’s Like Venus – Gustav Holst

Sunday, May 15, 2011 4:00 p.m.
Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church
103 William Howard Taft Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45219

$12.00 at the door (Suggested donation – includes wine, and snacks after the concert!)
For more information, please contact Penny Schenk at 513-941-5088.