Choral Arts New England

Summer is a perfect time for getting out of old routines and devoting time to music. New England holds some special retreats that offer programs where choral singers can get away for a week or more to focus and learn; elsewhere, singers take advantage of summer freedom to rehearse and perform a special choral work. Many choruses open their doors to the public to host “summer sings,” where participants sing a masterwork in a single session under expert direction, and often with professional soloists— a perfect way to participate in great music with a minimum commitment.

Choral Arts New England has announced the funding of 13 grants, for a total $14,150, in the 2018 season. The funded projects were selected from 51 proposals that were received. Both the number of applications and the amount requested have steadily risen over the past several years. Awards will be presented at the annual awards ceremony in the autumn of 2018. The recipients are Andover Choral Society (Andover, Mass.); Cappella Clausura (Newtonville, Mass.); Collegium Ancora (Providence, R.I.); CONCORA (Hartford, Ct.); Da Camera Singers (Amherst, Mass.); Hampshire Young People’s Chorus (Amherst, Mass.); Island Community Chorus (Vineyard Haven, Mass.); Labyrinth Choir (Southboro, Mass.); Manchester Choral Society (Manchester, N.H.); Metropolitan Chorale (Brookline, Mass.); Rhode Island Civic Chorale (Cranston, R.I.); Voce (Mystic, Ct.); and Zamir Chorale of Boston (Newton, Mass.).

The Choral Arts New England calendar is a great resource if you'd like to learn about patterns and statistics — and if you're interested in learning if a particular work has been sung (much), or what your favorite soloist is doing. You can get charts (as well as numbers) of the number of events at any time during the year, for the past five years. You can also search the calendar to find performances of interest during that time period.

As of late September, about 435 performances are listed on the Choral Arts New England events calendar for September 2017 through June 2018. Here are just a few season highlights. See the the online calendar for the complete and up-to-date set of events.

Johanna "Jody" Hill Simpson founded and, for 16 years, directed the PALS Children’s Chorus (now known as VOICES Boston), and more recently founded and is Artistic Director of Music on Norway Pond, in Hancock, NH.  Her thirty-five years of dedication to the choral arts in New England have created an extraordinary legacy of choral excellence for singers of all ages and continue to produce some of New England’s most compelling and memorable musical experiences for participants and audiences alike.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented at a ceremony and reception on Sunday, October 22, 2017, where Choral Arts New England also presented the Alfred Nash Paterson Grant Award to eleven choruses from the six New England states.  The ceremony was held at First Parish in Brookline.