Ogontz Choral Workshop

Year: 
2015
Date(s): 
July 25 - 31, 2015
Location: 
Ogontz, near Littleton, NH

Now in its 26th season, the Ogontz Choral Workshop offers extraordinary opportunities for singers, church musicians, and choral conductors to work on repertoire and choral interpretation with some of the world’s leading choral directors.  Registration is open to anyone and no auditions are required (registration and tuition payment is required). Past Ogontz participants have come from across North America and have included singers and musicians of all backgrounds.  At Ogontz, these participants (with the featured guest artists), learn together, rehearse, relax, and sing for a glorious week in an intimate rustic retreat in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Choral Masterworks Series: Each year, the choral workshop will showcase a choral masterwork carefully selected from the wide gamut of musical repertoire.

Choral Conductor’s Seminar: This seminar will offer a few additional sessions to explore what it’s like on the podium.  This will be an opportunity to try and discover, during the week, what conducting is about.

Music of Italy. Choral Workshop with David Hill, director of the Bach Choir, London, BBC Singers, Yale University, and other posts (other faculty:  George Kent, Artistic Director of The Ogontz Arts Foundation; Paula Rockwell, voice faculty, Acadia University). The masterwork for this year is the Requiem of Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968). "Pizzetti’s Messa di Requiem (1922-3) exemplifies a shift in sacred Italian composition from the operatic extravagance of the nineteenth century to neo-Renaissance polyphony of the 20th century, a shift spurred by liturgical reforms and Pope Pius X’s Tra le sollecitudini. The work is an exemplary model of Italian sacred music from the early twentieth century due to its incorporation of chant and Renaissance polyphony, and it uniquely applies neo-Renaissance techniques to the Requiem Mass text." – The Choral Scholar, Fall 2014.

Other Repertoire: The Chester Book of Motets, Volume 1: The Italian School for 4 Voices. Contents:

  • Alma Redemptoris – Da Palestrina
  • Christus Factus Est – Anerio
  • Ego Sum Panis Vivus – Da Palestrina
  • Exultate Justi – Da Viadana
  • In Monte Oliveti – Ingegneri
  • O Rex Gloriae – Marenzio
  • O Sacrum Convivium – Croce
  • Regina Caeli – Soriano
  • Requiem Aeternam – Anerio
  • Sicut Cervus – Da Palestrina
  • Super Flumina – Da Palestrina
  • Tribus Miraculis – Marenzio
To coincide with our chosen masterwork, the entire week will be Italian themed. Delve into carefully selected works of acclaimed Italian composers, enjoy a variety of Italian culinary delights, and expect a few Italian themed surprises throughout the week as we celebrate this phenomenal culture.

Individuals may attend as a resident participant, non-resident participant, or resident non-participant.

Contact telephone: 
Contact email: 
New Hampshire