Director's Blog
April 22, 2010
Following a great clinic with the infamous Vance George (Director Emeritus, San Francisco Symphony Chorus), IOCSF made me proud yet again with a beautiful rendition of Maurice Durufle's Requiem on April 11. We sang at St. Ignatius Church, which has to be the most visible church in all of San Francisco, and it was simply gorgeous inside! Stephen Lind played the organ masterfully, and Megan Stetson and Pawel Walerowski helped to bring several audience members to tears in the solemn Pie Jesu movement. As for the chorus, what more can I say... once again, my wonderful singers rose to the challenge of something new, and quite simply, shone like never before. Additionally, a strange synchronicity occurred in conjunction with a service that was held just before the concert in remembrance of the terrible recent airline tragedy involving the Polish president. It was almost as though some higher power brought us there to sing the Requiem just for that occasion, and my thanks go out to Caria for helping involve us in that experience. It was truly a beautiful evening, and I am looking forward to doing it again in May!
We are also currently prepping pieces for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's bi-annual composition contest. IOCSF received five works by five students of David Conte, and we had our first rehearsal of those pieces last Sunday. Let me just say, I challenge the other top choirs in the Bay Area to sight-read better than IOCSF! It's always exciting to work on music that has never been performed. It is quite the learning experience for everyone involved, plus, it gives us the chance to really search deep inside and see how the music can move us. With established repertoire, chances are that the singers have sung the piece before, and so there are some pre-conceived notions about how the music should be performed. Singing these new works allows us to create something that is just that: truly new. The concert will take place on Saturday May 8, 2010 at 8:00 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Check out our home page or concerts page to get the specific details.
Last plug: our final concerts will be held on May 14th and 15th this season. And as always, all of our concerts are FREE! So, come and hear this amazing choir... you won't regret it!
Zane Fiala
Director, International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
February 5, 2010
As this is my first entry in the IOCSF director's blog, I am excited to welcome you to our newly "refreshed" website. Some changes have already been made, most notably on the homepage, and many more are in the works. Check back often to keep up to date on what's new!
The International Orange Chorale is definitely on a huge upswing. Most recently, we were invited to perform alongside the San Francisco Boys Chorus, members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, Frederica von Stade and Zheng Cao in a benefit concert for the Haiti earthquake. The performance took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, and was very well attended. Overall, I believe over $30,000 were raised, and nearly 2,000 people were in attendance; now that's a successful concert! It was indeed a treat to perform with so many fabulous musicians, and we were honored to be able to help raise money for such a great cause. The acoustics in the cathedral are amazing, with something like a seven-second reverb, and there were several moments during the concert when I cut-off a big, thick chord and just gazed up at the ceiling in awe.
Our fall 2009 concert was themed after a prix fixe menu at a fine dining restaurant, where we offered up each piece as if it were a dish to be eaten! With items like "winter chicories with a sweet and spicy pomegranate-chilli vinaigrette," or "a rich and hearty lamb shoulder marinated in ancient spice, braised in red wine, and offered with a colorful array of winter vegetables," our audience was salivating for sure. Although the concert was mostly made up of works from the standard repertory, we managed to squeeze in yet another premiere by Shaffer McGee entitled "Death of a Ball Turret Gunner," as well as another beautiful piece, "Dona nobis pacem" written by local composer Joseph Gregorio. The concert was a huge success, and quite clearly showed how far IOCSF has come, as well as how far they are willing to go! The audience favorite from our "Dinner as a Concert" performances was almost too close to call, but in the end Claudio Monteverdi's "Ah! Dolente partita" will be repeated at our spring 2010 concerts. This is perhaps one of the first times a non-contemporary work was voted audience favorite, and if Monteverdi were alive, I.m sure he would be just as proud as Robin Estrada was last season.
There are many more wonderful things in store for IOCSF in 2010, and I encourage you to bookmark this website now so you might check in frequently for updates and news. As for our spring concert season, we will be increasing the number of concerts by two, for a total of four performances! On April 11, we will be performing the luxurious Requiem by Maurice Durufle. The work exists in three different instrumentations, but we will be performing the version for chorus, mezzo-soprano soloist, cello obbligato, and organ. I am very lucky to have Stephen Lind among the singers in IOC, who is an accomplished organist, and who has played for us in the past. Pawel Walerowski, a local cellist, along with the beautiful and talented mezzo-soprano Megan Stetson will also join us for the Requiem in the Pie Jesu movement. Performing this piece is definitely something different for IOCSF, but I think I speak for the group when I say we are very motivated to keep branching out in new and exciting ways.
For those of you who are worried that you won't hear any crystal-clear a cappella music this spring, fear not, for we have lots of that too. Shaffer McGee has finished his group of pieces setting Randall Jarrell poetry with "The Breath of Night". This final installment is definitely modern, but is a bit more approachable, with homophonic tendencies winning out over polyphony, and crunchy dissonances giving way to consonant triads and the like. Along with Mr. McGee's piece, we will also be performing works by Eric Whitacre, Peter Louis van Dijk, Charles Stanford and Robert Lucas Pearsall. Our final concerts this season will be in mid-May. We will hold an a cappella only concert on Friday May 14th, and then finish the season off with a bang on Saturday May 15th with the a cappella repertoire and the Durufle. Venues are still in the works, so check back often to find out where you can hear the International Orange Chorale this spring!
One final bit of news about the spring season: on May 8th, we will be performing at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in a collaboration concert featuring IOCSF, San Francisco Choral Artists, and the Conservatory Chorus. We will all be preparing works written by Conservatory composition students studying with David Conte and essentially premiering them at this concert. Please visit the Conservatory's website for more information.
That about does it for this edition of the IOCSF Director's Blog. Since this was my first one, and there was lots of news to catch up on, it ran a bit long. In the future, however, this will be a place to catch up on what's happening in IOC on a more regular basis, so check back often to hear our latest tales and future plans!
Zane Fiala
Director, International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
May 5th, 2009
There was a distinct energy at our spring concerts "By Local: Songs of California Composers" and no doubt it was due to the presence of FIVE composers whose works we premiered or performed. In the flesh, we had David Conte (Ave Maria), Eric Tamm (Kyrie), Robin Estrada (Awit sa Panginoon), Shaffer McGee (The Bird of Night), and of course our own Zane Fiala (Es la Mañana Llena). We also were in close communication with Jake Heggie, Georgia Stitt and Emma Lou Diemer leading up to these performances. It was a thrill to sing for these composers and I sensed a different gear of singing from the Chorale when performing these new works. As usual, major kudos to our loyal and amazing audience. They picked Robin Estrada's piece as audience favorite and we look forward to reviving it. Virtually all of the top vote getters were the new pieces I've mentioned. I think it is safe to say that we are now officially addicted to the feeling of doing new music.
To that point, without a doubt, preparing Shaffer McGee's piece The Bird of Night was the most intense artistic journey the chorale has undertaken in some time. It was not until very late in the going that we began to feel the piece as a group. But when it clicked for us, there was a collective "a-ha!" moment that I won't soon forget and I believe that conviction came across in performance. My co-director Zane Fiala deserves huge credit for the success of this piece and the entire concert. Also a special thanks to Ian Robertson, Director of the San Francisco Opera Chorus (among others!) for coaching us on this music. We are proud to have had his tremendous input. I should also mention that previously we have been coached by SF Opera's French coach Patricia Moy and by Joe Jennings, the Artistic Director of Chanticleer. Interacting with these professionals has done a great deal to enhance the music making we do.
And if you don't believe me just ask The San Francisco Classical Voice: http://www.sfcv.org/news-reviews/reviews/raising-joyful-song
Upcoming is our Fundraiser Concert on Sunday June 7th at 3 PM with special guest performer composer/pianist Jake Heggie with American Lyric Soprano Kristin Clayton at the Presidio Interfaith Chapel in San Francisco. More information to follow. We will certainly revive some music from these last concerts as well as a few new surprises!
As always, feel free to send comments to me at jeremy@iocsf.org.
That's all for this Director's Blog. See you soon!
Jeremy Faust
Co-Director, The International Orange Chorale