On a sunny Saturday in November, Encore! members and other singers from the Cowichan Valley gathered at the Duncan United Church for an inspiring workshop with Dr Adam Con. Dr Con is a highly experienced choir director and music educator, specializing in connecting the physical and emotional features of our body with the music the voice makes. He employs a deep, personal knowledge of martial arts and Eastern medicine to explain nuances in vocal production. 

With great humour, Dr Con guided the singers in an invigorating warm-up, teaching us how the body can become a single, highly tuned vocal instrument. This warm-up involved such activities as Bear Scratching Tree with Butt and Singer Slathering Body with Chocolate and Caramel.

At the morning session with just Encore! singers, Dr Con worked closely with the Encore! director, Christine Dandy, exploring conducting techniques that improve the choral sound.

In the afternoon, when the group of singers doubled, Dr Con put us through our paces--literally. As we sight-read a piece of music, we walked the rhythm of our parts around the room. We discovered a beautiful sound can be made while walking in seeming chaos.

The day ended with Dr Con working with the male singers only. Dr Con helped the men locate and express the male voice. He especially focused on moving smoothly through the vocal range.

Many thanks to organizers Ann Yelland and Heather MacGregor for planning an eventful and informative day!

See the original press release in PDF format!

Press Release - For Immediate Release

New York, N.Y. – May 22, 2013

Outstanding music program receives special invitation
Distinguished Concerts International New York City (DCINY) announced today that the Encore! Women’s Choir has been invited to participate in a performance of ‘Choral Music for Women’s Voices’ on the DCINY Concert Series in New York City. This performance, under the baton of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, will be at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on March 10, 2014, in celebration of International Women’s Day. These outstanding musicians will join with other choristers to form the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, a choir of distinction. Maestro Apfelstadt will lead the performance and will serve as the clinician for the residency.

Why the invitation was extended
Dr. Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for DCINY states: “The Encore! Women’s Choir received this invitation because of the quality and high level of musicianship demonstrated by the singers and the exceptional quality of their audition recording. It is quite an honor just to be invited to perform in New York. These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music and education, but they also become ambassadors for the entire community. This is an event of extreme pride for everybody and deserving of the community’s recognition and support.” The singers will spend 5 days and 4 nights in New York City in preparation for their concert. “

The singers will spend approximately 9-10 hours in rehearsals over the 5 day residency.” says Griffith. “Not all of the time is spent in rehearsals, since there is so much history and culture to see in New York City. However, the performance is the primary purpose for their visit to the city.” Members of the community are encouraged to give financial support in sending these singers to New York by contacting Ms. Christine Dandy at director@encorewomenschoir.com.

Guest Conductor Hilary Apfelstadt
Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt is the Director of Choral Programs at the University of Toronto. Canadian by birth, she began her music education in Nova Scotia at the age of five. Her degrees, all in vocal music education, are from the University of Toronto, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also has a diploma in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

From 1993 – 2010, she was Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the Ohio State University in Columbus where she also served as Associate Director for the School of Music from 2008 – 2010. Choirs under her direction have performed at regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and at state and regional conferences of the National Association of Music Education (MENC). She has conducted many honor choirs and all-state choruses throughout the United States and has guest conducted in Canada, Cuba, and England. In February 2009, she conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in a public broadcast of “Music and the Spoken Word.” She has led choral festivals in Switzerland and Austria, and conducted at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 2011. She is a frequent lecturer and clinician at professional conferences and universities, and is a mentor to many young conductors and choral educators.

Dr. Apfelstadt’s research areas include leadership styles among conductors, and choral repertoire, particularly by Canadian composers. She has published over seventy articles on choral music in various refereed journals, and wrote two chapters in Wisdom, Wit and Will: Women Conductors on their Art, (GIA, 2009). She serves on the editorial boards of The Choral Scholar, the official publication of the National Collegiate Conductors Organization (NCCO), and the ACDA Choral Journal, and is also the choral column editor for the Canadian Music Educator. She is an advisory board member for AIRS (Advanced Disciplinary Research in Singing), a project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. A past national president of ACDA, Dr. Apfelstadt sang with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers for several years and recorded two CD’s for Telarc with the Singers in France.

Dr. Apfelstadt is on the DCINY Advisory board and has appeared on the DCINY Concert Series twice before.

DCINY Productions
Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) is a production company based in New York City. Our concert series includes choral and instrumental concerts in world-class venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall and Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Founded by Iris Derke (General Director) and Jonathan Griffith (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor) DCINY is driven by passion, innovative vision, a total belief in its artists, and unwavering commitment to bringing forth unforgettable audience experiences. Following our motto “The Art of Performance – The Power of Education”, we focus on the educational process while upholding a high performance standard and provide ensembles and conductors of distinction educational and performance opportunities including select solo performances, rehearsal audit, conductor mentoring and debut performances.

Tickets
For more information on tickets, group sales or other special offers, please contact us at 212-707-8566 Ext. 307, or BoxOffice@DCINY.org.

Contact & Interviews
Interviews and additional information may be arranged by contacting Shira Gilbert, PR Representative, at 212.707.8566 Ext. 316, or Press@DCINY.org.

Encore! will be singing fo the folks at Sherwod House and Cerwydden this afternoon.  We are going to share a portion of our Chrismas Concert with them.  Think they are in for a real treat!

We had a great time last night at the Cowichan Capitals game as we sang O Canada and then stayed for the game!  Too bad they lost to Victoria, but they played a good game.  I think we gave them a boost
!