Chicago, 1 January 2015
Dear friends,
It’s a new day for IFCM. In the General Assembly in Seoul the rewrite of the Statues and By Laws were approved. This provided new and more expansive regulatory responsibilities to the Executive Committee, reduced the size of the Board of Directors, eliminated the Board Advisors, and created a more robust operational strategy for the future of international choral music.
We have established a sustainable financial structure, which will take the economic burden off a smaller, more robust Board of Directors, make being a member of IFCM easier and less expensive, and allow IFCM to offer more projects, to more people, more often. This action better represents the requests of the membership from as long ago as 2005. We are on the move.
I am writing this at the end our fall semester, which we commonly refer to as “performance season.” Concerts, juries, recitals, recordings, small ensemble work, theatre productions (we are the School of Theatre and Music), etc. The faculty are bringing to fruition 15 weeks of hard work with budding talents, trying to give focus to the newness of professional musicianship, yet calm the pressures caused by university study.
In many ways I compare what I do in my career, with IFCM’s “reawakening:” taking youthful artistry, reworking current “curriculum” to meet more contemporary demands, and opening up a new world of creativity, engagement, and inclusion—for everyone. This is exactly what IFCM is experiencing!
Some examples:
I always hear complaints that IFCM doesn’t do enough projects, is focused on only a few of the same people, and “does not pay attention to the things that they think are important.” Well, this is no longer true. We are listening, we are building additional and innovative projects in regions of the world where we have not had much activity, to offer more opportunity, to more musicians, more often.
Our eyes are set on the future. We are . . .
Volunteers Connecting our Choral World!
Michael Anderson, IFCM President
Chicago, 1 January 2015
Dear friends,
It’s a new day for IFCM. In the General Assembly in Seoul the rewrite of the Statues and By Laws were approved. This provided new and more expansive regulatory responsibilities to the Execu…Read More →
Camerata – A Guide to Organizing and Directing Small Choruses, by Arthur Wenk (Rowman & Littlefield © 2014)
Reviewed by Debra Shearer-Dirié, choral conductor and teacher
Arthur Wenk leads us throug…Read More →
By Irina Roganova, conductor and teacher
The Capella of St. Petersburg is a magnificent monument to Russian culture, not simply a museum where time stands still, but a spring to quench the thirst, with the beautiful sound of…Read More →
Cultural manager and book author Alexandra Jachim on the foundations of successful choir management!
More appreciation, clear distribution of tasks, more in-service training: Alexandra Jachim, author of a…Read More →
A description of the job and where to learn it
The higher the musical ambitions of a choir, the higher the organizational burden. But what exactly is the job of a choral manager? Is it possible to learn it? And if so, where?
Lo…Read More →
Chicago, 24 August 2014
Dear friends,
This was an important August for IFCM . . .
From 29 July to August 13, 2014, IFCM was involved in two major projects: The 12th China International Choral Festival & IF…Read More →
By Philip Copeland, Choral Conductor and Teacher
This is the second article in a two-part series about American composers born after 1980. For many years, Eric Whitacre, along with Morten Lauridsen, dominated the lands…Read More →
Chicago, 1 April 2015
Dear friends,
As we enter the 33rd year since IFCM was created, I am reminded of the fact that this organization is focused on service. In fact our byline is:
“W…Read More →
By Sigurður Sævarsson, singer and composer
Edited by Karen Bradberry, Australia
The first choir in Iceland was founded around 1850. A group of progressive thinkers thought it was important for the renaissance of the count…Read More →
By Philip Copeland, conductor and teacher
The term ‘Holy Minimalism’ evolved in the late 1990s to describe the work of John Tavener of England, Arvo Pärt of Estonia, and Henryk Górecki of Poland. It was a style that went against th…Read More →