International Symposium on Chorusology¹ – the Choral Art, Singing and the Voice
24-26 April 2014, Zagreb, Croatia
Branko Stark
President of the Croatian Choral Directors Association
Since it was founded, The Croatian Choral Directors Association (HUZ) has grown in two ways. One of these shapes the program for the national development of the vocation of choral director and of choral music in Croatia. The other path is the international program IPDCM (International Project for the Development of Choral Music). It includes the artistic, educational and scientific programs with which we attempt to contribute to the global evolution of choral music to the best of our abilities and knowledge. To that end, we have started several international choral competitions in Croatia and a number of international courses for choral directors, composers and singers in different countries (Malaysia, India, South Africa, Solomon Islands, Iran).
Where science is concerned, we have created the neologism ‘chorusology’ (chorus + logos), which stands for the multidisciplinary science of the choral art. Furthermore, we have founded The International Choral Institute (the scientific branch of HUZ) within our association, which will, starting next year, begin with the publication of our online scientific paper arschor@lis for chorusology. The most important segment of our international program is The International Symposium on Chorusology ARS CHORALIS for choral art, singing and voice, which has been organized every other year in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, since 2010. The third Symposium will be held from 24th to 26th April, 2014.
In accordance with chorusology’s multidisciplinary approach, this symposium will also have these topic categories for lectures and workshops: Choir/Choral director; Vocal pedagogy; Conducting/Interpretation; Composition/Analysis/Hermeneutics; Vocal Performance/Vocal Stylistics; Spoken Voice; Science/Voice and Hearing; Science/Music; Music Pedagogy/Education; Musica sacra; Music Media/Technology and other topics.
We are expecting the following guest lecturers, among others, to take part: Marvin Keenze (USA), Johan Sundberg (Sweden), Christian Herbst (Austria), Thomas Caplin (Norway), Andrea Angelini (Italy), Annemarie van der Walt (South Africa), Vanags Romans (Latvia), Wolfgang Ziegler (Austria), Giovanni Acciai (Italy), Irena Hočevar-Boltežar (Slovenia), John Hooper (Canada), Kittiporn Tantrarungroj (Thailand), Susanna Saw (Malaysia) and others.
Our idea is to connect choral music and science in the best possible way. The Symposium is intended to contribute to the international improvement of choral music and sees itself as complementing other symposia. Thus, we hope to supply a stimulus for choral conductors to incorporate more of today’s scientific insights in their artistic and educational work. Today’s scientific knowledge about the voice and singing is growing daily, but, in our opinion, choral conductors are not sufficiently aware of it. On the other hand, we are equally keen on researchers and scientists finding out more about choral singing and choral music, in order to identify the aims of their future work more precisely and more consciously. That is why our topics are open to a wide audience, so that all those who have any contact – direct or indirect- with choral music, singing and voice can take part.
Our intention is, as always, to bring special attention to the presentation of IFCM and its activities, along with the ICB. This will be done by Andrea Angelini and Annemarie van der Walt.
Lecturers from 18 countries held 63 lectures and workshops at the AC 2012. The AC 2014 is dedicated to Jakov Gotovac, one of Croatia’s most important composers. The official languages of the Symposium are English and Croatian. On the second day, a major choral concert with guest choirs from Slovenia and Latvia will take place. The invitation to submit papers (lectures/workshops) is open and the application deadline is December 15, 2013. Further information about the Symposium and the Croatian Choral Directors Association can be found at www.choralcroatia.com.
[1] Chorusology: chorus+logos, the multidisciplinary science of the choral art. This is a neologism created by the Croatian Choral Directors Association. They have also founded the International Choral Institute for Chorusology (the scientific branch of the Association).
Edited by Will Masters, UK
Branko Stark (1954), composer, conductor and voice instructor, is a teacher at the Arts Academy (University of Split-Croatia). He has written over two hundred compositions for which he is the recipient of numerous awards. He teaches singers, choral directors, composers, actors, speech therapists, phoneticians and speakers and also engages in voice rehabilitation. Mr. Stark has participated in more than thirty scientific symposiums and has been guest professor at many faculties in Croatia and abroad. His specialty is the theory and practice of voice, vocal stylistics and expression stylistics in singing and speech, hermeneutics and works published on these subjects. He gives lectures, seminars, master classes and workshops worldwide (Argentina, China, Slovenia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, USA, Korea, South Africa, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Latvia). Mr. Stark is also a prominent adjudicator for many international choral competitions (Croatia, Germany, Italy, Austria, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea). He is President of the Croatian Choral Directors Association, head of the Vocal Academy, a member of the International Council of the World Choir Games and member of the International Federation for Choral Music. Email: info@choralcroatia.com