For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level.  Building on a shared understanding that songs are stories and choruses and singers are storytellers, today’s episode with Dr. Antonio C. Cuyler will give us a sneak peek at his Chorus Ame ..read more

For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level.  One of the most important ways we can learn about each other is by singing each other’s songs. This belief is at the heart of conductor, singer, and vocal activist Melanie DeMore’s work ..read more

For the next several episodes, we’re partnering with Chorus America to bring you a sneak preview of what’s coming up at  the Chorus America Annual Conference, being held this year in our home town, San Francisco! We hope you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know a bit more about the conference’s speakers and their areas of expertise, and especially to get to know these folks on a personal level.  Today’s episode is with Karen Hopper, the Associate Director of Performance Strategy at Razorfish, where she helps Fortune 100 clients make smart decisions about their creative marketing ..read more

Today on In Unison, we’re chatting with composer and director Karmina Šilec of Carmina Slovenika and Executive Artistic director Shira Cion of San Francisco-based Kitka about the upcoming premiere of the newly commissioned opera, “BABA: The Life and Death of Stana.”  This new opera offers an innovative, non-narrative take on Balkan epic story-singing traditions and explores themes of gender, otherness, choice, virginity, sexual identity, and the complexities of interpreting these Balkan gender-transformation stories through a contemporary, liberal, western gaze. Music excerpts "Fly Tremb ..read more

Today on In Unison, we’re chatting with Craig Hella Johnson, founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare, a grammy-winning choir based in Austin, Texas that is comprised of distinctive solo artists from around the country who are also committed to the highest level of ensemble performance. Music excerpts “Let the River Run,” by Carly Simon, performed by Conspirare, featured on the album A Company of Voices “Springtime,” from How Little You Are, by Nico Muhly, performed by Conspirare, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and the Texas Guitar Quintet, feaured on the album The Singing Guitar “Hold On ..read more

Today on In Unison, we’re heading across the pond to chat with Robert Hollingworth, the director of I Fagiolini, a solo-voice ensemble based in the UK. Robert also co-hosts a very choir-nerdy podcast called Choral Chihuahua, and his passion for bringing choral music to the masses definitely helped to inspire the In Unison podcast. Music excerpts “Draw on, sweet night” by John Wilbye, performed by I Fagiolini, featured on the album Draw On Sweet Night “Dixit Dominus,” by Claudio Monteverdi, performed by I Fagiolini and the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, featured on the album Monteverdi ..read more

We have a special place in our hearts for the choral music of the Philippines, and we have many mutual friends who were raised in the Filipino choral tradition. Thanks to our dear friend Robin Estrada, we were lucky enough to get not one, but TWO incredible choral conductors to join us for this episode of In Unison: Mark Anthony Carpio of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and Christopher Arceo of Aleron. We left this interview feeling incredibly inspired by these ensembles’ dedication to excellence, and we’re sure you will too. Episode transcript Edited by Fausto Daos Music excerpts “Ili-Ili ..read more

On today’s episode,  we’re chatting with Beth Willer and Anne Riesenfeld of Lorelei Ensemble. Lorelei is an organization that creates and champions bold artistic work that points toward a new normal for women in music. Through commissioning, performance, and education, Lorelei is carving out a boundless new space for women to be among, and become, our most powerful and important creators. Episode transcript Edited by Fausto Daos Music excerpts “MVT I & MVT II” from I long and seek after, by Jessica Meyer, performed live by Lorelei Ensemble “Crowns” from Reconstruction, by Joshua Bor ..read more

On today’s episode, we are chatting with Arianne Abela, the Artistic Director and co-founder of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, a group that engages in creative educational outreach to audiences and students, particularly in communities of color, and promotes the study, research, performance, and recording of music from various eras with special attention to the intersection of arts and social justice. Episode transcript Edited by Fausto Daos Music excerpts “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied,” by Johann Sebastian Bach “When the Violin,” by Reena Esmail; Wayne Smith, cello “and the swallow,” by Ca ..read more

Today’s conversation came about as a result of the choral world being a small one, where everyone is connected in one way or another. Through Bob Geary of Volti, we managed to get in touch with an incredible luminary in the world of choral music: Karmina Šilec, who is the Artistic Director of Carmina Slovenica, a Slovenian production house that is truly unique. Episode transcript Edited by Fausto Daos Music excerpts Slovenian Sounds, performed by Carmina Slovenica “The Captives Hymn,” by Margaret Dryburgh, performed by Vocal Orchestra VOGP on the album VOGP Music for Survival “Glass Mask,” by ..read more