What's Up This Month?
► Concert Chorale
• Earlier this month, we welcomed our own Susan Olenwine in her presentation called, From My Perch: Collaborating with a Chorus. We learned a lot about the preparation and commitment of great collaborative pianists, like Susan.
• Last week members enjoyed a book club discussion about How Music Works by David Byrne. Dr. Vicki Burrichter shares more information about Byrne in her piece below.
► Boulder Children's Chorale
• Our choirs thoroughly enjoyed their special sessions with Chris Maunu and Ginger Littleton in March. The kids learned a lot working on pieces from those two composers.
• For Pet Spirit Week, students and staff showed-off their pets wearing their BCC t-shirts. Visit the BCC Facebook page to see all the cute pets in costume. • We also had fun watching Mary Poppins together via zoom. The choirs have been singing a medley of pieces from that award-winning musical and are looking forward to singing them together at our spring day camp in May.
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Stella Pradeau—BCC Piccolini and Prima Voce Pianist
By Larisa Dreger
Boulder Children's Chorale Co-Artistic Director
Boulder Chorale Assistant Artistic Director
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We are so blessed to have Stella Pradeau on the staff of the Boulder Children’s Chorale accompanying our youngest choirs! Whether our rehearsals are in-person or virtual, Miss Stella (as the kids call her) does a phenomenal job of relationally connecting with the students while also supporting their musical learning and vocal discoveries. You will be able to hear her extraordinary playing on our spring virtual choir video, Build Me a World by Ginger Littleton, which will be released in May!
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Currently a private teacher and popular choral collaborator in the Boulder area, Ms. Pradeau earned a Master of Music in piano performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she studied with Angela Cheng and Alan Chow. While at CU, she was a graduate assistant and recipient of the Norris Piano Award. Other awards and honors include a year of study in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse as a Rotary Scholar (1992-93), and semi-finalist placement at the International Hilton Head Piano Competition (1997). Since 1999, Ms. Pradeau has collaborated with Cantabile, a community choral group based in Boulder.
Thank you for your service and dedication to the Boulder Children’s Chorale, Miss Stella!
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The Boulder Concert Chorale hosted Holly Near in February 2021 for a special conversation. This is an excerpt from their time with her.
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Holly Near has been singing for a more equitable world for well over 50 creative years. She is an insightful storyteller through her music, committed to keeping the work rooted in contemporary activism. Holly Near has been recognized many times for her work for social change, and is a staunch advocate for LGBTQ rights. She has become a spokesperson within the social change music movement. https://www.hollynear.com/
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The Boulder Children's Chorale hosted Ruth Dwyer, a master teacher, who worked with their ensembles. She first spent time with our auditioned ensembles, working on foundational advanced singing techniques and giving many words of wisdom. She then worked with our two younger choirs, playing games, singing, and exploring their voices together. |
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Ruth E. Dwyer is the Associate Director and Director of Education for the Indianapolis Children's Chorale. She is internationally recognized as a treble and children’s choir specialist and Kodály educator. For more information about her notable accomplishments, please visit her bio: https://icchoir.org/dwyer-bio/
She also has her own YouTube channel with activities for kids:
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Music and Wellbeing
By Mariana Bernoski-Gonya, MFA
Boulder Chorale Board Member At-Large
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In the spirit of Earth Day, we can choose more eco-friendly forms of self-care – such as singing. Because everyone has a voice, singing is not only sustainable, but also very accessible. Singing, as well as listening to nature’s songs, supports health and wellbeing.
What if we sing and listen more with the world around us?
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This Month in Music
By Dr. Vicki Burrichter
Boulder Chorale Artistic Director
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What famous musician said: "The online magazine Pitchfork once wrote that I would collaborate with anyone for a bag of Doritos?" None other than David Byrne, whose wonderful book, How Music Works, was our book club selection for this spring. Byrne is well-known as a member of the band Talking Heads, as well as for his collaborations with Brian Eno and musicians from around the world like Caetano Veloso and Celia Cruz. His latest project was American Utopia, a Broadway show also filmed by Spike Lee and currently showing on HBO Max.
Byrne's book is filled with his fascinating world-view. Here's a quote: "Music...is part of the 'geometry of beauty' - a phrase coined by biologists, though it's strangely reminiscent of a phrase from one of J.G. Ballard's dystopian novels. This geometry, when we spot it, is a visible - or in this case audible - signal that something might be valuable and important to us: it's good to eat; it's safe; it's fertile; it's related to us and our people. Music has that geometry of beauty, and for that reason, so these thinkers say, we love it."
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The Boulder Chorale is very grateful for the generous support of our grantors and sponsors: |
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Specialized Services for Artists and Arts Organizations
Kathryn M. Kucsan, Ph.D.
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