February 27, 2009 — Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal
Presentation Notes — Workshop given by Patricia Abbott, Executive Director,
ACCC
ACCC Profile
- Founded in 1980 as the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors;
named changed to Association of Canadian Choral Communities in October 2008
- Artistic Mission statement: ACCC is an organization
that promotes the art of choral music by supporting conductors, choirs, choristers,
composers, and the choral industry.
- The Mandate of ACCC is:
- to support and encourage participation and excellence in choral music at all
levels by providing training, resources and the exchange of information for choral
conductors and choral musicians from all facets of choral life (community, school,
university, church and professional);
- to encourage the composition and performance of Canadian choral music;
- to cooperate with organizations of similar aims to create a higher profile for
choral music at a provincial, national and international level.
- Membership (open to anyone with an interest in choral music): more
than 550 individual members across the country, the majority of whom conductors
(conducting an average of 2.3 choirs and 98 choristers on a regular basis); affiliated
members — all choirs that are members of a provincial choral federation; in all,
representing some 38,000 people in Canada involved in choral music
Interest in New Music
Canadian choirs of all types and of all skill levels love to sing Canadian choral music
and regularly commission new works because:
- choral conductors are always seeking new repertoire
- many competitions, such as the CBC Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, require
original Canadian works as part of the program submitted (as well as works in French);
CBC competition also features a contemporary music category (in 2008, more than 160
choirs entered the CBC competition)
- choral music conferences such as provincial and national choral music conferences
strongly encourage the performance of Canadian works
- assessment criteria for grant applications to government bodies for concert and
recording projects often include an emphasis on programming Canadian works
- Canadian choirs record and travel, and regularly include Canadian music in their
recordings and tour programs
Of Interest to Composers (Projects / Publications / Events)
- ACCC holds a composition competition every two years, alternating between original
works and arrangements (deadline for the 2009/2010 competition is June 1, 2009)
- the National Youth Choir (organized by ACCC) always performs a commissioned work plus
the winning entry in the composition competition
- the ACCC biennial national conference for choral music, Podium, often features
composers in residence and composer reading sessions (next Podium conference: May 2010,
Saskatoon)
- the ACCC publishes a journal, Anacrusis (three times a year), which features a new
resources and repertoire column
- since 2002, ACCC has published a volume in the Recommended Canadian Choral
Repertoire Series every two years (Volume 5, featuring Seasonal Favourites, to be
published in 2010)
- publication of ACCC’s Professional Directory helps with networking in the
choral milieu
- the National Choral Awards honour outstanding accomplishments in several categories
every two years, including a category for Outstanding New Choral Work (deadline for 2010
Awards is February 15, 2010)
- Other choral composition competitions in Canada: Ruth Watson Henderson Choral
Competition (Choirs Ontario), the Amadeus Choir’s annual Christmas Carol and
Chanukah Song Writing Competition (www.amadeuschoir.com), Guelph Chamber Choir’s annual Young
Composer’s Competition (ages 16-35. www.guelphchamberchoir.ca), Harmonia Choir of Ottawa competition for
choral pieces using Canadian texts (www.harmoniachoir.com)
- choirs across Canada, both professional and amateur, children and adult, regularly
commission new works, either with the help of commissioning grants or with the help of
sponsors
- Canadian choirs often devote entire concerts to Canadian music
Advice for Composers, from the Perspective of a Choral Conductor and Choral
Administrator
- while the range of sounds which can be produced by a human voice are almost
limitless, choir budgets are not — works for a cappella choir or choir with piano,
organ, one or two solo instruments, small percussion instruments, small instrumental
ensembles are more likely to be performed and repeated than works requiring massive
instrumental resources
- amateur choirs generally need more lead time and rehearsal time to prepare a work for
performance, but can deliver an excellent result nonetheless
- when writing for SATB choir, avoid/limit divisi in the tenor and bass parts (there
are almost never enough tenors….)
- there is a need for more a cappella works with French texts for SATB, SSA and TTBB
choirs, as well as both a cappella and accompanied works with French texts for young
voices (unison, two-part, three-part, SAB)
Canadian composers actively writing for choirs
(not an exhaustive list!): Lydia Adams • Allan Bell • Allan Bevan • John
Burge • Stephen Chatman • Timothy Corlis • Eleanor Daley • Malcolm
Edwards • Jeff Enns • Leonard Enns • John Estacio • Malcolm Forsyth
• Paul Halley • Stephen Hatfield • Derek Holman • Rupert Lang •
Ramona Luengen • David McIntyre • Donald Patriquin • Jonathan Quick •
Imant Raminsh • Sid Robinovitch • R. Murray Schafer • Mark Sirett •
Stephen Smith • Brian Tate • Nancy Telfer • Peter Togni • Michael Unger
• Jon Washburn • Ruth Watson Henderson …
Canadian choirs who regularly record Canadian works and who hold workshops and reading
sessions for young and emerging choral composers
(not an exhaustive list!): Vancouver Chamber Choir • Elmer Iseler Singers •
Pro Coro Canada • Phoenix Chamber Choir • Elektra Women’s Choir • Chor
Leoni Men’s Choir • Shallaway Youth Choir • Amabile Choirs of London, ON
• Toronto Children’s Chorus • University of Alberta Madrigal Singers •
Halifax Camerata Singers • Prairie Voices • DaCapo Chamber Choir …
Recordings Heard in the Workshop
- Micma’q Honour Song — Lydia Adams (Leslie Music Supply) —
for SSA choir, optional hand drum (also available for SATB) — recorded by the
Toronto Children’s Chorus, Jean Ashworth Bartle, dir. (CD: Songs of the Lights:
Live in Australia and New Zealand — Marquis Classics 81253 2, 2000)
- Pensive on Her Dead Grazing — Stephen Smith (unpublished manuscript,
smithstephen@shaw.ca) — for TTBB choir
and piano — recorded by Chor Leoni Men’s Choir, Diane Loomer, dir. (CD:
Circle of Compassion — Cypress Choral Recordings CCR0702,
2007)
