| Announcement: a personal commemoration of 9/11, 10 years after | Mark Gresham | September 11, 2011 |
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Dear ChoralNet members,
Though it already has been in the works behind the scenes for a while, I wanted to make it known today that all of my own composer/publisher proceeds from two of my choral compositions "Blessings" and "Keep Watch, Dear Lord" will now go entirely to support Patriot Ki... |
| Announcement: Jackson Hill: Surge, et illuminare, Jerusalem (SATB, divisi, unaccompanied) | Mark Gresham | February 12, 2010 |
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Jackson Hill, composer and Professor Emeritus of Music at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, composed his Epiphany motet Surge, et illuminare, Jerusalem for the Rooke Chapel Choir, William Payn, director. It was premiered by them on December 5, 1987, you can now hear a streamed audio recording o... |
| Announcement: Lux Nova Press: newly updated website & developing online resources | Mark Gresham | February 1, 2010 |
| Lux Nova Press has just re-launched its website in a completely revised, dynamic format. The new site is mostly database driven, a large improvement over the former static design. The re-design will allow us to develop better ways of serving customers, especially through our webstore. The de... |
| Comment: Re: Is THIS what the music publishing industry is? | Mark Gresham | November 7, 2009 |
| The book "Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity" is by Hugh McLeod, a successful cartoonist and for 10 years an advertising copywriter. He is also CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the US. He is best known for development and use of a particular type of cart... |
| Comment: Re: Early Romantic Italian Choral Composers | Mark Gresham | September 29, 2009 |
| Actually, John, I can answer your question about that seeming historical conflict.
The first true rumblings of the socio-political movement known as "il Risorgimento" (literally "The Resurgence" though we English speakers call it "Italian unificantion") began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna a... |
| Comment: Re: Early Romantic Italian Choral Composers | Mark Gresham | September 29, 2009 |
| Hi Jessica,
Your theatre teacher may have the early 1800s in mind because he is thinking of the great English Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean. You should ask about that.
"The Merchant of Venice" was written in the late 1590s, and certainly familiar on the stage by the 1598, therefore sung mu... |
| Comment: Re: How early should kids sing in parts? | Mark Gresham | September 17, 2009 |
| Hi Dan,
I'm going to throw a different kind of answer in here.
As Trish Joyce says, "To sing well, in parts, the children have to be ready to sing in parts." And I'm going to say the caveat is, indeed, "well."
However, what is especially important prior to that point of siinging "well" in... |
| Comment: Re: Biebl Banned | Mark Gresham | September 17, 2009 |
| David wrote: "When I lived in Kentucky, one public elementary school principal called all the school together in December and read them the nativity account from Luke, arguing that it was great literature and that he was appalled that not all the students knew it."
The principal is both right an... |
| Comment: Re: Blogging | Mark Gresham | September 10, 2009 |
| Hi Marie,
It's a matter of your time and energy, and motivation.
In the case of an organization's blog, rather than a personal one, better to have fewer posts which are relevant to that organization's work rather than personal "what I've been doing/thinkiing" although the "personal style" can ... |
| Comment: Re: Notable Michigan musicians/composers | Mark Gresham | September 8, 2009 |
| Hi Reed,
Contact the Concert Music Department at concertmusic "at" ascap.com and someone can probably point you to some living Michigan composers, very possibly some in your local area who could also make good concert guests and pre-concert speakers.
Mark Gresham
composer / music journalist
ht... |
| Resource: Mark Gresham (Georgia, USA) | Mark Gresham | August 25, 2009 |
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| Comment: Re: a new Music Director at UU church needs help! | Mark Gresham | August 24, 2009 |
| Hello Ekaterina,
Congratulations on your new job. There are a lot of "in-depth" answers which you deserve for this, some of which I'll share privately based on my own past experiences as music director or a large UU church in the southeastern US.
Some items here:
1) "I never worked for a... |
| Comment: Re: Paper size for octavos | Mark Gresham | June 25, 2009 |
| Hi Mark,
Frankly speaking, your membership in that particulr organization does not mean it is not bunk.
My absence of membership in that organization likewise does not mean it is not bunk.
Poor method of argument. It doesn't substantiate the original proposition one whit. It's still bunk.
Th... |
| Comment: Re: Paper size for octavos | Mark Gresham | June 24, 2009 |
| Oh, please! The primary reason for octavo size is not discouraging illegal reproduction. Bunk! I know of no instance where that has actually prevented someone from illegal replicating (and it leaves nice large margins for 3-ring hole punching as well as annotations by the singer on 8.5"?x11").... |
| Comment: Re: Paper size for octavos | Mark Gresham | June 24, 2009 |
| Let me follow up on several sub-topics addressed by the replies so far:
While "octavo" can actually vary some, in the U.S. there are several good reasons for the size hovering around 7"x10" one of which is that there used to commonly be small printing presses designed for sheet sizes of 10"x14" a... |
| Comment: Re: Great high school choir. | Mark Gresham | June 15, 2009 |
| Excellent choir, Joe! I've played through several of the YouTube links, though not all. This is how high school choruses ought to be able to sing (IMHO). It's highly encouaging for the future of high school choruses.
It reminds me of my own high school experiences in the early 1970s when sc... |
| Comment: Re: Harmony songs from North Africa wanted | Mark Gresham | April 29, 2009 |
| I feel compelled to reply, due to the extensive attention I've given specifically to this kind of thing in previous responses to the original poster.
Swahili (or "Kiswahili" - meaning "language of the Swahili") is not a North African language!!! It is a language of Southeast Africa, a "creole"... |
| Comment: Re: Harmony songs from North Africa wanted | Mark Gresham | April 27, 2009 |
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Chris,
All of that is great to hear, because there are people do push the "monolithic view" or the "pop-world view" whether for political or monetary purposes, or due to pure carelessness. I know of cases where is has also been pushed upon African groups touring the USA. For example, one sin... |
| Comment: Re: Harmony songs from North Africa wanted | Mark Gresham | April 27, 2009 |
| First of all, by "North Africa" do you mean the area defined as "Northern Africa" subregion by the United Nations (which includes the countries of al-Maġrib al-ʿArabī [Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and the disputed territory of Western Sahara], Egypt, and the Sudan (caveat: be carefu... |
| Archive Comments: Re: don't believe in what you're singing | Mark Gresham | March 29, 2009 |
| Ron Duquette wrote:> I'm not arguing > syncretism; I'm arguing respect via understanding - what tolerance is > truly all about. Tolerance is NOT indifference. Tolerance is based on > understanding, and care for each other, and respect.> One would indeed think so, Ron. To this point, most of the... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 29, 2009 |
| Darrell wrote:> Using my previous example of Gorecki's piece. I may be able to ignore the English translation of 'Totus Tuus' while singing the Latin, and imagine that it is a recipe for vegetable dip so I can partake in the beautiful chords and structure of the song. Somehow in doing this something... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 28, 2009 |
| Douglas Frank wrote:>> I spent many years removing "God" and many other "charged">> words from texts for Unitarian-Universalist use... And>> if any U-U wants to challenge that this kind of behavior>> is not "denomination wide,"...>> >> Well, my preference is to "clarify" rather than "challenge".... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 28, 2009 |
| Darrell wrote:> But I believe that if we can so easily separate our beliefs from what we are singing, we are not giving the piece written from a certain belief system by a composer who truly believes it, the justice it deserves.There again, it seems you're assuming the composer truly believes it.Ned... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 27, 2009 |
| Tom Carter wrote:> PS: All that said, as an audience member I have no problem with a singer not singing a particular song if it offends them -- but I'm always curious why they don't just join a group which embraces their dogma all the time. > Because to do so they would ultimately be obliged to be... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 27, 2009 |
| Darrell wrote:> Wow. Lots to address.>> I suppose that atheists may object to singing anything religious but is it not more the feeling of being expected to confirm to something they don't believe in? My point is that is it not for more philosophical, idealistic or political reaons as opposed to rel... |
| Archive Comments: Re: singing what you do/don't believe | Mark Gresham | March 27, 2009 |
| Darrell wrote:> My! I didn't think I'd get such a heated response. I think further clarification is in order on a few things.>> First, I in know way implied that atheists do not have morality or a moral compass. What I was saying is, is that it is not a big deal for the atheist to sing to any deity ... |
