Salt Spring choristers and choral conductors have a second opportunity to work with Grammy and Juno Award-winning chorus master Iwan Edwards, who returns to ArtSpring to teach an intensive choral conducting and choral workshop that culminates in a concert on June 5th. Maestro Edwards has specialized in choral conducting for nearly five decades. He has founded and directed many choirs such as the 110-voice St. Lawrence choir and has worked with many conductors such as Charles Dutoit and Kent Nagano. He directed the Chorus of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for two decades and was also Chair of the Choral Department at McGill University.
Choristers:
Each choir will rehearse five choral works which Edwards will conduct in the concert on Saturday afternoon. In addition, he will illustrate some of the difficulties conductors encounter and how they might be solved.
Conductors:
The Friday morning session will be devoted to the preparation of three assigned choral works for each of the two choral groups. (Edwards will be preparing the other works). Conductors are required to prepare all the assigned works (marked with an asterisk), even though they will only be asked to conduct one in rehearsal on Friday afternoon or evening.
The Saturday morning session will be a review of the conductors’ experiences from the day before, focusing on any problems they may have encountered. The session can be extended beyond the two hours allocated, if necessary.
Help to Learn Music
Deb Toole has graciously agreed to run three sessions prior to the workshop to help choristers learn their music.
- May 13 (1-2:30pm) SSA
- May 21 (10-11am) SATB & (11-12pm) SSA
- June 2 (10-12pm) for SSA
Schedule for Workshop:
Friday, June 3:
9:00 – noon Conductors only
1:00 – 4:00 SSA with 3 conductors and Iwan (each conductor will be assigned one work to rehearse for 40 minutes).
5:30 – 7:30 SSA with Iwan (same format).
Saturday, June 4:
9:30 – 11:30 Conductors only
1:00 – 4:00 SSA Choir with 2 conductors and Iwan
5:30 – 7:30 SSA Choir with Iwan