A look back: COA’s 2019 Season
Choirs of America saw their largest season to date in 2019. We had over 3700 performers from 30 different states and two countries, representing more than 70 schools and organizations, participate in the seven festivals we held throughout the U.S.
This growth brought incredible opportunities to see the choral community move and grow and connect.
The world of choral composition grew with three newly commissioned works from leading composers Jake Runestad, Stacey V. Gibbs and Z. Randall Stroope.
During rehearsal for his new work, “The Seven Glories of the Stars”, Z. Randall Stroope paused to share some of his collected ‘sediments’, sayings to hold and let settle into your life, with the choir. “You slowly become like those with whom you spend your time,” he said, a word of caution and encouragement.
We witnessed this wisdom come to fruition as choirs from across the country came together to learn and grow as a community.
“What has been really neat is seeing that choir kids are choir kids and singing is singing and just watching them build each other up and using music as the source to encourage and to build,” shared Sandra Shafer, the choir director at Apopka High School who participated in our Nationals for Top Choirs program. “I think something like this encourages them, number one, to travel and to take their music everywhere. They can do this wherever they go, and they can find family and familiarity with other people who do this as well.”
That choral family connected in a number of unexpected ways this year.
Jake Runsetad’s new piece, “Your Soul is Song”, featured lyrics taken from a poem written by the late Germán Aguilar, a talented singer and choral conductor who died of a massive aneurism in the middle of a concert. Runestad built a friendship with Aguilar’s fiancé, Jonathan Talberg, in the wake of Aguilar’s passing, and chose to honor and celebrate Aguilar’s dedication to music and the community that it builds with this new piece. Talberg joined us for the world premiere of “Your Soul is Song” in Carnegie Hall.
We also witnessed two firsts for COA. In March, both the Pulaski High School Band and Choir travelled to New York to participate in our Nationals for Top Choirs program. They were able to support each other as the band performed in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the choir performed on the Carnegie Hall stage. Later in the season, one of our participating directors was able to travel and perform with a former choir student, now a choir director leading her own program at a nearby school.
“What’s so inspiring about the work we do here at Choirs of America is our belief in multiculturalism, diversity, and fostering community,” reflected Jace Saplan, COA faculty member and Director of Choral Activities at The University of Hawaii. “It’s an incredible gift to see choirs from across the country come together to learn from each other, to grow together in such a short amount of time, and it’s an inspirational thing to witness.”
We loved watching our largest season yet bring the choral community together to learn and grow and connect with each other and can’t wait for a 2020 season that promises to be even bigger.
