Glowing Responses to Chor Leoni’s Jan 06 Reading Session!

We received many enthusiastic responses to Chor Leoni’s sight-reading session of new works for male choirs, held January 18, 2006. In all cases the composers had never heard their piece sung by a male choir before – indeed, some had only heard it produced on synthesizers! We hope they found the “live” experience as encouraging and exciting as we did.

Each composer took home a recording of the performance, along with comments offered by Diane and choir members. It is our hope that they also left with a renewed interest in writing more compositions for men’s voices.

From our e-mail files:

Hi Diane,

Many thanks for your note.  I'm sorry that I was unable to hear more of the session--it was terrific.  I think the format worked very well.  The environment was pleasant and constructive and I believe the students felt at ease (as much as possible!).  

The idea is excellent.  

No matter how good the technology is, nothing beats the real thing.  For a young student to hear their works realized beyond the synthesizer is priceless.  Moreover, the comments from yourself, Bruce, and others - experienced choristers - should prove enormously helpful in writing for the medium in the future.  (In a couple of instances I was delighted to hear my own thoughts echoed!!)  

All in all I can only say that it was an invaluable experience and hope it is a regular opportunity for young composers.  You are to be commended for providing this educational event.

Cheers,

Kevin

Kevin Barrington-Foote
Douglas College Music Department
PO Box 2503
New Westminster, BC
V3L 5B2

Dear Diane,

It was a pleasure to attend and hear the choir sing all those fresh, hot-off-the-press pieces. It's a wonderful service to offer to composers, an invaluable one, and I hope you will continue to go fearlessly into the new and untried. I applaud you. It's rare for such an accomplished ensemble to offer an evening toward reading new work, but it's completely necessary and a shame that other organizations don't do the same. Bravo to you and your lions for your ongoing contribution to the creation and performance of new work.

I do have some comments to offer because part of our pedagogy at SFU is to bring professional musicians in for multiple three-hour reading sessions each semester. We've done string quartets, wind quintets, SATB soloists, piano quartets, singers with piano and winds, etc, etc. Students love it!

I can offer you this, all with warmth:

  • Select less pieces and give a bit more time to each. Since it is competitive to apply, all the work selected should be worthy. I wouldn't bother with pieces that are out-of-range and other similar problems.
  • I love hearing what the choir has to say. Great comments and questions from your men. Very helpful to young composers. I hope those remarks are recorded for the composers to re-hear at home when they can listen and are less nervous. I was very impressed with the insight expressed by your singers.
  • Personally, I'm not so interested in why the composer wrote the piece. If it's not evident in the music, words won't help. I think the composers should just listen, both to their music and to what you have to say.
  • The more singing the better. That's what they need to hear - men singing. It's something that will stay with them, that wonderful resonance of the male choir.
  • I think only one work by each composer is best.

Would I encourage my students to do this again? Yes, without question. It's extremely valuable. The more opportunities composers have to meet performers face to face, the better for everyone. More of this? Yes, yes, yes!

Thank you for the opportunity to offer my support and comments. I appreciate this marvelous contribution to the culture of our city.

best,

David MacIntyre
Simon Fraser University Music Department

For a student composer having a large group of performers of the caliber of Chor Leoni perform one's work is a rare and invaluable opportunity. The feedback from the choir was very specific and productive. The event has excited me about choral music. I hope to have a chance to work with Chor Leoni again.

Lucas Schuller

Dear Diane and Chor Leoni,

Thank you very much for selecting my piece and having it performed in the workshop. I am very pleased that the Choir enjoyed my piece Yes, The Light which I composed specifically for Chor Leoni's 'call for submissions' and I will be making some revisions to it and re-submitting it in hopes of it being performed in a future concert.   

I found it valuable listening to the many comments that my piece and others generated. Overall it was a great learning session of what and what not to do when composing and arranging. . . .

I did very much enjoy the performance of Chor Leoni as it was my first time hearing them live. Even though the pieces were sight-read, they were still able to make a good musical performance and interpretation of the music. I am very honoured to have been selected for the 'call for submissions' and to of had my piece realized.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Daniel York

Hi Diane,

Here's some feedback from me:

I was very pleased and excited to have my piece included in the Chor Leoni reading session.  This is actually the 3rd reading session with the Chor Leoni that I've participated in, and as always, I found it to be an enjoyable and informative experience.  Although the choir didn't make it all the way through my piece, I was very impressed with the high level of sight-reading, since I know that my piece was probably too difficult to get through on a first read.  

I thought that Diane did an excellent job of focusing the choir's energy on important spots, and I'm really impressed that the choir was able to pick up on the music so quickly.  There wasn’t too much time to get feedback from the choir during the reading, but during the break and after the session, I talked to quite a few choir members who had positive/constructive feedback for me.

I also really enjoyed listening to everyone else's pieces, and learned something also from the feedback they got.  I really hope that the Chor Leoni do decide to learn my piece sometime, that would be an honour!

thanks again,

Elizabeth Knudson

Responses to Reading Session of New Compositions, Jan 30, 2002

Reading Session of New Compositions, Jan 30, 2002

Subject: RE: Extraordinary reading prowess

Thank you, thank you, thank, thank you for last night, for the singing and for the enheartening and for all your encouraging comments. What I planned, wrote, re-wrote, corrected, scrapped, re-wrote and refined, you sang so well at first try. I woke up this morning with music playing in my head; I want to perpetrate a composition.

Frank Wallace

To all the Lions:

I echo most wholeheartedly Frank’s appreciation. It is a rare treat for a composer to hear such a great initial reading of one’s work. It’s so fantastic to actually hear the music as it should be performed instead of just realized on the keyboard.

Thanks again for everything,

James Carter

Good morning, Diane:

I want to thank you for including Fine Summer Borscht on Wednesday’s open reading workshop. It was very instructive for me to hear what and the singers had to say and sing! I’ve been listening to the recording, and have found a few things that I should add to the score in terms of instruction, too, so all around it was tremendously beneficial.

Finally, it was good to get a response in terms of the audience – there were some part-Doukhobors and half-Ukrainians sitting right around me at Ryerson. The text generated a lot of congenial conversation between us – they were clearly connected to the message.

And there were some laughs – which was a huge relief! After all, if it’s not funny or even a little clever, what’s the point! Let me know if the tune ever surfaces for you again, and I’ll get you the extra little updates.

Thanks once again. I really do appreciate what you have done for me.

Yours,

Willi Zwozdesky

Hi,

I wanted to say thank you so much for reading through my piece last night! It was amazing to hear it performed live, and it looked like everyone had a lot of fun with it! I brought the tape in to my composition class today, and my prof (David MacIntyre) and other people were really impressed with how it turned out. I’m glad I got some helpful feedback too, since there are a few little things that I’d like to change after hearing it live, but overall it was a totally exciting experience for me, plus it was interesting to hear the other pieces as well!

thanks again,

Elizabeth Knudson

Hi Diane,

Chor Leoni’s reading session is a great event for composers. The choir sings through each piece with their characteristic enthusiasm and dedication. The director and choir offer many useful suggestions and I was very happy with the tape that I received. It is great to be able to hear what other composers are doing and to see how the choir handles different writing techniques. Every Vancouver composer should mark the date of the reading session on their calendar. Each year I leave the session inspired and ready to start a new piece.

Thanks Diane,

Bruce Sled

As many composers know, Diane Loomer holds annual reading clinic with Chor Leoni. The most recent clinic, January 30, at Ryerson United featured local composers whose ages ranges from early twenties to sixties. Falling into the early sixties bracket (and I stress early) allows me a view which embraces maturity. This was not my first reading at a Diane Loomer Clinic. In fact, I think it was my fifth. Why do I keep going back for more? Because I keep on learning so much and it’s beginning to feel a lot like going home.

The piece I submitted was “Lord Make Me An Instrument” (text by Francis of Assisi, 12th Century) written in 1984 for Argyle Secondary’s Spring Musical. The piece has been performed by amateur choirs but never a professional choir. Wow! Did Chor Leoni ever do a good job of reading it. And Dick found a couple of spots that could be improved and I have already made those changes to the score. My work was read three times. I got to talk to Diane and the choir they got to talk to me before the third run through. And I got to hear a dozen local composers. A wide range of choral style and idiom was heard. And we got to hear the same piece more than once. (A week later I still keep hearing a phrase from a very young SFU student’s work: “bump, bump, bump in the night.”)

I walked away with a tale (by them) of my piece being workshopped and a feeling that I hope I never reach the age where I think I can’t learn something new about my music.

Thank you Diane Loomer and Chor Leoni!

Lloyd Burritt

Dear Diane,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the members of Chor Leoni for a truly enjoyable experience last Wednesday. As I’m sure you’re aware, readings can often be an uncomfortable experience for both musicians and composers, however, the relaxed and professional mood with which this session was handled made all feel at ease. It was a great delight to hear my piece performed by this wonderful group. The comments and suggestions were both insightful and helpful to me as a composer. The audio recording of this session will be of great benefit to me, as I’m sure it will to all composers involved. Thank you for offering your time and expertise to further development of local composers.

Sincerely,

Peter Fraser MacDonald