Friday, April 16, 2010

Cragun’s Resort and Conference Center

7:30 PM    Adjudicated Chorus Recital - Adjudicator’s comments to follow - Afterglow poolside

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Staples Motley High School Cafeteria

8:00 - 8:45 AM     Coffee and rolls

Staples Motley High School Gymnasium

8:30    Sound check - Staples Area Men’s Chorus
8:38    Sound check - Rochester Male Chorus
9:00 – 10:30    Massed Chorus rehearsal
10:40    Sound check - South St. Paul Male Chorus
10:48    Sound check - Clark County Male Chorus
10:56    Sound check - Eagan Men’s Chorus


Cragun’s Resort and Conference Center

11:30    Lunch

11:30-1:15    Ladies’ Luncheon - Dining Room

Singers in male choirs are so very fortunate to have supporting wives.  We encourage our better halves to share a three-course meal and visit with each other about their husband’s passion for singing.  There will be a plethora of door prizes and the wonderful music making of the husband/wife team of Dawn and Gary Timbs.

1:00 – 1:50    New Music Reading Session - Stan Carlson, Presenting

Check out a sampling of new music to see if it fits your choir for next year.  We’ll have one piano on the keyboard part and another to help you with the choral parts.  Bring your best sightreading skills, sit in your voice section, and dig in.  It should be fun.

2:00 – 2:25    Concert Session - Central Minnesota Boy’s Choir - Mary Moen, Director

The Central Minnesota Boys Choir has earned a reputation for excellence and artistry.  When they sang at the Big Sing Convention in Grand Rapids a few years ago, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  There is something special to men who sing, about seeing boys begin on the journey that has brought so much richness and joy into their own lives.

2:30 – 3:20    Simultaneous Sessions

1.  Three Steps to Better Singing - Michael Smith, Presenting

We all want to improve our voices, both for our contributions to our choirs, and also to sound better as an individual singer.  For Michael Smith, Director of the Männerchor at Concordia College, it boils down to the Big Three.  Breath = Tone, Space = Beauty, and Focus = Interest.  Mr. Smith presented this session at the Real Men Sing Festival and everyone went away feeling that they had been markedly improved.

2.  Secrets to the Art of Accompanying - Bryan Johnson, Presenting

Drawing on his 16 years as the staff accompanist of the Minnesota All State Men’s Choir, Bryan Johnson brings a unique background to the world of accompanying.  Bryan originally started out as a piano major at St. Olaf and remained active as an accompanist throughout his career in the areas of choral music, music theatre, and vocal solo, in addition to being a Director of Choral Activities at Aitkin High School.

3:30 – 4:20    Simultaneous Sessions

1.  Composing & Arranging for Men - Matt Culloton, Presenting

We have all been there.  There is music we would like to do but there isn’t an arrangement in print or it doesn’t quite fit our group.  There may be a few bars of a piece that don’t work well.  There is a great SATB piece that we would like to arrange for men.  We have an idea for a new piece that we would like to compose but don’t know how to start.  In which kind of music software should we invest?  Matt Culloton is a widely-published composer who brings a wealth of experience to help answer some of those questions.  Come prepared with some issues that have been nagging at you.

2.  Generating & Sustaining a Vision for our Choruses - Brian Stubbs, Presenting

Why did you join your chorus?  What is going to keep you there?  What will attract others to your passion?  How can you tap into that energy to create a vision to be shared with others?  Brian Stubbs is the current President of the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota.  He brings a wealth of experience in dealing with music organizations on a variety of levels.

3.  Panel discussion - New Technology - Jürgen Brunkhorst, Moderator

How can we improve our choruses by utilizing technology?  What are choruses doing to develop websites, use You Tube and Facebook, sell tickets online, and create learning aids?  What software do you use to keep the chorus books?  Jürgen Brunkhorst is the Website Manager for the Staples Area Men’s Chorus and was part of the team that started an online ticketing system for the chorus, which they are the process of opening up to other organizations in their community.  Come and share your ideas and best practices.

4.  Panel discussion - Attracting Singers to Male Choirs - Ron Nypan, Moderator

New members are the future of our choruses.  Will male choruses die off with the current generation, or can we hope that this art form will continue to provide richness, joy and camaraderie to the next generation?  Come and share your ideas and best practices.

(Choruses are encouraged to send at least one representative to the Panel Discussions.)

4:30 – 5:45    Dinner Hour


Staples Motley High School Gymnasium

7:00     Assemble for Concert

Cragun’s Resort and Conference Center

Afterglow

Sunday, April 18, 2010