Vienna Choral Society

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We Are 30!

September 2, 2017


Would you believe we just kicked off our 30th season? We started as a small group of people in a church basement, hopeful that we might have have a total of 30 singers after a year or two.

Last Tuesday, we kicked off our season with 100 singers in our address book. We now average 75 singers per concert, and our smallest audience now exceeds what used to be a full house.

As we grow, we are committed to being a teaching choir — not only for our singers — but for the next generation of music lovers and professionals. Every concert will feature either professional, or the next generation of professionals. Because youth musicians need a place to grow into the stage, to work with one another, to learn to be in front of an audience. And we are delighted to do offer them the opportunity.

We are especially excited to do two large works this season — the Rutter Gloria and Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo! There’s a symmetry to those two works. Rutter composed the Gloria in 1974 and Forrest’s Jubilate Deo premiered in 2016. Both are works with deep roots in sacred music, but composed for a modern audience that relates to a much larger, inclusive, welcoming world. They are a perfect fit for the VCS experience. They are also reflective of who we have become — the area’s premier teaching choir, a place where singers create community, where the repertoire soars, and both you and we leave the evening with an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experience.

None of this — the friendships, the music, or the “you had to be there” moments unavailable on iTunes or anywhere else — happens without your support.

We hope you’ll help make it happen again during the 2017-18 Friends of VCS campaign.

We are so grateful for the music, fellowship, and joy of the last three decades. Here’s to another 30 more!

Join us!

REHEARSAL CANCELLED FOR MARCH 14, 2017

March 14, 2017

Like the headline says, we have no rehearsal tonight – March 14, 2017. If you’re a newcomer or a guest, we hope you’ll join us next week!

 

 

More About Melvin Goodwyn, Our New Accompanist

October 18, 2016

headshotMelvinThe first thing our artistic director, Mike Horanski did when he came on board – before figuring out the season, ordering music, getting to know key players, any of that – was to get Melvin Goodwyn as our new accompanist. Naturally, we’ve been curious to find out more about the man, ever since!  

We got him to answer a few questions, and are now ever more convinced that Mike was right in describing him as an old school gent with courtly manners and amazing skill at the piano. [Read more…]

Tagged With: accompanist, melvin goodwyn

Announcing Our New Artistic Director – Mike Horanski

August 3, 2016

Mike Horanski

                                  Mike Horanski

On behalf of the Board of Directors, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Vienna Choral Society’s new artistic director – Mike Horanski.

When we announced our search for a new artistic director in the spring, the response was overwhelming and swift. Impressive as Mike’s resume and depth of experience looked on paper, he was even better at the full choir audition. He brought thoughtfulness and agility to the room. He established rapport quickly, showing us he could adapt on a dime. Plus he made us laugh. Always a bonus! Unsurprisingly, Mike was the Board’s unanimous choice.

Over the years, VCS has carved out a distinctive niche of creative programming. We’re the excellent non-audition choir that welcomes singers of all levels and attracts audiences of all ages. We cherish our local roots but now attract region-wide performance partnerships that range from local elementary school choirs to major organizations like the National Weather Service and the American Red Cross. And we go well beyond our unique concerts such as Text and Sound to plan and pull off a hugely successful, creatively staged classic like Carmina Burana. Every VCS concert tells a story, marries art with real life in Concerts for a Cause and – hopefully – leaves you as refreshed and inspired as we feel when the show’s over.

Mike gets all of that. In fact, the first thing Jennifer Rodgers, our beloved former artistic director said about Mike’s arrival was, “VCS is in good hands.”

We cannot wait to see what VCS’ next chapter will be with Mike, starting next month. And we cannot wait to sing again for you under his artistic leadership.

Stay tuned for details on our 2016-17 season!

Sincerely,

Sohini Baliga
Executive Director,
VCS

 

Tagged With: 2016-17 season, artistic director, mike horanski

April 15, 2014 Rehearsal Note For Singers

April 14, 2014

A quick reminder to all our singers that tomorrow’s rehearsal will not be at our usual venue. If you haven’t gotten word, please check with your section leader and/or look through your spam box. See you all tomorrow – and yes, there shall be candy for your pains!

And we’re back!

January 28, 2014

Lego Nanook of the North

A Lego Nanook of the North. For real. (via Qwen Wan)

 

10:30 am, Vienna VA, Weather.com says it’s 11F.

So, it’s officially brr-cold- freezing out. But we’ll take that over snow (and snowdays) in a heart beat!

If you’re a singer, we’ll see you at our regular rehearsal tonight – Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

If you’re not a singer, we hope you have our next concert on your calendar! We’ll be singing lullabies from around the world – in our pajamas.

Such a lovely thought as we all walk around the DC-metro region dressed like Nanook of the North, slowly thawing out when we can…..

Tagged With: legos, lullabies, nanook of the north, pajamas

2013-14 Season Poster!

August 23, 2013

Season_Cover3_Web

Tagged With: caffe amouri, coffee house concert, concert for a cause, jennifer rodgers beach, light and dark, lullabies from around the world, pdq bach, steven keen, vienna choral society

Is It Something We Said? Or Maybe It’s Just Gmail?

August 15, 2013

gmail_mailbox

image by rovlls

If there’s one thing we know about our peeps, it’s that everyone’s busy with very full lives and activities – and the emails to go with them. We try to keep from over-emailing you. But we realized that some of you might just not be getting our emails at all courtesy of Gmail’s recent tweak.

If you use Gmail, you may have noticed the new sorting system.The initial categories are Primary, Social, and Promotions.

So yeah, it could be something we said. But we’d like to think it’s that your email just scrambled us off your radar. And hey, that can be fixed!

We don’t want you to miss out. It’s most likely that emails Vienna Choral Society will be labeled “Promotions”. Given these changes, we want to make sure you continue to receive our emails – assuming you signed up for them! which you can do (top right box of this page where it says “subscribe”) –  especially the announcements about concerts, tickets, and so forth. Here is how to make sure our emails make it to your Primary tab.

Here’s what to do:

  • Click on the new Promotions tab, and drag this email into your “Primary” inbox (or if you prefer, you can opt out of using the new category system altogether in Gmail Settings).
  • You’ll see an alert asking if you want to do this for future emails. Click “Yes” so you won’t miss any updates from us!

Thank you very much for being a part of our community. And we hope to see you in the audience this season!

Tagged With: gmail

Welcome Whole Foods Vienna – Our Newest Partner!

August 14, 2013

185051_10151204893739344_60051740_nWe are so fortunate and delighted to introduce you to our new partner  – welcome Whole Foods Vienna!

As you know – or have probably guessed by the look of our colorful but, um, uneven and sometimes rather interesting looking cookie table after each concert – the choir has always brought homemade goodies for our post-concert receptions. But as we’ve gotten bigger, and our concerts more complicated, that’s gotten kinda hairy.

Because basically what was happening was that our singers, especially the ones who made the really *good* stuff, were basically baking and icing and wrapping when they should have been note-pounding on Saturday morning of show night. And then there was the schleping in of the goodies in their dress blacks.

It was a lot of energy directed away from the concert on show night, particularly during our important concerts for a cause.

In May, when we had the combined choir two-show season ender, “Opera For The People” with The Reston Chorale, our beloved choir tradition finally became ….more quaint and less practical.

Enter, the wonderful folks at Whole Foods Vienna! They will be a great help to us this season – we are grateful for their generous donation and look forward to a great partnership with them, beginning with the season kick-off, which is less than two weeks away.

We also look forward to a season of singing for you. Without wondering if we turned off the oven before leaving the house en deshabille with cookies in one hand and tux/hose/dress shoes in the other…

Tagged With: whole foods vienna

About

Welcome to VCS! We are a teaching, non-audition choir where all voices and skill levels are welcome. We invite you to learn more about who we are, what we do, and if there's a place for you in our choir.

More questions? Drop us a line at

Click here for our terms and conditions

For Singers

Active choir members, find what you need here for rehearsal tracks, registration and dues, any membership updates, section leader information, Friends of VCS info, and more.

Contact

703-349-7150

PO Box 310, Vienna, VA 22183

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