Chicago Master Singers University announces free online seminars
Chicago Master Singers launched CMS University last August to provide engaging musical content while live performances are on hold.
Having just completed its first semester of free weekly seminars, Chicago Master Singers has announced that this educational series will continue in January with 15 weeks of new musical topics.
The one-hour programs, presented by Music Director John C. Hughes, will be streamed live on YouTube at 7 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 11 through April 19.
Registrants may participate in the live events or watch the recordings later on YouTube. There is no charge to attend, but advance registration at tiny.cc/CMSU is required to join the livestreamed event.
Hughes has created a new series of programs on musical topics with something for everyone. Several of the programs focus on choral literature and will take participants inside the scores of such masterworks as Mozart's "Solemn Vespers," Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms," Fauré's "Requiem," and Handel's "Messiah."
A program on spirituals will explore their evolution and transformation.
Programs on music history will cover the Lutheran Reformation's influence on music, the Bach family, and composer Hugo Distler, who carried the mantle of Lutheranism into the 20th century.
Other programs on choral culture will explore the Estonian choral tradition and the legacies of some famous U.S. choruses.
Singers will discover useful techniques in programs on approaches to music from different time periods, practical uses of the International Phonetic Alphabet, how to protect their voices as they change throughout life, and a panel of Chicago Master Singers soloists in conversation about their craft.
The complete seminar schedule is at www.chicagomastersingers.org/cms-university and on the registration website.
CMS University's first semester of seminars can be viewed at no charge on the Chicago Master Singers YouTube channel.
Hughes became Chicago Master Singers' third music director in its 41-year history this year. He came to Chicago Master Singers from Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he was assistant professor of music, director of choral activities and chairman of the Department of Music.
He is also conductor of the Composer Residency program at the Green Lake Festival of Music in Green Lake, Wisconsin. He earned his doctorate in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa.
Chicago Master Singers, www.chicagomastersingers.org, is an auditioned chorus of about 100 singers from Chicago and many suburban communities. The chorus has performed choral masterworks in collaboration with professional soloists and orchestras in the Chicago area since 1979, and on tour in Europe.