The Grammy Awards Choral Winners
The 51st annual Grammy Awards were presented in Los Angeles, Calif. on February 8th. The award for best choral performance was given to the 64-member Berlin Radio Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, for their interpretation of the “Symphony of Psalms” by Igor Stravinsky.
Performance Opportunities in Vienna
Vienna is often a desired performance venue for amateur music groups and choirs from all over the world. From April to September, daily performances (between 9 am and 5 pm, a maximum of 45 minutes) are open to choirs and vocal groups of up to 100 people and orchestras and instrumental groups of up to 50 people at the open-air at Schönbrunn Palace grand staircases, in front of and/or behind the Palace, and in the gardens in front of the Neptune Fountain.
Groups must stay overnight in Vienna in order to be admitted to perform. Special arrangements can be made for organizers of festivals and music group competitions who need a specific structure for their performances or who require more than two performances a day at Schönbrunn. Performances are freely accessible, with no admission fee and no voluntary donations. The given infrastructure and organizer services (welcome, commemorative certificate, group photo) are provided free of charge. Charges apply for additional services such as rental of chairs and electric piano and will have to be borne by the respective group.
For further information on performances, venues, and arrangements, contact: MTS Marketing Tourismus Synergie GesmbH, Schloss Schönbrunn, Gardetrakt 1130 Vienna, Austria. Telephone. (+43 1) 817 41 65-0. E-mail: voices@mts.co.at. Registration online is available at www.voices-of-the-world.at.
San Francisco Choral Artists Performance
SFCA has collaborated with the early music wind band, The Whole Noyse, to premiere a new work offering a fresh perspective on a 16th-century Mexican historical figure. The new composition “Marina,” by Oakland-based composer Ted Allen, uses early instruments like recorders, sackbuts, cornetts and curtals, together with mixed chorus. The piece, based on a poem cycle by local poet Lucha Corpi, explores different aspects of a native woman known to the Spanish as Marina, who aided Hernán Cort
