Transient Glory Symposium - Notes from Ron Chronister

Exciting things happen in life. At least they do in my life. I am honored to share with you the most recent of such events for me.


Several months ago I met Francisco Núñez and was introduced to YPC and Transient Glory! Now I am involved in an exciting and fascinating project that I think is very important. I have been asked to help present the Transient Glory Symposium, work with the exceptional YPC and Carnegie Hall staffs, and make a difference in the lives of choral students everywhere by providing much needed and desired information about performing serious contemporary choral literature written specifically for young voices by the leading composers of our nation and the world!!

The concept is unique. The energy driving this project is electric. The information and training that will be provided can only be obtained at this symposium. The talent that will be assembled to learn from is awe-inspiring. The venues that will be used are world-class. The opportunities that are offered through this symposium are rarely offered anywhere. And the value is unbelievable. Participants get all this for practically free! And it will all happen in New York City!

As a public school choir director I am always looking for ways to improve myself and my choir. I have tended to shy away from serious contemporary compositions because they are so different from what I was trained with and I didn’t know how to understand and teach them. I didn’t know where to look to get that training. No longer! With the emergence of the Transient Glory Symposium that training and information is now available to directors just like me.

Not only can I now get this information and take it to my choir, I get to be part of making it happen! How exciting can life get?

I’ll look forward to seeing you at the Transient Glory Symposium in February 2012!

Reflections on Argentina

I'm so glad that I came on this YPC trip to Argentina and Brazil. Brazil had a beautiful scenery with their beautiful mountains and amazingly clean beaches. In one of the individual concerts in Brazil, we did the rain song which was called "Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios Krao." Many people knew this song in Brazil and I was touched when someone told me as we walked out of the church, "This was one of the best versions because of the rain and thunder you produced." We turned the church into a rain forest for a few moments. It was a great experience and Brazil was where we first met the other two choirs: Toronto Children's Chorus and Youth Singers of Calgary. Both choirs had a different way of expressing music and it worked great when we combined us all together. Both choirs sounded good and even danced amazingly in their concerts. I was really excited to work with them on our tutti music.

YPC performs for the Coca-Cola Company in Buenos Aires as part of their Family Day.

After almost a week of Brazil and touring together with the other choirs, we all traveled to Argentina. When we got to Argentina, YPC was extremely excited to perform a concert at the Coca-Cola Headquarters in Buenos Aires. When Francisco mentioned that YPC was in the Coca-Cola commercial that is all over South America, the crowd was even excited to hear us. We sang "Whatever" and "Oye", along with other songs. It was a fun concert because the crowd sang with us and was very entertained. Again, thank you Coca-Cola for sponsoring us!

First rehearsal with orchestra

YPC performs "Take Me to the Water" in La Plata

With the other two choirs, we mingled and rehearsed for a few days for our final concert. I'm glad that we got to collaborate with these choirs from Canada because I made a lot of new friends and learned many new things. All the rehearsals paid off. At the final concert, we all rocked the house. The crowd was cheering, and we were all feeling the music as we sang the songs together. The acoustics of the church allowed all of our voices to flow beautifully all around and the feeling was great. It felt like a huge accomplishment on how we had fun, interacted with the audience, and sounded great. 

There were many unforgettable moments in this trip.  The experience was great musically and everyone had so much fun singing and touring together.

- Christine, Concert Chorus

I’ve chaperoned many trips with the YPC but this one especially stands out in so many ways. I’ve dubbed the tour “The Schedule Subject to Change Tour” or “The Fly by the Seat of Your Pants South American Tour 2011.”  One of the things I love about every YPC Chorister is their adaptability. Whether being told “today we are doing this, wait, no, now we are doing this.” Or “get on the train no, wait, not now, take this train, no, wait, not this one, that one.” Or my favorite moment, “There was a volcanic eruption in Chile which sent an ash cloud over South America so we won’t be flying to Buenos Aires today after all, maybe tomorrow…” There is a never a sigh nor a complaint just smiles because as long as they are together they are happy. Backstage before concerts is one of my most favorite times with the YPC.   It’s an actual chorus of “can you fix my scarf, sew this button, patch, hole etc, where are my shoes, where’s the music, has anyone seen…?”  

Our first concert in Buenos Aires

It’s when the chorus takes the stage and Francisco the podium that everything comes together perfectly. Every member of the YPC is like a piece to a masterful jigsaw puzzle. As each chorister comes together on stage, a work of art is created. Francisco is so charismatic and conducts from the heart with such energy that an audience anywhere is immediately excited to see what will unfold. And what unfolds is pure musical magic.  It’s not long before the crowd is on their feet and every chorister knows that no matter what, no matter where, the music down in their souls, has reached others.  

- Carol, Chaperone

Last thoughts from Brazil

YPC performs at the Candelaria Church

As much as we have been around each other on this trip already, we are joining the Youth Singers of Calgary and the Toronto Children’s Chorus for our performances. What these two world-renowned groups bring to the festival are styles of performance that we don’t have a lot of experience with and aren’t necessarily comfortable with.  The Youth Singers specialize in the choral genre of show-choir, which is something that YPC has always flirted with. The Youth Singers’ sets are always filled with medleys from Broadway shows, spirituals, and many, many pop songs. They can sing as if they were plucked from the cast of Glee in one song and shift to sounding like professional classical choir in a matter of minutes. Not to mention their choreography, which routinely astonishes us.

The Toronto Children’s Chorus takes us to an entirely different realm of choral music. Their sound is refined, piercing, and reminiscent of a bell choir. The repertoire that their director, Ms. Elise Bradley, has chosen for their performances here suits their sound perfectly, with music full of sweeping chords that bring out some of the most beautiful harmonies a children’s chorus can produce. The TCC has exposed us to a different side of the choral world, one that combines straight-tone singing with incredible musicianship to produce a truly impressive sound.

Sharing a song at the singing dinner

Being around these two fabulous organizations has been more than eye-opening to everyone in YPC, and to see the two of them flourish has shown us other ways of conveying messages through choral music. However, while our differences may bring diversity to the festival, we will eventually have to join forces to sing in the tutti section of our upcoming concerts. Learning how to blend with voices that are trained differently than ours may ultimately be our biggest challenge, but it will surely be our most rewarding outcome.

- Will, Young Men’s Chorus

Visiting the Christ the Redeemer Statue

The past couple of days have been a whirlwind of nonstop action.  Tuesday started off with a trip to the Christ the Redeemer statue.  We took a rickety train to the top of the mountain.  The sights were absolutely breathtaking; postcard perfect.  We could she the crescent shaped Copacabana beach, which was almost hidden behind the mountains.  As we went up the nine flights of stairs to the “Jesus statue,” as we call it, we broke out into harmony.  We sung our way up the steps and at the top posed with Christ the Redeemer.  Francisco wanted a group picture so he asked Nancy to take one.  Nancy put down her phone (a thing we were all told not to do) and when she turned around to get it, it was gone!  Although most of us thought it was lost for good, we went on a scavenger hunt for her phone.  Just as we thought all hope was lost we stumbled upon Oliver, a thirty-year old lawyer from the Calgary choir.  He gave us a detailed play by play about what happened to Nancy’s phone and lo and behold, after much searching, Nancy finally got it back. 

Choristers walking back from the music school in a favela

After, we hopped on the bus to a music school in a favella where Calgary, Toronto, and we performed.  One of the songs we sang, Riki Tiki Tavi, has a part where we samba.  The little Brazilian children were so excited that a few of them jumped up when we started to samba.  Another one of our songs, Tres Cantos, is a Brazilian folk song.  In the song we create a rainforest by snapping and clapping.  Francisco brought the children into it by having them create the rainforest with us.  The children, who probably have never seen a large group perform before, were so excited by our performance.  They loved creating the rainforest before.  It was wonderful to see these kids, who came in with torn clothes and sad faces, enjoying themselves so much.

Choristers ride the train back down from Corcovado Mountain

That night we went to a singing dinner with the other two choirs.  When we sat down we mixed with the other two choirs.  We all taught each other songs.  We learned Te Eee Wee Aye from the Toronto choir.  The song comes with a “trembling dance,” where you have to shake your hands.  From Calgary we learned the Hand Jive, which was a real hit.

- Jamie, Concert Chorus

Samba School!

Choristers on just before riding a cable car to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain

Concert Chorus performs "Riki Tiki Tavi" for the Samba School

Hey, guys!  Nick here on my first YPC International trip!!  Today was our first full day in Brazil, South America and boy was it an amazing start.  We spent most of the day at the local Samba School.  It was amazing to see the incredible talent and culture Brazil has to show.  We had a chance to meet the other choirs traveling with us from Toronto and Calgary, along with the locals at the school.  The students’ event taught us how to play Samba rhythms on the percussion instruments and how to dance the Samba!  The children in Brazil were very kind and welcoming to us.  It’s amazing to see a foreign country like Brazil in action; its almost like living in a different world compared to the U.S.  When we went to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, the breath-taking sights blew me away, and then it hit me: “Wow, we’re in South America here to perform and experience such an amazing culture.”  I’m so glad this trip is off to such a great start, and I’m excited for what’s to come!!

- Nick, Young Men’s Chorus

Learning the Samba

Today we watched the Samba School perform and really enjoyed interacting with the kids. They even tried to teach us how to Samba!  We had a great time, and found ways to work around the language barrier. After, we took a cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain and got our share of sightseeing! Were all excited to see more of Brazil!

Learning Samba rhythms on the drum

- Tohar, Concert Chorus

First Impressions of Brazil

Our first day seemed like it would never end! Starting at the Y, all of us eager to get away from my parents (sorry mom for leaving you on your birthday!), to what seemed like a very short time in the airport. The flight was shorter than I expected, but I think all of us can agree that we all wanted a more comfortable sleep.  I bet we went on a fabulous bus tour… But I was sleeping. We had a fabulous dinner where we met the two other choirs, Youth Singers of Calgary and the Toronto Children’s Chorus. Both were extremely nice and friendly, and we all can’t wait to get to know them more! I’m so glad to be here with all my fellow choristers, and I know we are going to have a fabulous, unforgettable trip!

- Ariana, Concert Chorus

Pure exhaustion – these seem like the perfect words to some up what the choristers are feeling today.  It all started at 5:00 PM on Thursday when all the eager choristers waited to board the bus. Then we found ourselves at our gate for what seemed like 30 minutes, and then boarded the crowded plane. I ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours, expecting to wake up in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, I was informed that I still had 5 more hours of flying…which wasn’t very reassuring.  We landed and got onto a bus for a city tour, which was very interesting!  We got to see “favellas” (slums) from the Northern part of Rio, then we were bused to a catholic cathedral that on the outside seemed like a block of concrete, but inside beautiful stained glass filled the room with light.  We finally came to our hotel and rested for a while and then met the choristers from both Toronto and Calgary. They were very sweet and I am extremely excited to sing with them soon!

- Rose, Concert Chorus

YPC departs for the Melodia! South American Music Festival 2011!

Yesterday at around 5:00 pm, the YPC staff diligently prepared to depart for the Melodia! South American Music Festival. Choristers, parents, and YPC staff gathered at the 92nd Street Y to bid the choristers and conductors a bon voyage before their exciting trip to Rio De Janerio and Buenos Aires.


EXCITING UPDATE: Just heard word this morning, everyone arrived safely and are about to eat breakfast! Follow our blog for more exciting updates from YPC south of the equator!

Recording Session at Avatar Studios

Today at the recording session we recorded Meredith Monk's "Things" and John Corigliano's "One Sweet Morning." As always there was a lot of stress involved because we want to sound as good as we possibly could. It's always fun being in a recording studio because you get to hear the recording of yourself played back into your headphones. "One Sweet Morning" is one of our favorite songs because of how beautifully the text matches the music. However, it is an incredibly challenging piece of music because of the long phrases. "Things" is quite a different style, being tonal and capturing the essence of new music. Though some parts are melodic others are percussive. It was an incredibly fun and exhausting day and one that we will long remember.

Lucy & Gaby, Concert Choristers