Schola Cantorum
of Syracuse
Schola has a YouTube channel:
The information below pertains to the 2023
Workshop, now concluded, but the details for July 2024 should be similar. Watch this space.
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Director
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In 2023 Schola is again privileged to have Dr. Kristina Boerger direct the singers workshop. A highly accomplished and vastly experienced singer, conductor and teacher of early music, Dr. Boerger is John N. Schwartz Professor of Choral Leadership and Conducting at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. She received her formative musical training from pianist Annie Sherter, and the doctorate in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois. She has directed the choral programs at Carroll University, the University of Illinois School of Music, and the DePauw School of Music. She has toured Europe with the Rose Ensemble and is a long-time singer with Pomerium. Her extensive musical activities and credits, particularly in the area of early music, are detailed at her elegant website, which definitely is worth a look (and a listen):
KristinaBoerger.com .
Coordinator
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Michael Daly, this year's Workshop Coordinator, is the addressee for registrations. He welcomes any questions you may have:
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Michael Daly
mdaly@MichaelDalyManlius.com
315-682-2066
109 Military Dr
Manlius, NY 13104
Repertoire
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The July 2023 repertoire, united under the theme In memoriam, will include Thomas Morley’s Funeral Sentences, Heinrich Schütz's Selig sind die toten, and other composers' settings of related texts. (You can find performances of the Morley and the Schütz on YouTube.)
Participants
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This convivial but hard-working early music workshop is open to singers of all ages (16 and older) who have experience singing choral music.
Participants must be able to learn music and to sing in time, and in tune, from a score. Singers from Schola Cantorum participate as informal section leaders.
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Participation likely will be limited to 25 singers.
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Although the Workshop concludes with what might best be termed an "open rehearsal" on Sunday afternoon, the emphasis of the Workshop is on developing skills.
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If this is your first time for the Workshop, give us details about your singing experience. Our contact with your singing teacher or ensemble director may help. We may ask you to submit a short audition recording, to assess not so much voice quality as basic accuracy of pitch and rhythm. If a recording is needed, it may be either an MP3 or a cassette tape, singing your own voice part, unaccompanied, on a choral piece that we would designate. The audition would be assessed by Barry Torres, director of Schola Cantorum.
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Young Singers Tuition-free
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Young singers, age 16 through post-graduate, may be eligible to participate tuition-free, thanks to generous donors to the Bruce Memorial Scholarship Fund. Dr. Kenneth Bruce, who died in 2002, sang with Schola Cantorum for many years and was very supportive and helpful to young singers who joined the group. High school student singers (if in New York) should have attained at least Level 5 in NYSSMA solos.
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Tuition and registration
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Tuition is $250 ($225 for early birds who register by June 24). High school, college and graduate students may apply for free tuition (see above).
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To register, or to ask questions, see the Registration page.
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Venue and Schedule
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The Workshop takes place at
Grace Episcopal Church, Madison Street & University Avenue
(819 Madison St., Syracuse 13210).
Knowledgeable singers love the acoustics of Grace's sanctuary. The church is just down the hill from Syracuse University, with plenty of places to eat and shop. The Workshop runs from Thursday afternoon to late Sunday afternoon, including - tentatively - a pot-luck supper Saturday evening, singing as guest choir for the church's Sunday morning service, and a rehearsal open to the public on Sunday afternoon. Singing at the Sunday morning service, if that is feasible this year, would be in appreciation of the church's hospitality to us.
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Saturday:
9 am - noon
2 - 5pm
6 pm potluck supper
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Sunday:
9:30 am service
1 - 2:45 pm rehearsal
3:00 pm open rehearsal
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Thursday:
(no morning session)
2 - 5 pm
7 - 9 pm
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Friday:
9 am - noon
2 - 5 pm
7 - 9 pm
Eat and sleep
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Housing and meals are on your own (apart from the Saturday potluck supper). Eating out in groups is one of the pleasures of this workshop, with the natives guiding the visitors to convenient and inexpensive local eating places.
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Workshop participants have stayed in past years at the Skyler Hotel, about two blocks walk from Grace Church. The price appears to be about $190 per night for a double. Call 315-701-2613.
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Four other hotels, in the $150 - $190 range for a double, are within walking distance of Grace Church. The Collegian is one block away. The Park View, Sheraton SU, and Crowne Plaza are within half a mile, as is Copper Beech Commons, student apartment housing that rents 2, 3 and 4-bedroom units short-term in the summer, at $125 to $200.
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You can (and should) Google these hotels' websites, locate them on Google Maps, and check them out on TripAdvisor.
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Rooms for $100 or less are available at brand-name motels near the Carrier Circle Thruway exit. These include the Ramada, Days Inn, Red Roof, and Motel 6. From Carrier Circle to Grace Church is about a 20-minute drive (seven miles).
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Free housing in the homes of Schola members may be available to young singers.
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