The choir's history begins in 1954, when folk song and dance group "Ugnele" was established. for a Long time, the choir existed as part of this group, performing with its dancers and orchestra, singing mostly folk music; in 1999, Valerija Skapie...  moreThe choir's history begins in 1954, when folk song and dance group "Ugnele" was established. for a Long time, the choir existed as part of this group, performing with its dancers and orchestra, singing mostly folk music; in 1999, Valerija Skapiene, the present artistic director of the choir, began working in "Ugnele", and in a few years, the choir's repertoire extended to include not only folk, but also classical, jazz, world music; in 2002, during "Mes - Lietuvos vaikai" national choral competition, the choir was acknowledged to have reached the level of the first category (this is the highest category of artistic level in Lithuania). Journeys around the world followed - "Ugnele" has presented Lithuanian culture in fifteen countries from the Netherlands to South Korea; in 2004, the choir started a national choral festival for children, "Dainu mozaika". In 2010, the choir was invited to become a part of Vilnius J. Tallat-Kelpsa Conservatoire and continues to work...    less

Barlow Bradford's Utah Chamber Artists sing "Tota Pulchra Es" by Ola Gjeilo at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City as part of their 2011 Collage Concert "Chant and Contemplation" You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain (of sin...  moreBarlow Bradford's Utah Chamber Artists sing "Tota Pulchra Es" by Ola Gjeilo at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City as part of their 2011 Collage Concert "Chant and Contemplation" You are all beautiful, Mary, and the original stain (of sin) is not in you. Your clothing is white as snow, and your face is like the sun. You are all beautiful Mary, and the original stain (of sin) is not in you You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you give honour to our people You are all beautiful, Mary.  less

(A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog Choral Clarity) How do we measure success? This, of course, is a lifeLong question that stares us in the face every Day. This article is far less philosophical, but does perhaps pose a way ...

VEXILLA REGIS - Antonio LOTTI "L'étendard du Roi s'avance" Arrangement à voix égales et direction : Hugo GUTIERREZ Chœur de Filles de France

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I caught a scene from the movie Spartacus the other Day. The character played by Tony Curtis was asked to perform a song. He then proceeded to speak ...

A couple of years ago, around this time of year, actually, I was having a particularly awful Day. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say I was dealing with some pretty heartbreaking family drama, work was pretty crappy at the ...

After an outing at our latest Sing Day in North Yorkshire, this lovely gently flowing arrangement of Tim Knight's 'The Lord bless you and keep you' proved to be immensely popular so we've now made it available on our website (you can also source the piece...

Through the past thousands of years, choir singing has become more and more widespread, more and more part of our everyDay lives. We can only contemplate how it started - maybe with religious rituals? Or work songs? But nowaDays, choir singing - and mus...

A rendition of Christmas Carols in accordance to the Nativity story comprising; Gabriel’s Message Away in a Manger Hark the Herald Long time ago We Three Kings Drummer Boy Silent Night

Okay- so I've been a bit slack about blogging lately.  Not that I have been idol- there is so much to blog about but 24 hours in a Day a full time job and more music than I can ever learn to play means there  isn't enough time!   In the l...