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Cantemus
Gathers the "Best of the Best" to Showcase Excellence
Cantemus'
annual "Best of the Best" high school chorus invitational
concert will take place at Newburyport High School on Wednesday,
April 7, at 7:30 p.m.
Cantemus
music director John Hoffacker has invited the chamber choruses
from these schools to participate: 
- Triton
Regional High School, Byfield
- Pingree
School, South Hamilton
- The
Waring School, Beverly
- Newburyport
High School
- Lawrence
High School Girls' Chorus
Cantemus
will also perform. Then, to conclude the evening, singers
from all the school choirs and Cantemus will stand side by
side to perform a grand finale.
"Many
local choral music teachers and students are achieving outstanding
levels of excellence," said Hoffacker. "Our 'Best
of the Best' concert provides an occasion to showcase their
accomplishments and to share ideas."
"There
are added benefits of collaborative concerts such as this,"
said Hoffacker. "Students can experience the rewards
of performing for a broader audience and, we hope, be motivated
to further their involvement in choral music after graduating.
The audience hears the best of our local choirs, including
choirs made up of young singers they may not already know."
"Cantemus
members range in age from 20-something to 60-something, and
we want to encourage young singers to keep on singing long
after they've left school, just as the Cantemus singers have
done!"
20th
Anniversary Composition Competition Winner Announced
 Michael
Weinstein-Reiman, an undergraduate at Brandeis University,
has won first place in Cantemus' first Composition Competition,
conducted in honor of our 20th anniversary year. His four-part,
a cappella piece titled "La Musique" is based on
a poem by Baudelaire. Mr. Weinstein-Reiman, who majors in
music theory and composition with a minor in French and art
history, grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and East Brunswick,
New Jersey. He has studied piano since age five and been a
singer since his early teens. While still in high school,
he won second place in a choral society composition contest.
Besides choral and vocal music, he has composed string quartets,
finished a violin concerto and is contemplating a song cycle
for his thesis.
After
a summer internship with PBS working on a documentary series
about Broadway music, Mr. Weinstein-Reiman is hoping to work
in the field of documentary film production after he graduates
from Brandeis in May 2004.
Three
judges – John Hoffacker; Raymond Fahrner, conductor of
the Cambridge Madrigal Singers; and Minnesota composer Carol
Barnett – selected the winners from pieces submitted
by composers enrolled in New England colleges and universities.
Other winners included Naomi Epstein of New England Conservatory;
James Martin of Charter Oak State College, Bristol, CT; and
Min-jung Kim of Hartt School, University of Hartford.
"'La
Musique,' based on a poem by Baudelaire, is remarkable.
It sings in the same rhythm of the poem – not merely
with the syllables' accents, but with the feeling behind
the words. A sublime little work."
— John Hoffacker
Cantemus
will premiere "La Musique" at its "Fascinating
Rhythm" concert on June 5, 2004.
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Order
a CD
Ranging
from traditional carols to international music of the season
to a complete performance of Benjamin Britten’s masterful
"Ceremony of Carols" for treble voices and harp,
our debut CD presents the listener with a sampling of our
most spirited seasonal pieces.
"Joy
Shall Be Yours" is available for
purchase at all of our concerts as well as at the River Gallery
in Ipswich and The Bookshop of Beverly Farms.
To
purchase "Joy Shall Be Yours" by mail,
please send a check or money order for $10 per CD, or 2 for
$15, plus $2.50 shipping and handling, payable to Cantemus,
P.O. Box 784, Ipswich, MA 01938.
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