Chanticleer Wins the Chorus America Education Outreach Award

Congratulations to Chanticleer for winning Chorus America's "Chorus America Education Outreach Award."

Each year, Chorus America's member organizations submit nominations for outstanding programming in education outreach. Criteria for the Education Outreach Award vary from year to year, as stipulated by Chorus America’s Education Committee, in order to highlight specific aspects of this important field. Winners receive an engraved plaque and a cash award of $2,500.

The award winner was selected by a panel of judges consisting of the Chairperson of the Chorus America Programs & Education Committee or his/her appointed delegate, a member of the Chorus America Programs & Education Committee, and a member-at-large of Chorus America who is neither a board member nor affiliated with a chorus under consideration for the award. At least one member of the panel is a professional educator.

So congratulations to Chanticleer for winning this wonderful, and prestigious award!

Also, we would like to note that Chorus America's "Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal" was created in memory of Louis Botto for his artistry, selfless service to the choral art, and entrepreneurial spirit in founding the men's vocal ensemble Chanticleer and bringing it to national prominence as the first professional choral ensemble in the U.S., outside the military, consistently to offer full-time employment to its singers. The award is given periodically to an individual who through his or her work with a member ensemble of Chorus America has demonstrated innovative action and entrepreneurial zeal in developing a professional or professional-core choral ensemble (in operation for at least 5 years).

Another Raving Review of Christopher O'Riley

THE LAST SONATA, THE LONGEST OPUS
As the Piano Rules Ludwig's Roost
By Paul Hertelendy
artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance
Week of April 18-25, 2010
Vol. 12, No. 92

SAN JOSE---There were some admirable Promethean heights in Christopher O’Riley’s assault on late Beethoven in his April 17 piano recital here. Pairing Beethoven’s longest piano piece---the monumental “Diabelli” Variations---with the resonant last sonata (Op. 111) made a powerful statement echoing through the time-worn concert hall on the San José State University campus.

O’Riley is best known for hosting the syndicated radio showcase for teen musicians, “From the Top,” which has done more to dissolve stereotypes of nerdy classical musicians than anything else since Leonard Bernstein’s music lectures on early TV, But he is also a concert pianist, doing both recitals and concertos around the country with panache.

What I really liked about O’Riley was his dynamism and passion in attacking the keyboard...read the full review at ArtsSF.com

Wiener Staatsoper Orchester - Don Giovanni

If you recall, on our Syrah Classics album, one of the free download tracks we posted was the Overture to Don Giovanni performed by the Wiener Staatsoper Orchester. So today we thought it would be fun to post a fun video we came across of the Wiener Staatsoper Orchester in a performance of Don Giovanni on a live recording from 1954!

Some Chanticleer Fun!

Chanticleer is still continuing their rigorous tour schedule, but today we wanted to prove to you that this is an ensemble that isn't filled with stuffy musical geniuses. Rather, they are fun-loving musical geniuses! So enjoy some recent pics that Chanticleer shared via their Twitter account @ChanticleerSF:

Tomorrow

We just wanted to do a quick blog letting you know of something fun we're going to be doing on Twitter tomorrow in case you're not following us already. Tomorrow for Wine Wednesday we want your suggestions for what wines go best with our other three releases (Chanticleer's Fireside DVD, Christopher O'Riley's "Out Of My Hands," and Maestro Alex Gregory's "Bach On Steroids")

So follow us on Twitter tomorrow and give us your favorite pairing!

So make sure you're on Twitter and following: @WhiteTieRecords

Wine Classics to try

Since we've gone through our seven Wine Classics albums, we thought it would be fun to present some things in the theme "Wine Classics" that aren't musical! So today, we wanted to share a fun article from Food & Wine:

50 Wine Classics You Must Try
Ray Isle devises a 50-bottle introduction to the world's great wines.

By Ray Isle

What is a classic wine? It’s a wine that gives a definitive sense of a region or a style; it’s exemplary, a model of the form, even iconic—a standard-bearer. That doesn’t mean the wine is expensive (though some certainly are), nor that it’s made in extraordinarily limited amounts (though that’s sometimes true). In fact, among the 50 classics on these pages is a $12 cava from a producer that sells millions of cases a year.

We strongly encourage you to check out this site and go through their 50 Wine Classics!

Christopher O'Riley at UC-Irvine

A couple of weeks ago, Out Of My Hands artist, Christopher O'Riley hosted his NPR Program "From the Top" at the University of California - Irvine. Like he usually does during "From the Top" Mr. O'Riley features young musicians, and also plays some music himself. Today we came across a fantastic review of the UC-Irvine event that we just couldn't help but share:

From "Music by Anne-Marie Lynne":

Orange County Register

Pianist Christopher O’Riley’s “From the Top,” the most popular classical music radio show on the air today, is all about breaking the icy ritual of classical performance. Its formula is simple. Find talented young performers, chit-chat with them a bit, then let them play. It overturns the old Victorian admonition; here, children (and young adults) are seen and heard.

O’Riley brought the format, if not the broadcast, to Irvine Barclay Theatre Friday night as part of the venue’s 20th anniversary celebrations. In this iteration, he collaborated with music students from the University of California, Irvine. It all went smoothly, the performances, too, and the audience lapped it up.

The pre-performance interviews are crucial to the show’s success. O’Riley is a calm and composed interviewer, wry at times but never trying too hard. The goal is nothing more than to generate a little small talk and put the performers (and audience) at ease. To the three colorfully gowned, carefully coiffed young women who were his first guests he asked, “Who’s getting married?,” got a laugh, and we were off. We learned, for instance, that cellist Anne-Marie Alexander also studied criminology in addition to music, and enjoyed working on cars. The interviews are rather like Alex Trebek’s contestant interviews on “Jeopardy,” in fact, with the same humanizing result. “Musicians are real people too” is the message...continued on "Music by Anne-Marie Lynne"

We strongly encourage you to read the article in its entirety as the author goes into detail about Mr. O'Riley's performances and includes wonderful reactions from the young artists themselves.