Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Encyclopedia
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela (formerly known as Schola Cantorum de Caracas) is one of the most important choral societies belonging to the growing choral movement in Venezuela. SCV was founded in 1967 by Alberto Grau, a Venezuelan composer and conductor born in 1937 in Barcelona
, Spain
. Currently, the choir is conducted by María Guinand
(chief conductor) and Ana María Raga
(associate conductor), with the assistance of young conductors Pablo Morales Daal and Victor Leonardo Gonzalez. Schola Cantorum de Venezuela works under the sponsorship of the Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, a Non-Profit Organization that oversees several other choirs such as: Cantoría Alberto Grau, Pequeños Cantores de la Schola and Schola Juvenil. Together they provide a complete system to promote and develop choral music in Venezuela.
To date, SCV has a repertoire of more than 50 major symphonic-choral works and has performed under the batons of highly acclaimed conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado
, Gustavo Dudamel
, Krzysztof Penderecki
, Helmuth Rilling
, Robert Spano
, John Adams
and Edmon Colomer among others. In 1996, SCV performed the world premiere of Oceana by Osvaldo Golijov
under the direction of Maria Guinand
in the Oregon Bach Festival
. In 2000, at the Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, SCV premiered "La pasión según San Marcos" by Osvaldo Golijov under the direction of Maria Guinand
. The recording of this concert received two Grammy nominations in 2002. In 2006, SCV was invited to the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna to premiere the opera A Flowering Tree
, composed and conducted by acclaimed American John Adams
. Produced by Peter Sellars
, a second edition of the work was performed at the Barbican Centre
in London in 2007. New recordings for La pasión según San Marcos and A Flowering Tree have been recorded and were released in 2008 by Deutsche Grammophon
and Nonesuch
labels, respectively.
Golijov's Passion Recording: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm
Golijov's Passion Reviews: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm
Golijov's Passion Live Performance at Holland Festival: http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=7488133
Golijov's Oceana World Premiere: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/wd2.htm
John Adams' A Flowering Tree information: http://www.earbox.com/W-flowering.html
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Currently, the choir is conducted by María Guinand
Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
(chief conductor) and Ana María Raga
Ana María Raga
Ana María Raga is an internationally recognized choral conductor from Venezuela. She has been involved in the music world throughout her entire life as a pianist, music composer and arranger as well as a teacher dedicated to the training of future choral conductors. She has won several prizes as a...
(associate conductor), with the assistance of young conductors Pablo Morales Daal and Victor Leonardo Gonzalez. Schola Cantorum de Venezuela works under the sponsorship of the Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, a Non-Profit Organization that oversees several other choirs such as: Cantoría Alberto Grau, Pequeños Cantores de la Schola and Schola Juvenil. Together they provide a complete system to promote and develop choral music in Venezuela.
To date, SCV has a repertoire of more than 50 major symphonic-choral works and has performed under the batons of highly acclaimed conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California...
, Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
, Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
, Robert Spano
Robert Spano
Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist. Since 2001 he has been Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra , and he served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from 1996 to 2004...
, John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
and Edmon Colomer among others. In 1996, SCV performed the world premiere of Oceana by Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
under the direction of Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
in the Oregon Bach Festival
Oregon Bach Festival
The Oregon Bach Festival is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held in Eugene, Oregon, United States, in late June and early July. The artistic director is German organist and conductor Helmuth Rilling and the Executive Director is John Evans,...
. In 2000, at the Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, SCV premiered "La pasión según San Marcos" by Osvaldo Golijov under the direction of Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
. The recording of this concert received two Grammy nominations in 2002. In 2006, SCV was invited to the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna to premiere the opera A Flowering Tree
A Flowering Tree
A Flowering Tree is an opera in two acts composed by John Adams with libretto by Adams and Peter Sellars, and commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, the San Francisco Symphony, the Barbican Centre in London, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and the...
, composed and conducted by acclaimed American John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
. Produced by Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
, a second edition of the work was performed at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
in London in 2007. New recordings for La pasión según San Marcos and A Flowering Tree have been recorded and were released in 2008 by Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
and Nonesuch
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
labels, respectively.
Recordings
SCV has recorded numerous LPs, Audio tapes and CDs as follows:- Aguinaldos venezolanos. Volumen 1 (LP, 1969).
- Villancicos y canciones profanas del renacimiento español (LP, 1971).
- Aguinaldos y villancicos. Volumen 2 (LP, 1974).
- Obras del XXII Concurso Guido D'Arezzo (LP, 1974).
- Antología del madrigal venezolano. Volumen 1 (LP, 1975).
- Antología del madrigal venezolano. Volumen 2 (LP, 1975).
- Tomás Luis de Victoria y otros autores (LP, 1982).
- Antología O Magnum Mysterium (Audio Tape, 1984).
- Schola Cantorum en concierto. Volumen 1 (Audio Tape, 1985).
- Schola Cantorum en concierto. Volumen 2 (Audio Tape, 1985).
- Scholatinoamericana (Audio Tape, 1985).
- Concierto de Navidad (Audio Tape, 1985).
- Cantata Criolla de Antonio Estévez - Chôros No. 10 de Heitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
, Conductor: Eduardo MataEduardo MataEduardo Mata was a Mexican conductor and composer.Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he studied composition under Carlos Chávez, Héctor Quintanar and Julián Orbón. In 1964 he received a...
, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Dorian Recordings [DIS-80101], 1992. Grammophone UK Review:It's all very exciting, and the performers include an excellent baritone, a rather tight-voiced tenor and a good chorus... the performance is infinitely superior too, both orchestrally and chorally
[] - Composiciones Corales de Alberto Grau, Conductors: Alberto Grau y Maria GuinandMaria GuinandMaria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1992. [Tracks performed by: 1. La Doncella, 2. Dies Irae, 3. Pater Noster]. - La vida breve de Manuel de FallaManuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, Conductor: Eduardo MataEduardo MataEduardo Mata was a Mexican conductor and composer.Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he studied composition under Carlos Chávez, Héctor Quintanar and Julián Orbón. In 1964 he received a...
, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Dorian Recordings [DOR-90192], 1994. - Carmina Burana de Carl Orff, Conductor: Alberto Grau. Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, CD, Universidad Simón BolívarUniversidad Simón BolívarSimón Bolívar University or USB, is a public institution located in Miranda State, Venezuela with scientific and technological orientation....
, 1995. - Todo Beethoven, Sinfonía No. 9 in re minor, Op. 125 (Choral) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Conductor: Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, CD, Contraloría General de la República, 1995.
- Todo Vivaldi, Gloria RV589 by Antonio Vivaldi, Conductor Igor Lanz, Orquesta de Cámara de Venezuela, Orquesta Jóvenes Arcos de Venezuela, CD, Contraloría General de la República, 1996.
- Nees/Grau, Composiciones corales de Vic Nees y Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1996. [Tracks performed by SCV: 7. Magnificat (Vic Nees), 8. Dies Irae (Alberto Grau), 9. Pater Noster (Alberto Grau)].
- Requiem Alemán de Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Conductor: Alberto Grau, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. - Antología 30 años, Volumen Uno. Música venezolana y latinoamericana, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997.
- Antología 30 años. Volumen Dos. Música polifónica universal, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997.
- Música coral latinoamericana del siglo XX, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD , Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997.
- Música de Latinoamérica, collection of Latin American works published by earthsongsEarthsongsEarthsongs, released in 2005, is the eighth album by Secret Garden."Always There" is another song written with lyrics by Brendan Graham and performed by Russell Watson, and also covered by Jan Werner Danielsen....
, produced by Maria GuinandMaria GuinandMaria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
, CD, earthsongs, 1998. [Tracks performed by SCV: 1. Mata del ánima sola (Antonio Estévez), 3. Salmo 150 (Ernani Aguiar), 4. Canciones de Cuna (Alberto Grau), 5. Te quiero (Alberto Favero), 6. Miué rendeira (Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca), 7. Salseo (Oscar Galián), 9. Alma Llanera (Pedro Elías Gutiérrez)]. - Aguinaldos tradicionales, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1998. [Tracks performed by SCV: 1. Niño lindo, 2. Cantemos alegres, 3. Niño venturoso, 4. El gallo, 5. La sirena, 6. Al llegar aquí, 7. Alegres cantemos].
- Movimiento Coral Venezolano, Una retrospectiva, Anthology collection of several Venezuelan choruses, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1999. [Tracks performed by SCV: 8. Laetitia (Vicente Emilio Sojo), 9. Al mar anochecido (Gonzalo Castellanos), 11. Pescador de almas (Modesta Bor), 12. Fulía de Cumaná (folklore)].
- La pasión según San Marcos de Osvaldo GolijovOsvaldo GolijovOsvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
, Conductor: Maria GuinandMaria GuinandMaria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
, Orquesta La Pasión, CD, Hänssler Classic [CD 98.404], 2001. Grammophone UK Review:Maria Guinand obtains a spirited response from the forces that Golijov has assembled‚ notably the sensuously expressive singing of Samia Ibrahim and the incisive contribution of the Schola Cantorum of Caracas.
- Latinoamericana XXI, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela , 2007.
- Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau. Volumen 1: Voces mixtas, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela , 2007.
- Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau. Volumen 2: Voces femeninas, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela , 2007.
- Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau. Volumen 3: Música para niños, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela , 2007.
- Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau. Volumen 4: Arreglos, versiones corales y composiciones sobre temas populares, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela , 2007.
External links
SCV Official Web page: http://www.fundacionscholacantorum.com/Golijov's Passion Recording: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm
Golijov's Passion Reviews: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm
Golijov's Passion Live Performance at Holland Festival: http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=7488133
Golijov's Oceana World Premiere: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/wd2.htm
John Adams' A Flowering Tree information: http://www.earbox.com/W-flowering.html