Award-Winning iSing Silicon Valley Girlchoir Spring Concert

Choosing Harmony - May 22, 2021

Featuring New Commission by Daniel Wohl

 250 iSing Girls Joined by St. Lawrence String Quartet, Amaranth Quartet,

and Other Guest Artists

iSing Silicon Valley is pleased to announce its eighth annual Spring Concert, which will premiere on Saturday, May 22, at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET on YouTube (free). Choosing Harmony features 250 iSing girls joined by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Amaranth Quartet, and other guest artists.

 Choosing Harmony follows the huge success of iSing’s first virtual concert, Holidays@Home, which expanded its audience by a factor of seven, with nearly 7,000 views to date from around the world. iSing is among the many choral organizations that have been pressed into a new relationship with technology by the pandemic. iSing has maximized the advantages of the digital platform for this final virtual concert of the season, offering new commissions and innovative performances by iSing’s young singers.

 A major highlight of Choosing Harmony is the virtual concert premiere of iSing’s first multimedia (and first entirely digital) commission: Drift, with music by Daniel Wohl (renowned for his “electroacoustic musical sorcery” said NPR Music) and video by Máni M. Sigfússon (known for his genre-bending work with the Rolling Stones and Ólafur Arnalds). Commissioned in response to the breath-defying challenges we have all faced in in the past year, Drift offers each viewer/listener the opportunity for unique individual experience.

 There’s this great quote from Keith Haring that I love. When he was asked, “What do your drawings mean?” he responded: “How does it make you feel? “I’ve had this in mind ever since we began thinking about this piece combining sound and video. I’m excited to learn how Drift— both the audio and the visual components — will make people feel. — Jennah Delp Somers, iSing Co-Founder, Artistic Director.

 Another exciting highlight of the concert is the virtual concert premiere of Harmony, iSing’s latest commission from musical artist PinkZebra.  Harmony is a joyous celebration of iSing singers' response to the many challenges faced this season: "We choose harmony."

 The performance will also include a pop video style performance of composer Katerina Gimon’s Fire, joyous works by Baroque masters Charpentier and Vivaldi, and treble choir versions of A-Tisket, A-Tasket, When I Take My Sugar to Tea, and other popular songs. 

 Choosing Harmony will mark the debut of the girls of iSing@RWC, iSing’s Neighborhood Chorus program based in Redwood City. The girls of iSing@RWC, who have been mentored this season by high school senior and eight-year iSing veteran Hannah Kloninger-Stever,  will join the main iSing choir to perform Love Is by Kathryn Ostenberg.

 At the beginning of the season, iSing provided every girl slated for remote learning with a high-quality microphone for rehearsal and recording. In preparation for Choosing Harmony, all singers will have spent more than 300 hours in Zoom classes to craft 1,135 measures of music. The girls and their collaborators will have submitted more than 800 tracks, with contributions from as far away as Italy and Iceland. 

 Program To Include:

• “Long Road” — by Eriks Ešenvalds
• “Drift” — multimedia music by Daniel Wohl, video by Máni Sigfússon*
• “Fire” — by Katerina Gimon
• “Regina Caeli” — by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
• “Harmony”— words and music by PinkZebra*
• “Grow Little Tree” — by Andrea Ramsey
• “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” — arr. Roger Emerson
• “If I Knew You” — by Cynthia Gray
• “When I Take My Sugar to Tea” — arr. Steve Zegree
• “The Song that Nature Sings”— by Ruth Elaine Schram
• “Laudamus Te” from Gloria — by Antonio Vivaldi
• “Love Is” — by Kathryn Ostenberg

 *iSing commission, world premiere performance

“To hear so many young women singing together with such unity and energy is rare, and profoundly moving.” 

— Jonathan Howard, The King’s Singers

About iSing

Award-winning girlchoir iSing Silicon Valley champions girls as artists through exceptional musical experiences. iSing brings together 250 1st–12th grade singers in two locations in Silicon Valley, offers them rigorous musical and vocal training, and guides them toward the highest level of artistry.

 Celebrated for the gorgeous vocal blend and joyous singing of its choirs, iSing has quickly built a deeply-committed musical community in the Bay Area — and has also earned recognition on the national and international stages. Recent awards include the Grand Prize in the 8th International Robert Schumann Choral Competition (2018) and the Chorus America’s Dale Warland Singers Commission Award (2018). iSing has made 19 commissions to date, as a way to create opportunities for iSing singers to respond to the world around them through music, and in an effort to add to the repertoire for treble voices. iSing has also enjoyed collaborations with musical pioneer Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, and the world-renowned vocal ensembles Voces8 and Cappella SF.

 iSing girls become friends for life, bonded by artistic experiences that challenge and shape their understanding of the world. As iSing singers realize the power and potential of their voices, their shared vision for a bright future in which the voices of these young women will be heard and valued, manifests itself in every rehearsal, every performance, and on iSing’s debut album released in August 2020, Here I Stand.

 www.isingsv.com

 Event date: Saturday, May 22, at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET

How to watch: iSing’s YouTube channel

Tickets: Free; Please RSVP at https://isingsv.com/whatson to receive viewing link

Organization: iSing Silicon Valley, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization