CILKER SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN» Architecture • Interior Design • Fashion Design • Web Design WEST VALLEY COLLEGE Visual Arts • Animation • Photography • Theatre Arts • Dance CILKER SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN Vocal & Instrumental Music • Recording Arts • Film Scoring RECENT MAJOR WORKS APPLIED MUSIC Lou De La Rosa Bernstein Chichester Psalms 16 hrs of lessons = $46 total Director of Choral & Vocal Studies Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Planned Fall 2018 Duruflé & Fauré Requiem (408) 741-2013 Mozart Requiem, 2018 AA DEGREE PROGRAMS 14000 Fruitvale Avenue Saratoga, CA 95070 Transferable to CSU & UC RECENT MUSICALS [email protected] Little Shop of Horrors, Pippin westvalley.edu/music Sweet Charity, Guys & Dolls VOICE FACULTY Cabaret, 2018 Jacque Wilson-Scharlach A California Community College Boston Conversatory Located in the Heart of Silicon Valley VOCAL ENSEMBLES Mary Linduska Concert Choir University of Illinois, Urbana Chamber Singers Vocal Jazz Sandra Bengochea Musical Theater & Opera Scenes Manhattan School of Music Esther Archer NEW CLASSES Collaborative Pianist & Vocal Coach Diction for Singers: • Italian, English & Latin Myles Ellis • German, French & Spanish Vocal Jazz Director Come and join us! An All-Steinway School 2 • CANTATE • VOL. 30, NO. 3 • SPRING 2018 CALIFORNIA CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION 5 | REFLECT AND REJUVENATE FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PEN · BY ROB ISTAD 6 | BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT ME LETTER FROM THE EDITOR · BY ELIZA RUBENSTEIN 8 | THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TUNE RAGAZZI CELEBRATES 30 YEARS IN THE BAY AREA · BY SYDNEY ALBIN 16 | THE FIRST TIME THE COMPOSER’S VOICE · BY DALE TRUMBORE 19 | CCDA SUMMER CONFERENCE AT ECCO 20 | SEEN & HEARD 21 | 2019 CCDA STATE CONFERENCE AND HONOR CHOIRS 22 | 2018 CCDA FALL REGIONAL CONFERENCES 23 | VISION FOR THE FUTURE SCHOLARSHIP FUND DONORS 24 | THE WAY TO SAN JOSE REFLECTIONS ON CASMEC 2018 · BY COLLEEN CHESTER AND MOLLY PETERS 26 | WHY ISN’T CCDA RETURNING TO CASMEC IN 2019? BY ROBERT ISTAD, LOU DE LA ROSA, AND JEFFREY BENSON 28 | NEWS AND NOTES Yay, summer’s almost here! Be sure your HAPPENINGS FROM AROUND THE STATE plans include the 2018 CCDA summer conference at ECCO—More details on 30 | TOP FIVE: ETHNIC & MULTICULTURAL Page 19 or at www.calcda.org! BY ANGEL VÁZQUEZ-RAMOS 33 | TOP FIVE: MUSIC IN WORSHIP BY RUBEN VALENZUELA 35 | TOP FIVE: COMMUNITY CHOIRS BY KRISTINA NAKAGAWA 36 | TOP FIVE: SHOW CHOIRS BY WILLIAM ZINN 38 | CALIFORNIA ACDA DIRECTORY LEADING THE WAY CANTATE • VOL. 30, NO. 3 • SPRING 2018 • 3 CANTATE Volume 30, Number 3 WHEREAS, the human spirit is elevated to a broader understanding of itself Official publication of the through study and performance in California Choral Directors the aesthetic arts, and Association, an Affiliate of the American Choral WHEREAS, Directors Association serious cutbacks in funding and support have steadily eroded state Eliza Rubenstein, editor institutions and their programs [email protected] throughout our country, BE IT RESOLVED GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS that all citizens of the United We welcome and encourage CCDA members States actively voice their affirmative to contribute articles, announcements, music and and collective support for necessary book reviews, job vacancy listings, photographs, funding at the local, state, and national and other items of interest to Cantate! levels of education and government, to ensure the survival of arts programs Please send queries and article ideas to for this and future generations. [email protected]. You are also welcome to submit completed articles, but please California Choral Directors Association note that not all articles received will be published. empowers choral musicians to create transformative experiences for Deadlines for publication are as follows: California’s diverse communities. August 15 (Fall issue); November 1 (Winter issue); March 1 (Spring issue). CCDA is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt The editor reserves the right to edit all submissions. corporation and an affiliate of the American Choral Directors Association. ADVERTISING IN CANTATE UPCOMING EVENTS Please visit our website (WWW.CALCDA.ORG) or e-mail us at [email protected] for complete information on advertising in Cantate, CCDA SUMMER CONFERENCE AT ECCO including rates, deadlines, and graphics specifications. JULY 22-25, 2018 (OAKHURST) Advertisements are subject to editorial approval. CCDA FALL REGIONAL CONFERENCES On the cover: All-State Choir members share SEPTEMBER 8, 2018 (LONG BEACH) a hug after their final performance in San Jose. SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 (HAYWARD) Photo by Robyn Peters. 4 • CANTATE • VOL. 30, NO. 3 • SPRING 2018 CALIFORNIA CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION From The president’s pen: Reflect and Rejuvenate he final days of our musical season My heart and brain are full thanks to the Tapproach, and we are all struggling to world-class performances and superb interest reach the finish line with our souls intact. I sessions at all three events. I feel heartened by find the end of the year a conundrum. After the diversity and creativity I witnessed onstage the highs of conference and festival season, and in our sessions classrooms. The spirit ROBERT ISTAD IS IN HIS we must fight the urge to treat our end-of-year of connectedness was alive at each of these INAUGURAL SEASON AS THE performances as perfunctory. We do our events! I thank all of the wonderful leaders best to provide transformative culminating who serve on the CCDA Board of Directors ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF experiences for our audiences, students, and and ACDA Western Division Board of PACIFIC CHORALE. ISTAD parishioners, but I sometimes struggle to find Directors for their selfless dedication to us and a way to make these events truly authentic. our profession. Congratulations to all of the IS ALSO PROFESSOR OF These performances are often structured members of California’s choral community MUSIC AND DIRECTOR OF as choral/orchestral concerts, pops concerts, who performed, presented, and participated gala events, and special services—the kinds so beautifully. You inspire me! CHORAL STUDIES AT CALI- of calculated activities rarely feel authentic. FORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, Rather, they often smack of formulaic pro- s we joyfully congratulate our graduating grams, speeches, and other required end-of- students and bid a short farewell to our FULLERTON, WHERE HE WAS A year rituals. musicians for the summer break, many of us RECOGNIZED AS CSUF’S I believe the best way to infuse authentic are already planning for future seasons. The excitement into these events is through time for musical rejuvenation is upon us! I 2016 OUTSTANDING personal artistry. We are all artists, and we hope you will take the time to consider attend- PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR. have the right (and responsibility) to behave ing one of the myriad summer events dedi- HE IS THE FORMER ARTIS- as such. We must actively choose to inspire cated to your professional development in our ourselves, our colleagues, and our students state. Most specifically, I hope to see you all TIC DIRECTOR OF LONG to be artistically present. This may require at ECCO (July 22-25, 2018) this summer! BEACH CAMERATA SINGERS adding a little extra-musical enhancement to Dr. Betsy Cook Weber is our headliner, and our concerts, inviting special guest artists or Jeffe Huls and his team have done a yeoman’s AND LONG BEACH BACH audience members to participate, or simply work planning a truly transformative experi- FESTIVAL. HE IS DEAN demanding the very best efforts from musi- ence for us. This event regularly sells-out. cians in our rehearsals when we feel tired. Please reserve your space early! As you plan OF CHORUS AMERICA’S I push myself to surprise my musicians and for next year, please take a moment to add our ACADEMY FOR CONDUC- audiences the most at the end of the year and CCDA events to your calendars. Nurturing try to exhaust my creativity to do so with joy in your personal artistry is CCDA’s mission, and TORS, AND HAS PREPARED every rehearsal and performance. May you all I hope you’ll make your attendance at these CHORUSES FOR A NUMBER find the courage and energy to feel and behave experiences a priority. like artists this spring! Congratulations to all of you on the conclu- OF AMERICA’S FINEST CON- sion of another inspiring year of choral music DUCTORS AND ORCHESTRAS. n the time following our last issue, I’ve had in California. I feel so grateful to be a part of Ithe pleasure of seeing many of you at our our vibrant community, and I thank you for the CCDA State Conference at CASMEC, incredible work you do to connect and inspire CCDA’s All-State Honor Choir weekend, the people of our state! and ACDA’s Western Division Conference. Results of the Election for Regional Representatives (Terms begin July 1, 2018) Northern Region: Alissa Aune • Central Coast Region: Carolyn Teraoka-Brady • Far South Region: John Russell Many thanks to all of the candidates for their willingness to serve! LEADING THE WAY CANTATE • VOL. 30, NO. 3 • SPRING 2018 • 5 letter from the editor: BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT ME o, not about me—but let’s talk about how because it listed every single mentor, collabora- Nwe talk about ourselves, specifically in our tor, festival, competition, and concert series in professional bios. The two or three paragraphs this singer’s career to that point. The difficult about you in a concert program may shape truth is that most of our audience members your audience’s impression of you before you aren’t interested, and nothing turns them off ever step on a stage. What does the content faster than five column-inches of proper names ELIZA RUBENSTEIN IS THE and tone of your bio say about you to someone that mean nothing to them. If and when you’re who’s never met you or heard your work? Is fortunate enough to have had a long, glowing DIRECTOR OF CHORAL your bio intended to help audience members career, choose a few successes to spotlight and AND VOCAL ACTIVITIES AT get to know you and connect with you, or rotate or update them regularly.