DVDs
Messiah Conducting Masterclass
Simon Carrington at the Three Choirs Festival – Handel's Messiah (Choral Conducting Masterclass DVD)
Renowned choral conductor Simon Carrington leads this masterclass focusing on choruses from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, filmed at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester. As co-founder of The King’s Singers and former Professor of Choral Conducting at Yale University, Carrington’s influence on the world of choral music is profound. In this two-hour session, Carrington works with four emerging conductors to explore a modern, lightweight approach to Handel’s timeless oratorio.
study guide also available
The Empowered Choral Rehearsal
Carrington’s overriding passion for engaging every singer in the ensemble is revealed in detail as visionary choral educator James Jordan gives Carrington the reins of The Westminster Williamson Voices of Rider University’s Westminster Choir College. Sit with the ensemble and observe as Carrington takes these highly trained singers through two complete choral warm-ups, exercises for ear development via the warm-up, rehearsal procedures for Renaissance music, rehearsal procedures for Romantic music, essentials of choral diction, techniques for improving choral intonation, achieving subtlety of text nuance, balancing suspensions, achieving choral balance within the ensemble, and listening techniques for choirs.
cd also available
Performing the Passion: J. S. Bach and the Gospel According to John
Produced by Margot Fassler and Jacqueline C. Richard of Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, this film documents a masterful performance of one of Bach’s greatest liturgical works: the St. John Passion. The story of Christ’s passion as expressed in the Gospel of John is here refracted through the musical and dramatic conventions of eighteenth-century Lutheran Germany. The music is complemented by insightful commentary from biblical scholars, musicologists, and performers who engage in the debate that this controversial work and its tradition have inspired. With soloists portraying individual characters from the narrative and a full ensemble supporting them, this film depicts both rehearsals and performance, engaging with the many challenges of bringing historic works to modern audiences. Additional scenes without commentary are provided for further study.