APRIL 13, 2024 at 7:30pm
COMMUNITY SING ALONG
Come sing or listen – Bring your own score
Handel’s MESSIAH
Essential Voices USA
Paul Olson at the organ
Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights
254 Hicks Street, Brooklyn NY
Admission Free
This event is part of EVUSA’S The Community Project
MARCH 2, 2024 (Saturday) from 8:40-10:10am
The American Choral Directors Association “Eastern” Interest Session
https://acdaeast.org/2023/08/27/providence-2024-interest-sessions/
Providence, Rhode Island
WHY WORDS MATTER interest session
“Why Words Matter” explores the dynamics of the choral experience, particularly focusing on the power of words to impart meaning and to bridge between the individual singer, the ensemble, and the audience. The ways of analyzing, rehearsing, teaching, and performing text will be the session’s main pedagogical focus. There will be communal singing, a discussion of relevant repertoire and new approaches to programming, based on musical elements and dramatic values. We will introduce specific works as models to study music whose texts will inspire singers to get involved in confronting the challenges of the world. Scores and texts will be provided.
CARNEGIE HALL CONCERTS 2023
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
Friday, DECEMBER 22, 2023 at 8pm
& Saturday, DECEMBER 23, 2023 at 8pm
THE BEST CHRISTMAS OF ALL
The New York Pops/Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
with guest artist Norm Lewis
Essential Voices USA/Judith Clurman, Music Director and Conductor
Program includes:
Chanukah Joy and Peace (New York Premiere)
by Judith Clurman and David Chase
orchestration by Brant Adams
DECEMBER 16, 2023 at 7:30PM
CHRISTMAS JOY
COMMUNITY SING ALONG and CONCERT
with
Essential Voices USA
The Essential Strings
Steven Fraser, Organ
Judith Clurman, Conductor
7:30PM at St. Malachy’s – The Actor’s Chapel
239 West 49 Street, NYC
Admission Free!
The event is part of EVUSA’s The Community Project
Press Release (PDF Download)
“It is my hope that this concert/sing-along will bring families a sense of joy, hope, and fulfillment during the holiday season.”
Judith Clurman
Judith Clurman will conduct her ESSENTIAL VOICES USA in A Concert and Family Carol Sing-Along on December 16, 2023 at St. Malachy’s – The Actors’ Chapel (239 West 49 Street), New York City, at 7:30PM. The chorus will be joined by The Essential Strings (Suliman Tekalli & Rita Wang violins, Caeli Smith viola, Aaron Wolff cello), Organist Stephen Fraser, and David Chase and Paula Leggett Chase, who will read beloved Christmas poetry. The event is part of EVUSA’S The Community Project, a program which provides concerts and sing-alongs and is free of charge to the NYC community.
The evening will include the World Premieres of the three new works that are featured in the ensemble’s recent holiday recording “Christmas Joy” (Albany Records): “Christmas Joy” – arranged, with text adaptation by Josh Clayton and Judith Clurman; “Illumination” – by Pierre Jalbert (music) and William Schermerhorn (lyrics); and “The Snow” – by Bill Cutter (music) and Lewis Carroll (lyrics). The poems that will be read include “The Night Before Christmas” (Clement Clarke Moore), “little tree” (E.E.Cummings), and “Love Came Down at Christmas” (Christina Rossetti). Organist Stephen Fraser will play an organ fantasy on the beloved carol “O Holy Night,” and the audience will sing-along with EVUSA on traditional carols, with newly arranged accompaniments for string quartet by Bill Cutter.
DEC 11-13, 2023: TSO Holiday Pops
Monday, DECEMBER 11, 2023 at 8pm
Tuesday, DECEMBER 12, 2023 at 8pm
Wednesday, DECEMBER 13, 2023 at 2pm & 8pm
TSO HOLIDAY POPS
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Etobicoke School of the Arts Holiday Chorus
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Ontario, Canada
Program includes:
Chanukah Joy and Peace
by Judith Clurman and David Chase
orchestration by Brant Adams
DEC 8-9, 2023: NSO Holiday Pops
Friday, DECEMBER 8, 2023 at 8pm
Saturday, DECEMBER 9, 2023 at 2pm & 8pm
A HOLIDAY POPS!
with The National Symphony Orchestra
The Heritage Chorale
The Kennedy Center, Washington DC
Program includes:
Chanukah Joy and Peace (World Premiere)
by Judith Clurman and David Chase
orchestration by Brant Adams
DECEMBER 7-15, 2023 – CHANUKAH
Latkes and Lights at Winterlights
Indianapolis Art Museum – Newfields
Indianapolis, Indiana
Newfields and the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis presents the Chanukah portion of Winterlights – presented by Bank of America.
Musical accompaniment for Winterlights
Songs of Freedom
arr. Larry Hochman, Judith Clurman, Brian Stokes Mitchell
with
Essential Voices USA
The EVUSA Ensemble
Ron Raines, baritone
Judith Clurman, conductor
This suite was premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 10, 2010, by the New York Pops and soloist Brian Stokes Mitchell under the baton of Judith Clurman. The recording that is heard during the 2023 “Latkes and Lights” at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields is taken from the Essential Voices USA ©Sono Luminus CD recording: Cherished Moments-Songs of the Jewish Spirit. The recording features Judith Clurman conducting Essential Voices USA with members of the EVUSA Ensemble and Ron Raines, Baritone. The CD was distributed in 2014; David Frost – producer and Tom Lazarus – Recording Engineer. Publisher of the piece: ©Schott – EAM.
I Oh Chanukah! Oh Chanukah (Yiddish folk melody) is a jubilant description of what Jews do on Chanukah: light the menorah, celebrate, dance, and sing.
II S’vivon (folk melody) describes the spinning dreidl, a four-sided spinning top. The dreidl is inscribed with Hebrew letters nun, gimel, hei, and shin, which stand for “Neis Gadol Hayah Sham” (a great miracle happened there), referring to the miracle of oil burning in the menorah.
III Lichvod Ha Chanukah (folk melody) describes parents lighting the menorah and cooking the potato pancakes (levivot).
IV Mi Y’malel (folk song) is a secular reworking of the Psalm 106:2 (Who can retell the mighty acts of God). The song celebrates the military victory of the Macabees.
V Haneirot Halalu describes the lighting of the menorah.
VI The thirteenth century text of Maoz Tsur (Rock of Our Salvation) portrays the deliverance of the Jews from the Syrian Greeks.
NOVEMBER 30, 2023 (Thursday) at 7:15pm
NYSSMA Winter Conference
Rochester, NY
REPAIRING THE WORLD THROUGH SONG
Exploring new music whose texts will inspire students and audiences to get involved in confronting the challenges of the world: social justice, peace, freedom, equality. Texts and scores will be provided.
NOVEMBER 23, 2023 from 9am-12pm EST
2023 MACY’S SINGING CHRISTMAS TREE – NBC TV, Telemundo simulcast in Spanish, Peacock
OCTOBER, 2023
Judith Clurman and Albany Records have released Christmas Joy (TROY1955), a collection of three works.
LINKS FOR LISTENING
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman, Conductor
The Essential Strings: Suliman Tekali & Yu-Chie Wang, violins; Caeli Smith, viola; Coleman Itzkoff, cello
I. Illumination
Pierre Jalbert, Composer
William Schermerhorn, Text
II. The Snow
Bill Cutter, Composer
Lewis Carrol, Text
III. Christmas Joy
Arranged and text adaptation by Josh Clayton and Judith Clurman
For more information, see Recordings.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO
“MUSIC FOR THE DAYS OF AWE: AN OBSERVANCE OF THE JEWISH HIGH HOLIDAYS”
From MPR: As we approach the time of year when the shortening of days cannot be ignored, when there comes a turning of the colors in the landscape and an expected chill is in the air, it’s in this moment, seemingly filled with endings, that Jews around the world gather together to celebrate new beginnings. Host Mindy Ratner guides us in a musical observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, known in Hebrew as Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe. Listen now to Music for the Days of Awe: An Observance of the Jewish High Holidays.
The playlist for this show includes music by and arranged by: Solomon Braslavsky, Judith Clurman, Max Janowski, Louis Lewandowki, Salamone Rossi, Bruce Ruben, Paul Schoenfeld, Alessandro Scarlatti, Igor Stravinsky, & Traditional Sephardic and Ashkenazic Melodies.
May 2023
Remember, Revere, Rejoice
Recording Release
Available and streaming now!
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
Judith Clurman, conductor and music director of Essential Voices USA and Albany Records (TROY1939) announce the recording release of REMEMBER, REVERE, REJOICE, a collection of six works that embrace a range of emotions experienced in Jewish life – the Holocaust (Remember), a psalm setting (Revere), and love poetry and joy (Rejoice).
The selections are:
I. Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern is a setting of Avraham Sutzkever’s poem, by the same name. Sutzkever has been called is a description of the poet’s agony in a concentration camp. He describes the murder around him and talks directly to God, asking where God is.
II. To Be Alive (Birdsong) is a choral setting of Mark Broder’s song based on an anonymous text by a child, which was found in the Terezin Concentration Camp in 1941.
III. Adonai Roi is a setting of the psalm of consolation, by composers Daniel & Nina Faia Mutlu.
IV/V. Two pieces about love are Winter Is Past by Joseph Rubinstein and Steven Sher’s Dodi Li.
VI. Siman Tov is a choral setting of the 19th century folk melody; the text wishes someone well and is primarily performed at life cycle moments.
The members of EVUSA that sang on these recordings are: Joseph Beutel, Phillip Cheah, Wendy Gilles, Chole Holgate, Elizabeth Lang, Steven Moore, Nicholas Prior, Gregory Purnhagen, Elisa Singer Strom, Jason Weisinger, and Katherine Wessinger-Bozic. The ensemble was accompanied by James Cunningham, piano and Coleman Itzkoff, cello.
All of these original pieces and/or arrangements were commissioned by Essential Voices USA. The scores are available for purchase through Hal Leonard. The collection was produced and engineered by Silas Brown with Grady Bajorek, assistant engineer, and made possible with support from the Michael H. Baker Family Fund and individual contributions.
REMEMBER, REVERE, REJOICE
with
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman Conductor
James Cunningham Piano
Coleman Itzkoff Cello
I. Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern
Avrom Brudno, arr. Bill Cutter
II. To Be Alive (Birdsong)
Mark Broder, arr. Bill Cutter
III. Adonai Roi
Daniel & Nina Faia Mutlu
IV. Winter Is Past
Joseph N. Rubinstein
V. Dodi Li
Steve Sher, arr. Brant Adams
VI. Siman Tov
Traditional, arr. Bill Cutter
This recording embraces the highs and lows of Jewish life. The selections express the highs and lows of Jewish life – the Holocaust (Remember), a psalm setting (Revere), and love poetry and joy (Rejoice).
All scores are published by Hal Leonard.
March 29, 2023
Premiere Performance of Washington Women
Lehman College – Lovinger Theater
Conducted by Judith Clurman
with
Essential Voices USA
Chorus from Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music
Trent Johnson, chorus director
James Cunningham, piano
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
February 14, 2023
Devotion
Recording Release
Judith Clurman, conductor and music director of Essential Voices USA and Acis Productions announce the EP recording release of DEVOTION, a collection of three works.
Ave Maria (1:36)
Where there is Sadness, Joy (2:34)
Dona Nobis Pacem (1:02)
Available and streaming now!
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
“Ave Maria,” a setting of the traditional Latin text, was written in 2014 by composer Bill Cutter for his Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chorus. It is the second work in Cutter’s collection, “Divine Mother.” “Where There is Sadness, Joy” was commissioned by Essential Voices USA. Composed in 2017, by the Frost School of Music faculty member Shawn Crouch, the text is a combination of the Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila with the Peace Prayer of St. Francis. “Dona Nobis Nobis,” a short round based on the traditional Latin text, was written for Judith’s Essential Voices USA in 2018, by Broadway’s award-winning orchestrator Jonathan Tunick.
The members of EVUSA that sang on these recordings are: Joseph Beutel, Paul D’Arcy, Margery Daley, Chole Holgate, Amy Justman, Helen Karloski, Steven Moore, Heather Petrie, Jamet Pittman, Gregory Purnhagen, Eric Sorrels, and Elisa Singer Strom.
These recordings can be streamed on all platforms. The published scores of the Cutter and Crouch scores are available through Hal Leonard. The recordings were produced and engineered by Silas Brown.
“It is my hope that this inspirational music brings you comfort.”
– Judith Clurman
Holiday Greetings 2022
Carnegie Hall Concert, Dec 2022
DECEMBER 16, 2022 at 8pm
ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE
The New York Pops / Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
with guest artist
Ingrid Michaelson
and
Essential Voices USA / Judith Clurman, Music Director and Conductor
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
December, 2022
Silent Night
Recording Release
Essential Voices USA
with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and pianist Tedd Firth
The Firth/Clurman arrangement. scored for mixed voices, mezzo, and piano, was originally released as part of the Essential Voices USA CD Holiday Harmonies. The recording, on the Sono Luminus label, can be streamed on all platforms. The published score is available through Hal Leonard (HL 50600458). The recording was produced by David Frost.
Available and streaming now!
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon
• YouTube
Thanksgiving, November 24, 2022
2022 Macy’s Singing Christmas Tree
Carnegie Hall Concert, Nov 2022
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 at 8pm
BROADWAY BLOCKBUSTERS
Music by Leonard Bernstein, Alan Menken, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and more. . . .
The New York Pops / Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
with guest artists
Nikki Renée Daniels, Jordan Donica, Matt Doyle, Melissa Ericco
and
Essential Voices USA / Judith Clurman, Music Director and Conductor
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall
October, 2022
Washington Women
Recording Release (ACIS)
David Chase & Judith Clurman composers
Judith Clurman conductor
Lee Musiker piano
Raman Ramakrishnan cello
Available and streaming now!
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
About Washington Women
WASHINGTON WOMEN is a new collection of choral songs by David Chase and Judith Clurman. It is scored for mixed chorus, piano and cello. The texts are taken from speeches, opinions, and interviews of sixteen remarkable women from across the political spectrum, all of whom spent part of their lives associated with Washington DC – First Ladies, Senators, Congresswomen, Supreme Court Justices, Secretaries of State, Vice President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives: Abigail Adams, Madeleine Albright, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Shirley Chisholm, Hilary Rodham Clinton, Betty Ford, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kamala Harris, Elena Kagan, Michelle Obama, Sandra Day O’Connor, Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Chase Smith.
The singers of Essential Voices USA are joined by pianist Lee Musiker and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. The recording, on Acis (APL27921), can be streamed on all platforms.
The published score is available through Hal Leonard (HL00329483).
12 Songs, 30 Minutes
- The Essence Of America: Condoleezza Rice
- For Centuries Now: Elena Kagan
- Freedom: Eleanor Roosevelt / Hillary Rodham Clinton / Betty Ford
- Those Of Us Who Shout: Margaret Chase Smith
- In The Field Of Equal Rights: Shirley Chisholm
- We Pride Ourselves: Laura Bush
- We Not Only Dream: Kamala Harris / Nancy Pelosi
- It Is Necessary: Sandra Day O’Connor
- It Took Me Quite A Long Time: Abigail Adams
- Remember The Ladies: Madeleine Albright
- Believe: Barbara Bush
- I Am Ever Hopeful / I Want A President: Ruth Bader Ginsburg / Michelle Obama
July 1, 2022
NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/01/1107962688/essential-voices-usa-tiny-desk-concert
Judith Clurman conducts
World Premiere of WASHINGTON WOMEN
by David Chase & Judith Clurman
with
Essential Voices USA
Tedd Firth piano
Raman Ramakrishnan cello
Six of the twelve movements can be heard on this broadcast, which premiered on July 1st.
The complete album and score are expected to be released this Fall. A NYC premiere of the entire 30 minute work will be announced in the near future.
May, 2022
May You Heal
Recording Release (ACIS)
THE MAY YOU HEAL PROJECT
ESSENTIAL VOICES USA
Judith Clurman, conductor
James Cunningham and Lee Musiker, piano
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Available and streaming now!
• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
“Judith Clurman conducts her excellent Essential Voices USA with dignity and beauty in “May You Heal,” a collection of five newly commissioned choral works that offer music of comfort, peace, renewal and self-awareness. The fine singers of Essential Voices USA offer richly satisfying performances on each piece”
Times Square Chronicles
About May You Heal
Dear Friends, Family, and Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure and pride that I announce this ACIS release of MAY YOU HEAL, a series of five choral works that have been recorded and commissioned by my Essential Voices USA during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pieces offer music of comfort, peace, renewal and self-awareness. The singers of Essential Voices USA are joined by pianists James Cunningham and Lee Musiker and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. The five recordings can be streamed on all platforms. The published scores are available as “The May You Heal Cycle” through Hal Leonard. (They will be coming shortly). Stream the music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and other sites.
MAY YOU HEAL, with heart-felt music by Canadian composer Mark Sirett, and poignant lyrics by Bruce L. Ruben expresses what the world is feeling today, as we hopefully move on from Covid-19: May You heal, May you be well again, May you lean on friends and family, May you return to health and wholeness. DONA NOBIS PACEM, an A Cappella work by Welsh composer Katie Jenkins (who just received her BM at The Juilliard this week), expresses a yearning for peace. Jenkins dedicates her piece to the memory of those lost to Covid-19. David Chase’s WHEN SCIENCE TRIUMPHS sets the words of three individuals dedicated to fighting diseases that have plagued our world during the 20th and 21st centuries. Dr. Anthony Fauci (1940-) is a physician and immunologist who serves as director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is the chief medical advisor to the President of the United States. His work has been most prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic; Dr. Mathilde Krim (1926-2018) was a research scientist and educator, and the founding chairman of amfAR, American Foundation for AIDS Research; and Dr. Jonas Salk (1914-1995) was a virologist renowned for developing the first polio vaccine. RESPONSIBILITY, a setting by Mark Sirett, offers lyrics by Hillel the Elder, a famous Jewish leader and scholar, from Babylon, who lived in the first century BCE to the beginning first century CE. In this aphorism, Hillel captures the tension between the need for healthy narcissism (self-care) and the importance of caring for others -: “Im ein ani li, mi li? . . . If I am not for myself, Who will be for me? But if I am only for myself. What am I? And if not now, when?”I CELEBRATE MYSELF is a setting of the opening line from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself “(1892) by Boston-based composer Bill Cutter. The piece celebrates our connection to one another: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself . . . For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”
“Now more than ever, our students and our singers of all ages need a place to go and a place where they can find safety and healing. After more than two years of quarantine, those of us who love and need the safety and community of a music organization yearn to return. The ‘May You Heal’ cycle from the Judith Clurman Choral Series allows and encourages us find this in the music.”
Scott Foss, Concert and Classical Choral Editor @Hal Leonard
Recording and scores published by Hal Leonard (HL 003967666)
5 Songs, 13 Minutes
I. May You Heal
music: Mark Sirett
text: Bruce L. Ruben
II. Dona Nobis Pacem
music: Katie Jenkins
text: liturgy
III. When Science Triumphs
music: David Chase
text: Drs. Anthony Fauci (COVID), Matilde Krim (AIDS), Jonas Salk (POLIO)
IV. Responsibility
music: Mark Sirett
text: Hillel the Elder
V. I Celebrate Myself
music: Bill Cutter
text: Walt Whitman
Holiday Greeting 2021
Judith Clurman & Essential Voices USA send you this Video Holiday Greeting!
Jan 20, 2021
America At Heart
Recording Release (Acis)
AMERICA AT HEART
A NEW DIGITAL EP IN HONOR OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Judith Conducts her Essential Voices USA and Tony Award winners Randy Graff and Brian Stokes Mitchell for an ACIS release in honor of the inauguration fo the 46th president of the United States. Music includes Reason to Be Thankful (Hochman & Harnick), Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (Berlin, arr. Chase) and America/Wheels of A Dream (Flaherty & Ahrens).
TRACK 1: “REASON TO BE THANKFUL” Larry Hochman/Sheldon Harnick (David Frost, producer) Tony Award®-winner BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL joins the chorus for this inspiring work, released for the first time today.
TRACK 2: “GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR” Irving Berlin (Silas Brown, producer)
Tony Award®-winner RANDY GRAFF narrates the Emma Lazarus poem in David Chase’s arrangement of the Irving Berlin song with pianist Lee Musiker and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan joining the chorus for this track. Remastered in honor of the occasion.
TRACK 3: “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL” with Stephen Flaherty/Lynn Ahrens’s “WHEELS OF A DREAM” (David Frost, producer) BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL and ESSENTIAL VOICES USA are joined by instrumentalists Tedd Firth, piano; Kathryn Anderson, violin; Angela Pickett, viola; Michael Dahlberg, cello; Steve Lyon, oboe; and Rheagan Noleen, french horn. Remastered in honor of the occasion.
November, 2020
Words Matter
WORDS MATTER
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman Conductor
James Cunningham Piano, Track I, II
Daniel Miller Cello, Track II
“‘Testimony’ was written using interviews for the ‘It Gets Better’ project, but to me it has always had a broader implication, speaking for those who have experienced bullying or felt shame for who they are, whatever the reason. I have always hoped for a good SATB performance, and hearing the piece so beautifully sung by the EVUSA under the always impeccable direction of Judith Clurman is a real joy for me.”
– Stephen Schwartz
“Schwartz and Clurman know how to tell a story, and they work in vocal color like Da Vinci did in oils. Clurman and EVUSA are justifiably proud of this recording and plan to do anti-bullying workshops in New York City.”
– Q on Stage
November, 2020
Winter Harmonies
WINTER HARMONIES
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman, Conductor
Tessa Lark Violin, Track I
James Cunningham Piano, Track III, IV, V
Daniel Miller Cello, Track III
“‘Winter Harmonies’ featuring Essential Voices USA is ESSENTIAL holiday music in my household… this year we and moving forward! Brava to music director extraordinaire Judith Clurman and her GLORIOUS ensemble!”
– Frank DiLella, Spectrum News NY1