SOPRANO (NYC, NY)

Soprano - one of two sopranos in The Western Wind Vocal Sextet.

(2 sopranos, countertenor, 2 tenors, baritone).

Job includes concerts,  vocal ensemble workshops, Arts In Ed programs, recording for radio and internet.  Optional: researching repertoire, arranging, composing.

Artistic/Cultural Vision -

From its inception in 1969 The Western Wind has sought to expand the public's awareness of the vast variety of a cappella music and how it relates to cultural history. For example, starting in 1973 The Western Wind explored music that was being sung in in New England singing schools and later moved south to become the shape-note tradition. The ensemble's first recording entitled Early American Vocal Music for Nonesuch records was nominated for a Grammy in 1974.

Recently the ensemble produced a concert and a CD and a radio program entitled "We Are Still Here" - the Holocaust Through Music & Memory. This program tells the story of the rise of authoritarianism in Nazi Germany through songs, compositions interwoven with survivor recollections.  Other recent programs include "Music in the Time of Hamilton" (Early American) and "Women of Notes - Womens' Music, Womens Words. "  (rep from Hildegarde to Meredith Monk.) These are representative of the kind of culturally relevant programing The Western Wind aspires to. Creating lively, engaged performances display the egalitarian nature of small ensemble singing in which each member has an equal role and model an ideal society in which the members are communicating with empathy, courtesy and tact. Sharing this experience with singers on all skill levels has always been an important part of The Western Wind mission and intensive workshops in ensemble singing are presented in the summer at Smith College and at various venues during the year in New York City, Washington DC and Vermont. In addition, The Western Wind works with New York City public school children in its Arts In Education residencies at two public schools in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Since 1969, the internationally acclaimed vocal sextet The Western Wind has devoted itself to the special beauty and variety of a cappella music. The GRAMMY NOMINATED ensemble’s repertoire reveals its wide ranging iinterets– from Renaissance motets to Fifties rock ’n’ roll, from medieval carols to Duke Ellington, from complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies.