InChoir: Conversations about Choral Music, The Arts, and Life

Dr. Tracy Wong hails from Malaysia and is a choral conductor, music educator, composer, vocalist, and pianist. She is passionate about helping choral educators to provide unique experiences for their students through collaborative commissions, customized workshops, festivals, and artist residencies. She has conducted workshops for choirs in North America and internationally. Her choral works are widely published and they have been ...

Giselle Wyers (she/her/hers) is the Donald E. Petersen Endowed Professor of Choral Music at the University of Washington, where she conducts the award-winning University Chorale and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting and music education.

Wyers is a leading national figure in the application of Laban movement theory for conductors. She has served as guest lecturer in conducting at Sweden’s Örebro Univers...

John Rommereim is a musician who has pursued a varied career as a composer, conductor, keyboardist, and professor. He has written works for choir, solo voice, orchestra, string quartet, saxophone quartet, flute ensemble, guitar, organ, piano, and electronic media, as well as a chamber opera, and music for theatre and film. The New York Times praised the “richly expressive” character of his vocal writing.

John Rommereim is Blanche...

Blake Morgan’s musical arrangements embody the essence of what it means to “imagine again or anew.” Together with host, Diane Orlofsky, learn how Morgan works in this unique creative space when he conceives his arrangements. This episode features Morgan’s arrangement of the iconic “Hushabye Mountain” (performed by the King’s Singers) and his setting of the beautiful folk song, “The Water is Wide” (featuring Blake’s demo of the ar...

This is the first of two episodes with composer/arranger/singer, Blake Morgan, hosted by Diane Orlofsky. Morgan’s music crosses genres and has been performed by Take Six, the King's Singers, Manhattan Transfer, Conspirare, and many others. A gifted singer, Blake is now a member of Voces8, whose performances we often feature on this podcast.

In this episode, Morgan talks about the process of taking music which is familiar and arra...

In this episode, co-hosts Diane Orlofsky and Scott Sexton speak with two creatives connected to the recording project Awaiting Golden Light (performed by Connecticut-based Voices of Concinnity). First, composer Cheryl B. Engelhardt (whose composition, “The Breadth of Blossoms” was featured on the album) relates the fascinating story behind this captivating and timely music. We also hear how Artistic Director Sarah Kaufold advocat...

In this episode of InChoir, co-hosts Diane Orlofsky and Scott Sexton speak with Canadian composer, Katerina Gimon, about her choral composition “she was wilderness” (performed by the Vancouver Chamber Choir). Join us as we explore Gimon’s music which has been called eclectic and dynamic. Learn how she draws from many musical styles and takes the listener through layered textures, intense emotions and shared human experiences.

InC...

In this InChoir episode, host Diane Orlofsky talks to composer/arranger/singer, Greg Jasperse, who is also the Director of Vocal Jazz at Western Michigan University. Together they explore the stories behind his choral arrangement of the seasonal favorite, “Lo, how a Rose E’er Blooming,” (performed by members of the WMU Chorale) as well as his original vocal jazz composition, “I am Alive” (sung by the WMU Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Gold C...

On this episode of InChoir, co-hosts Diane Orlofsky and Scott Sexton speak with Canadian composer and educator, Sarah Quartel, about her fresh and exciting approach to choral music. Quartel believes that choral music is all about relationships, connections, storytelling, and honoring all voices, including the audience members who hear her music. We feature two of her compositions— “Iesous ahatonnia” (an adaptation of The Huron Caro...

On this episode of InChoir, we talk to two composers about the intersection of choral music and the human experience of grief and loss.

Dr. Terre Johnson, is Chair of the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music at Georgia Southern University. Johnson’s career has included conducting every kind of choir, from church music to professional conducting to teaching in public schools and universities. His compositions have received accla...

In this episode of InChoir, we talk with composer Christopher Tin and naturalist Scott Weidensaul about the intersection of music, art, and conservation.

Christopher Tin's The Lost Birds is sung by the preeminent British vocal ensemble VOCES8, accompanied by Tin's longtime collaborators, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Christopher Tin) and recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Scott Weidensaul's A World on th...

In this episode of InChoir, we talk with composer Eric William Barnum about music and memories of home.

Eric Barnum is an internationally known conductor and composer who has received numerous awards and grants and has held residencies all over the world. He is currently the Director of Choirs at Drake University. His piece, A Thousand Red Birds, received its Carnegie Hall premiere in 2018.

InChoir is a production of Troy Public ...

There is something magical about the first creations of a young artist!

In this inaugural episode of InChoir, we talk with composer Alex Berko about artistic beginnings and his six-movement composition, Sacred Place.

Berko’s choral music is featured on two GRAMMY®-nominated albums, Conspirare’s “House of Belonging” which contains Sacred Place and The Crossing’s “Carols After a Plague”.

InChoir is a production of Troy Public Radio a...