Thursday, August 29, 2013

We Want You for Campanella Choir and Campanella Center Classes

The new Fall season is upon us - and Campanella Center has plenty of opportunities for your children to join in on the fun.

Drawing - this class will help children develop the basic skills in drawing and painting using different mediums , exploring color, perspective, volumes and to learn about Art in general. It will introduce children to the world culture and help to appreciate the beauty of the nature.


About the instructor: Anna Gnoenskaya is an artist and an art teacher with Masters Degree in Art Education from the Moscow State University. In 2001, she won the e Fund Soros competition “Childhood Without Violence and Cruelty” and a "Teacher of the Year” award from Moscow Department of Education.  She has an extensive experience teaching at Montessori schools.

Art History -  this class will explore the art and history of the Ancient Greek civilization. The class is designed to sync with our drawing class. For more information, click on the class title

Campanella Choir - we are looking for singers in Beginner, Prelude, Intermediate and Advanced  choirs. Children ages 3-9 can apply for Beginner, Prelude and Intermediate choirs (depending on their skill level), while kids 10-18 are encouraged to apply for Advanced level. Please call Marianna Kosaya at (847) 361-7989 to schedule an audition.

MozArtiana Club - a multimedia program that explores the life and works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart though music, arts and literature. The club meets every Saturday, at 2:00 - 3:00 pm. The first session starts on September 7. Click here for more information.

We are also have spaces left in our Science, Russian Language and Math classes. You can register for our classes here.

If you have any questions, please contact Marianna Kosaya at this address

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Campanella Children's Choir Announces Auditions for 2013-2014 Season


It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. The Campanella Children's Choir is announcing placement hearings for our 2013-2014 season for kids ages 3-18. 

We are looking for kids who want sing and are willing to commit to a regular rehearsal and performance schedule. Whether your kids are starting out or already have some choir experience, Campanella has a place for them. 

For more information, please contact us at marianna@campanellachoir.com or visit our website.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Fall 2013 Campanella Choir and Eductation Center Class Registration is now open



Well, it's that time again. The registration for all Fall 2013 semester Campanella classes is now open!

To see what classes we're offering this semester, please click here

To register, please click here.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Campanella Children's Choir Performs, Learns at 2013 Youth Choral Festival Concert

Courtesy of Chicago a capella

For the last two years, Chicago a capella [sic] ensemble brought together singers from across the Chicago area. And, as we wrote last month, Campanella Choir was one of the choirs invited to participate. Other choirs included Downers Grove based South Madrigal Singers, Chicago's Hubbard High School Advanced Ensemble and a capella's own interns. 

The festival, which took place in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, in churches along Woodlawn Avenue, was made up of two parts. First, the participating choirs attended workshops at the First Unitarian Church. The workshops dealt with improving performance and enhancing vocal techniques. The final workshop, “Music Beyond High School” talked about how the choir members could continue utilizing their talents once they graduate. The workshop tried to be realistic without being discouraging, emphasizing that, while most of them probably wouldn't be able to make a living from singing, there are other ways to stay involved in the field that could be just as fulfilling. 

After the workshops wrapped up, the choirs walked two blocks south, to the classically ornate Rockefeller Chapel, where they spent the next two hours preparing and rehearsing for the second part of the festival – the concert. At the concert, the choirs would take turns performing before coming together at the end as one single Festival Choir. Suffice to say, getting four different choirs who never worked together before to come together as one was no mean feat – but a capella artistic director Jonathan Miller made it look effortless. 

The concert took place at the Rockefeller Chapel's main hall. Like the classical European cathedrals, it featured excellent acoustics that carried the performers' voices all across the long, tall space. Campanella's portion of the concert highlighted two recurring features of the choir's repertoire – it performed “Vere Languores Nostros,”a Eouropen classical piece by Antonio Lotti, and “Veniki,” a Russian folk song.  

Campanella Artistic Director Marianna Kosaya was impressed with festival workshops. 

“[a capella members] offered support, which helped [the kids'] musical development and their development as growing people,” she said. 

The entire festival experience also helped them emotionally.” 

“It increased their self-confidence,” said Kosaya. “They definitely got an emotional boost [from attending the festival]” 

The fact that festival  proved to be a great networking event didn't hurt, either.  

“Head of a capella said he'd help us with fundraising,” said Kosaya. “He also offered educational support.” 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Campanella Choir Delights Seniors at Covenant Village Retirement Community


Campanella Kids perform in front of attentive seniors
 On March 8, at 6:30 PM, the Campanella Choir came to Northbrook’s Covenant Village retirement community to perform for its residents. The performance was part of the choir’s ongoing efforts to lend its voices to worthwhile causes and to give back to the community. Some of the past events included a performance at the Northbrook Court for Deerfield-based Orphans from the Storm animal shelter's Holiday Music Series.

The choir was invited to perform at Covenant Village because some of the residents heard Campanella’s live performance on WFMT last May. The retirement home regularly hosts musical performances and other entertainment programs in an effort to make its residents’ lives more fulfilling and culturally enriched – and Campanella Choir was happy to be part of it.

The Campanella kids performed a variety of classical pieces created by some of Europe’s most distinguished composers, as well as the more modern pieces and popular Russian folk songs. Much of their repertoire was drawn from past performances. Covenant Village residents got a chance to hear pieces featured in the Legend of the Unicorn and Hansel and Gretel.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. After the performance was over, resident after resident approached choir director Marianna Kosaya to tell her how much they enjoyed it and how talented the Campanella kids were.

The response was so positive that some of the residents even wondered if Campanella Choir would come back.

“We’d love to,” said Kosaya, adding that she and Covenant management may be able to arrange something in the future. 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

"Legend of the Unicorn" Event a Success




The Legend of the Unicorn performance, which we wrote about last month, went off without a hitch. Campanella director Marianna Kosaya said that she was pleased with everything – the singing, the audience reaction and the atmosphere the performance created. 

The response from the audience has been fairly positive.  

“Thank you for the great night,” Lora Kogan commented the event’s Facebook page. “It was a wonderful event, a celebration of talent, Light and Love!” 

“Great idea, great performance,” Chicago resident Tania Goldina joined in. “The connection between choir and choirmaster was amazing. My mother-in-law was crying - it was so touching.”

"I wanted to let you know that my mom and Sophia REALLY enjoyed Unicorn performance," commented Maria Sarkisyan  "My mom said she was surprised with style and quality. Thank you." 

The Campanella Choir is grateful for everyone who attended. We would like to remind you that our next major performance will take place this coming Saturday at 5:30 PM as Campanella Choir takes part in the 2013 Youth Choral Festival. We hope to see you there! 


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Campanella Choir Will Perform at 2013 Youth Choral Festival Concert

Courtesy of Chicago a capella



Last year, Chicago a capella [sic] ensemble brought together young singers throughout the Chicago area for the first ever Youth Choral Festival Concert. On March 9, 2013, a capella is doing it again – and Campanella is one of the choirs invited to participate.
During the festival, Campanella kids will take part in a day worth of workshops, singing and performances. The workshops will be completely free. The festival culminates in a public concert where each of the participating groups will perform, first alone, then together with the a capella singers. There will be no competition, no attempts to one-up each other – just talented kids from all across Chicagoland giving it their best and getting a chance to shine.
Along with Campanella, singers from Hubbard High School, Downers Grove South High School, South Shore High School of Leadership and the Chicago a cappella High School Internship Program will be performing.
The 2013 Youth Choral Festival will take place at Rockefeller Chapel (5850 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago). And while you can’t be there during workshops, we hope to see you all at the public concert, which will begin at 5:30 PM. Tickets cost $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.

Join us, will you? You won’t regret it.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Come see Campanella Choir perform in the Legend of the Unicorn

One of the original The Hunt for the Unicorn tapestries

Campanella fans and supporters are invited to come to St. Giles Episcopal Church (3025 Walters Ave, Northbrook) and see a one-of a kind event that will combine art, beautiful singing and classical music.  

“Legend of  the Unicorn” is based on "The Hunt for the Unicorn," a series of seven Renaissance-era tapestries that tells the story of how a group of noblemen set out to capture the mystical creature. Featuring the timeless themes of the power of innocence, mercy and compassion, the performance will be sure to thrill and captivate.  

Campanella Children's Choir will be performing together with the Chicago Trio (Irene Schweizer, Natalya Chernysh and Diana Kofman), a Russian-American classical music group. The slideshow of the original "The Hunt for the Unicorn” tapestries will play in the background as they perform, giving the event a truly unique atmosphere.   

The musical will feature classical pieces by George Handel, Antonio Lotti, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Pierre Certon, as well as Vladimir Vavilov’s version of Ave Maria. 
  
”The Legend of the Unicorn” will take place March 2, 2013, at 7:00 PM. Adults and children six and older are welcome to attend.  We hope to see you there. 


Who Are the Chicago Trio: 

Cellist Irene Schweizer graduated from Lviv Conservatory. She taught at the conservatory and worked in the Lviv Philharmonic Symphonic Orchestra. In 1999, she emigrated to Ausstria, where she continued her musical career as a concertmaster at the Vienna Chamber Oscestra and an instructor at Yehuda Halevy Music Centrum. She toured in Chicago and Japan, among other countries.  

Violinist Natalya Chernysh graduated from Kiev’s Chaykovski National Musical Academy. She worked at a chamber orchestra and taught at the music school in Kiev and toured with the Khmelnytskyi Chamber and Symphony orchestras.  

Pianist Diana Kofman graduated from the Odesssa Conservatory. She taught at the Stolyarsky School, worked as a concertmaster at the Odessa String Ensemble, toured with concert programs in Germany, Italy and England, among other countries. Upon arriving in United States, she continued her musical career at the Roosevelt University as both an instructor and a performer.   

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Semi-Annual Concert Showcases Talent, Exposes Kids to Classical Music

Prelude Choir and Treble Choir perform

Parents and children filled the St. Giles Church’s main hall on January 12, 2013 as Campanella Choir kids performed at this year’s first semi-annual concert of the 2012-2013 season.  The concert brought together all sections of the choir and gave each one a chance to shine. And, during the second half of the concert, the audience got a chance to see what happens when the entire Campanella school comes together as they watched a short musical production of Hansel and Gretel.

During the first half of the concert, the Campanella Choir kids sang Russian songs. Three of the four sections of the choir – the Prelude Choir, the Beginners and the Treble Choir – got a chance to shine as they took turns singing different songs. Ariella Masarsky, a member of Campanella’s Concert Choir, closed the first half of the concert with a solo rendition of “I Could Have Danced All Night,” to the thunderous applause from the audience.

The second half of the concert featured Campanella kids performing Hansel and Gretel, an abridged version of a famous 19th century opera by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck. The production kept as much of the original music as possible, which lent operatic quality to the performance.

Campanella artistic director Marianna Kosaya said that they hoped that the production would help kids appreciate classical music. Too often, kids feel that classical music is boring, or worse, something to avoid. 

It is the perception that Campanella wants to change. Kosaya believes that associating classical music with a play, where kids get a chance to show their creativity and contribute something to the greater whole, would go a long way toward accomplishing it.

Putting together a play also gave Campanella a chance to involve kids from the center’s entire education program.

“We gathered together everyone from the entire Campanella,” said Kosaya. “The choir kids sang, the kids from piano classes performed, the kids from art classes contributed to the creation of the set.”

Kosaya said that she was encouraged by the attendance. She estimated that approximately 150 adults came to the concert. But most importantly, she was happy with the performances.

“The kids did well,” said Kosaya. “We are very proud.”

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Want to see more pictures of the concert? Click on the image below to check out the album: