"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! 

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.

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.   

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 19^th 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:

 

Carnegie Hall Program Inspires Campanella Kids

Campanella Kids Perform Inside Carnegie Hall

 It was an opportunity of a lifetime. On November 2012, the Campanella Children’s Choir was able to travel to New York City, where they received instruction from renowned conductor and composer John Rutter and got to perform at the iconic Carnegie Hall. None of this would’ve been possible without the hall’s residency program and a lot of very generous donations.  

Campanella was one of the several children’s choirs chosen to participate in the Carnegie Hall Choral Residency programs. For three days, the choirs would rehearse under Rutter's direction, all to prepare them for a performance at Carnegie Hall itself, to the full orchestral accompaniment.

When the word came down that Campanella was chosen, the kids and the staff were thrilled. But they didn’t have much time to relish the news. They had to raise the money to cover the travel costs.

The choir and its supporters stepped up to the challenge. Campanella kids printed their own plea letters and appealed to their friends and neighbors, Parents, neighbors, members of the public and local businesses pitched in. The choir organized a Kickstarter fundraiser, which ultimately pulled in $3,465, $165 above the $3,300 goal. Together, everyone managed to raise over $8,000.

According to Campanella director Marianna Kosaya, the results were well worth the effort.

“It was such a great experience,” she said. “The kids got a chance to perform under the guidance of a master conductor, with amazing orchestral accompaniment. It was great for their development.”

Kosaya said that kids had a great time learning under Ritter, whom she described as a warm, charismatic presence. The kids, she said, were really taken in by him.

Getting to perform in Carnegie Hall was a great experience in its own right.  

“The acoustics are great, and being in this great hall, being art of its great historical legacy really raised our spirits,” said Kosaya.

She said that, on the first rehearsal after the trip, she said that could already see that the experience would have a lasting effect.

“When they got back, they started taking their lessons more seriously,” Kosaya reflected. “They seem to strive more, to aspire to greater things. I hope that they will be able to hold on to this feeling for as long as they can.”

Campanella kids in front of Carnegie Hall

Campanella Children’s Choir at Zemer Am Festival of Jewish Choral Music in Chicago

 
An all-day event, culminating in a joint concert featuring synagogue choirs and Jewish singers from the greater Chicago area and beyond. This year’s festival was dedicated to the music of Max Janowski in his home synagogue Kam Isaiah Israel, on the occasion of his 100th birthday.


Zemer Am Festival was a spectacular event. The festive spirit of all participants, and their collaboration was amazing: it was hard to tell where one group ended and the other began. The organization of the festival was superb and the idea to collaborate by switching conductors truly aided in the feeling of togetherness.

Campanella's performance, teamed with Pavel Roytman, was an added bonus, fresh and boisterous. There was a distinctive 'gasp' in the audience in response to Campanella’s plans for Carnegie Hall. Marianna Kosaya was given the special honor of conducting the encore song, with Campanella Children’s Choir soloing.

Campanella receives grant from Young Singers Foundation

Campanella Children’s Choir has been awarded the grant by Young Singers Foundation to attend Windy City Youth Choral Festival in Chicago in summer 2012. The grant money will help offset the cost of participation for Campanella choristers, expanding the festival educational opportunity beyond that of Heritage Festival, which the Campanella Children’s Choir will attend in April 2012.

The fourth-annual Windy City Youth Choral Festival, June 28 – July 1, 2012 is presented by Music Celebrations International, under artistic direction of Elena Sharkova. Ms. Sharkova received a Bachelor’s Degree in music education and piano and subsequently a Master’s in choral conducting from the Rimski-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Elena has conducted children’s, community, university, and professional choirs and orchestras in the USA, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Baltic republics, Scandinavia, and Russia. Windy City Youth Choral Festival invites and selects treble-voice choirs based upon recommendation. The choirs will join together to sing in one of America’s great concert halls – Orchestra Hall, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Young Singers Foundation is enriching the lives of young people by supporting the educational and performance opportunities in vocal music. The Young Singers Foundation offers financial grants to individuals, groups and organizations who sponsor vocal music activities for young people. For more information on grants from Young Singers Foundation, visit http://www.youngsingersfoundation.org/grants.cfm

“We are very excited to be working under the guidance of Elena Sharkova again”, said Marianna Kosaya, the Artistic Director of Campanella Children’s Choir, referring to the choir’s experience with Ms. Sharkova during the Festival of Gold in San Francisco, March 31 – April 4, 2011, where Campanella received second place, Gold Award, and was awarded to sing at the Encore Performances. Campanella Children’s Choir was founded in the spring of 2000, and has developed into a competitive ensemble that is the core of the entire Campanella Educational Center. The choir sings a diverse repertoire of music in multiple languages and performs in numerous community events throughout the year. For more information about Campanella Children’s Choir, please visit http://www.campanellacenter.org/history.shtml