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"Veni Creator Spiritus:" on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at 8 p.m., Schola Cantorum performs sublime and ecstatic choral music for the season of Ascension and Pentecost. Click on "Concerts," above.
Summer Workshop: Schola's summer workshop for singers takes place July 26 to 29, 2012. Click on "Workshop," above.
About Schola Cantorum
Schola Cantorum of Syracuse consists of two performing ensembles: a chamber choir of sixteen voices, and a small consort of instrumental players (named Gamba Obscura). Both groups are devoted to the performance of early music, defined as European classical music from the Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque eras, prior to the time of J.S. Bach.Schola Cantorum presents a series of concerts each year -- this year three performances by the vocal ensemble and two by the viol consort. Schola also sponsors a four-day workshop for singers each summer. Click on "Workshop," above.
Director
Barry Torres, Music Director of Schola Cantorum, has served since 2000 as Director of Music Ensembles at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. In that capacity he teaches singing, and a course in 16th Century performance practice, in addition to directing the Laurentian Singers (St. Lawrence's 28-member select choir), the University Chorus, and the Gospel Choir and Band.
Mr. Torres was a founding member of Schola Cantorum of Syracuse in 1973. He previously directed the group from 1976 to 1980 and from 1991 to 2000. In the late 1990's he led Schola in recorded performances of two great 15th Century masses: Guillaume Du Fay's Missa Se la face ay pale and Jean Ockeghem's Missa Prolationum. He returned again as Schola's music director in 2009.
As a singer and player of early wind instruments, Mr. Torres has appeared with the Orchestra of Northern New York, with NYS Baroque, and as a member of Sonare. He is a graduate of the Syracuse University School of Music where he studied composition and music theory.
Consort Master
Alexander Rakov received his education in performance and conducting from Leningrad Conservatory and has dedicated himself to performing early music since the early 1970s. He performs internationally on viola da gamba and lute and has directed collegia at St. Lawrence and Syracuse Universities. He is a former director of the vocal ensemble of Schola Cantorum. As consort master of Gamba Obscura, he leads the musicians who perform with Schola's vocal ensemble in some of its concerts and who this year are presenting two concerts devoted entirely to instrumental music.
History
Schola Cantorum of Syracuse began in 1973 as a collegium musicum at Syracuse University, under the direction of Donald Smithers. When Professor Smithers left the university in 1976, Barry Torres became director. Other music directors over the years have included Joyce Irwin, Bruce Campbell, Jay Hersher, Leonard Phillips and Alex Rakov. Barry Torres returned as director in 2009.In 1982, Schola Cantorum of Syracuse incorporated as a non-profit organization, with a board of directors consisting of volunteers willing to work to sustain the performance of early music in Central New York. Since 1983, Schola Cantorum has been favored to receive grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as grants in some years from the Onondaga County Cultural Resources Council. However private donations have always been a major source of Schola's funding, and in these stringent times for government funding for the arts, private donations are of ever greater importance. Your contributions to Schola Cantorum of Syracuse are fully deductible for federal and NY State income tax purposes, according to the provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3) and NYS Charities Bureau (registration No. 14-37-08).
Web hosting for Schola Cantorum is generously donated by Syracuse Arts Net (CyberSolvers)
© 2012 Schola Cantorum of Syracuse
P.O. Box 35189
Syracuse, NY 13235.