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About Schola CantorumSchola Cantorum of Syracuse, literally "School for Singers", is a chamber choir of twelve to sixteen members, both amateur and professional, devoted to the performance of music from the Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque eras; that is, music composed from about 1000 to 1700 AD.Early music can be of many different kinds, styles and qualities, including noble works by the greatest composers. Hearing them, one is reminded that their parent cultures also bred Dante, Shakespeare, Moliere, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and El Greco, to name a few. A viol consort, consisting of professional musicians under the direction of Alex Rakov, contributes to each concert. Members of the consort also provide accompaniment, solos and ensemble pieces on other period instruments such as lute and recorders. Schola Cantorum annually presents a three-concert subscription series under the directorship of Dr. Joyce Irwin. Some concerts are presented twice--once at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church and again elsewhere in the community. Other venues have included Colgate University, Ithaca, and Cortland. Each summer Schola Cantorum also sponsors a choral workshop with invited conductors.
Director
Dr. Joyce Irwin became music director in 2000, having sung with Schola Cantorum since 1985. She is also organist and choir director at St. David's Episcopal Church in DeWitt and has led the choir on three trips to Great Britain, where they have been in residence at cathedrals in St. David's, Lichfield, and Chichester. Dr. Irwin's experience in the direction and performance of early music is extensive, having sung in early music groups at Yale and the University of Georgia prior to joining Schola Cantorum of Syracuse. She has been organist and choir director in Oneida and Hamilton churches, Colgate and Cornell Universities over a period of 20 years. Her scholarly career is impressive: M.A. in medieval studies, Ph.D. in religious studies, Yale, 1972, and author of Neither Voice nor Heart Alone: German Lutheran Theology of Music in the Age of the Baroque as well as many journal articles in church history. She is a Colleague of the American Guild of Organists. |
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