VAN
FEATURES
Musica Viva NY offers an evening of sacred songs on February 22
Posted 1/31/2026
Musica Viva NY presents "El Camino: Talbot, Casals and Victoria" at All Souls NYC, 1157 Lexington Avenue on Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 5:00 PM with a pre-concert talk at 4:15 PM. Weaving together voices of lament, resilience and spiritual transformation across centuries, the acclaimed Musica Viva NY chorus takes listeners on a journey from lamentation to revelation. The program's capstone is a 60-minute a cappella masterpiece of the modern choral repertory: Path of Miracles by Joby Talbot.
Dramatizing the medieval religious pilgrimage along Spain's famous Camino de Compostela, the four movements of Path of Miracles are titled with the names of the four main staging posts of the "Camino Frances," the central axis of a network of pilgrimage routes to Santiago. Written by British composer Joby Talbot (born 1971) with passages in English, Galician and Latin, this iconic and impactful piece made a lasting mark on the international choral scene.
More...
Archive of old VAN Features
Want to see more coverage of the vocal ensemble
community? You can help! See your feature article here. You'll gain
valuable exposure as a writer about vocal ensemble music and your group
will benefit from the PR. Submit
proposals for approval to the editor.
NEWS
VAN welcomes news of interest to the
vocal ensemble community.
Send
stories to the editor.
- On March 13 and 14, Cantori New York celebrates the 85th birthday of noted African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork, who has served on Cantori’s Advisory Board for 25 years. This all-Hailstork tribute concert will feature two world premieres: a new chamber orchestration of his signature oratorio Crispus Attucks, the brand new Four Psalms and a revisit of Friends Eternal, which Cantori New York premiered a year ago. (2026-1-27)
- Harold Rosenbaum hosts Sounds Choral on WWFM on Sunday, October 5 at 2 PM (rebroadcast Tuesday, October 7 at 3 PM). The show will focus on sublime contemporary choral music that Harold has conducted and recorded over the decades. For details, visit www.wwfm.org/show/sounds-choral. (2025-9-30)
- West Side Rag has an article about auditioning for and singing with the Central City Chorus. (2025-9-10)
- The Long Island Community Chorus is the new name for the group formerly known as the Rockville Centre Choral Society. (2025-8-21)
- Chorus life is the backdrop for Angels’ Blood: Murder in the Chorus, the debut novel from Roberta Mantell, the pen name of Roberta Hershenson, who covered arts and culture for The New York Times as an independent writer and photographer for more than two decades and sang with the Oratorio Society of New York and The Cecilia Chorus of New York for more than twenty-five years. For details about the novel -- a deep dive into a fictional chorus dealing with two simultaneous mysteries: the murder of a young soprano after a concert and a disputed new 1899 Requiem discovered in the conductor's home -- visit robertamantell.com/angels-blood-murder-in-the-chorus/. (2025-7-12)
Archive of old
"News" items
Subscribe to VANupdate. Receive twice-monthly updates about
new content on Vocal Area Network. Get the latest news items,
upcoming vocal ensemble events, the most recent postings to the
VAN Concert Calendar, new site features and updates to Choir
Auditions, the Choir Directory and the Info Exchange.
Sign
up here.
NEW ON VAN
The latest additions to the site's
content and features.
- January 19, 2026: New link for Harmony Travel, offering combined performing and travel opportunities.
- December 15, 2025: New link for COROS.PT, listing choirs in Portugal.
- November 3, 2025: New link for Broadway Goes A Cappella, where the magic of Broadway meets the art of a cappella.
- October 29, 2025: New link for Best Broadway Musicals.
- October 7, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Young@Heart New York City, a group for folks 75 and older.
- October 5, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Khôra Consort, a new chorus and instrumental ensemble.
- October 3, 2025: Ah, choirs come and choirs go. We've done a culling of the listings in the Choir Directory with the goal of removing those groups that are no longer operating, insofar as we can determine. If your group was removed in error, please let us know and we'll happily whip up a brand new listing. And if you come across listings for groups that are no longer around, let us know and we'll do some further cleanup.
- September 29, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for the New York City Otaku Choir, a new community ensemble dedicated to celebrating music from anime, video games and Asian pop and folk traditions—alongside contemporary choral repertoire.
- September 16, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Skylands Chorale, a new SATB community choir in Ringwood, NJ.
- August 25, 2025: New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Mendelssohn Club of Albany. New Choir Directory listing for Octavo Singers of Schenectady. New Choir Directory listing and Choir Auditions ad for Albany Pro Musica. New Choir Directory listing for Saratoga Voices. Thanks to Clark Cooper for suggesting these listings.
Archive of
old "New on VAN" items
SERVICES
See also the
Info
Exchange.
- Need some exquisite beaded jewelry to complement your concert
attire or enhance your look on your next Zoom call? Or perhaps a distinctive gift for that special singer in your
life? Or maybe you'd like to host a jewelry show to benefit your
favorite non-profit organization? Try Carnelian
Knoll, where you'll find necklaces, bracelets and earrings of
vintage beads and silver handcrafted by Julie Siegmund.
- Looking for an outstanding vocal ensemble coach? Mark
Johnson, possessor of an amazing ear and terrific
interpretive insights in a variety of styles, is available to coach your
group. Contact Mark via e-mail.
- Learn ear training, theory and ensemble skills at the Lucy Moses School’s acclaimed
Sight-Singing program. Taught by Liz Fleisher, hailed as “one of New York’s great teachers” (New York Magazine)
and “a teacher who gets results” (New York Times), classes for
all skill levels help singers learn to read music for the first time or
refine their skills. These classes are for soloists, choral singers and
everyone who loves to sing. Learn more and register online at
www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/lms/program/sight-singing/. Or
contact us at 212-501-3360 or
lucymosesschool@kaufmanmusiccenter.org.
Your purchases from
our affiliate vendors help support VAN. VAN receives a referral
fee on everything you buy. Just click through from our site and
you'll be supporting VAN at no additional cost to you.
For our book and CD recommendations, visit the VAN
Store.
Vocal Area Network gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Sustaining Members
who have contributed during the past twelve months:
Vocal Area Network gratefully acknowledges the past support of
the following Sustaining Members:
For more about how you or your ensemble can help defray the costs of providing VAN's services,
visit the
Sustaining Membership page.