Hello Friends,
I have a decision to make in on a rather tight timeline and I REALLY need your input.
TL;DR;…
If we were going to put a DCS choir together for the ACDA National Convention next March, how likely would you be to audition for said choir?
As you may know, we have just returned from Slovenia where DCS was in the finals for the European Grand Prix, perhaps the most prestigious choral festival on the planet. The choir sang their hearts out, but in the last place, the prize went to a choir from Slovenia.
Had we won, we would have been invited to appear as the exhibition choir at the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong in the summer of 2027, which would have likely led to a more extensive trip to include Singapore and Indonesia as well.
Well… we didn’t win.
In my infinite wisdom, while hoping for the best, I submitted an application for DCS to appear on the ACDA National Convention to be held in Minneapolis on March 7-10, 2027. (The application deadline was literally the day we left for Slovenia!) As we are neither beast nor fowl, I entered us in the “community choir” category, as that best defines who we are as an ensemble. The upside is that there will likely be far fewer applications in that category than say, for university choirs. But the tricky part is that I will not hear from ACDA until sometime in June as to whether we’ll receive an invitation to perform.
My original intention was to see what happened in Slovenia. If we won, and we were subsequently selected for ACDA, we’d use Minneapolis as a run-up to the Hong Kong event. If we didn’t win, I’d call ACDA this week and respectfully withdraw our application before they got too far into the jury/review process.
As I write this, I have not yet withdrawn.
Here’s why…
- There are future DCS projects on the drawing board for 2028 (South Africa) and Asia (2029). But at this moment, nothing for 2027. (Likely a UD Chorale tour to South America in mid-June, 2027 which may or may not include some DCS add-ons, but that will likely collide with the schedules of most if not all full-time teachers.)
- The run-up to Tolosa, and subsequently to Slovenia, was really special. The chemistry in this particular group of singers was extraordinary, made even more so by invited guest clinicians on rehearsal weekends from Germany and the UK. Many commented in Slovenia about how much the community of the choir meant to them and how eager they are to experience that again in a group of such a high caliber. (And the guest clinician thing will always be part of the model for future projects.)
- But as things are looking now, it will be over two years between our trip to Slovenia and the next potential project in South Africa. We have momentum going now with a strong presence on social media, but I’m not sure we can sustain that for another two years without a significant project in the pipeline.
What would the ACDA project look like?
- There would be three rehearsal weekends, two in early fall (Sep/Oct) and another in late February, just before the conference.
- I would work to raise as much money as I can to subsidize hotels and flights, but you would likely have to kick in a few hundred bucks.
- The audition process would be like that for previous DCS projects, with external reviewers in the first round, then a narrowing down in the final stages by … me. Audition submissions would likely be due sometime in July.
Make up of the choir? Repertoire?
This will be a brand new roster based on auditions. No roll-overs!
Here’s the program I submitted that includes a brand new commission by my South African friend, Sabelo:
1. O Frondens Virga – Hildegard von Bingen 45” CPDL: https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/a/a8/O-frondens-virga.pdf. (Liturgical text)
2. Dendang Alam Khatulistiwa – Ken Steven 4’47” MUSIKSEA: https://www.muziksea.com/shop/424-dendang-alam-khatulistiwa-song-of-the-equatorial-nature-ssattb.html. (Indonesian folklore)
3. In s Strange Land (from O Great Beyond) – Thomas Lavoy 4’41” https://www.thomaslavoy.com/o-great-beyond (Rabindranath Tagore, The Gardener, 1913)
4. Seid fröhlich in Hoffnung – Gottfried August Homilus 3’10”. https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien//00/0174700/0174700x.pdf (Romans 12, 12)
5. Hear My Prayer – Henry Purcell 2’32” CPDL: https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/2/2d/Purcell_Hear_my_prayer.pdf. (Psalm 102)
6. The Love of Thousands – Reena Esmail 4’45” https://www.reenaesmail.com/catalog/the-love-of-thousands-satb-version/ (Hindu/English text by Linda Hogan)
7. For Such a Time as This – Sabelo Mthembu 4’ (WORLD PREMIERE) Text drawn from African Proverb: “We were born for such a time as this. When we rise together. Many can be saved.”
So what happens now?
Simply put, I need to get a sense of what the audition pool would look like if I decide to keep our application in the race! If that looks like that for previous audition cycles for Tolosa and New Zealand – we’re good to go. But if I don’t feel we have the right personnel for a balanced choir of the highest caliber (We keep raising the bar in that regard!), then I will pull the plug and ask ACDA the rescind our application.
And here’s the tricky part. I NEED TO MAKE THAT DECISION BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK!!!
ARE YOU INTERESTED?
A quick recap:
- I won’t move forward unless enough people CLICK THROUGH TO THE WEBFORM to provide enough data that we could have a world class choir.
- And then we have to wait until we hear from ACDA to see if we are invited.
- Then it would be a quick launch for auditions, with an application where you would have to indicate availability so we can choose rehearsal weekends.
- Rehearsals in Sept, Oct, and Feb.
- Convention in March
You are also welcome to share this post with people you think might be interested in participating in this world-class ensemble. I’m eager to see who weighs in!
ONCE AGAIN, I need to get back to ACDA by the end of next week, so I’m asking that your respond to this form by midnight on Sunday, April 26 – even if you’re not interested at all. I want to make sure we reach all qualified applicants.
Again – HERE’S THE NON-BINDING WEBFORM
pdh
DCS ATTIRE AND MERCH:
In the meantime, we have finally been able to establish DCS jackets, hoodies, tees and assorted merch. Sarah Wojcik has championed this cause so we now have a full line of products with the DCS logo. These are available to ANYONE who participated in a DCS project, as well as friends and supporters.
The button below will take you to the Delaware Choral Scholars’ official merch store!
The store is open to friends, current members, and alumni, and includes a variety of items if you’d like to show your support for the ensemble.
Password: dcs2026
A couple of quick notes:
- Orders over $125 qualify for free shipping and 15% off using the daily code listed on the site
- You may want to coordinate with others to take advantage of the discount
- Just for the record, DCS doesn’t make any money on these products. The prices shown are directly from the distributor.
We hope you enjoy checking it out!