PSALLAM! RSCM America News & Info
December 2013 
 

On behalf of everyone on RSCM America's Board of Directors, I pray that this season of joy, love, and new birth may fill your hearts, your souls, and your minds with peace, with comfort, and with hope for the brightest of futures in the weeks and months ahead.

The Board of Directors will gather for our annual meeting on January 19-21, 2014 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Orlando, Fla. We will be very excited to welcome a new Board member to this meeting--Dr. John Wahlstrom of Minnesota, to whom we extend a hearty welcome. Please keep our Board in your prayers for safe travels and clear minds and hearts. As always, please let us know if you have any comments, questions, compliments, or concerns that you would like us to discuss!

Soli Deo Gloria,
 Andrew's signature
Andrew Walker
President, RSCM America
andrew@stmichaelschurch.com

In This E-mail
The RSCM America Choir Sings at Westminster Abbey
Anthem Competition Update
Gift Memberships
Year-End Donations
New Syllabus for Bronze and Silver Awards
RSCM News from Around the World
The RSCM America Choir Sings at Westminster Abbey, December 2014-January 2015
Those of you that read all of the e-mails from our office know that we are very excited by the response to-date for our Westminster Abbey residency:

 

Eleven sopranos

 

Three altos

 

Six tenors

 

Four basses

 

 

That's a total of 24 voices, and I know of at least six others that have mentioned to me: "My audition is coming!" We have extended the audition deadline to January 31, 2014, though December 31, 2014 is preferred! We need more auditions from altos to come in, and two to four more basses would be good as well. This trip is a go if we have a minimum of 30 voices, though we can go as high as 40! 

 

Great ingenuity was shown by everyone in the manner that their video or audio audition was sent, including via YouTube and vimeo.com. I have listened to all of the auditions sent in to date, and Bruce Neswick is in the process of doing the same. Once he has finished, he and I will put our heads together and come up with a list of those that have been selected as of that date. This list should be out by the beginning of the new year, and we aim to have the final list finished by the first week or two in February. So... 

 

If you have not done so already, send in your audition!! 


We have a wonderful representation of our membership so far: those in their twenties to those in their sixties, singers, choir directors, organists, and even a few professors from academia!

Click here for updated details and an audition form.

Anthem Competition Update
The deadline for entries passed in November, and we received six entries! All of the adjudicators felt that this was a great start to our endeavor to promote the composition of new music for choirs.

At this time, all identifying marks concerning each composer have been removed, a number has been assigned to each piece, and each composition has been sent off to our panel of judges: Katherine Dienes-Williams, Simon Lole, Bruce Neswick, Craig Phillips, and Richard Webster. We are planning to announce a winning composition, providing that the judges select one, by February 15, 2014. As one of the requirements was that the piece be easily accessible to an average church choir, any winning piece will be offered to all of our Summer Training Courses as a possible late addition to their repertoire list.

Psallam Spiritu et Mente!
RSCM America promotes excellence in church music practice and choral singing, is part of the worldwide network of The Royal School of Church Music, and works in collaboration with Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
Gift Memberships
Looking for the perfect gift for a church musician this Christmas? Consider the gift of an RSCM membership! Memberships start at just $55 and are a wonderful way to thank a choir director, involve an adult chorister, inspire a youth chorister, or honor a colleague. Visit the Membership Information section of our website for membership forms and a list of benefits by category.
Year-End Donations
Please consider supporting RSCM America with a year-end donation!
By supporting RSCM America, you ensure that our work continues and help to safeguard the future of church music. We appreciate every donation of any size, and contributions are tax-deductible. Visit A View to the Future to donate online or by mail. We thank you!
New Syllabus for Bronze and Silver Awards
VOICE for LIFE logo
A new syllabus and music lists for the RSCM Bronze and Silver Awards will go into effect for all exams beginning Easter 2014. Visit our RSCM Awards page for full details, and to download both the current syllabus and the new syllabus!
RSCM News from
Around the World
Summer in January? Yes, if you are at the opposite end of the world! Here is information about the 2014 Summer School in Melbourne, Australia, January 3-10, 2014. (Perusing their schedule of events, I love that tea-time occurs in both the morning and the afternoon, and that there is a "Happy Half-
Hour" almost every day!)

RSCM France is going strong. On October 26, they held a Singing Day.

News of local choristers earning their RSCM medals made it into the online newspaper in Leighton Buzzard, U.K. Here's an article with a picture--love the neon-green shoelaces!

Numerous former choristers that had spent time at one of the courses at Addington Palace in the U.K. (the headquarters of the RSCM until 1996) returned there in October of this year for a reunion. According to this report from the Croydon Advertiser, the furthest traveler came from California. Was it one of you?
 
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