◆ SV musicians will add their talents to virtual concert.

Eight vocalists from the Salt River Chamber Chorus are lending their voices to a virtual Spring Choir Festival that includes 70 members from six choirs in Teton, Lincoln and Sublette Counties.

Hosted by Jackson Hole’s Cathedral Voices Chamber Choir, the progressive festival includes masterclasses and sessions featuring musical authorities from across the nation and vocalists from Cathedral Voices, Pinedale Festival Choir, Petrichoral, Salt River Chamber Chorus, Treble Voices, and Voices 8.

Artistic Director Laura Huckin authored a digital format for the festival as Cathedral Voices third biennial Spring Choral Festival came under the shadow of Covid-19 and was threatened with cancellation. Now, thanks to a blend of technical and musical collaboration, the festival will proceed in a purely digital format, streaming online May 16-17, from Jackson Hole.

“I guess it was my own stubbornness,” said Huckin about the festival’s transition from a physical to a digital format. “I refused to just cancel and give up because so many of us had been working so hard for so many months. There was all that energy and momentum going somewhere, so we needed to channel that energy and momentum in a new direction rather than destroy what we had started. I just thought, ‘We will do a virtual choir.’ I had no idea what that meant or what it would take. It took us a few weeks to restructure and find the players and the partners to help with the tech side, but I didn’t see a reason why not. I mean, if the whole world has all this technology, why shouldn’t we strive to take advantage of that and provide something that is essential to people’s sanity and give them some hope and a light at the end of the tunnel?”

“There’s so much learning that has been going on, and now we are adding virtual panelists and conductors from universities across the country who are going to be speaking as part of this virtual festival and that wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t cancelled the physical one,” said Huckin. “Exciting things have happened. It’s being open to the possibilities when they come your way or seeking them out that makes it all exciting.”

The 2020 Spring Festival will now be a two-day musical and educational experience that anyone in the world can access at cathedralvoices.org. There will be interest sessions and interviews with notable conductors and composers as well as two virtual performances by the Spring Festival’s Virtual Choir.

In preparation, singers are watching recorded rehearsals and participating in Zoom sessions to study their parts, which will be individually recorded and then combined digitally.

Huckin, who brings vast choral and instrumental talent and experience to the project, makes her home in Alpine with her husband and two children. She has been the Artistic Director with Cathedral Voices since 2009 and has long hoped for a collaborative effort between Cathedral Voices and the Salt River Chorus. She reached out to James Arbizu, director of the Salt River Symphony and Chorus, over a year ago with ideas for a project between the communities.

“I thought it would be nice to bridge the divide over the canyon and see the communities a little more connected,” said Huckin. “We want everyone to participate. This expands the musical community in Western Wyoming, and I like to think that this is bringing us together.”

As Huckin and Arbizu worked on the project of aligning the two choirs, Huckin stepped into the role of conductor for the newly created Salt River Chamber Choir, which is an auditioned group of 24 vocalists.
“Our former chorus director was in the middle of another project and had stepped down,” said Arbizu. “There was no director for the Salt River Chamber Chorus, so we had a need for a director, and Laura had a desire to collaborate, so she agreed to donate her time, which is really generous.”

With challenging music to learn and small numbers, the Salt River Chamber Choir began rehearsals for the festival in January. After only five live rehearsals, the small chorus closed live rehearsals in March, and eight of the chorus members have continued with the digital format.

Guest conductors and composers who are contributing include Dr. Geoffrey Boers (University of Washington), Dr. Nicole Lamartine (University of Wyoming), Dr. Jo-Michael Schiebe (University of Southern California) and Dr. Anton Armstrong (St. Olaf College, Minnesota). As the festival evolved into a digital format, Dr. Boers became the conductor of the virtual choir, creating master classes and technique videos for the choir members.

“Patrick Mallard is the technical director for the Center for the Arts in Jackson,” said Huckin. “He and I have been working to find the right technical process to do this. He was on board from the very beginning and thought it was a cool project and I am really grateful for him. It wouldn’t be happening without him.”
Dr. Boers has been on Huckin’s list of potential guests for a while and comes to the festival through thoughtful choice. “He has sensitivity and empathy for the individual singer and conductor involved. It’s not just about having them produce the right sound, but that they grow from the inside out into a better person through the music.”

With primary emphasis on training the whole conductor, Boers strives to find and implement rehearsal and teaching techniques that inspire the musicians to become their best selves through their musical experiences.

“My mission is to develop conductors who are whole conductors,” said Boers. “Not just conductors, not just teachers, not just scholars, not just musicians, but servant leaders and people who are caretakers of our culture.”

Boers applauds Huckin and her teams of technicians and musicians. “We are doing the impossible, and what we do will be heroic and it will be touching, and it will be beautiful.”

Reflecting on the efforts of everyone involved, Boers shared a statement by iconic composer Leonard Bernstein about how musicians respond in a time of crisis. “Bernstein said ‘We make music more fiercely.’ We might not be making music perfectly, but we are going to make music fiercely and passionately, and we hope that people will recognize that and will always remember the importance of art in our culture because it’s something that we have to do together.”

Festival events will begin streaming Saturday May 16 at 6 p.m. and Virtual Choir performances will stream at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 17.

For details on all festival events, visit cathedralvoices.org.