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BENJAMIN BRITTEN 1913–1976
English composer and conductor, and one of the most prominent figures of 20th century British classical music, known for works such as the War Requiem and the opera Peter Grimes. He received his earliest music education from his mother, and wrote his first composition when he was five. He later attended the Royal College of Music, where his teachers were wary of him having too much technical skill. After graduating, Britten was hired to score a series of documentaries. There he met the poet W. H. Auden, who became an artistic mentor, and encouraged the rather orthodox Britten to be more accepting of his homosexuality. Two years later, in 1937, Britten met the tenor Peter Pears through a mutual friend, and in 1939, the relationship turned romantic. Though not very political, Britten had been a dedicated pacifist since childhood, and as World War II began stirring in Europe, he and Pears followed Auden to the United States. It wasn’t until reading a poem describing his hometown that Britten became homesick and decided to return to England, where he registered as a conscientious objector. The poem also inspired his first opera, Peter Grimes, which opened in 1945, and featured Pears in the lead role. It was a commercial and critical success, and credited with resuscitating the tradition of British opera. Britten’s reputation was cemented, and the work that followed included several operas, the popular Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, and the founding of the Aldeburgh Festival which still runs today. Though successful in his time, Britten was excessively sensitive to criticism. He was known for cutting off ties completely with anyone who insulted or offended him, or ceased to be useful. But Britten’s “corpses” never included his partner Pears, for whom he wrote most of his works. And despite a threatening visit from the police in 1953, they were more or less permitted to live together openly. In 1962, Britten composed one of his best known works, the War Requiem, which featured Pears alongside a German baritone and a Russian soprano—though the soprano was barred from the premiere by the Soviet authorities who found the themes of world unity too controversial. One of Britten’s last works, Death in Venice, saw Pears performing a deeply personal opera that dealt with illness and repressed homosexuality. Britten died a few years later in Pears’ arms, having passed up a burial at Westminster Abbey so that he could eventually be interred alongside his partner.
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When your music is even gayer than you
New video by Switchdef Media! Interviews with queeristers and conductor Mark Reid, plus some thoughts on our fabulous imagery by founder Missy Clarkson and wardrobe stylist Adam Dickson.
Why a queer choir? To make queer art.
Cor Flammae is a project by queer singers and conductors to explore unsung queer perspectives in classical choral music. We create choral music experiences for queer people, by queer people, and deepen the understanding of historical and modern queer experiences for everyone.
How does a rejection by mainstream society in a conservative genre impact art and career? How can we help queer music lovers and performers to feel welcome, encouraged, and invited to the choral music world, where they do not often see reflections of themselves or their journeys in popular writing and performance?
Cor Flammae seeks to answer these questions through the often marginalized lens of our shared life experiences as queer musicians.
Sing with us: corflammae.com/auditions
"In today's climate in our country, which is sickened with the pollution of pollution, threatened with the prominence of AIDS, riddled with burgeoning racism, rife with growing huddles of the homeless, we need art and we need art in all forms. We need all methods of art to be present, everywhere present, and all the time present." – Maya Angelou #worldAIDSday #rethinkHIV #wad2015
Happy birthday, Benjamin Britten! Please enjoy Cor Flammae's performance of his wonderful work, 'Rejoice in the Lamb,' from our FALLEN ANGELS concert. Conductor: Stephen Smith Organ: Gerald Harder Solos: Kiyomi Hori, Caitlin Robinson, Bruce Hoffman, Peter Alexander
A letter from Felicia Bernstein to Leonard Bernstein, who was born on Aug 25, 1918:
"Darling,
If I seemed sad as you drove away today it was not because I felt in any way deserted but because I was left alone to face myself and this whole bloody mess which is our “connubial” life. I’ve done a lot of thinking and have decided that it’s not such a mess after all.
First: we are not committed to a life sentence—nothing is really irrevocable, not even marriage (though I used to think so).
Second: you are a homosexual and may never change—you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?
Third: I am willing to accept you as you are, without being a martyr or sacrificing myself on the L.B. altar. (I happen to love you very much—this may be a disease and if it is what better cure?) It may be difficult but no more so than the “status quo” which exists now—at the moment you are not yourself and this produces painful barriers and tensions for both of us—let’s try and see what happens if you are free to do as you like, but without guilt and confession, please!
As for me—once you are rid of tensions I’m sure my own will disappear. A companionship will grow which probably no one else may be able to offer you. The feelings you have for me will be clearer and easier to express—our marriage is not based on passion but on tenderness and mutual respect. Why not have them?
I know now too that I need to work. It is a very important part of me and I feel incomplete without it. I may want to do something about it soon. I am used to an active life, and then there is that old ego problem.
We may have gotten married too soon and yet we needed to get married and we’ve not made a mistake. It is good for us even if we suffer now and make each other miserable—we will both grow up some day and be strong and unafraid either together or apart—after all we are both more important as individuals than a “marriage” is.
In any case my dearest darling ape, let’s give it a whirl. There’ll be crisis (?) from time to time but that doesn’t scare me any more. And let’s relax in the knowledge that neither of us is perfect and forget about being HUSBAND AND WIFE in such strained capital letters, it’s not that awful!
There’s a lot else I’ve got to say but the pill has overpowered me. I’ll write again soon. My wish for the week is that you come back guiltless and happy.
-F"
After an inaugural season that saw over 100 people turned away and ticket scalpers outside a choral venue, Cor Flammae, Canada’s first queer classical chorus, is back with FALLEN ANGELS: Sacred + Profane Works, a collection of pieces by queer composers explored in venues that delve into the complex relationship between sexuality and spirituality. Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Queer Arts Festival, this incendiary concert celebrates the sacred and profane with performances held in a church and a sex club.
Check out our concert programme! Concerts July 17th + 18th - corflammae.com/events
Meet our composers: Shane Raman (b. 1978)
After earning a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from The University of British Columbia, Shane has gone on to perform with Vancouver Cantata Singers, Vancouver Opera, Phoenix Chamber Choir, Vancouver Peace Choir and Vancouver Chamber Choir. Shane regularly leads choral workshops with local choirs and other groups of singers.
Shane is also a composer/arranger/songwriter of choral, broadway and pop music. His pieces have been performed by Vancouver Cantata Singers, musica intima, Cor Flammae, McGill Choral Society Chamber Choir, and The University of New York at Oneonta Chamber Singers. UBC's University Singers and Vancouver Cantata Singers have recorded Shane's pieces. More recently, Shane has been singing small roles in new operas and vocal works, as well as performing in musicals and performing his own pop music.
Raman sings with musica intima and Cor Flammae, and teaches private voice at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music and at the Delta Community Music School.
Meet our composers: Eric Banks (b. 1969)
Banks was born in Roscoe, New York, United States in 1969. He is the founding director of the vocal ensembles, The Esoterics and Ædonis. As a composer, Banks writes primarily for a cappella chorus. He is a polyglot and frequently sets texts in languages other than his native English, including dead languages such as Epic Greek and Avestan. In June 2010, Eric was granted the prestigious Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and the American Composers Forum to compose This delicate universe, a cantata based on climate-change statistics, for the choral ensemble Conspirare in Austin. He currently holds commissions from the Boston Children’s Chorus, Clerestory, Kitka, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Seattle Opera, the Singapore Youth Ensemble, the Verge Ensemble, and Voces Nordicæ. Eric taught music theory, music history, musicianship, composition, and voice at Cornish College of the Arts from 2004 to 2012, and has been a visiting scholar at the Cama Oriental Institute in Mumbai, India.
Meet our composers: Hussein Janmohamed  (b. 1969)
Our of Cor Flammae’s inaugural conductors, Hussein is a singer, composer and musical educationalist passionate about choral music. A South Asian Ismaili Muslim, born in Kenya, raised in Central Alberta and nurtured in Bristish Columbia, music was the inspiration for him to transform negativity through racism and discrimination into something more positive. Singing with others was the bridge between choral music in school and congregational recitation in the prayer hall allowing Hussein to reconcile his Canadian and Muslim identities. Knowing first hand the power of group singing, Hussein is dedicated to making it possible for young people of all backgrounds to access and enjoy the benefits of creating and singing choral music of the highest level while contributing their strengths and diversities to a plural Canada.Â
Meet our composers: Rodney Sharman (b.1958)
Rodney Sharman has been Composer-in-Residence with the Victoria Symphony, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In addition to concert music, Sharman writes music for cabaret, opera and dance. He works regularly with choreographer James Kudelka, for whom he has written scores for Oregon Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and the Coleman Lemieux (Toronto). Recent premieres include Notes on "Beautiful", a transformation of music by Stephen Sondheim for New York pianist Anthony de Mare, and Violin Concerto, for Jonathan Crow and the Victoria Symphony conducted by Tania Miller. Sharman was awarded First Prize in the 1984 CBC Competition for Young Composers and the 1990 Kranichsteiner Prize in Music, Darmstadt, Germany. His chamber opera, Elsewhereless, with libretto and direction by Atom Egoyan, was performed in concert in Amsterdam, and staged thirty-five times since its 1998 premiere in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.
Cor Flammae is excited to perform Sharman’s Winter Solstice at our concerts in July 2015! corflammae.com/events
Christie’s auction house is selling over 100 rare photos, prints and drawings by Andy Warhol to coincide with LGBT Pride month. The unique collection, sourced [...]
In August of 2013, Cor Flammae’s founders attended Canada’s first lesbian opera, WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT by Leslie Uyeda, and were inspired to create a choral group of the same high classical calibre! We are now thrilled to announce that we will be premiering a brand new, Cor Flammae-commissioned work by Uyeda at our concerts in July 2015! corflammae.com/events
During 20 years in opera, Leslie Uyeda worked as a coach, pianist and conductor with the Canadian Opera Company, L’Opera de Montreal, Manitoba Opera, Opera Hamilton, the Banff Centre and the Chautauqua Institute of Music in New York. She also collaborated with some of Canada’s best singers, performing recitals with Tracy Dahl, Richard Margison, Brett Polegato, Wendy Neilsen, Heather Pawsey, Liping Zhang, Jean Stilwell and Viviane Houle. After moving to Vancouver, Uyeda became Chorus Music Director at Vancouver Opera, where she also conducted several mainstage productions.
Uyeda started composing at a very young age. A few years ago she left her positions at Vancouver Opera and the University of British Columbia to compose full time.Â
Meet our composers: Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) Widely performed throughout the country, the music of American composer Gwyneth Walker is beloved by performers and audiences alike for its energy, beauty, reverence, drama, and humor. Dr. Gwyneth Walker is a graduate of Brown University and the Hartt School of Music. She holds B.A., M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Music Composition. A former faculty member of the Oberlin College Conservatory, she resigned from academic employment in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer. For nearly 30 years, she lived on a dairy farm in Braintree, Vermont. She now divides her time between her childhood hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut and the musical communities of Sarasota, Florida and Randolph, Vermont. Gwyneth Walker has been a proud resident of Vermont for many years. She is the recipient of the Year 2000 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Vermont Arts Council as well as the 2008 "Athenaeum Award for Achievement in the Arts and Humanities" from the St. Johnsbury (VT) Athenaeum. In 2012, she was elected as a Fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences. Walker's catalog includes over 300 commissioned works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, and solo voice. A special interest has been dramatic works that combine music with readings, acting, and movement. The music of Gwyneth Walker is published by E.C. Schirmer (choral/vocal music) and Lauren Keiser Music (orchestral/instrumental music).
Benjamin Britten riding a roller coaster with Peter Pears.
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