Choirtap [k-wire-tap] - noun, verb, -tapped, -tapping, adjective.
1. a blog on, about, for and/or by the Phoenix Chorale. the act or instance of writing a blog about or pertaining to the Phoenix Chorale
read more…
Choirtap [k-wire-tap] - noun, verb, -tapped, -tapping, adjective.
For thirty days, our singers, staff, and board of directors worked towards achieving their individual goals during our spring fund drive – a campaign to keep us doing more of the same.
Thanks to your support, we raised over $64,000!
Thanks to your support, we’re going to keep doing
MORE OF THE SAME…
…intoxicating and magnetic performances
…extraordinary and remarkable recordings
…astonishing achievements and accolades
…rewarding friendships and fellowship
…and innovative & transformative art!
Friday, May 3, 2013, 7:00-9:00 pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
100 W. Roosevelt, Phoenix (map)
Free Admission
Hosted by the Phoenix Chorale and presented by Classical Revolution PHX, this free concert features the Paradise Winds and a variety of chamber ensembles comprised of the ASU Herberger Institute Collaborative Piano Studios.
This free concert takes place at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral during the First Friday Artwalk along Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix.
Music by: Joseph Horowitz, David Schnyder, Lee Hoiby, Francis Poulenc, Offenbach, John Dowland, Tom Peterson, Robbie McCarthy, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Antal Dorati, David R. Gillingham, W.A. Mozart and Johannes Brahms.
Performances by Paradise Winds with Jenna Daum, Tiffany Pan, Nikolaus Flickinger, Joshua Gardner, Stefanie Harger Gardner, Joseph Kluesener, and Patrick Murphy.
Performances by ASU Collaborative Piano Studio ensembles include:
Kelly Austermann with Luis Rodriguez
Jay Roberts & Skyler Foster with Aimee Fincher
Kerrie Caldwell with Brad Smith
Tiffany Pan with Drew Quiring
Annalise Belnap & Miriam Schildkret with Marla Nelson & Nathan Uhl
Please note: The Phoenix Chorale will NOT appear at this special presentation.

Announcing our
Amazing Grace - October 26-27, 2013
Our crowd-pleasing “Amazing Grace” program includes the Phoenix Chorale singing some of your favorite bluegrass, gospel, spirituals, and hymns – complete with bluegrass band!
Ceremony of Carols – A Chorale Christmas - December 19-22, 2013
An annual tradition for many Valley residents, “A Chorale Christmas” features festive favorites along with a special performance by the women of the Phoenix Chorale with renowned Kansas harpist Tabitha Reist Steiner in Benjamin Britten’s magnificent Ceremony of Carols.
Celtic Chorale - March 15-16, 2014
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with us as we journey to the Emerald Isle with song and merriment – we’ll serenade you with traditional Irish aires, wistful love songs and lilting Celtic tunes!
With the Kansas City Chorale - April 26-27, 2014
Charles Bruffy’s two GRAMMY Award-winning choirs join forces in Arizona for the first time since 2008. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Season tickets will go on sale later this summer – be sure to join our email list to stay updated on the latest details and information! To join our mailing list and receive our season brochure when it becomes available, please send an email with your address to: info@phoenixchorale.org.
Program notes for “Music From the Silver Screen” are now available. READ PROGRAM NOTES >>
Watch the trailer:
Here is the program:

See you this weekend! BUY TICKETS >>
The Phoenix Chorale will be wrapping up the 2012/2013 season at the end of the month with a blockbuster concert series called “Music from the Silver Screen.” With performances on April 27-28, the concerts will feature a lively exploration of some of the greatest music found in film.
One of the exciting pieces the Chorale will perform is “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana, a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935-1936. ”O Fortuna” was first introduced to mainstream media in the 1981, John Boorman film, Excalibur (trailer below).
O Fortuna is based on 24 of the 254 poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana, a manuscript composed of 11th – 13th century poems and dramatic texts, believed to be written by clergy in Italy and Western Europe for traveling scholars, universities and theologians. The collection of texts was discovered in 1803 in the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern in Bavaria (Germany).
When Orff came across an edition of the text over 100 years later, he selected and organized 24 of the poems in a libretto, mostly in Latin verse, with a bit of Middle High German and Old Provencal. The poem’s topics range from drinking, lust and gluttony, to fortune, joy, and the fleeting nature of life.
Upon the premiere of his piece at the Frankfurt Opera on June 8, 1937, Orff wrote his publisher saying, “Everything I have written to date, and which you have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With Carmina Burana, my collected works begin.” While Orff was correct in presuming the celebrity of this piece, it’s unlikely he would have guessed that it would eventually become a pop culture staple, frequently featured in films (as well as television shows and commercials) throughout the century.
The song has been used for dramatic effect (and later, parody) in numerous films since including: Glory (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Doors (1991), Natural Born Killers (1994), The General’s Daughter (1999), Detroit Rock City (1999), Jackass: The Movie (2002), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), and even G-Force (2009).
Nowadays, the song has even achieved YouTube fame with this animated “O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics” video, which has reached over 3,500,000 views and had us the Phoenix Chorale office crying with laughter (trust me, its worth taking a watch).
And for all you exhausted parents out there, you can’t not chuckle at this ”Ode to Sleep Deprived Parents and Terrorizing Toddlers” song, set to the music of “O Fortuna”.
And for our last video, who doesn’t love a good flashmob?
As you can see, the dramatic nature of “O Fortuna” has carried it to new and unexpected fame, but that doesn’t mean it can no longer be appreciated in the context of chorale artistry. Make sure you stop by to hear the Chorale take the piece out of the movies and back to its antecedent setting .
Read more about “Music from the Silver Screen”>>
-Alaina Hasenmiller, Marketing & Communications Intern
March 30-April 28, 2013
Our spring fund drive has begun and we’re asking you to help us do more of the same!
MORE OF THE SAME...
…intoxicating and magnetic performances
…extraordinary and remarkable recordings
…astonishing achievements and accolades
…rewarding friendships and fellowship
…innovative and transformative art
From March 30-April 28, 2013, our singers, staff, and board members are working towards achieving their individual goals to each find 30 people to give $30 or more in 30 days during our spring fund drive – a campaign to keep the GRAMMY-winning Phoenix Chorale doing more of the same.
Next Friday, April 5, the Phoenix Chorale is hosting the third-annual Classical Revolution Phoestival during the famous First Friday Artwalk in downtown Phoenix. The Phoestival features four stages and ten ensembles, doing a combined nineteen performances over a period of three hours… and it’s all FREE! The event is put on by Classical Revolution PHX, an advocacy group for classical and chamber music in the Phoenix Metro area who aims to strip away the classical music ‘pedestal’ by performing in unusual spaces and making the music accessible to the public. The Classical Revolution Phoestival begins at 6:30 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (100 W. Roosevelt Street) along Roosevelt Row.
Here is a rundown of the awesome local ensembles and performers who will be there:
If you read my first blog about the Phoenix Chorale’s Free Open Rehearsal you might remember my excitement about getting everyone I know to come to the next one. Well, this is it! This night is going to include all of the great aspects of Open Rehearsal (a free chance to watch the Chorale, free giveaways, an up-close look at the Grammy, located on Roosevelt Row on the same night as First Fridays) and much more! For fans of chamber music, it’s a chance to get everything you love in one place, for newbies (like me) it’s a chance to experience something fun and different, FOR FREE! I mean, what more could you ask for?
Show up in your work clothes, show up in your street clothes, show up in your giant taco hat, everyone is welcome. We hope to see you there!
- Alaina Hasenmiller, Marketing & Communications Intern