Our Crowdfunding Groups
The University of Maryland Chamber Singers are honored to be one of only 20 choirs selected from around the globe to perform at the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music, this coming August in Seoul, South Korea. To help pay our transportation costs and to ensure that financial need does not keep any of our student members from taking part in this incredible opportunity for international musical exchange, we have set an initial goal of raising $8,000 for our cause.
UPDATE: Because of the success we have experienced in this rapid climb toward our original goal of $8,000, we have RE-SET our GOAL to $20,000 and hope that everyone will spread the word to anyone and everyone who can take part! Thank you to everyone who has contributed thus far!
The University of Maryland Chamber Singers have achieved international renown over the past decade with acclaimed performances of the most challenging choral repertoire ranging from the 16th through the 21st centuries. The ensemble made its first European tour in 2007 with a prize winning appearance at the International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales. In 2011 they were awarded the Premier Prix for Mixed Choirs and the Prix Ronsard for Renaissance Singing at the 40th Florilège Vocal de Tours in France.
The Chamber Singers have collaborated frequently with the National Symphony Orchestra in major works such as the Bach B minor Mass and Handel’s Messiah and will return to the Kennedy Center in December 2014 to perform with the NSO and Helmuth Rilling in a program of Bach Cantatas. Along with their regular professional symphonic collaborations, the ensemble specializes in the most important a cappella repertoire of the 20th century, having presented over the past decade many of the masterpieces of Barber, Britten, Copland, Debussy, Howells, Penderecki, Poulenc and Schönberg.
In addition to singing regularly under their founding director, Edward Maclary, the UMD Chamber Singers have collaborated with internationally renowned conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, Helmuth Rilling, and Iván Fischer. They also have worked with many of the world’s best known early music specialists, such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Paul Hillier, Peter Philips and Kenneth Slowik. The group has appeared on multiple occasions by invitation at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Most recently the UMD Chamber Singers appeared as the featured ensemble at the 2013 conference of the NCCO in a highly acclaimed concert led by the new Artistic Director of the Oregon Bach Festival, Matthew Halls.
Organized every three years under the patronage of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), the World Symposium on Choral Music is a unique gathering of the world’s most prestigious choral conductors and choirs. The 10th World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM 10) will take place in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), on August 6th to 13th. 2014 with the theme “Healing and Youth.”
For more information, visit the Symposium's website: http://www.wscm10.org/
"There is not any Musicke of Instruments whatsoever, comparing to that which is made of the voyces of Men, where the voyces are good, and the same well sorted and ordered." -William Byrd
Being chosen to perform at the World Symposium on Choral Music confirms that the UMD Chamber Singers are one of the best ensembles of their kind in the world. Our student singers have achieved such a level of excellence through a combination of great talent, superior musicianship, and strong intellect. The key ingredient though is hard work and a tremendous amount of it! Your support of their efforts means that you also recognize that all the time and attention that they give to making meaningful and beautiful music at the highest level possible is worth it. The UMD Chamber Singers bring honor and recognition to the University of Maryland and to its School of Music with their artistic and passionate performances and they represent the very best our student body has to offer!
"Music is the universal language of mankind." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Receive a personalized thank-you note.
Receive a "singing telegram" from Chamber Singers by phone.
Receive special access to our travel blog, plus all the perks listed above.
An invitation to attend special rehearsals prior to our trip, plus all the perks listed above.
A member of Chamber Singers will give a solo performance at your home, plus all the perks listed above.
Select members of Chamber Singers will perform at your home, plus all the perks listed above.