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Jitro Czech Girls Choir closes WMPAC winter season
Published
8 years agoon
By John Zirkle WMPAC Artistic Director
The girls choir Jitro, which means “daybreak” in Czech, is an extremely successful and world-renowned arts organization that has no single “leading player.”
The international touring act will perform at Warren Miller Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. This is the final act of the 2015-2016 WMPAC winter season and the choir will perform pieces from the contemporary, classical, and folk repertoire of the Czech Republic.
For more than 40 years, the choral institution has successfully nurtured thousands of Czech girls to become expert musicians before they’re 20 years old. There are comparable organizations that focus on youth and music education around the world, like the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Venezuela and the Vienna Boys Choir, but Jitro is truly unique. When you experience the group’s sound you find yourself caught in an almost paradoxical combination of simplicity and complexity, levity and density, clarity and awe.
The formula is simple, but the dedication to that formula over multiple decades is what makes this group so special. Every August since 1976, Jitro’s conductor Jiří Skopal has traveled to all the primary schools in Hradec Králové, the choir’s hometown, and surrounding villages, to listen to every new kindergartner and first grader sing Czech folk songs. He and his wife Květa then invite the best singers from each class to join the choral organization.
Once they sign up, the girls begin rehearsals and work their way up the ranks for up to 14 years. They sing with the same girls, under the baton of the same conductor, and tour with the same red costumes the entire way through.
As the singers grow, they pay constant attention to negotiating the territory of finding balance, correct intonation, and mature interpretations of phrasing. Over the span of 10-plus years, they learn to sacrifice the individual’s need to shine and instead master what it means to be a part of a greater whole.
It’s an oddly socialist sentiment – benefit the group before yourself – that rings especially true for a group from Eastern Europe, but that’s how great choral music works. If the girls make it to the top 25 in the choir – out of about 350 girls – they get to spread the Czech gospel of choral music around the world. For the Montana tour, they are bringing their top 17 singers.
As the WMPAC artistic director, every now and then I get to reach within my own personal networks to bring artists to our community. That was the case with Antonii Baryshevksyi, the Ukrainian pianist we presented in our debut season, and I had the opportunity to meet and work with Jitro nearly a decade ago on a Watson Fellowship.
When I heard the group for the first time, my life was changed forever in an instant. When they sang their first chord, I became fully aware of the potential of youth and their ability to bring something to light that was not merely excellent, but heart-shatteringly inspiring.
My journal entry from that day in Czech Republic sums it up perfectly: “… Today is the best day of my life.”
Visit warrenmillerpac.org for more information or to purchase tickets.
Megan Paulson is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Outlaw Partners.
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy
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My Barking Dog is a nightmare comedy that tells the story of Toby and Melinda, two lonely people whose lives are forever changed the night they encounter a starving coyote at their apartment building. Over time they grow to expect him, leaving ritual offerings to entice the coyote every night. Toby and Melinda forge a connection over this visitor and share curiosity and concern about his presence in the city. The coyote expands their world–until, one night, their world is shattered. Their lives are pushed suddenly into uncharted territory, sending them on a surreal odyssey that changes their city–and the world–forever.
Directed by LX Miller. Starring Max Schneider and Denise Hergett
Verge Theater is continuing their mission to provide accessible theater to our community. Tickets for My Barking Dog are Pay What You Wish with a suggested price of $35. Audience members are offered the opportunity to select the price point that is comfortable for them when purchasing tickets.
My Barking Dog runs March 15-17, 22-24, 28-30
Performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday matinees offered at 3:00 p.m.
Suitable for ages 16 . No animals are harmed in the staging of this production.
Tickets are available online at www.vergetheater.com
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15 (Friday) 7:00 pm - 30 (Saturday) 8:30 pm
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Verge Theater
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
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March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
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Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
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Thursday of the Lord’s Supper Mass St. Joseph Catholic Mission
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Thursday of the Lord’s Supper Mass
St. Joseph Catholic Mission
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(Thursday) 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm