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About Schola Cantorum
Schola Cantorum of Syracuse, literally "School for Singers", is a chamber choir of twelve to sixteen members, both amateur and professional, devoted to the performance of music from the Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque eras; that is, music composed from about 1000 to 1700 AD.Early music can be of many different kinds, styles and qualities, including noble works by the greatest composers. Hearing them, one is reminded that their parent cultures also bred Dante, Shakespeare, Moliere, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and El Greco, to name a few.
A viol consort, consisting of professional musicians under the direction of Alex Rakov, and occasionally other early music consorts, contributes to each concert. These instrumentalists also provide accompaniment, solos and ensemble pieces on other period instruments such as lute and recorders.
Schola Cantorum annually presents a three-concert subscription series. Some concerts are presented twice--once at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church and again elsewhere in the community. Other venues have included Colgate University, Ithaca, and Cortland. Each summer Schola Cantorum also sponsors a choral workshop with invited conductors.
Director
Barry Torres, an early music specialist, is once again music director for Schola Cantorum. In his past tenure with the group, he recorded two great 15th Century masses: Missa Se la face ay pale of Guillaume Du Fay and Jean Ockeghem's Missa Prolationum.Mr. Torres is in his 11th year as Director of Music Ensembles at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. There he directs 4 vocal ensembles: the Laurentian Singers, a select choir of 28 undergraduate singers, University Chorus, a community choir of 60 voices, the Early Music Singers, a 12 voice a cappella ensemble, and the Gospel Choir and Band. He also teaches voice.
Mr. Torres is a singer and player of early winds, having appeared as countertenor soloist with the Orchestra of Northern New York, NYS Baroque, and was a member of Sonare. He is a graduate of the Syracuse University School of Music where he studied composition and theory.
Consort Master
Alexander Rakov received his education in performance and conducting from Leningrad Conservatory and has dedicated himself to performing early music since the early 1970s. He performs internationally on viola da gamba and lute and has directed collegia at St. Lawrence and Syracuse Universities. He is a former director of Schola Cantorum and is presently consort master, reviving a medieval-renaissance tradition of instrumental preludes before choral performances, originally church services.
History
Schola Cantorum of Syracuse began as a Collegium Musicum at Syracuse University under the direction of Donald Smithers in 1973. When Smithers left the university in 1976, Barry Torres took over as director. Other music directors have included Joyce Irwin, Bruce Campbell, Jay Hersher, Leonard Phillips and Alex Rakov.In 1982, the group incorporated as a non-profit organization and formed a board of directors. Schola Cantorum of Syracuse has received continuous funding since 1983 from the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as grants from the Onondaga County Cultural Resources Council in 2005 and 2006.
Your contributions to Schola Cantorum of Syracuse are fully deductible for federal and NY State income tax purposes according to the provisions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3) and NYS Charities Bureau (registration No. 14-37-08).
© 2002-2009 Schola Cantorum of Syracuse
P.O. Box 35189
Syracuse, NY 13235