Schola Cantorum de Venezuela (formerly known as Schola Cantorum de Caracas) is one of the most important choral societies belonging to the growing choral movement in Venezuela. SCV was founded in 1967 by Alberto Grau, a Venezuelan composer and conductor born in 1937 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Currently, the choir is conducted by

María Guinand Maria Guinand (born 1953 in Caracas, Venezuela) is an internationally renowned choral conductor. María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England, in 1976 and 1982, respectively. Guina ...

(chief conductor) and Ana María Raga (associate conductor), with the assistance of young conductors Pablo Morales Daal and Victor Leonardo Gonzalez. Schola Cantorum de Venezuela works under the sponsorship of the Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, a Non-Profit Organization that oversees several other choirs such as: Cantoría Alberto Grau, Pequeños Cantores de la Schola and Schola Juvenil. Together they provide a complete system to promote and develop choral music in Venezuela. To date, SCV has a repertoire of more than 50 major symphonic-choral works and has performed under the batons of highly acclaimed conductors such as Sir

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was bor ...

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

Robert Spano Robert Spano ( ; born 7 May 1961, Conneaut, Ohio) is an American conductorDavidson, Justin. "CLASSICAL MUSIC: Looking for Magic: Mixing visuals and language into a performance is just part of conductor Robert Spano's pursuit of orchestral risk" ...

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and

Edmon Colomer Edmon Colomer is a Spanish conductor from Barcelona. He conducted Joaquín Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' in 1991, in which Paco de Lucia Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in ...

among others. In 1996, SCV performed the world premiere of Oceana by

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family ...

under the direction of María Guinand in the

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. In 2000, at the Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, SCV premiered " La Pasión según San Marcos" by Osvaldo Golijov under the direction of María Guinand. The recording of this concert received two Grammy nominations in 2002. In 2006, SCV was invited to the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna to premiere the opera ''

A Flowering Tree ''A Flowering Tree'' is an opera in two acts composed by John Adams with libretto by Adams and Peter Sellars, and commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, the San Francisco Symphony, the Barbican Centre in London, the Lincoln Cente ...

'', composed and conducted by acclaimed American

. Produced by

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

, a second edition of the work was performed at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

in London in 2007. New recordings for ''La pasión según San Marcos'' and ''A Flowering Tree'' have been recorded and were released in 2008 by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

and

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labels, respectively.

Recordings

SCV has recorded numerous LPs, Audio tapes and CDs as follows: * ''Aguinaldos venezolanos''. Volumen 1 (LP, 1969). * ''Villancicos y canciones profanas del renacimiento español'' (LP, 1971). * ''Aguinaldos y villancicos''. Volumen 2 (LP, 1974). * ''Obras del XXII Concurso Guido D'Arezzo'' (LP, 1974). * ''Antología del madrigal venezolano''. Volumen 1 (LP, 1975). * ''Antología del madrigal venezolano''. Volumen 2 (LP, 1975). * ''Tomás Luis de Victoria y otros autores'' (LP, 1982). * ''Antología O Magnum Mysterium'' (Audio Tape, 1984). * ''Schola Cantorum en concierto''. Volumen 1 (Audio Tape, 1985). * ''Schola Cantorum en concierto''. Volumen 2 (Audio Tape, 1985). * ''Scholatinoamericana'' (Audio Tape, 1985). * ''Concierto de Navidad'' (Audio Tape, 1985). * ''Cantata Criolla de Antonio Estévez - Chôros No. 10 de

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

'', Conductor:

Eduardo Mata Eduardo Mata (5 September 19425 January 1995) was a Mexican conductor and composer. Career Mata was born in Mexico City. He studied guitar privately for three years before enrolling in the National Conservatory of Music. From 1960 to 1963 he ...

, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Dorian Recordings IS-80101 1992. Grammophone UK Review:

It's all very exciting, and the performers include an excellent baritone, a rather tight-voiced tenor and a good chorus... the performance is infinitely superior too, both orchestrally and chorally

* ''Composiciones Corales de Alberto Grau'', Conductors: Alberto Grau y María Guinand, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1992. racks performed by: 1. La Doncella, 2. Dies Irae, 3. Pater Noster * ''La vida breve de

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...

'', Conductor:

, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Dorian Recordings OR-90192 1994. * ''Carmina Burana de Carl Orff'', Conductor: Alberto Grau. Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, CD, Universidad Simón Bolívar, 1995. * ''Todo Beethoven'', Sinfonía No. 9 in re minor, Op. 125 (Choral) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Conductor: Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, CD, Contraloría General de la República, 1995. * ''Todo Vivaldi'', Gloria RV589 by Antonio Vivaldi, Conductor Igor Lanz, Orquesta de Cámara de Venezuela, Orquesta Jóvenes Arcos de Venezuela, CD, Contraloría General de la República, 1996. * ''Nees/Grau'', Composiciones corales de Vic Nees y Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1996. racks performed by SCV: 7. Magnificat (Vic Nees), 8. Dies Irae (Alberto Grau), 9. Pater Noster (Alberto Grau) * ''Requiem Alemán de

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

'', Conductor: Alberto Grau, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. * ''Antología 30 años'', Volumen Uno. Música venezolana y latinoamericana, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. * ''Antología 30 años''. Volumen Dos. Música polifónica universal, Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. * ''Música coral latinoamericana del siglo XX'', Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1997. * ''Música de Latinoamérica'', collection of Latin American works published by earthsongs, produced by María Guinand, CD, earthsongs, 1998. racks performed by SCV: 1. Mata del ánima sola (Antonio Estévez), 3. Salmo 150 (Ernani Aguiar), 4. Canciones de Cuna (Alberto Grau), 5. Te quiero (Alberto Favero), 6. Miué rendeira (Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca), 7. Salseo (Oscar Galián), 9. Alma Llanera (Pedro Elías Gutiérrez)]. * ''Aguinaldos tradicionales'', Conductor: Alberto Grau, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1998. [Tracks performed by SCV: 1. Niño lindo, 2. Cantemos alegres, 3. Niño venturoso, 4. El gallo, 5. La sirena, 6. Al llegar aquí, 7. Alegres cantemos]. * ''Movimiento Coral Venezolano, Una retrospectiva'', Anthology collection of several Venezuelan choruses, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Caracas, 1999. racks performed by SCV: 8. Laetitia (Vicente Emilio Sojo), 9. Al mar anochecido (Gonzalo Castellanos), 11. Pescador de almas (Modesta Bor), 12. Fulía de Cumaná (folklore) * ''La pasión según San Marcos de

'', Conductor: María Guinand, Orquesta La Pasión, CD, Hänssler Classic D 98.404 2001. Grammophone UK Review:

Maria Guinand obtains a spirited response from the forces that Golijov has assembled‚ notably the sensuously expressive singing of Samia Ibrahim and the incisive contribution of the Schola Cantorum of Caracas.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/gramofilereview.asp?reviewID=200212543&mediaID=195696&issue=Reviewed%3A+Gramophone+2002%2F2 * ''Latinoamericana XXI'', CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, 2007. * ''Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau''. Volumen 1: Voces mixtas, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, 2007. * ''Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau''. Volumen 2: Voces femeninas, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, 2007. * ''Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau''. Volumen 3: Música para niños, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, 2007. * ''Antología de obras corales de Alberto Grau''. Volumen 4: Arreglos, versiones corales y composiciones sobre temas populares, CD, Fundación Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, 2007.

References

External links

SCV Official Web page: http://www.fundacionscholacantorum.com/ Golijov's Passion Recording: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm Golijov's Passion Reviews: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/d_pasion.htm Golijov's Passion Live Performance at Holland Festival: http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=7488133 Golijov's Oceana World Premiere: http://www.osvaldogolijov.com/wd2.htm John Adams' A Flowering Tree information: http://www.earbox.com/W-flowering.html {{authority control Early music choirs Musical groups established in 1967