By Christina Mancebo, CAS Communications staff
Two world premieres and several works received their first recording as part of the Washington Sings! program, a culmination of a fellowship project by choral director Dean Luethi, School of Music (SOM), that occurred this summer. Twenty-two singers spread across Washington and Idaho came together for three days of intense rehearsals, compositional training, recordings, and a final concert in Bryan Hall Theatre.
Washington Sings! celebrates the wealth of regional talent on both a singer and composer front. A general call to participate was sent out for singers and a regional call for scores circulated to identify works for the program.
“Something wonderful about this project was that I got to learn about these talented composers in Washington that I was unaware of. Though I knew that there was great talent here, it was an eye-opening experience to learn how deep that well is,” said Luethi.
The project developed from Luethi’s desire to offer a robust choral opportunity that could not be easily achieved or practical to do during the regular school session. With faculty’s access to WSU’s high-tech recording facility, a key attribute to the project included a recording component that would result in an album under the Washington State University Recordings, a peer-reviewed recording label. There is an endowment dedicated to the maintenance and updating of equipment and systems for the studio to ensure that it remains state-of-the-art.
As a choral director with an ear bent toward educational opportunities, Luethi expanded the works commission aspect to include a learning component with compositional instruction, as well as providing participating choral educators the opportunity to earn professional development hours through the Washington Music Educators Association.
Following the regional call for scores, two composers, John Muehleisen and WSU alumnus Jacob Malpocker, were commissioned to write works specifically for this project and to participate in the recording process. This presented the rare ability to have the composer interact in the production of their own piece. Muehleisen, a well-seasoned composer, served as the featured headliner and dedicated a 45-minute session speaking with singers and composers about the compositional process. Malpocker also had time with singers to discuss his composition ideation and process.
The first Washington Sings! cohort included WSU representation comprised of a WSU student, faculty member, and both an alumnus singer and a composer, in addition to singers from throughout the region. Conductors for the project included Luethi and Matthew Myers, SOM choral director, who were joined by pianist Elena Panchenko, SOM adjunct faculty. Myers was the co-producer on the project, who also stepped in as tenor and piano accompanist when needed and will serve as a collaborator on future Washington Sings! programming.
“We really hope that Washington Sings! lives on, and we’re exploring how to make that happen,” said Luethi.
The Washington Sings! recordings are in production for a completed album date this December with a potential debut release after the new year.
Funding for the Washington Sings! project has been made in part by a fellowship awarded through the David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities (CAH) and the Washington chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, who supported commissioning fees.
“The amount of funding, especially for arts and humanities, that CAH provides is amazing. To apply for an arts grant with an outside agency is highly competitive, so the fellowship grant is a wonderful gift to receive, and it enabled my choral project to come to fruition,” said Luethi. “CAH’s fellowship program allows greater dissemination of the research, scholarship, and creative activity happening within the arts and humanities here at WSU.”