Cultural Exchange with Maui

Who are the Chamber Singers?

The Cornell University Chamber Singers is an audition-based, mixed-voice chamber choir that explores the limits of the choral soundscape and strives to share quality music with people throughout Cornell and greater Ithaca. Furthermore, as an extension of Cornell University, we seek to forge and maintain meaningful ties with people beyond the Ithaca community.

Some of the Chamber Singers rehearsing in the Sage Chapel choir loft. The group comprises undergraduates, grad students, and some community members, who meet once a week to learn music and prepare for performances.

Why Maui?

As an expression of our mission, we are pursuing this initiative to perform in Hawaii, and connect with people on Maui through our music and through theirs. This week-long engagement in August 2018 will facilitate cultural exchange: locally, between Cornell and Maui, and more broadly, between the American Northeast and the Hawaiian Islands.

Among our opportunities are performances featuring current members and alumni, outreach events with local schoolchildren, and opportunities for the Chamber Singers to engage with people living on the island. As part of this undertaking, we are so pleased to reconnect with the previous director of our group, John Rowehl, in collaboration with the Maui Chamber Orchestra as they celebrate their 8th anniversary! Beyond sharing song and dance, we aim to learn about Hawaiian culture by spending time with families, seeking opportunities to volunteer, and sharing food and stories.

Members of the Maui Chamber Orchestra at their 2015 Fall Concert. We're excited to rehearse and perform with them! Photo credits to Soleil de Zwart, Maui Time.

More about our organization

The choir rehearses 2 hours per week and performs 1-2 times per semester, often in collaboration with members of the Early Music Lab and others in Cornell's Music Department. Among our repertoire we enjoy performing pieces by Steven Stucky, Caroline Shaw, Steve Reich, and we sometimes feature pieces written by composers from within our choir.

The Chamber Singers rehearsing at the front of Sage Chapel. We enjoy exploring different acoustic spaces throughout campus, sometimes venturing to Goldwin Smith, The Statler, and the Schwartz Center bus stop! You might catch us in one of these locations on a Tuesday evening as we wrap up our rehearsal.

In the past, the choir has performed primarily in the Ithaca area, on and off Cornell's campus. On campus, Sage Chapel is our favorite rehearsal space and Anabel Taylor Chapel is our favorite performance space. Off campus, one of our new (and favorite) traditions is singing at the First Presbyterian Church for their annual Yuletide Dinner, and in March 2017 we ventured to Elmira to perform a Bach motet among other repertoire. The group has been growing and changing under Steve Spinelli's direction since the 2015-16 academic year; the current membership hope to establish a precedent for seeking new opportunities to travel far and wide with our music.