Crimson Hawks Cavalcade of Choirs
The IUP Choral Area is excited to host our annual Crimson Hawk Cavalcade of Choirs on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. At the Cavalcade of Choirs, each ensemble will have the opportunity to perform for other high school singers in a noncompetitive format.
Ensembles will sing in IUP's beautiful Fisher Auditorium. In addition, choirs will be provided written and verbal feedback from IUP faculty member Craig Denison. Each choir will receive direct instruction via an on-stage clinic. This year’s distinguished guest is the 2020 Grammy Award winner for Best Choral Performance, Adam Luebke, who is currently serving as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and assistant professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia.
Guest Clinician
Adam Luebke
Adam Luebke was appointed music director of Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus in 2015. In that time the chorus has been hailed as “splendid,” “articulate,” “soaring,” and “virtuosic.” He won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for his work with the chorus on the recording Richard Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta.
Luebke has prepared choruses for conductors JoAnn Falletta, John Morris Russell, Rossen Milanov, Carl St. Clair, Bradley Thachuk, Tim Moffit, and Stefan Sanders. He has worked with singers Hila Plitmann, Angela Brown, J’Nai Bridges, and Kevin Deas, as well as Broadway veterans Liz Calloway, Rachel Potter, and Justin Guarini. He worked alongside composer Richard Danielpour preparing the East Coast premiere performances and the world premiere recording of his The Passion of Yeshua for Naxos, Fabio Luisi to prepare his St. Bonaventure Mass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the distinguished African-American Spiritual arranger, Stacey Gibbs.
Recent highlights with the BPC include heralded performances of Mozart’s Requiem, Chichester Psalms, Verdi’s Requiem, Carmen, Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Requiem, Belshazzar’s Feast, Alexander Nevsky, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Porgy and Bess, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. The BPC has appeared on the nationally broadcast radio show Performance Today with Fred Child, and locally on WNED Classical and WNED-TV. He has conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Amherst Symphony Orchestra; and appeared at David Geffen Hall, Kleinhans Music Hall, the Chautauqua Institution, and the National Cathedral. He has collaborated with Lehrer Dance Company, Irish Classical Theatre Company, the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, SUNY Fredonia, and the acclaimed men’s ensemble Cantus.
As a chorister, Luebke sang with the American Boychoir, St. Olaf Choir, and Westminster Choir. With these choruses, he performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, and Spoleto Festival USA opera chorus under Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Colin Davis, Andre Previn, Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, Marvin Hamlisch, Zdenek Macal, Emmanuel Villaume, and Robert Shaw. He also appeared on stage with Wynton Marsalis, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Benjamin Luxon, Sylvia McNair, Paul Groves, Suzanne Mentzer, Christine Goerke, David Daniels, and Chanticleer. He sings on recordings of the American Boychoir, Westminster Choir, and St. Olaf Choir on the Angel, Alliance, and Avie labels; as well as Amy Grants’ platinum album Home for Christmas.
A devoted music educator, Luebke is an assistant professor of voice and choral conducting at the State University of New York at Fredonia. At Fredonia, he has conducted the College Choir, Camerata, and Masterworks Chorus; and prepared students for performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and the Hillman Opera 60th Anniversary Gala. He is in demand as a clinician, presenter, adjudicator, and guest conductor.
Luebke received his earliest musical training at the American Boychoir School, and earned degrees from St. Olaf College, Westminster Choir College, and Florida State University. His teachers include Anton Armstrong, Joseph Flummerfelt, Andre Thomas, Andrew Megill, James Litton, and Craig Denison.
About IUP
IUP is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The IUP Department of Music serves over 200 undergraduate music majors, including nearly 60 voice majors, and three choral ensembles.
Rules
The intention is for this to be simple and nonthreatening. You are free to present whatever music you choose. Each choir will have a total of 30 minutes. This includes both performance time and your clinic.
Please be prepared to supply three original copies of each of your scores, with the measures numbered, for our panel. These will, of course, be returned to you.
Each clinician will fill out the enclosed "rubric." Numbers and ratings will not be used, nor will they be posted. This is simply a form to help guide our listening and provide you with feedback. In addition, recorded comments, a performance recording, and on-stage clinic will be provided.
We respectfully ask that food and drink be kept out of Fisher Auditorium.
Attire
While it is typical that ensembles wear their performance attire for adjudication, this is not required. Changing facilities/dressing room space will be limited. It is suggested that each ensemble wear what they intend to perform in. This is completely at the conductor's discretion.
Hosts
Each participating school will have one to two IUP students serving as their hosts. These students will meet you when your buses arrive, escort you through campus, help you stay on schedule, and assist you in any way needed. Expect that they will be contacting you via email prior to the event to establish your ETA so that they are prepared to meet you.