The American Music Performance Invitational for Mixed Choirs refers to a series of

music festivals A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

for top

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

choirs. The festivals are more commonly referred to as the AMP Invitationals. Produced by Choirs of America (COA), the inaugural AMP Invitational took place in Long Beach and Los Angeles on April 29–30, 2011. COA's stated mission is "to ''engage, inspire'' and ''educate'' choirs across the country." COA was recently named a "Citizen Musician" as part of the Citizen Musician Initiative fronted by the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

, music director

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

and

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

. Wenger Corp is COA's title sponsor.

Inaugural AMP Invitational

COA's first AMP Invitational took place on April 29–30, 2011. Clinicians and adjudicators included

Jo-Michael Scheibe Jo-Michael Scheibe (born 1950) was the former chair of the Department of Choral and Sacred Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Following a sabbatical in Fall of 2022, Scheibe retired from his position as ...

, Cheryl Frazes-Hill (assistant conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Jonathan Talberg, William Belan and Bruce Mayhall. Workshop presenters included Broadway producer

Ken Davenport Ken Davenport (born Kenneth Anjum Hasija, August 23, 1972) is a two-time Tony Award-winning theatre producer, blogger, and writer. He is best known for his production work on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway. Early life Davenport was born in Pho ...

, motivational speaker Norm Hull, David Sears (senior director of education at the GRAMMY Foundation) and Terry Knowles (president and CEO of the

Los Angeles Master Chorale The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional Choir, chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one ...

). The event culminated in a massed choir benefit concert with master conductor

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. Early life Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre. He studied piano intermittently as a child a ...

leading over 630 high school singers from three different states in a program that raised over $3,600.00 for L.A.'s Harmony Project. Participants included top mixed high school choirs from Branham,

Calabasas Calabasas may refer to: * Calabasas, Arizona, former populated place in what is now Rio Rico, Arizona * Calabasas, California, city in Los Angeles County, California See also * Calabaza Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish langua ...

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The Chin ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

, Monte Vista, Porterville, Sprague,

Thomas Downey Thomas Joseph Downey (born January 28, 1949) is an American attorney, lobbyist and former politician who served as a U.S. Representative for New York's 2nd congressional district from 1975 to 1993. Early life and education Downey was born in Que ...

, Tualatin, Westwood and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Highland High School from Gilbert, Arizona earned the coveted top rated choir slot (Monte Vista came in second, with Sprague placing third).http://www.facebook.com/pages/AMP-Invitational/129015030469109

Future AMP Invitationals

2013 AMP Nationals for Top Choirs - New York City & Carnegie Hall (April 11, 12 & 13, 2013)

Day one is a bonus day for subsidiary ensembles to have adjudicated performances and faculty reviews. Day 2 will feature adjudicated performances for primary ensembles, full one-hour clinics with Master Clinicians and Adjudicators Andre Thomas, Jerry Blackstone, Jeffrey Douma, and Gene Peterson. Vocal master classes with Matthew Oltman (music director emeritus of Chanticleer) and other workshops are also scheduled for all choirs. Day two will occur at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

and will feature a massed choir rehearsal and prism concert led by Master Conductor,

Anton Armstrong Anton Eugene Armstrong (born April 26, 1956) is the conductor of the St. Olaf Choir as well as the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College of Northfield, Minnesota, in the United States. Armstrong became the fourth dir ...

San Francisco, California (March 23–24, 2012)

Featured clinicians and adjudicators include Jo-Michael Scheibe, Sharon Paul, Joshua Habermann (director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus), Timothy Seelig, and Susan McMane. Matthew Oltman will run the vocal master classes and Roger Treece will lead workshops in circle song improvisation. Day two will take place in

Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall is the concert hall component of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, California. The 2,743-seat hall was completed in 1980 at a cost of US$28 million to give the San Francisco ...

with master conductor Grant Gershon.

Washington DC area (March 30–31, 2012)

Day one will take place at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in College Park, Maryland and will feature Jerry Blackstone, Karen Kennedy and Jameson Marvin as clinicians. Day two will occur at the

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is a performing arts complex on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. The facility, which opened in 2001, houses six performance venues; the UM School of Music; and the UMD School of The ...

and will feature a massed choir benefit concert led by master conductor, Simon Carrington.

References

External links

Official Website

2013 AMP Nationals Website

Harmony Project

Citizen Musicians
{{Choral festivals Classical music festivals in the United States Music competitions in the United States Choral festivals Music education organizations