Connecticut

CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists) has announced the appointment of Christopher Shepard as its second Artistic Director, succeeding Artistic Director Emeritus Richard Coffey, who founded the ensemble as the region's first all-professional choir in 1974. The ensemble has been led by guest conductors during the 2014–2015 season, as a national search was conducted to identify Maestro Coffey’s successor. Dr. Shepard will assume leadership of the ensemble starting with the soon-to-be announced 2015–2016 season.

In June 2015, the Yale Glee Club will host the second Yale International Choral Festival, an event produced in collaboration with the Yale School of Music, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and the Yale Alumni Chorus, continuing an exciting new chapter in Yale University's long tradition of international choral exchange.

The festival will take place June 16–20, 2015. Outstanding choirs from throughout the world will come together for five days of singing, learning, and exploring the connections that choral music fosters between people. Each evening will feature a formal concert in Yale's renowned Sprague Hall, and each day will be filled with lectures, workshops, and masterclasses led by visiting conductors and Yale faculty, including the first Eric Ericson International Choral Centre Conducting 21C masterclass offered outside of Stockholm.

Participating ensembles include Voces Nordicae (Sweden), Entrevoces (Cuba), Jerusalem Youth Choir (Israel), the National University of Singapore Choir, the Yale Alumni Chorus, and the Yale Choral Artists.

WGBH introduces Sing That Thing! — a new TV series designed to showcase the best amateur choirs in Greater Boston and beyond and reveal the passion, vitality, and timeless appeal of the choral experience. Sing That Thing! will highlight choirs representing local churches, schools, and communities. The show is a competition over approximately four months, and will include broadcast of performances as well as stories about the participating groups. To purposefully accommodate a deliberately broad range of singing styles and repertory, Sing That Thing! will have four competition categories: High School (8-60 members), College (8-60 members), Adult Small Group (8-16 members), and Adult Large Group (17-60 members).