LUX - News

Supporting Black Artists

6/8/2020

We're happy to announce the launching of a new page on our website--Supporting Black Artists. For far too long, Black voices have gained little attention in the arts, despite their massive contributions. We all must play a part in correcting that, and one of the steps we've taken here is to launch this page. It features an interactive list of organizations that are committed to creating spaces for Black artists in music, choral or otherwise, and what we can do to support their missions. It also features a form that you can fill out to give us suggestions for furthering our support Black artists. Lux is committed to supporting Black musicians everywhere. We are devoted to furthering our own initiatives to highlight the phenomenal Black musicians throughout the country. Black voices have been silenced for far too long, and we hope that we can help by amplifying those voices. Black Lives Matter.

Supporting black artists

Lux Virtual Choir

6/5/2020

Earlier this week, in conjunction with our Education Initiative, we released our first-ever Virtual Choir! In the midst of the COVID-19 Crisis this year, we wanted to create a performance opportunity for some of our local high school choirs, so we teamed up with three amazing HS choirs in the state of Maryland to sing one more song before the end of their school year. Over the course of three weeks, students used Lux practice tracks, and participated in recorded mini-masterclasses to describe how our singers would prepare a piece like this for rehearsals, performances, and recording projects.

Many thanks to all those who helped us celebrate these amazing choirs and their hard work this year both in person and online as we premiered our first collaboration with these schools! A special thanks, of course, goes to directors Mrs. Kelly Butler (Walter Johnson HS, Montgomery County), Mr. Robby Napoli (Chesapeake HS, Anne Arundel County), and Ms. Amy Vanek (Clarksburg HS), as well as all of their singers for collaborating with us on this project.

See the video right here on this post to hear the final product and continue supporting Maryland's young choral artists!

Senior Recital: Austin Nikirk

2/24/2020

Soprano Austin Nikirk will be presenting her Senior Recital this coming weekend on Saturday, February 29th in Schmucker Hall at Gettysburg College! She has been hard at work preparing the diverse set of repertoire she'll be performing, and we can't wait to hear it. We hope to see some of you there! If you can't make it in person, there will also be a livestream via Facebook. We were able to sit down with her recently for an interview about her upcoming recital and some other things she's been up to this year. Check it out below!

It’s finally senior year! How’re you feeling about that?
"I have mixed feelings, because I’m so excited about many of the projects that I’m working on, and don’t want them to end! But I am also ready to be out of school, haha."

Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year?
"Our opera workshop is doing an opera in French this year, and I am helping coach the language! It has been really fun combining my passion for French language and culture with opera."

What’s been your favorite experience studying music in college?
"I have interned with the choral department for two semesters now, and by far my favorite experience has been conducting our upper-voice ensemble, Audeamus. I have really enjoyed seeing them grow vocally and musically!"

Okay, so, recital time. Let’s start with the easy question. When and where is your recital?
"It will be February 29th (yeah that’s leap day!) at 7 pm, in Schmucker Hall at Gettysburg College."

What’s your favorite piece on your recital? Why?
"My opener! I don’t want to give too much away, because it’s a bit of performance art, but it’s not like anything I’ve ever sung before. It’s also by a composer who graduated from my school last year, so I’ve been able to coach it with him and really get into the nuance and expression of the piece."

How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all?
"I have been working on some of this music since last semester, but there is also a significant portion that I have learned in the last few weeks. So getting it all together at the same time was really a journey! But I’m really excited about my program, and can’t wait to share it with my audience!"

If there’s only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be?
"My overall concept is probably the most important part. I begin with three pieces by student-composers, followed with a piece by their composition teacher here at Gettysburg. The next set was composed by his graduate professor, followed by his teacher, and so on. Finishing in the early baroque, I hope to take the audience on a journey back through the evolution of compositional styles!"

Lux at Chesapeake High School!

1/21/2020

Last Friday, we spent the day meeting and working with the wonderfully talented choral program at Chesapeake High School, in Pasadena, MD! Throughout the day we ran sectionals and masterclasses with Cheseapeake's Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and we were also able to give an informal concert and Q&A at the end of the day! We were so impressed with their talent and the hard work they put in during rehearsals, and it was such a joy to sing for them and talk about all aspects of choral music with them! Not only did the kids at Chesapeake High enjoy our work together, but our singers had so much fun inspiring the next generation of young choral singers and getting to meet the wonderful students at Chesapeake! Check out some of our work together below.

Christmas Album Released!

11/29/2019

Just in time for Christmas shopping, Lux's first Christmas release, My Lord Has Come features some of our own favorite Christmas songs and arrangements for choir, including beautiful, gushing settings of well-known carols, as well as more traditional choral pieces which have become standards of the Christmas choral repertoire. Blending the known and lesser known Christmas anthems that we've come to love into one release; using simple arrangements of classic hymns next to more dense arrangements of classic melodies like Rathbone's "Silent Night", and finally including other Christmas anthems which might be less familiar, like Howells's "Sing Lullaby" or Pärt's "O Weisheit". Buy it now or preview a few tracks on our 'Listen' page using the buttons below!

Senior Recital: Ben Busch

11/21/2019

Last weekend, bass Ben Busch put on an incredible senior recital! Just last week, we sat down to ask him a few questions about his recital, and about his time in music school at the University of Maryland. One of the most unique things about Ben's recital is that his primary instrument isn't voice, but horn! Find out more about Ben and his recital below:

It’s finally senior year! How’re you feeling about that?
It’s gone by so fast! I’m excited to be done paying for school, but I am definitely going to miss the friends I’ve made while I’ve been at UMD.
Besides your recital, what are you most excited about this year?
Finishing up coursework and putting down my last tuition payment are definitely at the top of my list.
What’s been your favorite experience studying music in college?
Gaining a more broad view of the music world has been the best for me. I appreciate all different types of music a lot more than I did before entering, and I’ve really enjoyed playing music in groups with my friends.
Okay, so, recital time. Let’s start with the easy question. When and where is your recital?
This Sunday (November 17) in Ulrich Recital Hall, at 2PM!
What’s your favorite piece on your recital? Why?
The Fripperies by Lowell Shaw. We’re playing four of the eight quartets, and it’s a chance for me and my friends to goof off at an otherwise serious event. The best times I’ve had performing on horn have been times I’ve been doing something a little on the nose and less serious; I get to do this with some of my best friends that I’ve been playing with for a long time now.
How has the recital process been for you? What did you have to do to prepare, and how do you feel about it all?
The recital process for me has just been about enjoying playing the music. I have fun playing horn, and I want to have fun on my recital. I obviously had to practice a good amount to get everything up to speed, but overall I’d say it’s been a comfortable process. I’m excited to share it with everyone!
If there’s only one thing you want audience members to get out of your recital, what would it be?
I want everyone to have a good time! That’s all I really care about.

Power Plays the Count

7/19/2019

Baritone Collin Power has spent the past month in Schroon Lake, NY as an emerging artist at the Seagle Music Colony. Throughout the two month program, the artists put on four different productions, including Evita, The Marriage of Figaro, The Manchurian Candidate, and Oklahoma. Collin is playing the role of the Count in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which runs July 17-20.

Recital: Amanda Densmoor

7/17/2019

On a recent trip to visit family in Indonesia, soprano Amanda Densmoor gave a recital sponsored by the Musicorum music school for an audience of 150! In addition to performing her solo repertoire with accompanist Harimada, a teacher at the music school, Amanda was joined by three Musicorum students to perform four different duets. She was also joined on the duets by student accompanist and childhood acquaintance Vincent. Check out a short selection from the recital in the video below!

Nikirk Presents at MTSMA Conference

3/27/2019

Recently, soprano Austin Nikirk presented her research from her Kolbe Fellowship alongside Dr. William O'Hara at the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic's Annual Conference held in Baltimore among some of the Mid-Atlantic's most important and recent studies in music theory! Austin said "It was incredible to get to hear the research of current graduate students and professors and really inspiring to watch them talk about projects they were so passionate about."

Tenor Zach Taylor Wins Music Competition

3/24/2019

Congratulations are in order for tenor Zach Taylor for not only being awarded first place in the Sydney Lieberman Music Competition, but also being announced as the co-winner of the Sylvia and Irving H. Cohen scholarship! On his recent successes, Zach said "I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped me come this far, as I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of family, friends, and teachers." Catch Zach performing alongside other winners in the Lieberman Honors Recital on April 4 at 11am at Towson University.