Tickets for December 2014 concerts

Please visit the new website Ragazzi.org for ticket information. The blog will migrate to this site also. Thank you for your interest.

Thank you for the music.

Wow!  Look at this.  A whole choir full of young boys and men! (with apologies to Choralnet)

Who would think that a group of rowdy boys could be transformed into a disciplined team creating beautiful music

together.  Look at them now. Poised.  Confident. Well-dressed. Singing beautifully.  And it’s all YOUR FAULT!  Yes,

you the parents who believed in the power of music education and who made the commitment to drive and get them

to rehearsals through rain, traffic and around conflicting schedules with your other family members.

Look around at the boys in Ragazzi training levels. They could very well be singing like this in just a couple years.

Thank you for your herculean efforts and your faith. Thank you for believing in music to transform lives and create

powerful teams.

What it takes!

What it takes.

In order to accomplish something - to excel at something - one must persist with patience and fortitude.

My 9 year-old grand daughter, who loves gymnastics, has practices 3 hours on 3 days a week.  That’s 9 hours each week committed to gymnastic excellence.  She also has competitions every other weekend through the month of November.  Fitting in her other cherished activities has become a challenge.

Ragazzi is also committed to excellence.  We practice and repeat, celebrating what works and fixing what doesn’t.  We do this in one or two rehearsals a week (2, 3 or 4 hours per week).  We know and respect the time pressures boys and families deal with these days.  We don’t have regular extra rehearsals, and the few we do have (Singing Saturday, concert dress rehearsals) are scheduled well in advance.  We almost never schedule last minute extra rehearsals, and if a compelling new opportunity arises, we ask families if the boys are available for the extra time commitment.

Plato said that the best education involves music for the mind and gymnastics (read sports, generally) for the body.  This ideal requires balance in your commitment of time, energy and dedication.

Recently there have been some research studies showing the positive effects of arts and especially music education on students’ brain development and success in school.  Sadly, most of the arts training in California comes through private institutions like Ragazzi.  One of our goals is to allow you the opportunity to give this gift of increased capacity for success in school and in life to your sons.  For further reading, see the following websites:

 http://www.westerncity.com/Western-City/September-2014/Engaging-Your-Citys-Youth-Through-the-Arts/

http://www.today.com/health/music-lessons-may-boost-poor-kids-brainpower-study-suggests-1D80117501

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/09/10/343681493/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-music

To further this goal, Ragazzi will be initiating an outreach program to the children in our local Redwood City Schools this spring.  Look for more information about how we can make the gift of music education available to an even wider community.

Yes, we ask for your commitment, but we are respectful of your time and we are passionate about the importance of the relatively small amount that we have together.  Together, we achieve excellence and the bonus is we get to make other people happy with our achievements when we share our music with the public.

We look forward to our rehearsals this fall and even more to our concerts where we get show off excellent music and excellent boys!!!

The Value of Music Education

What is the value of music education? How do we define success?  Most of us are looking for the great college acceptance, a challenging and prestigious job and a happy life for our children.

A longitudinal study was conducted where male graduates from Harvard were followed and their self-defined happiness was measured over time. The overwhelming evidence from this study, with the men now in their 70’s, is that their happiness depended upon relationships and community, not on a high-powered job or even on the amount of money they made.

Of course money is important and students who submit audition tapes to colleges can receive thousands of dollars of scholarship money to just sing in the choir. We know personally of two such cases and in neither case were these students music majors. But just submitting an audition tape opened up the scholarship money for them.

Did you know that the acceptance rate for Stanford is 7% of all applicants? However, students who submit a music tape to the music department and whose musical abilities are desired by the department are recommended to the admissions committee. For those applicants, the acceptance rate is closer to 33%. It won’t hurt you to submit a music tape—in fact it may greatly increase a young person’s chances of acceptance.

Here’s another story of music education contributing to a student’s success: In USA today a story recently appeared about a first-generation American from Shirley, N.Y. This student was accepted by all eight Ivy league colleges. He sings and plays the viola and plans to study medicine and music. After visiting four of the eight schools, he chose Yale where  "I met people who were just like me—diverse in both science and music–and they told me how manageable it is doing both."

Last Wednesday a YME boy came up to me and told me that choosing Ragazzi was the best decision he ever made. At Singing Saturday he shared that Ragazzi has given him friends that will last a lifetime as well as skills that help him in many ways. He has branched out in his music studies to include theory and piano study. He encouraged all parents to make sure their boys stick with Ragazzi because he is sure that the boy will be grateful later.

Music, especially singing in a choir, will give boys those life-long friendships that will help build a happy life. And who knows, you may even get money for college!

Choral Singing Benefits, by Vance George

Some Thoughts About Choral Singing from March 22 and 23 2014 Program Notes

    By Vance George, Director Emeritus, San Francisco Symphony Chorus

Congratulations to the Ragazzi Boys Chorus and the Young Women’s

Chorus of San Francisco! All that these young people are learning

about music will be with them throughout their lives, and it will affect

their minds, bodies and spirits in amazing ways. The foundation for each

of these ensembles is high quality choral literature that challenges their

minds. To make music, they have to learn the symbols and basics of

music and then work together creating a unique synthesis of focus on

pitch, rhythm, harmony and languages in sync with others.

The physical aspects of singing such as posture, balance, and breath

control have a healthy effect on the body. And now studies are proving

singing even has the ability to fight disease in measurable ways. The

power of singing in a chorus creates a life support for young people, who

need a safe place to go to find relief from a stressful world.

The spirit of each singer is uplifted and fed in both rehearsal and

performance. As singers prepare for a concert like this, they have fun

trying new things, singing new repertoire, finding new ways of making

sound, and are challenged to do their best in the process. I was pleased

to work with these two groups in rehearsals as they were so well

prepared that we could work on color, phrasing, sensitivity to the text,

and commitment to making the music come off the page.

Singing in a chorus is belonging. Singing in a chorus is community. Singing

in a chorus enlivens our beings and feeds an inner need that nothing

else will satisfy. I’m delighted to know that the young men and young

women of these wonderful choral organizations will benefit from the

excellent training and soul enriching experiences that choral singing can

offer them.

Why Sine Nomine?

Why Sine Nomine?

In January of 2010 I first went to Cuba and was met by a friendly guy in an old ratty car who arranged to introduce me to various choirs and teachers in music schools in Havana. As I entered the tree lined courtyard of a beautiful yellow colonial building, I saw a full dinosaur skeleton. I then heard high pitched “whooo’s” like our Young Men’s Ensemble might do in their warm up. It was Sine Nomine warming up and I realized here was a Cuban Chanticleer. I then attended their rehearsal and listened to them sing - Renaissance music, Danny Boy and Beatles songs. Their intonation and phrasing was perfect, but more impressive and moving was their deep emotional engagement in the music. By the time we left, we were all in tears.

I learned that in Cuba there are many professional choirs (in the USA there is only one).  The Cuban economic system pays professional Cuban choristers the same salary as the hotel porters and the brain surgeons: $20/month. Most like the surgeons (and unlike the porters) they go through rigorous training to achieve their profession. I heard more of these fine professional choirs, but Sine Nomine stole my heart.

Looking at this group of eight young men, you would never believe they sang so beautifully. They represent all the diversity of ethnic groups in Cuba and definitely look like “cool guys.” I realized that we needed to show our community at home that people of all backgrounds can come together in music. Serious classical music does not exist only for a small, elite Western European population. This music belongs to everyone.

That is when I decided I had to find a way to bring Ragazzi to meet them. In June 2011, 68 of us arrived in Havana and our first workshop was with Leonor Suárez Dulzaides, the conductor of this eight-voice gem. We were pretty jet lagged, but we met Sine Nomine in a decommissioned church with sun streaming through the stained glass windows. We received excellent coaching from Leonor, who repeatedly exhorted us to “relate to the text.” At the time we were attempting the furiously difficult “Chanson d’Oiseaux” by Jannequin.

In 2012 I again went to Cuba on an educational tour and Leonor arranged to meet me and invited me to a rehearsal of her guys. They did a special performance for just me and a few friends. Imagine my surprise when at the 2012 American Choral Conductors Conference in Reno, I heard a small voice calling, “Joyce, Joyce!” and I turned and saw Leonor. She had been brought to the USA through the national leadership of ACDA as one of seven fine Cuban conductors. It was my luck that she was invited to the Western Region conference, my home region. We spent a lot of time together, haltingly trying to communicate - she in her limited English and me in my limited Spanish. None of the ACDA organizers realized the extent of the limitations placed on Cuban travelers in the U.S.  She had no money (she’s paid that same $20 per month) and no credit card (no Cuban plastic would have been allowed, anyway) to put down at the hotel. I helped her to get meals and to figure out the conference schedule.

At the conference, I approached the leadership and said, “You have to get Sine Nomine to the 2014 convention.” While they we stunned by the artistry of this group as shown by examples from Sine Nomine ‘s CD, the ACDA leadership was extremely reluctant to agree. They claimed they didn’t have money to cover the expenses, that it was really difficult to get Cuban groups into the USA, etc. etc. I then said, “I will organize this.” In the back of my mind was the desire to get these singers in front of our Redwood City community, including our local immigrant families, many from parts of Mexico and Central and South America, and show them that this music belongs to them too. Maybe, I hoped, we could expand our recruitment of local boys by getting them to connect with these singers who look and speak like them.

Tina Duyk, Ragazzi board member, offered to help me and we began to set up concerts all over California. Each presenting organization agreed to pay a fee and somehow we pieced together support enough for visas, immigration attorney fees and transportation. There were many nail biting moments as various strategies failed, but as of January 24, the last airfare was paid and confirmed.

Tina spearheaded efforts to connect with Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission and the schools. After months of trying to contact the schools directly and failing, Tina was able to go through Music for Minors and the Redwood City Education Foundation to gain performance opportunities for these singers in four Redwood City elementary schools during six morning assemblies.

Ragazzi is also sponsoring a concert at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26 at Carrington Hall on Sequoia High School campus, free to children (thanks to a $1,000 grant from the Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission) and only $5 for adults. It’s the best bargain you’ll get for any live music performance this year – and these are world-class singers.  As someone said, “I paid just $30 to hear Chanticleer!”

This group epitomizes excellence combined with warmth and emotional engagement. Please tell your friends and actively promote this opportunity to share these great musicians and this great music.

Music Theory for fun ! ? !!

I just want to sing. Why should I study music theory? 

When I got my first teaching job, I had to produce a holiday concert with only three months to prepare. I decided to teach a three part carol since my chorus was all girls. Since no one in this chorus knew how to read music, we had to trudge through each part note by note, learning everything by rote. It took us three months to learn one piece. After I survived that first concert, I became determined to teach music theory along with repertoire. All good music programs include theory instruction along with technical skills as well as learning pieces to perform.

Ragazzi has an amazing theory program, thanks to Carol Panofsky. At a recent alumni party, I heard three stories about the benefits our boys have received. One college freshman, a non-music major, reported that in his choir everyone had to take a theory test. He was the only singer who did well. He said everyone else got perhaps three correct answers. In two other cases, Ragazzi college freshmen, declared music majors, tested out of college-level, first year music theory. In our current Ragazzi Concert Group, the boys can sight read three part music, instantly. These are all testaments to the success or our music theory teaching.

Imagine how much more fun it is to learn music when you no longer have to trudge through the notes – keeping in mind that learning music is much, much more than just getting the right notes. Once you are freed from trudging, you can get right into interpretation, nuance and art. In fact some people get together to sight read music for an evening's entertainment. This was common in the Renaissance among well-educated upper class people. [Listen to Brian Eno’s This I Believe essay (http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=97320958&m=97365616) or read it (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97320958).]

During this holiday season it was my privilege to hear my friend's brother play through the Bach Goldberg Variations. While all in the audience appreciated the virtuosity of the keyboard playing and the beauty of the music, I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy the brilliance of Bach's genius as I could appreciate the astounding mathematical structure. During the course of the set of variations, Bach manages to produce nine canons (the technical term for a musical “round,” like Row, Row Your Boat) at every interval of the octave scale. The variations also include fugues, a French Overture and glorious toccatas (which display free flowing technical virtuosity).

Music brings so much joy and as your boy learns the formal, technical language of music, his joy is multiplied. His ability to listen is enhanced, he’s able to sing new music easily, getting to the artistic meat of it much sooner, his sense of camaraderie with fellow musicians is strengthened and… it’s just more fun!  So, as he takes the time to learn the details and “solve the problems,” keep in mind the rewards that will soon accrue to him - the educated and trained musician!

  Joyce Keil edited by David Jones