scholarship
interest sessions
Expanding the Choral Canon
Midwest and Northwest ACDA Conferences, 2022
This session will help you create engaging experiences for your choirs that draw on overlooked parts of the canon. In addition to uncovering more approachable works by well-known composers of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, I will highlight voices often excluded from our choral history: Maddalena Casulana - first woman to publish her own compositions; Vicente Lusitano - first Black published composer; Juana Ines de la Cruz - composer and nun who defended women’s right to knowledge. I will share new resources for this repertoire, while demonstrating how to creatively program these works. Scores and audio provided for every repertoire example.
The Choral Music of Imogen Holst
Southwest ACDA Conference 2022
Imogen Holst was a conductor, music educator, composer, and scholar. Unlike her father’s widely celebrated life and works, Imogen has remained in the lesser-known shadows of the canon. Daughter of Gustav Holst, student of Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and dear friend and assistant to Benjamin Britten, Imogen’s life and works merit closer examination and incorporation into our choral canon. In this session I will shed light on her life and career, and share several of her choral works, all varying in length, instrumentation, occasion, and ensemble-type.
(re)Consider the Canon
National ACDA Conference 2021
Liza Calisesi Maidens & Katy Maguire Lushman
Approaching Renaissance and Baroque music can be daunting regardless of your choral forces or budget - but there are flexible voicing and accompaniment options as well as specific rehearsal strategies that can quickly engage any choir and help them fall in love with the music of the past. We provide resources and tips to help you find repertoire and demonstrate how to successfully program these works. In addition to uncovering approachable works by well-known composers, we also highlight voices that have often been excluded from our choral history.
editions
EDITION
As a part of this session, Liza and Katy created a new edition of the 16th century madrigal Allor che ignuda by composer Vicente Lusitano, the first Black composer to be published in the history of western music. View and purchase this edition here.
commissions
COMMISSION
In connection with this session, Liza and Katy commissioned composer B.E. Boykin to write a new work using early music conventions and a text by 13th century trobairitz Na Castelloza. You can preview and order Castelloza's Song here, as well as listen to the SATB version and voice/guitar version below.
Read an article in the Michigan State University College of Music Newsletter about this commission.
Preview and order Castelloza's Song here
Michigan State University, Graduate Choral Ensemble
Liza Calisesi Maidens, conductor
Katy Maguire Lushman, soprano
Grant Stringham, guitar
Interest Sessions
The Choral Music of Imogen Holst
Expanding the Choral Canon
(re)consider the canon: bringing the past to the present
It’s Possible: Renaissance and Baroque Repertoire for Treble Ensembles
Seen and Heard: meet the women of mirabai
Perspectives of Women in the Choral Arts
"See me for who I am": An Investigation of Undergraduate Music Major Belonging
Wellness and Mental Health in a School of Music
Re-energizing Your Choral Warm Up
Contact me directly for more information.