Choral Singing and the Transnational: RMA Study Day 11 April 2025

  GB 249 T-MIN/7 University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections. Reproduced with permission. Photograph by AHQ. Buried deep in the archives at Strathclyde University is a fragile, but otherwise unremarkable looking sheet of paper. At the bottom of the text is a note, in English, labelling it ‘A Russian Song’ Extract from GB 249 T-MIN/7 On the paper is a set of handwritten lyrics, apparently dictated by one person to another less familiar with the language of dictation – several scratched-out and rewritten passages suggest a process of listen-write-repeat.  Intriguingly, the lyric is also offered in a Latin translation on the same page. This is all we know about the document – what it is, and where it can be found. Author, context, title, even the music itself are missing, and the extant records reveal minimal information about how a Russian song came to be preserved in a Glasgow archive. This short paper proposes two questions. The first considers the transmission...

This presentation explores the emergent opportunities for innovation in sacred choral music through the integration of Southeast Asian musical idioms, thereby promoting cultural inclusivity and enriching liturgical practices. Despite increasing interest in global(-ised) music practices, there remains limited exploration into how Southeast Asian musical traditions can be effectively incorporated within sacred choral settings, particularly within collegiate choirs trained in Western paradigms. The objective is to investigate the potential for Southeast Asian idioms, such as vernacular texts and drone-melody structures, to inform sacred choral compositions, fostering intercultural dialogue and theological reflection that challenges established Eurocentric norms. Employing a practice-led research method, this study involves a collaborative effort with the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir from 2023 to 2025. The approach includes compositional experimentation and reflective analysis ground...

“Vida Atrapada – A Trapped Life” is a work for mixed choir and piano written in memoriam of a group of shipwrecked Venezuelans who perished trying to leave the country. Their boat sailed from the little town Güiria (East Coast) towards the Caribbean Island of Trinidad in December 2020. The piece reflects on the current Venezuelan migrant crisis, in which people, in both despair and hope, flee for a new life, many times just by walking or by a boat, without enough support or planning. Currently resident in the United States of America and unable to attend the Study Day in pereson, Laura Silva joined Kenneth Tay, Kotryna Starkutė, and Ashley Holdsworth Quinn in an online conversation recorded prior to the Study Day. ( Edited by Kenneth Tay ) The first movement, “Merengue en Balsa – Merengue on a Boat” (2021) explores a series of hybrids as identities transform in the new home countries. It is rhythmically inspired in the traditional Venezuelan merengue of 5/8, reinterpreting this odd met...

Kotryna Starkutė led the final session of the day, revisiting music from earlier in the day, and celebrating song that transcends national borders.        Where is this? A song to the snake god Biography Kotryna Starkutė is a Lithuanian choral conductor, singer, and music educator based in Glasgow. She began her musical studies at the J. Gruodis Conservatoire and earned a Bachelor's degree from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius. Her postgraduate studies took her to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where she collaborated with ensembles including the Swedish Radio Choir and the KMH Vocal Ensemble. Kotryna currently teaches at First Chord Music School and performs with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus and Scottish Voices. She is also the music director of Cappella Slavonica Scotiae, a Glasgow-based choir dedicated to Eastern European choral traditions. In 2025 Kotryna will join the Young Event Management Programme (YEMP 6) at Leading Vo...

'We're all Jock Tamson's bairns' - Glasgow expression.   Welcome to our blog! What is it about? On 11th April 2025 a trio of Glasgow-based music postgraduates organised a study day at the Scottish Music Centre on Choral Singing and the Transnational, supported by the Royal Musical Association . The participants and delegates enjoyed exploring diverse ideas about what transnationalism might mean for our varied forms of practice - conducting, compsition, musicology - and how it might interact with different fields of study, including history, social practice, and pedagogy. 'We're all fae somewhere' - Glasgow expression. Click here for more information about this map.   Several contributions included audio and video material, as well as traditional paper presentations and hands-on singing sessions. This blog reproduces, with permission, several of the contributions to the Study Day in order to preserve and disseminate the material. The programme introduction ...

https://kodalyhub.com/presto https://kodalyhub.com/presto/categories/developing-polyphonic-skills-using-canon-exercises Canon in 7-8 time   Canon 'Summer's Coming' Canon with whole tone set 'Scary Sights Scary Soungs' Abstract This participatory workshop explores new music composed as part of transnational research projects involving partner institutions and organisations from across Europe. Drawing on two choral-faced Erasmus+ projects, researchers from Dublin City University present a selection of canons (rounds) by Irish composer Laura Shiels, outlining the musical, social, and pedagogical priorities associated with the compositions. Participants will perform a selection of canons and engage with freely available interactive online resources for self-directed and collaborative skill development by choral conductors, music teachers, choral singers, and musicians more broadly. The workshop will use participatory methods to demonstrate how the compositions were t...

 Abstract Choral music holds the potential to profoundly enhance emotional, physiological, and social well-being. For Alpha, a young refugee from Guinea who arrived in Trento in 2016, it has served both as an essential aid to his integration and as a crucial platform for his career as a musician. This paper explores the impact of Alpha's collaboration with the local choir "Bella Ciao." Their repertoire, focused on labor songs, the Italian Partisan Resistance and emigration, resonatets with themes of welcome and belonging. Alpha, a talented and multifaceted musician, was invited to sing with the choir after a concert at the reception center where he was staying. Through semi-structured interviews with Alpha and some choir members, this article recounts the profound significance of this experience, which enabled Alpha to forge connections, learn about the local music and history, and feel included. The choir's positive energy facilitated networking, leading to integrati...