Record-breaking commission collaboration for Bob Chilcott
A record-breaking amount of money has been raised in Chorus America’s annual silent auction for a commissioned work by Bob Chilcott.
In an unprecedented collaborative effort, twenty children’s choirs from across the United States and one from Scotland have jointly bid to win a commissioned piece donated by British composer Bob Chilcott. The combined bid of $27,500 is the highest amount raised by an auctioned commission in the history of the organization. Each choir is planning its own performance of the commissioned work, resulting in twenty premieres!
‘The story of this collaboration has many exciting aspects. Certainly it is a story about Bob Chilcott’s generosity and Chorus America members’ belief in our organization's value. But it's also a story about collaboration, the appetite among children/youth choirs for commissioning, and much more,’ said Ann Meier Baker, President and CEO of Chorus America.
Such a display of enthusiasm testifies to Chilcott’s close relationship with choral groups in the USA, and his unique ability to connect with young singers. Many of his best-loved pieces were written for American choirs, such as Can you hear me? (composed for the Children in Harmony Choral Festival, Florida) and A Little Jazz Mass (composed for the New Orleans Children’s Chorus at the Crescent City Choral Festival); both are now well-established classics in the choral repertoire and regularly performed by youth and adult choirs across the world.
It’s an extraordinary thing for any new work to have twenty premieres, and with Chilcott’s proven success in the USA and beyond, this new commission is sure to have an exciting future. Meanwhile, the money raised will be used to maintain Chorus America’s work providing services, support, and training to its members, and promoting choral singing throughout North America.
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