The MAs at York have a mini-conference coming up. Here’s my abstract and bio. I should get on to writing the paper, you think?

Rajaton: A Cappella Ensembles in Today’s Musical Culture

From origins in Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony, the role of a cappella music has changed greatly. In the twentieth century, music for unaccompanied voices continued in the style of the previous choral tradition and also spawned new genres: barbershop, doo wop, R&B, and vocal jazz. Outside of these styles other groups combined features of classical and popular music, employing both centuries-old techniques of choral singing as well as new vocal methods. In this field, the success of small secular ensembles such as The Swingle Singers and the King’s Singers paved the way for current groups such as The Real Group and Rajaton.

The Finnish vocal group Rajaton is a model of a modern a cappella group in today’s musical culture. The group consists of six mixed voices and has been acclaimed by both choral and popular music listeners. Their style utilized techniques common in both classical and non-classical styles. Did their style emerge from choral music influenced by popular methods or was it the other way around? Rajaton is also known for its progressive as well as expert performances. They have been financially successful with many of their CDs achieving platinum sales. While these successes have been both commercial and artistic, is the motivation profit or musical excellence? Finally, as is increasingly the case with modern music, categorizing Rajaton’s music into common genres is no simple task: their music unmistakably encompasses aspects of classical, pop, jazz, and world music. Can this music be classified into one category? And does it matter?

Laura Kishimoto is from Toronto, Canada, and is currently completing her Masters in Vocal Studies with John Potter at the University of York. Her academic and performance experience spans both choral and solo works within the early and contemporary eras, and she particularly enjoys performing with small a cappella ensembles. In the spring of 2006 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music Honours degree in theory and early music performance from the University of Western Ontario.

NOTE: I placed this order in 2007 and have no plans to place another. If you are looking to order music, please visit the publishers’ websites now linked below. Please also note that Kallio’s Dobbin’s Flowery Vale is permanently out of print. (Sept. 2009)

I am placing an order of sheet music with three companies that carry some of the Rajaton titles. I could probably manage a hand-off situation to those who live in the Southern Ontario area. For those outside of this area, I can mail out orders if you are interested; this might work well if there is a group of people from the same area (say, Alberta) that would like to order.

I will be placing the orders on Friday, February 9th - please get any orders in BEFORE this time! To place an order, email me at laura.kishimoto@gmail.com with “Rajaton Music” in the subject. I will calculate shipping and exchange costs after the order is sent in.

Laura

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SULASOL (Rajaton Choral Series):

Rissanen: Jabberwocky (S654) €6.94
Gustafsson: Varhaiskesä (S781) €2.05
Chydenius: Stabat Mater (S919) €3.24
Kostiainen: Salus infirmorum (S938) €2.46
Kostiainen: Sancta Maria, Vas Spirituale (S939) €2.05
Makaroff: Butterfly (S971) €2.46
Makaroff: Were You There (S1038) €3.28
Makaroff: Armottoman osa (S1040) €3.69
Makaroff: Lintu lauleli lehossa (S1074) €2.05

There will be a 10% discount if over 10 copies of one title are ordered from Sulasol.
I will combine the order to try and help this along.

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ANUNA:
McGlynn: Wild Song €2.70
McGlynn: Summer Song €2.70

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LIGHTHOUSE:
Smallman: Where the Wind Blows (SSATBB) CAN$2.85
Smallman: Where the Wind Blows (SSATBB/SATB) CAN$3.45
Smallman: On suuri sun rantas autius (SSATBB/SATB) CAN$2.65

On September 14th I will be ordering music from Lighthouse Music Publications. My order is going to consist of two copies of Jeff Smallman’s Where the Wind Blows (original SSATBB/SATB and rearranged SSATBB). If you would like to partake in this order, let me know by the 13th and I will include your requests. Lighthouse publishes many other pieces by the likes of Smallman and Quartel, so take a look around. I will not take any requests after the 13th.

Life goes on to some degree, so I have found out. I still feel broken, but I know that my problems don’t matter as much as the problems of those I love. Don’t try to convince me otherwise.

It is September and the world is returning to classes while I am not. My contract at Western has expired and I’m taking a little break until my new job kicks in. The future frightens me.

I started playing N64 (Zelda in particular) again and am looking for more games. I’ve been scouring eBay for MarioKart, Mario 64, Perfect Dark, Harvest Moon, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and Mario Party (1 or 3). If you have any of these that you no longer use (NTFS format), let me know!

The main order list has expanded, thanks to Timmy C. Once again, I plan to send the order on June 30th, if not earlier, so be sure to get your request in well before then.

Dobbin’s Flowery Vale is out of print. Mita kaikatat, kivonen? will be published in the fall, perhaps with two others of Makaroff’s pieces.

I recently received a reply email from Eeva-Maria Seppäläinen from the music publisher Sulasol. I will be ordering selected sheet music from their site and all are welcome to partake in the order.

The prices of some pieces (all for mixed voices) are as follows:

Dobbin’s Flowery Vale is out of print.

I hope to place the order by June 30th. If you’re interested, email me or comment here.