From its inception, the mission of Schola Cantorum on Hudson has placed education at its core. The same breath that blew life into the first SCH performance season also birthed its Siamese twin, in the form of education programs. At no point has the work been about ‘pretty sounds today,’ but rather building ‘bridges to impact’ through skill development and meaningful experiences. Schola’s Boards of Trustees, from the very beginning, embraced a vision that was long-range and broad-scale—a vision that meant bringing many along on the journey. That meant education; and it still does!

Schola Cantorum on Hudson (SCH) was founded on the belief that music plays a vital role in every life. This philosophy informs all of our activities and is nowhere more evident than in our education programs. Read on to discover where you might fit in!

Educational Outreach

CHORAL SCHOLAR PROGRAM

SCH’s Choral Scholar Program is designed to provide professional-level training and performance opportunities for high school students with outstanding vocal promise who intend to pursue a career in music. A Choral Scholarship enables a student to participate fully as a singing member of SCH and to receive partial tuition for private vocal instruction. Choral Scholars also receive written recommendations as they apply to conservatories and music schools. Additionally, they and their families are guided through the complex process of conservatory auditions.

Choral Scholars are selected through a competitive application process based on the following criteria:

• Audition (including a prepared song, sight-reading, and aural skills testing)
• Interviews with the Artistic Director and various committees
• Musical experience
• Recommendations

Basic information and an application form is available by clicking here. Applications should be submitted in April of the sophomore or junior year of high school for consideration for the following academic year. SCH supports no more than two Choral Scholars at any one time.

The Choral Scholar Program was instituted in the group’s very first season (1994-95), and has been active throughout its history. Click here for a chronology and biographies of our Choral Scholars.

Interested candidates for the SCH Choral Scholar Program are welcome to contact the Artistic Director.

CONDUCTING SCHOLAR PROGRAM

SCH’s Conducting Scholar Program is designed to provide post-graduate (BA minimum) training and experience for a choral conductor in the first decade of his/her career. Training and opportunities provided will be designed collaboratively between the Scholar and Schola’s Artistic Director to meet each Scholar’s professional goals.

Duties: Conducting Scholars—

• participate as singing members;
• are given regular duties with sectional rehearsals and/or InReach instruction; and
• are expected to assume leadership of some area of the SCH organizational structure.

Opportunities: Conducting Scholars will receive--

• training with Schola’s Artistic Director in such areas as conducting; score study, analysis and interpretation; program design; etc.
• possibility of podium time with SCH;
• interactive involvement with elements of 501c3 management;
• introduction to professional circles in which Schola’s Artistic Director is active;
• written recommendations for applications to professional programs, graduate schools, etc.

Conducting Scholars are selected through an application process based on the following criteria:

• Written application, to include CV and video evidence of conducting;
• Recommendations
• Interview with the Artistic Director, upon invitation.

Expression of interest can be made at any time to the Artistic Director. SCH supports no more than one Conducting Scholar at any time.

CANTORUM YOUNG SINGERS

In 1999, SCH introduced the Cantorum Kids program, since renamed Cantorum Young Singers (CYS), to encourage young people’s life-long involvement with singing. The program is designed to nurture musical and ensemble skills through collaborative experiences between school-age musicians, members of the community, and the SCH membership.

Through a competitive application process, SCH selects a school that demonstrates a lively, well-run choral program for year-long involvement in SCH's self-produced concert season. SCH's Artistic Director visits the school during the year to interact with students and their director and to prepare the CYS ensemble for the planned musical collaboration. The number and nature of shared events is arranged with the director of the adopted program. Repertoire is chosen collaboratively by SCH's Artistic Director and the CYS ensemble director.

Applications for the CYS program are reviewed in the fall of each year for the following season. Applicants are encouraged to include a recording of live performances, among other materials, when submitting the application.

Click here to download an application.  

For more information relating to the CYS Program, please contact the Artistic Director via e-mail or by phone at (888) 407-6002. 

Educational InReach

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MEMBER DEVELOPMENT

It has always been central to Schola’s mission to nurture and develop the skills of its own members through educational offerings that cultivate a professional standard in musical skills, vocal development and performance technique.

As a ‘pro-am’ ensemble (the industry’s name for an ensemble which is a mix of professional and amateur musicians), the Schola umbrella covers a variety of performing ensembles/casts. Acceptance into the Schola singing family represents a commitment to a singer that comes with opportunities for growing the skills, and the potential for upward mobility within the ensemble’s various performing entities. All soloists are drawn from within Schola’s professional element, and singers are always able to request an audition for these opportunities. This element of our educational program ensures the ongoing evolution of this marvelously diverse mix of singers.

WEEKLY INREACH CLASS

Committed to the development of our singers, in January 2006, SCH took the innovative step of providing its members with weekly pre-rehearsal classes (6:40-7:20 PM, Mondays) in vocal technique and assertive sight-reading skills. These classes—always changing, according to perceived need and interest; two ongoing concurrently each week--are offered exclusively to members of SCH. Almost always note drill is offered for those singers who prefer to do their rehearsal preparation in group and/or with guidance.

DRAMATIC COACHING

Musical performance is about ‘presentation’ just as much as it is about vocal technique. The cast of Schola Sings Solo receives training with a well-known dramatic coach each year, in coaching sessions open to full membership for observation. Stage Director and Master Teachers David Ostwald, Chuck Hudson, and Dan Yates have worked with the cast.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROVIDER

Schola Cantorum on Hudson is accredited as a registered New Jersey Education Professional Development Provider. New Jersey public school teachers are eligible to apply for continuing education credits earned through membership and participation in our performances and educational programs.

Community Engagement

DRESS REHEARSAL

By opening the doors to Hudson County schools, churches, and other groups in the neighborhood in which it rehearses weekly, SCH provides access to its final rehearsal before taking its performances to Manhattan and Montclair. There is no charge for these events that seek to cultivate a new generation of music participants with a specific focus on Hudson County.

Those with interest in this program should contact info@scholaonhudson.org

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

On occasion, a local school or other arts organization partners with SCH in performance in a way that is less comprehensive than the broadly collaborative relationship of a Cantorum Young Singers ensemble. This is another interactive means of seeking ongoing relevance within our rehearsal neighborhood.