Listen! |
Director and Founder |
Cathedrals |
Mixed |
Kids |
Vivace! choirs have been featured in concert at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; the Abbey Bach Festival in Mt. Angel, Oregon; and in cathedrals from Seattle to San Francisco along America’s scenic West Coast. The Cathedrals Choir performed in Austria at the Mozart Festival in Salzburg and Vienna, with additional formal concerts at Melk Abbey and the Matthias Church in Budapest, Hungary. The choir has also been featured in the Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall and Tacoma’s Pantages Theater. Singers have performed with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Harvey Felder and under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Boers of the University of Washington. Vivace! choirs have also been featured in concert with the inimitable Peter Schickele, a.k.a. P.D.Q. Bach. They have appeared several times on classical radio broadcasts and have been featured in Seattle’s Argosy Christmas Ship Festivals.
The Vivace! Choral Program offers a continuous and comprehensive 4th-12th grade mixed choral experience for students as a supplement to the musical offerings of the regular school day.
Vivace! uses a strong educational mentoring model, in which each choir is “mentored” by students from the next level in the organization. Additionally, a small number of novice educators and college students who plan to teach music are selected as section leaders for the Cathedrals Choir.
Andrea Klouse, Vivace’s Founder, shares these thoughts about our Vivace! mentoring model:
“We are sometimes asked why adults and students sing together in the Vivace! Choral Program. I’d like you to know more about that. As a child I grew up in the study of Suzuki Violin program. I stood next to other budding musicians of all ages and heights. My accelerated musical experience brought confidence and a musical product that constantly nudged my curiosity for growth. Shinichi Suzuki, the Japanese musician, philosopher, educator, and inventor of the international Suzuki Method of music education, developed a philosophy for educating people of all ages and abilities. In his peer mentoring model, participants are often of various ages, and learn together the language of music, much like the way we all learn a new language. Students mentor one another and work together with a sense of camaraderie. Our Vivace! Choral Program follows a European peer mentorship model similar to that of The Cambridge Singers (John Rutter), and The Choir of King’s College (Stephen Cleobury) in England.”
In our program, singers from The Cathedrals Choir mentor the Vivace! Mixed Choir and Mixed Choir members mentor the Vivace! Kids Choir.
While students receive instruction in vocal technique, theory, history, movement and performance, Vivace! provides young music educators the opportunity to practice and hone their artistic skills in a nurturing environment. The choristers perform a wide variety of music; from the sophisticated motet to satisfyingly silly and choreographed pieces. Always delightful, Vivace! choirs invite, inspire and entertain all.
- Listen!
- #TitleArtistComposerTimeID
- 01.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Beati.mp3Beati Quorum ViaVivace! Cathedrals ChoirStanford4:11s1audio/mpeg80
- 02.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Blazheni.mp3Blazheni, Yazhe IzbralVivace! Cathedrals ChoirTchaikovsky3:19s2audio/mpeg80
- 03.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Kyrie.mp3KyrieVivace! Cathedrals ChoirPalestrina3:45s3audio/mpeg80
- 04.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Light.mp3This Little Light of MineVivace! Kids Choirtraditional, arr. Neil Johnson4:10s6audio/mpeg80
- 05.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Sanctus.mp3SanctusVivace! Cathedrals Choir14th-Century Plainchant1:46s4audio/mpeg80
- 06.https://vivacechoral.com/wp-content/uploads/Spasyenie.mp3SpasyenieVivace! Cathedrals ChoirTchesnokov3:57s5audio/mpeg80
Jason Saunders
Director
Jason Saunders is the Director of Choirs at Graham-Kapowsin High School in Graham, Washington, where he has taught for six years.
Under his direction, the GKHS Chorale has appeared at the NW National Association for Music Education (NAfME) convention in 2019, the NW American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference in 2018, and the 2018 Washington Music Educators Association state conference. The choir earned national recognition when they were awarded the 2018-2019 American Prize in Choral Performance for High School Chorus.
In 2015 he was selected for the Washington ACDA Outstanding Emerging Choral Director award. An active composer, Jason has received commissions, awards, and performances from choirs across the United States. He was a finalist in the Young New Yorkers Chorus Competition for Young Composers, and in 2012 he placed second in the student choral composition competition of The American Prize. Jason holds a Master of Music from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Pacific Lutheran University. He studied conducting with Donald Brinegar, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Brian Galante, and Richard Nance, and composition with Greg Youtz and Morten Lauridsen.
Andrea S. Klouse
Founder
Andrea Klouse is an internationally acclaimed composer, conductor, educational clinician and 30-year veteran teacher in Washington state schools. Klouse earned her Bachelor of Arts in Violin/Voice Performance and Music Education. Currently, Klouse teaches at Graham-Kapowsin High School in the Bethel School District near Tacoma, Washington, just northwest of beautiful Mount Rainier.
Klouse was named 2005 Bethel School District Teacher of the Year. In 2003, she was a recipient of the Pierce County Arts Commission’s Margaret K. Williams Award for Excellence in Education, as well as being named Outstanding Music Educator at the biennial convention of the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA). Klouse’s newest choral composition, published by Alliance, is entitled, “I Hear Sweet Music.” This composition was commissioned by the WMEA for the 2004 All-State Chorus.
Klouse has conducted and performed in international festivals including: All-American Youth in Concert (Italy, Austria), Kathaumixw 1998 (Canada), Vesprehm “Vivace” Festival 2000 (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary), and Idaho International Choral Festival 2001 (U.S.). In the summer of 2006, Andrea took her Vivace! choirs to the International Mozart Festival in Salzburg and Vienna as well as a command performance in Budapest, Hungary. The Cathedrals Choir also performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall in May of 2007. Klouse is an active adjudicator and presenter at educational clinics, workshops and professional reading sessions. She has directed numerous all-state and regional festival choirs around the United States.
Select Performance/Guest Conductor Venues
1990 All-State Featured Group Performance, Inaugural “Arts Time” Washington
1995 Kathaumixw International Choral Festival, BC;
1996 Georgia All State Guest Conductor;
1997 American Choral Directors Conference, WA
1998 Performance Group to Idaho International Choral Festival;
Klouse was named “Outstanding Educator” by WMEA;
1999 Vivace! International Choral Festival, Hungary and concert tour to Germany, Prague, and the Czech Republic
1999 Formation of the Vivace! Choral Program “in residence” with Bethel School District at Frontier Junior High: Vivace Kids, Vivace Mixed and Vivace! Consort Choirs
2000 FJH Concert Choir, WMEA All State Performance Group (Klouse also a session presenter)
2000 Georgia All State Guest Conductor.
2001 Vivace! Kids Camp, Vivace! “Cathedrals of WA” Camp and Concert Tour inaugural year.
2002 Oregon All State Choir, Guest Conductor
2002 WMEA All State (Klouse session presenter);
2002 FJH Consecutive Winner of the Best in the North West Choral Festival, Portland
2003 FJH Concert/Choir and Vivace Invited to Perform at the Kansas Music Educators Assn. Vivace Treble Choir performed with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and Choir Honegger’s “Une Cantate de Noel” with Central Washington University in “Star Child” by George Crumb in Seattle’s Benaroya Concert Hall.
2003 Vivace! Mixed Choir performed Schubert’s Mass in G with orchestra at the Sumner Performing Arts Center
2003 Vivace Cathedrals Choir performed in Cathedrals from Seattle to San Francisco
Most recently, Andrea was named recipient of the 2003 Pierce County Arts Commission’s Margaret K. Williams Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts
2004 WMEA commissioned a work from Andrea for performance in the WMEA All State: “I Hear Sweet Music.”
Summer 2004: Vivace! Cathedrals Choir performed at the National Cathedral, the National Shrine of the Basilica, the White House, the Holocaust Museum and other sites in Washington DC; was headline choir at the Oregon Bach festival; Mt Angel Abbey Bach Festival.
2005 Bethel School District Teacher of the Year
2005 Alabama All-State Con ference Guest Conductor of SSA Choir; Birmingham Alabama
2005 WMEA Elementary All-State Choir
Recent Andrea Klouse Choral works published and established as keynote performance pieces in education:
- Prayer of the Children (Warner Chappell)
- Song for a Russian Child (Hal Leonard)
- Kyrie (Hal Leonard)
- Who Will Fight No More Forever (Based on Chief Joesph’s Surrender Speech) (Hal Leonard)
- I Leave You With a Song (Warner Chappell)
- How Will I Go Without Ye? (Hal Leonard)
- “I Hear Sweet Music,” was commissioned by the Washington Music Educators Association for the 2004 All State Choir. The World premiere performance was on 2/14/2004 (published by Alliance Publishing Co).
The Vivace! Cathedrals Choir
The Vivace! Cathedrals Choir is our flagship mixed-voice ensemble comprised of secondary students and selected adult mentors. This advanced group prepares a wide range of challenging choral repertoire. The Cathedrals Choir enjoys a variety of performance opportunities throughout the year. Past events have taken this group to various locations throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as, other venues around the United States. In addition, the Vivace! Cathedrals Choir was one of a handful of vocal ensembles selected to participate in an international tour which explore parts of Austria and Hungary in the summer of 2006. For more information about the Vivace! Cathedrals Choir or to obtain audition information, use our contact form.
The Vivace! Mixed Choir
The Vivace! Mixed Choir is a large ensemble consisting of secondary students with changed/changing voices. This ensemble prepares larger choral works; in addition to, a wide variety of quality choral literature, languages and styles. Students in the Vivace! Mixed Choir have the opportunity to offer their skills to the Vivace! Kids Choir as student mentors. For more information about the Vivace! Mixed choir or to obtain audition information, use our contact form.
The Vivace! Kids Choir
The Vivace! Kids Choir services all South Puget Sound elementary students with treble, unchanged voices. Students involved in the ensemble gain music fundamentals and valuable performance experience in a fun, nurturing environment. For more information about getting involved in Vivace! Kids Choir or to obtain audition information, use our contact form.
