I Raise My Voice
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Conductor
This glorious concert by the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Chamber Singers, an ensemble that consists of a select group of 16-18 high school-aged young women capable of learning and gracefully presenting pieces of sublime complexity, will center around an exploration in song, poetry and spoken word about the empowerment of women by using their voices, including Rosephanye Powell’s powerful setting of Maya Angelou’s poetic anthem, “Still I Rise”.
THE ARTISTS
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus is recognized throughout the country for its exceptional artistic quality and technical ability. Founded in 1986, LACC serves more than 400 children ages 6 to 18 through six choirs – Preparatory, Apprentice, Intermediate, Concert, Chamber Singers and Young Men’s Ensemble for boys with changing voices – and offers First Experiences in Singing classes and a First Experiences in Choral Singing Ensemble for 6-8-year-olds. LACC has been described as “hauntingly beautiful” (Los Angeles Times), “astonishingly polished” (Performances Magazine), “extraordinary in its abilities” (Culture Spot LA), and “one heck of a talented group of kids” (LA Weekly). Recipient of Chorus America’s 2014 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the nation’s highest choral honor, LACC has toured North and South America, Africa, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Western and Eastern Europe. LACC choristers can be heard on John Williams’ latest recording, John Williams & Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection, released in March 2017. LACC also appears on the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s critically acclaimed Decca recording A Good Understanding, and Plácido Domingo’s Deutsche Grammophon recording Amore Infinito (“Infinite Love”). The subject of a trilogy of documentaries by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award-nominated Sing!, about a year in the life of the Chorus; Sing Opera!,documenting the production of the LACC-commissioned family opera Keepers of the Night; and Sing China!, chronicling its groundbreaking tour to China just prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC has performed with John Mayer on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and has also been featured on PBS’s “Great Performances,” BBC Radio, and Public Radio International’s nationally syndicated show “From the Top,” among other credits.
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz (LACC Artistic Director) served as Artistic Director of American Boychoir from 2004 to July 2017. The eighth director since the choir’s inception in 1937, he oversaw all music training and artistic aspects of the organization, maintaining an intensive international touring schedule featuring more than 200 engagements annually. Versed in conducting wide ranging repertoire spanning classical and contemporary genres, Malvar-Ruiz led the choir on stage, screen and recordings, considerably expanding the organization’s reach and impact. He previously served as the choir’s Associate Music Director from 2000-2004 under famed conductor and pedagogue James Litton. A recognized expert in the adolescent male evolving voice, Malvar-Ruiz has guest conducted at the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia, the World Children’s Choir in Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, in Latvia, France, Korea and throughout China. He instructed at the summer master’s program in Kodály at Capital University and has served on the faculty of the Internacional De Verano de Direccion Coral y Pegagogia Musical in Las Palmas, Spain. Malvar-Ruiz regularly conducts at honor choir and choral festivals throughout the United States for the American Choral Directors Association and the Organizations of American Kodály Educators. Previously, Malvar-Ruiz was Conductor of the Central Illinois Children’s Choir, Conductor of the Parkland College Chamber Singers in Champaign, Illinois, and Assistant Conductor of the University of Illinois’ Concert Choir and Varsity Men’s Glee Club. Earlier posts included Music Director of the Columbus Youth Choir at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. With Ohio State University, he was Conductor of the Master-Singers and Assistant Conductor of the Men’s Glee Club and University Chorus. Malvar-Ruiz was born in Equatorial Guinea and began studying music at age ten. After earning an undergraduate degree in piano performance and music theory from the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música in Madrid, he completed his Kodály certification in Kécskemet, Hungary. He holds a Masters degree in Choral Conducting from Ohio State University and has completed the coursework toward a doctoral degree in musical arts from the University of Illinois.
