You’re hearing the voices of a much-loved Santa Fe women’s chorus—the Zia Singers—in a June 2022 concert in which they were paying homage to the music of Abba.
Fast forward two years, and we find the group beginning to prepare for its 2024-2025 season. One way they’re getting ready is by inviting potential new members to audition.
If you wind up being asked to join the choir for the first time, you’ll be in good company; this is also the first year for the group’s new artistic director John Tiranno.
Tiranno lived in New York and worked as an opera and classical vocalist for 14 years before moving to Santa Fe in 2018.
He was hired to replace Aaron Howe, who held the artistic director position for nine years before stepping down earlier this year.
Tiranno says he was drawn to the group by its lighthearted approach and the opportunity he anticipates to evolve as a director.
“ They don't take themselves too seriously, although they take their music making pretty seriously,” said Tiranno.
“They have a lot of fun while they're doing it, which is a great thing and having the opportunity to sort of shape an organization, shape a choir, guide them in a direction that I'd like to take them so that I can grow musically and they can grow musically, was really very desirable to me.”
The next round of auditions will be held on Saturday afternoon, August 24.
The theme of the first Zias performance under Tiranno’s leadership will revolve around the legendary impact of a great civil rights leader.
”The concerts will be inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. to some degree,” said Tiranno.
“We're going to do a lot of music, based on dreams and based on texts that either he wrote or said in the speech or that were written about him. And we're also going to do a really wonderful somewhat new piece of music, a classical . . . it's a sort of a classical-folk combination, a mass called “Misa Populares.”
The women of Zia Singers will gather for their first rehearsal with Tiranno after Labor Day.
Tiranno describes the sort of musicians he’s seeking to come and audition for the group.
“Anyone who might be interested in joining the Zia singers should be willing to sing more than just classical music or more than just pop music. We're looking for anyone who loves to sing. Obviously there, there is some level of ability required.
"The women in the group have a wide array of musical abilities. We have some people who have been singing for 30 years, 40 years, who have had have maybe some professional experience or professional adjacent experience. And we have women who've been singing just for a few years.”
One of the reasons that Tiranno is passionate about leading a group such as Zia Singers, and being a vocalist himself, is that the lyrical content makes for a direct communication of ideas.
“ Singers, I think, are the luckiest musicians out there because we get to use text. We have words and lyrics, poems.
"So many wonderful pianists or violinists or horn players can play anything and play beautifully, but a lot of times it's hard to understand what their song is about. What are they telling us? What are they trying to say? It's a lot easier, of course, when you're using words, and singers have that at their disposal and can really dig into the text and express themselves.”
John Tiranno also directs the choir program and teaches general music at Gonzales Community School.
The next audition for Zia Singers is Saturday, August 24, from noon to 2 p.m. at St. Bede’s Church in Santa Fe. More information is at The Zia Singers
website.
