At 7.30pm on Tuesday 20 October 2009, the Boys & Girls Choir of Harlem Alumni Ensemble will give a concert at Shanghai Concert Hall as part of the 11th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Invited to sing at Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony, the choir has performed with a host of celebrities including Pavarotti, Katherine Battle and Elton John. The first American choir to headline China's biggest music festival, their repertoire ranges from classical to soul.

Tickets: 100-500 yuan.
Venue: Shanghai Concert Hall, 523 Yan'an Rd E.
Tel: 6386-9153 

The Association of British Choral Directors' 24th Annual Convention takes place from 28-30 August at the University of Winchester with a pre-Convention Conducting course from 27-28 August.

Within the Convention are tutorial and training sessions led by eminent choral experts, discussion forums, a trade exhibition, concerts and open rehearsals with choirs from Britain and abroad including Farnham Youth Choir, Latvian Radio Chamber Singers and Sarabande (Canada).

Session topics include:

• Music of the Baltics
• Healthy Techniques for Young Voices
• Orchestral Conducting for Choral Directors
• Primary Class Singing
  
• Communication between Choir and Conductor

A Young Conductors' course will run in parallel with the Convention.

Further information: www.abcd.org.uk

The ABCD Singposium will take place on 8 July 2009 at the CBSO Centre, Birmingham.

Organised annually by Music for Youth, ABCD and Sing Up as part of the National Festival of Music for Youth, this choral training day is for all those working with singers in schools, colleges, churches, clubs and youth choirs across the UK. An opportunity for new ideas, finding repertoire, fresh methods of approach and networking.

Further information: www.abcd.org.uk

After the success of their show 'Judge Me!' at last year's Henley Fringe Festival, close-part harmony group Lend Us A Tenor have been invited to perform at Henley Festival 'proper' this year. The group plan to stage an impromptu game show spoof in which festival-goers can spin a wheel in order to choose the style and content of songs. 

Henley Festival runs every evening from 8-12 July 2009 on the London side of Henley Bridge.

  
Wells Cathedral

The second annual Somerset International Youth Choral Festival will take place from 6-10 July 2009. Rehearsals and the Festival performance take place in Wells Cathedral, which has maintained a choral tradition virtually unbroken for over 800 years, and Sherborne Abbey.

The Festival, which is for both Treble and Mixed Youth Voices, culminates in a Grand Finale and Gala Concert on Thursday 9 July at 7.30pm.

Tickets: £10 and £8 available from the Cathedral Shop Box Office. Tel: +44 (0)1749 672773. Tickets may also be purchased at Wells Tourist Information Centre, Market Street, Wells. Tel: +44 (0)1749 672552.

The 50th Anniversary American Choral Directors Association National Convention will take place from March 4 - 7 2009 in Oklahoma city.

For more information please visit http://www.acda.org/conventions/2009nat.shtml.