Busy and Holy Week

Happy Easter and Passover to all those celebrating this week! I know it is a busy time, so I won't take up too much of your time here. Continue to spend time listening to the rehearsal tracks available at least once this week. Also, practice your French pronunciation on the Faure in the rhythm of the music to help eliminate that hurdle. We are doing well on the chorus music, but we still need work on much of the small ensemble and solo pieces. With that in mind, I propose that we rehearse as a group from 7:30 to 9:00 next Monday and reserve 9 to 9:30 to either rehearse with your respective quintets/quartets or sing your solo/duet with Wooyoung's accompaniment. We will know better where we stand if we spend a little more quality time on those pieces. I would be happy to find time to rehearse any solo/ensemble music with you that we can work out between us. Just let me know. Think about if you would like to fill one of our dramatic roles as sneezer, weeper, or belcher. Someone with the right sound and an aptitude for having a little fun is all that is required! Finally, I will be out of town next Monday, and Emily Floyd will be with us. I know you look forward to her coming, and she will lead us excellently as always. Thanks for all your efforts and sharing your gifts weekly. See you soon!

Listened and learned

Hi all -
I think we learned some valuable insights into our singing last night by hearing the recording. We learned to blend our voice with the voices of the rest of the group. We learned to make sure to keep the parts balanced, which sounded different on the recording than how it sounds when actively singing. We learned to be more in control of the pitch and more prepared for our entrances. We also learned about expression of the music with a more energized sound. I still think we could be more conscious of breath support, especially in our higher ranges, because unsupported tone will never blend, balance, tune or sound energized.
That said, we are in good shape with a lot of the music. You really MUST spend time on the notes using the tracks outside of rehearsal. Go back over parts that you feel insecure on. You can use the tracks to feel more confident in rehearsal on your part which will help us achieve ALL of the above musicality. Here again is the link:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6nv7a7hpoj917tj/Faf_Kf2FPi
Quintets and quartet - if at all possible, please be here at 7:00 pm next Monday. We will find individual rooms to rehearse your individual pieces. Let's at least have a couple of run throughs of these together. Again, use the tracks to know your part before Monday.
Soloists - let's find a time when we can rehearse your parts outside of rehearsal. It may be that we can only get together individually until closer to the concert, but that's OK. Contact me when you feel ready to sing your parts with me.
Thanks all. Hope St. Patrick's Day was good to you. See you next week!

Luck o' the Irish

That title has nothing to do with nothing - just felt like saying it! Anyway, as we discussed at rehearsal, please make use of the rehearsal files in my Dropbox folder at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6nv7a7hpoj917tj/Faf_Kf2FPi
Quintets - let's arrange a schedule for rehearsal hopefully at 7 pm most Mondays. If both groups would plan to be here by then, you can rehearse simultaneously at different locations in the church. I can assist each group as needed (although not at the same time! If I could do THAT.....never mind.). Try to get a sense of your own part on your own before rehearsing with the group. I will look over The Seasonings this week and begin to assign suggested solo parts. Please let me know if you have interest in doing any particular parts in the solo movements.
Thanks for a great rehearsal last night. Happy St. Patrick's Day! See you Monday.

More rehearsal tracks

Hi everyone! Hope you are having a great day so far. I have put rehearsal tracks in the Dropbox for everything now except The Seasonings. Please download and use freely to help us all learn notes before rehearsal. I want to see how much of a difference these make in our preparation and musicality, but my experiment will not work if you do not use the tracks. So, go for it!
Next week, we will rehearse the two remaining choruses from The Seasonings - By the Leeks and To Curry Favor. We will also rehearse the Italian madrigal, Diemer Madrigal No. 2 and more of the French and parts in the Faure. This will be an exciting concert!
Marie announced about the new group planning our 75th season which is also exciting. Any ideas you have for that group would be welcomed. I am also going to continue to review the surveys for your music suggestions and recruitment ideas. Let's build some momentum in our ensemble and our audience as we head toward our anniversary year.
Thanks for all you do - have a great week!

Au contraire but I DO have a blog!

Even though it's a little late, I do have a blog for this week!
First, thanks for a great concert. Our discussion on Monday was good, and the main thing is that we enjoyed our performance. As I said, there is more and more to enjoy each time, and we are making better and more lasting connections with our audience. Kudos!
Second, I have reorganized the Dropbox files into folders under Choral Guild. This way, you can find the forthcoming rehearsal files for this concert more easily. I may even take a stab at recording the French pronunciation for the Faure as well!
Think of ways we can get the word out about our concert knowing now what the program entails. Let me or Jean know of at least one other way (besides inviting everyone you know!) that you could help in the publicity for this event - our last of the season!
See you all on Monday...

Concert weekend!

I can't believe it's here, but this weekend is concert weekend. I just talked with Emily who gave me the update from Monday. She was very pleased with how it all sounded and your preparation for the concert. We will begin with the Hail, Gladdening Light piece on Saturday to have enough time to iron out those parts. Thanks for your musicianship and vitality in presenting this music. I hope you're enjoying it. Now comes the fun part! Let's make the most of the music this weekend. See you all Saturday!

After last night

Hi everyone -
Good work last night, although our sense of tuning surprised me after the rehearsal the week prior. We just need to listen at least as much, and sometimes more, than we sing, especially on the unaccompanied pieces. Sections where I think this is particularly true are (Yes! Sit down with your music and look over these sections if you would.):
Blue Bird - measures 9-14; measures 29 through 34; measures 39 through 42.
Aftonen - TB measures 7 and 8; all measures 9 through 12; AT page 5; SA top of page 6.
Silence of the Night - opening entrance; top of page 5
Nightingale - bottom of page 3; top of page 6
MLK - bottom of page 3 entrance; last 5 chords
Rutter - listen for balance especially when not singing words
Hail - sing your part confidently amongst the other parts
That being said, there are MANY places where you are singing with great diction, sensitivity to the dynamics, tuning well with the other parts, expressing the text, and creating a delicious musical experience. We are continuing to strive towards this happening more often than not, and we continue to improve. This will be a good concert - keep up the good work for another couple of weeks! Soloists - thanks for your exciting additions to the program and for your extra work on those.
Finally, I could not work out the timing to prohibit my absence from rehearsal next week, and I truly am saddened about that. Emily will more than carry on in my absence. See you for concert weekend!