Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your hard work on our music last night at rehearsal. So many lovely moments! I had lots of fun and I hope that you did, too. I am super proud of our music and can’t wait to share it with our family, friends, and community.
We will have a few adjustments to make regarding logistical things that should be easy to accomplish so just be ready to be flexible, please.
If you have time between now and Thursday, please take note of these items below (short list) but I am sure it is a busy week for everyone and we will address these at rehearsal.
My biggest suggestion is to let our faces and bodies express the music. The tops of our foreheads are probably the least interesting or expressive parts of us…but that is what the audience will see if you have your head down in your music. I am SURE that you know your music well enough to look up! I know how much I appreciate a chorus that is fully engaged (not just technically correct) and how as an audience member that helps me to feel engaged and connected, too!
Thursday, we will run the pieces with strings first:
I Started Out Singing
Ave Maria
Tundra
We will then use a short time to rehearse a few things.
We will then sing through our concert, making sure everyone fully understands the logistics including movement, and polish as much as possible. But mostly we will sing through the pieces without stopping.
Love is Welcome
– altos are under pitch, especially when the A1 or A2 is around middle C or the B right below it. I would encourage you to remember to take a good breath and also sing lighter – more ‘flute-like’ so that you can listen to the harmonies. Try to feel the sound more forward and bright.
– everyone please watch carefully and follow your eyes and not your ears so that we can stay together.
– if it was worrying you that you had trouble hearing Hannah, we have requested a mic for her…but we did not have access to the sound system last night.
I Started Out Singing
– we will add strings Thursday.
– I checked our tempo and we were 2 clicks too fast (90 instead of 88bpm), so not much! But we will take it a smidge slower. But just a smidge.
Ave Maria
– page 8 m. 60 start piano and crescendo (we started that phrase too loud, the next phrase was good!)
– page 8 m. 68 start forte! We were a bit soft there.
– we will add strings Thursday.
Through the House
– please circle all of the pianissimo sections
– pg. 6, m.m. 73-85 is where we have significant pitch drift in the alto sections, especially A1. If you have time to sing that section with the practice files or reference recording, that would hopefully be helpful.
– then our tuning on the final chord, m. 126, the A1s have the 3rd of the chord and we need that to be higher. It’s just hanging below the center of the pitch. I know that is a tricky place in your voice because most of you are in your passagio there…so sing it lighter if needed in order to tune.
To Sit and Dream
– we need to rehearse the last 2 measures. I think some want the rit. to be much more dramatic than it is – it’s marked ‘slight rit.’
– I will be more clear about closing to the M and then releasing the last pitch (sorry about that!)
Sparks of Divinity
– A1 and A2 need to help us be firmly in D minor at the beginning and tune the D and A, same pitches again m. 26.
– dynamic contrast mm. 22-26 was outstanding!
– we had pitch drift at mm. 44 and then a steady drift down to the end. It would be fabulous if we could cadence on that super sparkly D major chord at the end. 🙂 D-flat is one of the most mellow and gentle of keys…and that doesn’t reflect the intention of the poetry!
The March of the Women
– please be ready for some logistical changes
The Bird’s Lullaby
– we lost our key center at m. 55 so please note that transition to the A minor chord that we have been working on…that whole section is not tuned
– mm. 79-80 crescendo to forte but the S1s were louder than everyone else so we need to work on that balance (I know we were short 2 A1 voices but still please be aware)
Ikan Kekek
– we will add the hand drum parts on Thursday
– page 7 at letter G, begin forte – we were a bit too soft there
– the S2 hoi mm. 1-7 needs to be more together, please.
Tundra
– we will add strings
– still not enough crescendo page 12 mm. 39-40
– Wendy and Kinley we might try a new place for you so that you are standing together let’s try that on Thursday
Spes
– this one has snow skiis….downhill race to new keys (not called for in the score)!
– I’m trying to think of any other strategies I can suggest to help us with tuning. I would like everyone to be hyper aware if the interval is moving downward to not land so far down. Look at what happens m. 1 to m. 2 – everyone is descending. And we indeed are out of tune from there onward but snowballs and gets lower and lower. We will need to spend some time on this piece on Thursday.
– Any yoik-like syllables need to be sung with a forward, bright, resonance (think outside voices!). In m.10 when the S1 and S2 sang that out it was wonderful! Yay!
– we had some ensemble issues with people rushing ahead or lagging behind at page 7 so be sure to look up as much as possible – I know this text is challenging!
Gloria
– this one is just a touch too fast on the beginning and ending sections so we will slow it down just a tad so that we are not rushed and can fully embrace the rhythms in this piece.
– we will add percussion on Thursday and guitar on Saturday (we will run this piece at our call time (1:30pm). We will have a bit of time to warm up and run a few things before the house opens at 2:30.
– when we repeat the opening section, it is soft.
– two spots need our attention – mm. 42-47 and mm. 74-75
Of course, we will also sing through the pieces that we did not get to on Monday. 🙂
That’s all for now – hope you have a very nice next couple of days and I will see you Thursday evening!
xxoo,
Laura