February 10, 2026, Music Notes

Thanks for a very fun, very productive rehearsal last night. We had many wonderful things to cover – next week will be all about singing!

Welcome to our new members: Phoebe, Sarah, Page, and Sandra! Welcome back to all of our returning members – it was so wonderful to see AND hear everyone after our wintry blast (hard to believe with the 70+ degrees today!). I am eagerly looking forward to sharing our Rise Up! repertoire on our twice rescheduled Winter Concert on 2/28.

My expectations – be the singer that when you come to rehearsal people are glad that you are singing beside them. Learn your part, bring your positive energy, and stay focused during the rehearsal. Read emails and announcements so that you are fully aware of important details and what’s upcoming. Use your pencil during rehearsal to mark in phrasing and to take note of other musical aspects. The act of marking in your music will help you to remember…plus there it is for the next time we rehearse the piece so we don’t have to talk about it repeatedly. Review your music during the week and look ahead at the measures that are scheduled for the next rehearsal. Use your self assessment sheet to choose a few goals for yourself (you can add something that isn’t on the sheet – this is for individual growth that will be to the benefit of all). Let’s all aspire to grow together as we dig deeply into our Flight music.

Please number all of the measures in your scores.

Please note in your scores which part you sing. Parts are detailed on the half sheet in your music folder and are also on the website under the Practice Files tab, labeled “Part Arrangements.” If you have questions, consult with your section leader.

Chamber Choir auditions will be next week at 9:30pm, following our regular rehearsal. I encourage you to audition! I am looking for an ensemble of up to about 20 who will learn and perform two pieces on our spring concert. The measure numbers are:

PDFs of the music are on our website.

You will sing in a group – not as a soloist. Please have the above measures learned – they do not need to be memorized. Marsha will bring the music – please don’t print the PDFs.

Swifter Than Flame – mm. 1-24

– Please reread the poem and think through how composer Elaine Hagenberg expresses it with the music. Notice the minor tonalities that burst into major chords – so exciting.

– Breathe at the rests – otherwise carry through.

– Note the dynamic contrasts throughout, especially the fp and cresc. at m. 6 for the sopranos and mezzos. This is a very dramatic measure!

– Crescendos and decrescendos are like escalators, not stairs.

– Note the half note rhythm at m. 14 and sing a smooth crescendo (escalator not stairs)

– Next we will focus on consonants – SW of swifter, F of flame, and all final Ss as a snare drum hit. Short and concise.

– This will be a very dramatic concert opener – people will be glad they came to hear us sing!

Flying mm. 1-16

– This piece begins a cappella with accompaniment joining in m. 7. It will be imperative that we have pristine intonation. We can do it!

– Breathe after ‘stars’ in m. 5

– Note the dynamic contrasts. mm. 6-7 are forte  with a hushed mp following in mm. 8 (pickup) – 9 and then growing at m. 10-14 before the decrescendo in m. 15.

– Note the tenutos. We will emphasize these words/syllables – mid (midnight), moon, no other, rea (reason), fly (flyers), fly (flying).

– Note when more than one part is singing the same pitch. For example, in m. 11, the A2s are signing an Ab on beat 2 and the A1s enter on an Ab on beat 2. As you go through your part, see what the other parts are doing and when you have brief moments of unisons as in m. 13 beat 2 A1s and A2s.

– For fun, do some reading about Ameila Earhardt.

Flying Away all

– We will need a narrator for this piece. If you are interested in performing the narration, please send me an audition voice memo. Use the practice files (not my singing but the midi file ALL) and read the part with the midi file playing in the background. After the beginning narration, skip to the ending narration. If this is too complicated, send 2 recordings, one of the beginning narration and one of the ending narration.

– A handful of singers performed this on the WVC Baltics Tour but there is not a WVC recording for reference and no other reference recording that I could find on the Internet so I recorded it. You can find it on the Practice files tab labeled ‘Rehearsal Tracks.’

– At mm. 37, the S1s do not break until there is a rest. The S2s have quarter rests and should not sing through those rests.

– Diction will be important to express the text. Begin working on clearly pronouncing the consonants as you read through the text.

Flight Song mm. 1-29

– What a lovely part for the altos (and for Deb!). It will be wonderful to feature your rich, warm tone on this piece.

– Take a quick breath (eighth note value) at the end of mm. 8, 10, 13, 25 (after cry – we will come out of tempo here – lots of rubato in this piece), 26

– In mm. 11-13 be sure to enunciate the FL and CR of fly and cry…or the poetry will be lost.

– This piece carries its expressive force on soaring phrases. Begin looking for the high point of each phrase so that we are moving toward it with energy and then releasing from it.

Now Let Me Fly all

– We sang through as a review for those who have previously sung this piece (most of the chorus).

– Our goals for this iteration will be to improve our tuning, balance, and ensemble precision. It will be fun to revisit an ‘old friend’ and experience the new heights to which we can take this piece. (Flight reference intended!).

Repertoire	2/16/26	2/23/26
*Swifter Than Flame		mm. 25-46
Flying		mm. 17-50
Flying Away		mm. 1-26
Flight Song		mm. 20-29
*Now Let Me Fly		mm. 1-44
*Be Like the Bird	mm. 1-10
Koowu	mm. 1-32
Jump!	mm. 1-51
*Flight	mm. 1-64
*Your World	mm. 1-45
		Review Rise Up! Repertoire
Some things that fly there be (Chamber Choir)	audition mm. 1-19
Bumble Bee (Chamber Choir)	audition mm. 1-52

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your week,

Laura