Hello,
What a wonderful rehearsal! Thank you for your attention and beautiful singing. I loved the energy and excitement in the room – I think that we are off to a great start. We have fewer rehearsals in the spring semester so we have to work fast and maximize efficiency – be prepared to use the practice files if you need repetition or have questions. Please ask your section leader if you have questions/concerns that you can’t answer via the practice files/reference recordings. It is a mountain of work for Karla to create the practice files – let’s use them to our collective advantage!
Welcome to our new members – we are glad to have you with us! Welcome back to our members who were on a leave of absence – glad to have you back.
Special thanks to Janet (president), Kinley (logistics), Marsha (librarian), Wendy (membership chair), and Karla (operations manager/treasurer) for accomplishing everything that needed to be done for last night’s rehearsal…of course many others are working behind the scenes, as well – THANK YOU!
Please remember that we will have Chamber Choir Auditions next week at 9:30pm (at the conclusion of the regular rehearsal). Please understand that the ensemble may be limited to fewer than the number that audition, especially as I consider the optimum balance of parts and blend of voices. If you would like to audition for Chamber Choir, please be prepared to sing an excerpt of Shenandoah, pick up to m. 12 through m. 31 in mixed formation. (The score is in our practice files). If you are going to be absent next week, you can email a voice memo – sing your part using the ‘ALL’ practice file playing in the background.
Please review your self assessment sheet and set individual goals for the semester. My semester goals for WVC are to continue to build on enhancing expressiveness by:
– engaging faces and bodies when singing as appropriate to the music (watch the video from our last performance and see what you think!)
– exploring the full dynamic range of of the chorus, including the softest pianissimos and loudest fortissimos
– articulating consonants that clearing communicate the text to the listener while also unifying resonant vowels that will improve blend and intonation
– seeking to deeply understand the text for each piece and make personal connections where possible
– fine tuning half steps, especially in a cappella singing (we will sometimes use solfege as a tuning tool – I passed out a reference sheet that is attached – you can get a copy next week if you were absent)
Text Reference Recordings:
Mi Lugar – Sarah Town created an audio recording of the text as occurs in the parts…switching from part to part as needed. It makes sense when you follow along. (Attached) Thanks, Sarah!
Mae-e (Forward) – Ayumi Nakamae created a video recording of the text as it appears on the cover of the music. Ayumi will be with us at our retreat in April to guide us on this piece and Darcy has offered to be a resource during our rehearsals until then. The file is too large to attach, so here is the drive link:
Rehearsal Reflection
My Name is Lamiya: Don’t Call Me Refugee – Michael Bussewitz-Quarm
-mm. 1-42 pitches and rhythms
-mm 59-64 need attention – big surprise when we turn the page (I should have warned you – sorry!) but I had not scheduled us to work that far…I got carried away and kept going!
-as you work on this piece, please note the dynamic markings and accents
Mi Lugar – Carlos Cordero
-mm. 1-34 pitches and rhythms
– Sarah T. introduced the text pronunciation and will continue to work with us as we learn the piece
– we will shape these phrases with dynamic changes (not all are written in the score so we will add them in as we go)
Deep River – arr. Alex Blake
– mm. 28-37
– we worked on the A2 entrance to m. 29 (so tricky – the whole piece has a challenging A2 part!)
– we sang on solfege (attached is my score so that you can double check your solfege syllables if we were going too fast for you to get them all). This is a terrific opportunity to work with a tuning app – I just sang all the parts with my app and it was so much fun to really fine tune those intervals (Joey, the slobbering fur goblin, went to the other room with a big sigh!). This is the app I use most often if you want to explore: https://www.tonalenergy.com.
Walk Together Children – arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
– mm. 1-14 pitches and rhythm
– we will go into depth regarding dialect in future rehearsals, but please do sing as arranger Stacey Gibbs has written in the score and in general, soften consonants so that, for instance, we don’t have strong, aspirate Ts.
– good job with these tricky intervals and rhythms!
Grace Before Sleep – Susan LaBarr
– mm. 35-50 pitches and rhythms
– WVC has performed this beautiful piece numerous times. Our challenge will be to use all the tools in our toolbox to sing this one in tune!
– one effective tool is the drone (sorry – some people hate droning! – but it is an exceptionally useful tool when tuning). When we sing these measures again, we will drone and E (Do) and B (Sol) as our ‘guide posts.’ paying special attention that Ti is high and leads to Do… so those D#s sit on the high side. And, this is especially apparent when the D# is sung simultaneously with the E (mm. 39 & 41).
– a choral intonation scholar whose work I respect, Don Brinegar, says that singing in tune is one of the foundations for singing with expression…and I believe him! And this piece is so beautifully written, giving the ensemble every chance to sing Sarah Teasdale’s poetry with expressiveness. Can’t wait to work on this together!
We Are Home – Jenni Brandon
– mm. 1-13, 51-72 pitches and rhythms
– we will begin next week’s rehearsal with mm. 51-72 since we did not have time to give those measures the attention that they needed.
Looking Ahead to 2/17/25
We Are Home mm. 51-72
The Harbor and the Sea mm. 20-32, 43-55
Mae-e (Forward) mm. 1-22
Entrance mm. 45-57
Crowded Table mm. 25-40, 58-73
Over the Rainbow mm. 1-25
As time allows, we will review previously worked on sections.
Looking forward to our rehearsal,
Laura