Hello Everyone,
Thank you so much for your focused work on not TWO but THREE pieces last night. I know it really takes extra energy and attention to stay on pieces for so long (Entrance and Mae-e especially) but I do think we made significant progress on both, and also made progress on Walk Together Children. It puts us in a better state of readiness for our retreat guests and that is a good feeling!
Marsha gave me the great advice to restart my phone and see if the voice memo gremlins were banished…that did the trick and the voice memo app is now working normally again…so I have plenty of storage for more overtone recordings – YAY! But I was so disappointed to not have a recording to send to Linda after we worked so hard to make it happen – but then Ann Harrison came to the rescue. A million hoorays for Ann. Ann’s Entrance recording is from the A1 perspective but all parts are heard and I think it will give Linda an idea of where we are in our rehearsal trajectory as we bring her music to life. I know she will be ready to give us helpful critique on Saturday. While listening, I did notice that our tempos were not consistent…we have some speeding up and slowing down in sections where the tempo should be steady – we will work on that. But, I hear all of the parts clearly and hear many lovely dynamic contrasts.
If you missed Anne Menken’s notes regarding the Entrance poetry when I sent them a few weeks ago, I have
attached them again. I just re-read them and Anne’s perspective gives such depth and meaning to the text. I encourage you to read them also! It really enhances the enjoyment of singing this piece.
We have made progress on the Japanese pronunciation of Mae-e….but now we also need to increase the tempo, work on phrasing and dynamics. I look forward to Ayumi’s assistance on Saturday morning. In addition to helping us with Mae-e, I have invited her to lead our warm ups and offer general critique on our other pieces as we rehearse.
I have updated the retreat schedule (
attached) to reflect one change – we are meeting with Linda Kachelmeir over Zoom directly after lunch at 1 pm (previously scheduled for 1:30pm)
At the end of our retreat, we will give a performance for the Carolina Meadow residents, including these pieces:
My Name is Lamiya: Don’t Call Me Refugee
Mi Lugar
Mae-e (Forward)
Deep River
Walk Together Children
Crowded Table
Over the Rainbow
We will not coordinate our performance dress – wear what you feel comfortable wearing. Use your own folder – we won’t distribute WVC folders.
Rehearsal Reflection:
Entrance
– we gained clarity on the structure of this piece by putting together all of the previously rehearsed sections and singing it through several times – it is really taking shape!
– sopranos, we may tweak the aleatoric section just a bit more but it is really coming along.
– for now, sing m. 9 connected….the separation between the notes was a bit choppier than I anticipated. Perhaps what we need is a lean on the beginning of each note (not quite an accent) and then a strong consonant at the end of each word. I think that will give us the desired effect. We will try it on Saturday.
– I noticed on the recording that our tempos are not consistent – we will work on those!
Walk Together Children
– this piece has come a long way!
– we will work on the tempo/phrasing for mm. 68-end on Saturday
Mae-e (Forward)
– we are making progress! As much as you can, speak/sing this text – it will benefit us all. We need to speed this piece up but we have to gain confidence on the text before we can.
– please bring any questions you have on this piece to our retreat and we will try to get them answered Saturday morning.
Looking Ahead to 4/7/25
Grace Before Sleep
We Are Home
The Harbor and the Sea
My Name is Lamiya
With any remaining time, we will work on polishing any of our other pieces.
Chamber Choir:
We will sing in mixed formation next week.
Across the Sea sounds really great but will be improved with a better blend. I am hopeful that in mixed formation we will unify our sound.
Shenandoah will be more challenging in mixed formation but we can do it! Please ask any questions about any concerns.
I’m looking forward to our retreat on Saturday – see you there!
Laura
