Hello Everyone,
Such an exciting time for WVC with 2 more rehearsals to work out performance logistics and polish before we have our Concert. I look forward to seeing everyone at First Presbyterian Church in Durham for our rehearsals on Monday 4/25 and Thursday 4/28.
Regarding our May 9th picnic:
Information from Wendy:
Here is the sign up genius link for the picnic:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4EAFAB2EA2F9C07-listening
Here are some key points about the picnic (they are also in the info section of the signup)
- Please label your food with ingredients to help people with allergies / restrictions.
- If you have strict dietary restrictions, please make sure that you bring something you can eat.
- Please note, that since the picnic is at a public park in Durham, that we are NOT permitted to have alcoholic beverages.
I will try to monitor the sign up from time to time and I can always add more slots if lots of people RSVP.
Word from the wise (Janet): you will be standing on stone steps in the church for rehearsal and performance so choose your shoes carefully. We don’t want anyone to have unhappy feet.
Great rehearsal last night – especially improved intonation, dynamics, and nuanced phrasing. At this point, I think it best for you to sing through everything as you have time this week, especially the pieces that have not gotten our attention the past few rehearsals.
Please be sure that you have all of your music situated in your folder to maximize silent page turns…including taking out the top left staple in The Imaginary Garden. I would recommend 2 or 3 staples on the left margin for any music or hole punch and use a 3-ring binder insert. This is what I have used in choral folders: https://www.mymusicfolders.com/product/three-ring-adapters/. We may not be able to make 3-ring happen for this concert but definitely something to consider if you are having trouble with your music.
Rehearsal Focus:
The Imaginary Garden
Lots of work on intonation and it is very much improved. We are very close! About 3/4s of a step, to be exact!
A few places of which to be aware:
S1s need to be higher in m.16 on the d-natural and then careful with the descending intervals in m.16 because when we cadence at m.17 we ended about a quarter tone flat.
All of mm.32-48 was under pitch so that we cadenced at m.48 about almost a half step flat. Think high and light! Ascending intervals are bigger and descending intervals are smaller. We recovered a bit as we kept singing. S1 and S2 – when you sing the melody at mm. 49-70 you are flat almost every time you descend from the B to the G#…but. For instance, ‘tie’ to ‘my’ and ‘of’ to ‘the’ and so on. Again, the descending intervals need to be smaller.
In mm, 91-92 S2s need to sing those ascending intervals higher!
Be Like the Bird
Woohoo! Everything is in tune except a wee bit flat on the C in m. m.6 and m. 7. Also, Deb helped us be more musical but not singing too heavily on the quarter notes (especially the ones on beat 4).
She Who Makes Her Meaning Clear
We worked on |
– tuning mm. 9-10 – Gb for the S2s should be on the high side.
– tuning mm. 29-31 – Db and D natural for the S1s.
– singing the vowel AH in ‘Gamba’ – don’t close to the M and pop the B
– worked on mm. 72-73 for Part 2 – great effort making those corrections. We have it now.
Storm Comin’
Great review!
– whenever you sing an A#, sing it higher please.
– m. 18 rest on beat 2.
– nice work body percussionists! You really add so much to this piece. Thanks for your extra effort with memorization and learning the percussion.
Song of Miriam
Wish you could all hear what I am hearing right now as I listen to our rehearsal – you singing is so sensitive and musical. I got teary eyed mm. 55-end
– Deb’s suggestion at mm. 47-50 sing more legato, especially on the words ‘take’ and ‘sing’ don’t clip off the dotted eight notes is very helpful.
– note the dynamics throughout so that we don’t oversing the softer passages.
– space for the vowels m. 59 ‘out and ‘mouth’
– mm. 58 and 60 we need to work on the dissonances so that we don’t have ‘an abundance of choices’ on those notes!
Prayer for Ukraine
– this week please speak/sing through the text for Prayer for Ukraine to gain confidence
– we drifted a half step flat…again, it’s those descending intervals that are too large.
Here is a lovely performance – they are singing it a half step higher and I think we will give that a try, too. It won’t be too high for the sopranos and the altos are already singing bass and tenor on this one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn0_p1ZR3hg A few words and voice parts are different but I think it is still helpful.
What the Heart Cannot Forget
– mm. 5-12 syllabic stress for the Altos (good job!)
– entrance at m. 49 – good job
– be sure to note the sections that are soft, except the S2s get to sing louder in mm. 16-19
Again, such beautiful work – I hope that you all feel as good as you sound!
I already can’t wait for our rehearsal on Monday. See you in Durham at First Presbyterian Church. Hope you have a great week until then.
Hugs,
Laura