Hello Everyone,
It was wonderful to see you at our first rehearsal. I am only sorry that I have to wait two weeks to see you and hear you sing again!
I really enjoyed singing through our Songs of Celestial Spheres repertoire and look forward to digging into each one of these wonderful pieces with all of you. There were already moments of beauty even though we have just begun!
In the next two weeks, please consider using the resources on our website to listen to performance recordings and text pronunciations (for pieces not sung in English) to better familiarize yourself with these pieces.
According to the end of season survey this past spring, respondents indicated that improved intonation was a top priority. I have been reading texts and speaking with colleagues regarding intonation, most especially Donald Brinager who authored Pitch Perfect: A Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation. He gets deep into the weeds and I have loved the challenge of understanding his approach. A few choral directors from around the country met with Don on Zoom the other night (he lives in California) and shared 2 solid hours of very nerdy tuning talk – such fun!
Another text I have had in my library for a while is Conducting Women’s Choirs: Strategies for Success with contributions by many of my choral heros. It has been about 10 years since I first read it and it has been good to rethink some of the insights offered in this book.
I look forward to sharing with you during our upcoming rehearsals the ideas and techniques that I have been exploring this summer.
Looking Ahead to 9/12/22
We will rehearse these pieces with measure numbers indicated:
Two Eastern Pictures II. Summer mm. 1-28, 41-65
The Moon of Wintertime mm. 77-93
Par’o Era Estrellero mm. 29-41
The Dawn is Not Distant mm. 1-25
Mēnestinis Naki Brauca mm. 1-6, 11-14, 19-22, 27-31
My Lord What a Morning mm. 1-16, 45-55
When You Wish Upon a Star mm. 1-20
Hope you all have a beautiful next couple of weeks – see you soon!
Laura