Hello Everyone,
I had a lot of fun at last night’s rehearsal and I hope that you did, too! It was great to see everyone. Once again I was sad to not hear you sing but exceptionally happy that we are keeping our chorus as strong as we can during these challenging times. We will one day again sing in the same room together, and I think we will be stronger than ever because of the effort we are making now. I celebrate us – Yay us
Whoops! I inadvertently recorded our Happy Half Hour last night but not our rehearsal. Sigh. Therefore, there won’t be a zoom rehearsal link. The good news is there was only one view of last week’s rehearsal and that was me checking to be sure that the video was playing properly so this is most likely not an inconvenience to many. I’ll provide links to Kathleen’s videos below so that you can catch up with the substance of her presentation if you like.
Four things are most on my mind this morning:
1) I don’t want anyone feeling pressured to record for virtual projects. This is entirely optional (and hopefully fun once you have the logistics figured out).
2) I don’t want anyone feeling left out because they have tech questions. These can be sorted out. Even though I use an iPhone, I have helped Android users figure out their settings. Smartphones can record 1080 30fps – it’s just a matter of finding it in your settings. In any case, please record in whatever setting you need to if you can’t figure out how to change the setting to 1080 30fps and I will do my best to convert and use your recording. Yesterday, I experienced a wonderland of discovery figuring out how to convert a recording made in PAL to NTSC (PAL is used in Europe). There is usually a way to make it work – it’s just a matter of figuring it out and I am willing to do and to help. Others are willing to help, too, if we know that there are questions.
3) Although we need to follow directions about recording, we do not need perfection! I have recorded multiple times a week since April 1st so I have had a lot of practice moving beyond how I looked or sounded that week. I have learned to celebrate what I have and can do and to silence the self-criticism. This has taken effort and practice and has not come easily, but I think it has been a healthy growth experience. In plain words, I really just needed to get over myself (in the nicest of ways!) so that I could have fun and enjoy singing!
4) We have a wonderful website full of tremendous resources (thanks to Karla who is currently updating our website and to Diane and Darcy for their previous work). Please use the website to access scores and videos. Right now, everything is there and working beautifully – scores, rehearsal videos…everything! The scores with performance markings and rests for breaths and even a few changed notes are all posted. These are the files to use when you print scores to rehearse Angels of Mercy and Snow Angel – anything on which we are currently working. They are in bold, bright red under the heading “Coming Soon” because these are upcoming virtual projects. Even if you aren’t going to record for the virtual choir project, these are still the scores that you need to use.
If you would still like to record for A Path to Each Other, the section leaders are willing to continue the draft process this week. If you need help, please reach out to your section leader and I will also try to help if they can’t answer your questions. We won’t be able to extend future deadlines but this is the only project with a draft video so we built in extra time.
Links to videos our guest artist, Kathleen, referenced:
Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises
Virtual Hugs and Cheers!
Laura
Looking Ahead to 9/28//20
1st half of rehearsal:
Rehearse Together:
Angels of Mercy – Irving Berlin, arr. Milton James
Sectional Rehearsals (breakout rooms):
Snow Angel – Sarah Quartel
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- Prologue
- Creatures of Light
Rehearse Together:
Snow Angel – Sarah Quartel
-
- Prologue
- Creatures of Light
Read Through Together:
Snow Angel – Sarah Quartel
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- God Will Give Orders
- Sweet Child
- Snow Angel
2nd half of rehearsal:
Angel Project Launch (designed by Kay Johnson).
We will have small group discussions (breakout rooms) regarding the Snow Angel text (including the narration which I’ll ask Karla to post on our website if it’s not already there). Thanks, Deb for encouraging us to practice strategies that lead to expressive musicianship. These discussions will help us to prepare for Sarah Quartel’s visit the following week (10/5).
Looking Ahead to 10/5/20
1st half of rehearsal:
Rehearse Together:
Angels of Mercy – Irving Berlin, arr. Milton James (this is our next VC project!)
Sectional Rehearsals (breakout rooms):
Snow Angel – Sarah Quartel
-
- God Will Give Orders
- Sweet Child
- Snow Angel (as time allows)
2nd half of rehearsal:
Composer Sarah Quartel will join us to talk about her creative process and to give us insight regarding Snow Angel and her creative process. Be ready with your questions!