Hello Everyone,
So many birthday celebrations tonight – happy birthday to those celebrating their special days in October!
I loved our WVC celebration on Sunday afternoon. Many thanks to all who made it possible and to all who were able to attend – so much fun! We missed those who were not able to be there in person, but I am sure you were with us in spirit. Thank you for my lovely flowers. My husband, Andrew, really enjoyed seeing/meeting everyone. Everything looked beautiful and the food was delicious. It was wonderful to sing A Path to Each Other.
We have one more rehearsal until our fall retreat and I am looking forward to tackling some of the sections in our music that we have not yet been through and digging into the sections where we have learned the basics.
I have attached the notes that I took at the NC ACDA Conference session regarding breathing for singing (Laura D. was in the session with me). It was a wonderful conference and I have other tidbits to share in the coming days. I am confident that we cannot go wrong with an energized breath!
Here is a link to the Rehearsal Recordings that I made tonight. I think it is really beneficial to listen to our progress so that we can hear what we have accomplished and know what we have yet to do.
Welcome to the world to Baby Spencer – Rachel, we can’t wait to meet your son and look forward to your return to WVC.
My new mantra: DOWN-OUT-OPEN!
Cheers!
Laura
Now Let Me Fly – Stacey V. Gibbs
Great work on pages 12-14, mm. 69-84! This section came together nicely. Good work on the pitches, rhythms, and accents. We have some consonant and vowel work to do here but a great start!
We still need to work on page 16, mm. 89-94, but it is coming along. We need to make sure that everyone knows their pitches and work on balancing and tuning the chords so that they all sparkle like the last one. Hooray for notes both high and low! The next time we rehearse this piece we will work on the verses and then the introduction. We will then have been through the basics on all sections.
This one is going to be exciting, for sure!
The Tree of Peace – Gwyneth Walker
Pages 11-15 mm. 56-76 and pages 16-17 mm. 77-91. Good job learning the new section. We need to have a thorough review of what we previously learned – we have been away from this piece for too long and it gathered some dust. Don’t worry! This one will come together with more time. If you have a chance, listen to the recording a few times to review the flow of the piece.
1941 – Andrea Ramsey
Pages 5-9 mm. 27-51 – great reading, especially bringing the phrases to life with dynamics very early on. We have the ending section of this piece yet to work through but I predict that it will quickly come together with a bit more rehearsal.
My People Are Rising – Carol Barnett
Pages 18-23 mm. 121-174 – great work reading this last section. We have 30 more measures of basics to learn and then we can really dig into this piece. If you have time, review mm. 23-79 and 121-174 to make sure that you have your pitches and rhythms.
The Valley – Jane Sidberry, arr. Beth Hanson
Pages 2-4 mm. 1-36 – we almost have some of these tricky rhythms – and then we need to work on ensemble so that we are together! I wasn’t planning on us reading all the way through but you all had such a lovely tone I did not want to interrupt – and it was a nice way to end our rehearsal together. We will carefully go through this piece to make sure that we have all of the notes in the chords and that our sound is balanced.
Looking Ahead to 10-14-19
Swing Low: A Spiritual Medley – arr. Rosephanye Powell
Pages 3-9, mm. 1-40
- Pitches and rhythms for all parts.
- Breathe on the rests or where indicated with a breath mark.
- Observe the dynamic markings.
- Unify vowel shapes.
Faith is the bird – Elizabeth Alexander
All.
- Review mm. 38-63.
- Sight read mm. 1-37.
1941 – Andrea Ramsey
All.
- Pages 9-11, mm. 52-11 pitches and rhythms in all parts.
- Pages 2-5, mm. 1-26 pitches and rhythms in all parts.
- Sing through all.
The Imaginary Garden – Marie-Claire Saindon
Pages 2-3 mm. 10-48
- Pitches and rhythms in all parts.
The Tree of Peace – Gwyneth Walker
Pages 2-11, mm. 1-55.
- Pitches and rhythms in all parts.
Now Let Me Fly – Stacey V. Gibbs
Pages 7-8 mm. 37-44, pages 10-11 mm. 53-60
- Pitches and rhythms in all parts.
The Valley – Jane Sidberry, arr. Beth Hanson
Pages 2-7, mm. 1-68
- Pitches and rhythms in all parts.
- Note especially the challenging rhythms in mm. 14-16, mm. 46-48.
Chamber Choir
Shule Agra – arr. Judith Watson
Review Page 3, mm. 31-41
Pitches and rhythms – mm. 41-55.
Nada te turbe – Joan Szymko
Review pages 7-8, mm. 84-102
Pitches and rhythms – mm. 66-83