Hello Everyone,
Thanks for a lovely rehearsal last night. I was so uplifted by our music-making.
Marsha had a great suggestion of using the practice files at a slower tempo as needed as you are working through some of the trickier sections of your music. I know some of you already do that on a regular basis but maybe some folks didn’t realize that we have that capability so thanks for mentioning it, Marsha.
I will be at the NC American Choral Directors Association Conference this coming Friday and Saturday. My role on the board is as the Repertoire and Resources Chair/conference planning committee. So y’all send good thoughts for a smooth running, informative, and uplifting conference, please! I am certain that I will learn a lot and hear many wonderful choirs. I am still so proud of WVC being a featured choir at the state conference in 2021 with our virtual Snow Angel project. Yay us!
Several of you have noted that we have not yet started rehearsing Gloria from MIssa Criolla. I am working through some logistical details that hopefully will be resolved soon (instrumentalists) before we spend rehearsal time on it.
Rehearsal Reflection
Only Love is Welcome Here – Catherine Dalton
Wonderful singing in mixed formation. Think about if you want to audition for the spoken part – we will do that soon.
I Started Out Singing – Jocelyn Hagen
Such fun to put this together with Deb’s accompaniment – sounds great! Really appreciated all the attention to details – phrasing and dynamics, especially.
Sparks of Divinity – Lana Walter
Good work on mm. 41-51. Please everyone review page 18 on your own – there are many questions on this page! And we still need to accomplish the ‘sparks’ in the S1 and S2 parts. Please use the practice files (at a slower speed if that helps) to see if you can get your part individually.
To Sit and Dream – Rosephanye Powell
This piece is really coming together so nicely. Great work! Love the blended, dreamlike sound we are creating. As you are practicing individually, it would be good to review mm. 21-32. We need to be able to confidently sing all of those close harmonies in mixed formation. I’m looking forward to seeing Rosephanye Powell on Friday – that will be fun.
Spes – Mia Makaroff
Here are the very informative notes from our own Finnish expert, Virginia (thank you so much, Virginia!):
I noticed, listening to the Canadian choir, that they are not singing the Alto’s joik exactly as it is written in our music. Also in two places we have the syllable ‘me’ and they pronounce it ‘mee’, it should be ‘meh’. It would be worth alerting folks to the fact that the youtube pronunciation is not always concordant with what we have so they should not imprint on it.
The joik written by Makaroff is intriguing. Even though the joik is comprised of ’nonsense’ syllables, in fact, her joik evokes some meaning in Finnish because joo=yes, and ilo=joy
Double consonants just mean a prolonged vowel so joo is just “yo” not “you”. Since we have a tendency to change the vowel when it is double, I recommend we cross out the second vowel of double vowels to avoid this confusion. I also circled the ‘e’s’ in the joik as they are the exceptions to the ‘o’s’ that constitute the majority of the vowels.
When there are ‘ea’ vowel combinations it is two syllables = ‘eh-ah’ and in each case the music accommodates this with two notes and a glide; the exception to this is m36 and m82 on the word ‘lean’. The Canadian chorus sings this as “lane” and that is incorrect; these languages are 100% phonetic and there are no diphthongs as we know them. ‘Lean’ should be pronounced “leh-ahn” so you should decide when in these measures we should say the ‘-ahn’ part, ie at beginning or end of the sound. I personally think it is easier to say leh-ahn and hold out the ahn because it is easier to unify across the chorus (I agree with Virginia).
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – arr. Julie Gaulke
Please review mm. 36-49 – we didn’t quite get those pitches accomplished accurately. Julie Gault’s YouTube video is super helpful to sing along with as you are working on how all the parts fit together.
Chamber Choir
Ikan Kekek – Tracy Wong
Woo hoo! Such a wonderful run through. We will focus on dynamics and phrase shaping next.
The Bird’s Lullaby – Sarah Quartel
We will focus on this piece next rehearsal – we still have some pitch questions that we need to answer. 🙂
Looking Ahead to 10/16/23
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – arr. Julie Gault
Review all
Spes – Mia Makaroff
mm. 81-104 pitches and rhythms. As we have time, we will begin to add the Sami text with Virginia’s help. Please transition from ‘dee’ to the Latin text and let me know if you have any pronunciation questions.
Sparks of Divinity – Lana Walters
mm. 52-67
Review page 18 as time allows – but please review this individually this week so that it doesn’t take too much rehearsal time.
Through the House Give Glimmering Light
Review all – focus on singing a faster tempo and with phrase shaping.
Ave Maria – Johannes Brahms
mm. 43-98
Review all as time allows
Tundra – Ola Gjeilo
mm. 30-57
Review all as time allows
Mah Dodech Midod – Eleanor Epstein
mm. 59-89
Review all as time allows.
Big Dogs, Music, and Wild, Wild Women – Ruth Huber
mm. 90-118
Review all as time allows
How Can I Keep From Singing? – Gwyneth Walker
mm. 33-105
Chamber Choir
The Bird’s Lullaby – Sarah Quartel
We will focus on this piece first next week – we still have some pitch questions that we need to answer. 🙂
Ikan Kekek – Tracy Wong
We will focus on dynamics and phrase shaping next.
Hope you have a great rest of your week.
Hugs,
Laura