Hello,
Thanks for a fun and productive rehearsal last night, as well as a great Alto 1 sectional. I am looking forward to sharing our works in progress next week at our mini-concert.
Our performance will include these pieces in this order:
Gia l’ore sen volano (in Italian, keeping it a bit under tempo)
Grown Wild
About Time
There Was a Time
Turn Around
The Circle Game
Try to Remember
The page turning was very loud (especially in Grown Wild)…hopefully, this will improve with music in folders, but please be gentle when turning your pages. I know you didn’t mean to be loud!
Kinley will have a plan in mind for our performance places after visiting St. Luke’s this week – thank you, Kinley!
Below are a few things that I heard during rehearsal, but even so, we are ready to share our music! So hooray for us to have 7 pieces in good shape by the end of October.
Rehearsal Reflection:
Gia l’ore sen volano
– m. 22 lift after beat 1 (we will clean up some of the other lifts but let’s aim for this one on Monday!)
– m. 35 some are singing incorrect rhythm (first note is an eighth and some are singing a quarter).
– we will continue to work on dynamics, syllabic stress, and phrase shaping – but sounding really nice!
Grown Wild
– our pitch challenges were corrected. Great job on those tricky spots.
– look for the soft sections and start them softer so that we have room to grow into the crescendos and also have contrast with the louder sections, especially the phrases that begin at these measure numbers at p: 9, 17, 25, 47, 65 (mp)
About Time
– m. 17 needs to be louder and more detached. I think about what it would sound like if I am scolding myself about something I should be doing (or not doing). Sounds too nice right now!
– be sure to watch at mm. 17-20 so that we stay together
– m. 21 detach this whole section! “time is” should not be connected
– let’s make m. 62 as absolutely as loud as we can beautifully sing and then finesse the crescendo and decrescendo in m. 63 and 64, keeping it overall very full. It’s a powerful spot for sure.
– this one made my heart leak out of my eyes listening to the recording
There Was a Time
– great job fixing the pitch errors.
– we need to work on phrase shaping driven by the text and melodic line…we have made a solid start.
– let’s look for the opportunities to sing more softly in this piece.
Turn Around
– many gorgeous spots in this piece. I thought the opening unison was the most gorgeous but then the harmony kicked in and it was stunning. Yay!
– mm. 76 and 77 – “my” is a quarter note in m. 76 and and eighth note in 77 (we sang m. 76 as an eighth)
– m. 82 needs to start softer so we have room to grow.
– m. 94 needs to start softer and decrescendo to the end
The Circle Game
– please sing the solo parts at the beginning at the end (we will have a soloist for the January performance)
– great improvement making the key change at m. 58. Yay altos!
– our biggest challenge right now is staying together…when things get busy, we lack ensemble precision, especially mm. 74-83.
Try to Remember
– the opening unison was beautiful! Just to be clear, this will not be a solo – it’s marked as SOLO or Alto unison. The ending measures will also not be a solo and will be sung in unison by all.
– when we sing ‘follow’ in mm. 37-43 and 76-79, we need to work on intonation.
Looking Ahead to 11/2/26
After our performance, we will take a short break and then use the remaining time until 9:30pm to rehearse. Depending on the time we have, we will work on the pieces that we did not sing for the performance.
Thank you so very much for all of you who took the time and effort to record a solo audition. It was a true pleasure to hear you sing. I appreciate and applaud you all! Congratulations to the soloists for our January concert.
What the Heart Cannot Forget – Janet H. (alto), Rebecca B. (soprano)
From the Stone Age – Julianne V.
The Circle Game – Kate D.
Seasons of Love – Rachel B.
I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Thanks again, for a lovely rehearsal!
Laura