Hello Everyone,
Thank you for a wonderful rehearsal last night. I know it felt like an odd seating arrangement, but you all handled it with flexibility and good grace – thank you! We will continue to tweak the arrangement (thank you, Kinley!) but I am so appreciative that we are approximating our performance set up early so that everyone can get used to the voices around them and be confident in our upcoming performance.
I’m glad that you all enjoyed the cupcakes (and the apples). This is the recipe I used if anyone wants to do some holiday baking. The only tweaks I made were to add splashes of vanilla to the cake and filling and a bit of white chocolate instant pudding mix to the filling to stabilize the whipped cream – but that’s optional. It would be fine without it, I think.
The ingredient list is in the YouTube description and the instructions are in the video. I do recommend weighing the ingredients as suggested – much more accurate than scooping. The recipe makes 12. If you want more, double the recipe but then start over if you want more than 24. You can see that when I make 72 cupcakes it is an all day affair (I could never be in business as a baker – I am too slow!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGEmjki5Dfg
Back to music…
Ann H. has agreed to perform the narration of Honour the Earth – thank you, Ann! Juliane and Elizabeth will perform the duet for Sing, My Child – thank you!
If others of you want to smack yourself in the head with a whirlie (haha that was funny!), the two high A whirlies need players – they only come in at the end on the 2 A-minor phrases “Gaia” and “Mother Earth.” They are small and do not require much physical effort. Sue G (high C), Ellie S (low C) and Clare (low C) – y’all did great! Let me know if you would rather not continue in your harmonic whirlie careers…but otherwise, I’ll count on you to play. Thank you for volunteering last night!
I sent our recording of “Here in My Heart” to Sarah Quartel and she replied:
The piece is sounding beautiful! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. Thanks for sharing the video with me and telling me a bit of Marley’s story. Sending her my best wishes as she continues on her treatment journey. Please pass along a warm hello from me to the choristers and tell them I think they’re sounding fabulous!
Rehearsal Reflection:
Honour the Earth – we sang through adding the harmonic whirlies. (bird calls and rainstick are coming!). Please continue to practice your overtone singing – it is really addictive once you start hearing those tones popping through. On page 8, letter M, instead of singing ‘AH,’ please hum. After Leandra leads us in with her overtone singing, others can join in. If you haven’t yet been able to sound overtones, continue to softly hum.
I Am – please sing through this a few times with the performance recording so that we are all moving at the performance tempo. If we are slow or unsteady, it will affect the alignment of voices to the ostinato part in the piano. We are getting so close on this piece!
Sing, Wearing the Sky – sopranos check the rhythm in m. 11. Leandra helped me with that after our run through…I was a 16th off…it’s written in a deceiving way. But I appreciate Leandra’s help and we will review it together next week. The other big challenge on this piece is keeping the ‘la, la’ section together. We really have to sing with the precision of midi files mm. 40-67. Beginning at mm. 95, we need to crescendo through m. 103. We were a bit loud starting this section. The crescendo will add to the intensity and drama here! Then we need a marked crescendo mm. 105-106 as we end with our fortissimo Ah!
Sky Dances – lovely to return to this old friend after not singing it for a few weeks.
Looking Ahead to 12/2/24
We will sing through our music in performance order (below), if you want to go ahead and organize your music. Please plan to mark in your music any place that you have a question (or you hear questionable sounds around you!) and those will be addressed on 12/9.
Honour the Earth
Here in My Heart
Nigra Sum
Some Glad Morning
Measure Me, Sky!
Sing, My Child (Chamber Choir)
Earth Song (Chamber Choir)
I Am
Sky Dances
Sing, Wearing the Sky!
I Love You/What a Wonderful World
Thank you for granting me the privilege of wearing the tiara for the evening – my heart felt as sparkly as the tiara! I am so very thankful for all of you as humans, singers, musicians, and friends. I am ever grateful for the opportunity to make such ah-mazing music with such ah-mazing people – thank you – it brings me such joy and fulfillment!
Gratefully,
Laura