Hello Everyone,
I hope that you are all weathering this storm and the challenges that face us daily. I think about WVC and miss you all so much. I have been using my time at home to research repertoire and plan our future concerts so your voices have been in my ears all this past week – a very pleasant sound!
I do want to let you know that I made the decision to delay the repertoire I had planned for our January 2021 concert and have pushed it to January 2022. I know that personally I will need to fill my soul with music that will lift my spirits – and the same might be true for you, as well. The multi-movement anchor piece I had planned for that concert, Anne Frank: A Living Voice, is emotionally challenging in even the easiest of times. It is undoubtedly an extraordinary piece but, at least for me, I would like some distance from our present circumstances before undertaking it. The other pieces I have planned for that concert are also uniquely compelling and I look forward to working on them with you. Several weeks ago I had a long phone conversation Linda Tutas Haugen (composer of the Anne Frank piece) and she is excited and ready to meet with us (probably via Skype or Zoom) when the time comes. If you haven’t already met Linda, she is really interesting and fun and it will be a treat for us to hear from her.
So then what are we going to sing in the fall? I have chosen a delightful program (at least I think so!) of angel music. It will challenge, uplift, and engage us…and I can’t wait for us to sing together again! When I am closer to finalizing the program, I will share it with you so that we will all have something musical to look forward to in the fall. Finalizing repertoire takes time – but I did enough work already so that we could reword/update our grant proposals with the new concert theme in mind (thanks to Rah for leading the grant writing and to Amy G. for her editing work, along with insightful advice and help from Kay and Karla).
I guess all of this is to say that while we are regretfully on hold for now in regard to our music rehearsals, WVC continues to move forward with the anticipation of better times ahead. We continue to work and to plan so that we will be ready to sing when the time comes.
Meanwhile, have you been singing with Jodie O’Regen? Let’s keep our voices moving! http://www.songaweekbyjodie.com
The most fun I have had singing this week has been with Cheryl Porter. She is one of my absolute favorite vocal coaches. If you have not already, please, please, please, learn this exercise and sing it, and then sing it some more. It is so much fun! I can’t help but smile the whole time I am singing. And please don’t sit/stand still! Throw in some choreography! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1432019343647482
I will continue to send weekly emails but please know that I think of us everyday.
Love and Hugs (from afar),
Laura