Hello Everyone,
Thanks for your work last night at rehearsal – much appreciated! We are making progress on our music!
I know this is a super busy time of year for most (if not all) so thank you for being dedicated to WVC as we have our final rehearsals before our January concert.
We will have our last sectional rehearsal on 12/11 – bring your questions, please – happy to answer as many as we can. I plan to focus primarily on Spes, Mah Dodech Midod, Ave Maria, and Sparks of Divinity (if we have time).
I will assign seats for next week’s rehearsal so that we are in mixed formation. When you arrive, please look for a card with your name on it. I may not remember those of you who have specific needs such as standing to my left/right or being seated and/or using a music stand during the concert, so please send me an email reminder. I would appreciate it so much. Singing in mixed formation will add a level of challenge but also hopefully allow everyone to hear all of the parts more clearly. We will also do our best to spread the chairs out so that hopefully everyone can see better.
When you come in for sectionals, the assigned seat cards will already be out…if you need to sit elsewhere (next to a part partner) for the sectional that’s fine. You can move to your assigned seat in mixed formation for the main rehearsal.
For those of you on Zoom, I am so very sorry that my laptop died part way through rehearsal. I had it plugged in but the power strip was off and I didn’t realize it because the speaker/mic was powered – but that was actually running on a backup battery. Then when we realized what was happening and got Zoom back up and running, I forgot to set it to ‘musician’s sound ON.’ I am sure it was quite a frustrating experience for you – apologies.
Looking Ahead to 12/11/23
How Can I Keep from Singing? – we will review all, mindful of tempo changes, dynamic contrasts, and diction. I’m going to always want more ‘K!’
Mah Dodech Midod – we will sing through all, making sure we are confident with pitches and rhythms in mm. 21-27, 51-68, and 84-89.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – we will work on rhythmic precision and intonation in mixed formation. Rah is our soloist (congratulations!).
Gloria – Our soloist is Rachel, duet is Rachel and Marsha (congratulations!).
Please listen to the pronunciation guide posted in our practice files. Sarah T brought to my attention that we are not all accurate with the text in mm. 116-117 so please give it your attention (thanks, Sarah!). The inaccuracy the elision of ‘loe’ – two vowels on one eighth note. We can go over it in rehearsal if you have questions and I will listen more carefully in that spot.
Spes – we will sing in part circles to solidify everyone’s parts. Please make sure that you can accurately speak your text in rhythm. Virginia made fabulous pronunciation guides that are posted in our practice files (thank you, Virginia!).
Big Dogs, Music, and Wild, Wild Women – mm. 90-118
We will focus primarily on tempo changes. Also need to make sure everyone knows what they are doing in mm. 95-98 (that’s one of my favorite parts!)
Through the House Give Glimmering Light
We will see if, in mixed formation, we are able to improve our intonation – hopefully, it will help for everyone to be able to more clearly hear all of the parts. We will work on the transitions from section to section and also focus on keeping the tempo moving.
Sparks of Divinity – we will work through all. Thank you Sparkle Choir for your added efforts on our soprano Sparks. Please review your notes if you are unsure. THANK YOU!
As time allows, we can work through some of the rest of our repertoire in mixed formation – it will be challenging and fun! I would like to sing through Tundra so that we can hear Wendy and Kinley sing the soprano solo (I made it a duet for balance). (Congratulations, Wendy and Kinley!)
Chamber Choir –
You know how I was going to take that picture of the quartets in case any of you couldn’t remember? Well, now I don’t remember – I would really appreciate it if one of you would reply to this email with the quartets (and one trio) we assigned. And thank you for working together through that process. That was very enjoyable and the blend was beautiful. Now we need to be especially aware of balance!
The Bird’s Lullaby – mm. 27-28 (and every time we have this). We need to check both notes and rhythms. These measures sound very muddled – lacking accuracy in the syncopations and pitches. Also, we need to make an accurate and confident transition from m. 54-55.
Ikan Kekek – Our soloist is Kinley (congratulations!). We will sing through this in our new formation and see what needs our attention.
Hope everyone has a great rest of the week – see you Monday!
Laura