Hello Everyone,
Thanks for a lovely rehearsal last night – such fun and significant progress was made. Please remember that our next rehearsal (Monday) is our first tech rehearsal from 7-10pm in our regular rehearsal space.
We will, of course, sing through all of our repertoire and talk through logistics so that we are ready for our 2nd tech rehearsal in our performance space. We will have Christina (percussion) and John (trumpet) join us for our 2nd tech rehearsal at ERUUF.
Here are some observations as I listened to our rehearsal recording:
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
– intonation improved when we repeated the opening section, first run through drifted flat.
– be ready for the dynamic contrasts!
– Sopranos check your pitches mm. 8-9 so that we get the F-double sharp
– Trio let me know next week if you want to add some improv at the end (like the reference YouTube performance) and we can add that in. Love hearing you three sing together! Your voices are a wonderful way to begin our concert.
Mo Ghile Mear
– Wow! After we worked through the details this piece really came together!
– Still need to work on cleaner entrances overall. Let’s work on breathing together, especially at the beginning of phrases!
– Also we are not always together with Deb and I feel that she is with me…so perhaps the chorus is a bit behind the beat.
– Beautiful ending
Swing Low: A Spiritual Medley
– we were all a bit under pitch throughout…hopefully, awareness will help us to sing more in the center of the pitch.
– Wendy was correct in noting that the sopranos were missing the C-sharp in m. 26 – thanks for catching that – so sopranos circle that, please!
– m. 36 please note the a tempo, after the rit. it drags there
– part 6 – have a listen in the practice files for your ‘spicy note’ at the end. As Deb said, she is playing lots of G-flats in her part mm. 72-73 and then your note is one whole step higher on A-flat
‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple
– Let’s try to be together on the tempo – about 90bpm. Once we repeated it at a faster tempo it was lovely
– Hwen, Hwere, Hwirl
– No crescendo at the end (sorry if I conducted one! We need to decrescendo instead).
The White Rose
– Lovely!
– The AH sections are the same dynamic contrasts both times – for example: m. 27 crescendo, m. 28 decrescendo, m. 29 crescendo, m. 30 decrescendo
Now Let Me Fly
– Not our best intonation on this one…we didn’t make it to the bottom of the first page without pitch drift. 🙁 But, we did sing it in tune last week, so I am optimistic that we can do it again!
– Lots of F for ‘fly’
– Let’s really work on singing the beginning of phrases together.
– A few singers are missing the rallentando in m. 68 – circle that, please
– Really nice work on this piece, in spite of the intonation challenges. So much else is going very, very well!
Stand by Me
– If you have the melody at any point (mostly A1s and S2s, please review with the practice files) – we are close!
– S1 entrance in m. 17, please be on pitch (some singers were too low) and softer – think sprinkles! The section that starts at m. 33 was nice.
– Thank you, A2s for your firm foundation!
My Favorite Things
– Even though we didn’t sing it all of the way through, I think that we are in good shape on this piece – last week the only spot we had that wasn’t together was m. 38 and we tightened that up tonight – so yay!
The Times They Are A-Changin’
– Beautiful solo, Ellie!
– We can be more dramatic mm. 37-41 – I think the page turn is interrupting our energy!
– we won’t breathe between mm. 64-65 (sorry for the confusion!)
– Sounds gorgeous!
I’m Beginning to See the Light
– let’s not lose our sass when we sing softy! Much improved on the second go round!
– Wonderful solo, Julianne!
A Stór, A Stór, a Ghrá
– circle the dynamics
– mm. 117-118 altos please review
– review the Irish (we’ve come so far!)
– I know this piece has taken a lot of work but I truly think it has paid off. BRAVA!
You Do Not Walk Alone
– lovely! the unison sections are especially are gorgeous
– we need more clearly enunciated consonants
– we can make more of our opportunity to be expressive mm. 74-92
– sometimes our longer notes lose energy…so keep your breath spinning, especially on the half notes.
– I will work on conducting dynamics more clearly so that we can have a bit more contrast throughout without taking away from the legato line
Chamber Choir
Nice work on both pieces – I’m glad we have settled on a ‘tempo range’ for BWBB that we like (half note=86-88bpm) because half note=100 bpm is too fast for anyone to enjoy! Down By the Salley Gardens sounds lovely.
If you have any music questions let’s take care of those at the beginning of rehearsal next week as I am working through some places in the pieces (before our performance run through).
Section leaders, if you heard something that I may have missed, please send me an email and I will add your spots to our to-do list.
Thanks everyone! I love making music with you all and I am so looking forward to our concert (but I love our rehearsals, too!).
Laura