Hello Everyone,
What fun diving into our repertoire! Thank you for your work (and good humor). It was also wonderful to welcome our new members (Julia, Casey, and Danielle), recognize our founding member (Jackie), and hear about all the opportunities we have to serve WVC via various committees.
Thanks to all who helped with set up and all the other tasks that need doing.
Thank you for your patience and attention to all the details that needed to be covered. We regularly just have announcements before the break and otherwise, minimal talking. It’s necessary to take care of these details at the beginning of the season but moving forward, we will focus on music-making for the majority of our rehearsals. Thank you for organizing all of that information, Janet!
I made the decision to drop The Blessing of Cranes from this concert and use it at another time. Water Women is now for Chamber Choir only. I love this piece and hope that 20-24 of you do, too, and that you will stay for Chamber Choir auditions next rehearsal. We will collect music from people not singing in Chamber Choir at rehearsal.
Chamber Choir Audition Information 9/15/25
– The audition piece is Water Women, the audition cut is mm. 1-25
– The audition time is 9:30-10pm, our regular Chamber Choir rehearsal time.
– Using the practice tracks, learn your pitches and rhythms for mm. 1-25 (learn the part to which you are currently assigned – we may make changes to balance the ensemble once we have had auditions, so prepare to be flexible and potentially sing a different part going forward – thanks in advance!)
– Note the dynamic contrasts and tempo changes.
– At the audition, you will sing with the others auditioning and I will walk around and listen. You will not sing individually but I may ask you to sing in small groups during the audition.
– I will listen for accurate pitches and rhythms and your ability to listen to others, blending your voice with the ensemble.
– I will listen for round, resonant vowels and clear consonants.
Rehearsal Reflection:
What Happens When a Woman mm. 1-22, 47-end
– I’m impressed with our progress already on learning pitches and rhythms, memorizing, and body percussion. Way to go!
– The stomp on beat 1 and snap on beat 4 were consistently and confidently performed by all – great job. We started work on and will fill in beats 2 and 3 at upcoming rehearsals.
– You will note that we did not specifically rehearse 47-end but it is a repeat of mm. 7-10 with an ending that we will rehearse next time.
Wild Embers mm. 1-25
– Our time signature is 3/2 – half note gets the beat, 3 per measure.
– The ‘shh’ is soft with a decrescendo
– Note the part crossing S2/A1 at m. 12
– Minimize the R in these words: are, never, forgot, stories
– When you sing ‘wild,’ keep your tongue relaxed – the vowel is AH. Especially at mm. 17-19 we will want a unified vowel without anyone modifying (tongue curling at the sides) for the L.
– Ending consonants are sung on the rests: descendants, forgot, thought (S2 m. 23)
– Great work on pitches and rhythms on this section and for already noting (and singing!) the dynamic contrasts
The Girl With the Numbers mm. 1-56
– Our time signature is 2/2 – half note gets the beat, 2 per measure
– Don’t let the fast tempo of this piece scare you – we’ve got this! We will continue to rehearse it under tempo as we learn pitches and rhythms, but this is one you really should practice on your own with the YouTube videos – you can modify the playback speed so that you can practice slowly and then build to the performance tempo as you gain confidence in your part.
– Sopranos, m. 26, the text should be “three two two se’en two.” Thank you, Leandra and Ellie for bringing that error to my attention.
– mm. 40 has D# in the key signature, then D-naturals in mm. 41-45 as the tonality shifts. This is a bit tricky because this section has parts that echo with this one difference – the sopranos since “as” on a D# but the mezzos and altos echo on “as” on a D-natural. Altos are also singing D#s in m. 40 on the word “two.”
– We sang through the storyline of this piece that starts with the mezzos in m. 17 then moves to the sopranos in m. 33. The other parts singing numbers support the melody harmonically but also provide the rhythmic energy and mathematical theme of the piece.
– As we continue to learn our parts, we need to examine how each part lines up vertically with the others. For instance, in m. 1, the mezzos and altos should line up on beats 1 and 4. These parts feel very horizontally independent of one another but must also match up vertically to create the precision we need, especially as the tempo increases.
– Look for all opportunities to clearly enunciate text when you are singing the storyline. We will focus on clear articulation of beginning and ending consonants so that our listeners readily hear the text.
Be Like Jane mm. 1-26
– When numbering your measures, start with a 0 measure and then the printed measures in the score will be correct. The practice files are numbered correctly but I don’t think this difference will trip you up. In rehearsal, I will give measures with the first measure being 0 (zero).
– Great work on these pitches and rhythms! Like The Girl With the Numbers, this piece is one we will rehearse under tempo and then build speed. It’s another one from which we will benefit with individual practice with the YouTube videos, using the various playback speeds (what a great tool!).
– As you gain confidence on your part, note the many accents throughout. These articulation contrasts will give this piece the intensity and drive that it needs to be successful.
– Practice speaking the text with concise consonants. What a thrill this will be to clearly hear the text with 70-plus voices singing!
Like a Mountain mm. 1-22
– Great work on learning pitches and rhythms on this opening section.
– mm. 3-4 are A1s and A2s with S1s and S2s joining at m. 5. (Sorry I conducted in your direction, sopranos!)
– Note the S2/A1 part crossing in m. 10.
– I LOVED watching your faces while you sang this piece. You sang with great connection and feeling.
Looking Ahead to 9/15 and 9/22:
(The pieces marked SV are those on which Sisters’ Voices will sing with us. The pieces marked M are those we will sing from memory. The pieces marked with an asterisk are those that I am considering for inclusion in our mini-concert on November 3. We will need to sing What Happens When a Woman from memory in order to perform the body percussion but could use music for Like a Mountain and Still I Rise if needed).
| Repertoire | 9/15/25 | 9/22/25 |
| *What Happens When a Woman? (SV) (M) | mm. 23-38 | |
| *Wild Embers (SV) | mm. 24-40 | |
| *The Girl With the Numbers (SV) | mm. 57-97 | |
| No Fairy Tale Here | mm. 1-34 | |
| The Radium Girl | mm. 1-52 | |
| *Hands Upon the Plow | mm. 1-40 | |
| Rise Up | mm. 1-53 | |
| Malala | mm. 1-22 | |
| Be Like Jane | mm. 27-44 | mm. 45-66 |
| *Richer for Her (SV) | mm. 1-33 | mm. 34-55 |
| *Like a Mountain (SV) (M) | mm. 23-30 | |
| *Still I Rise (SV) (M) | mm. 1-33 | mm. 34-51 |
| Water Women (Chamber Choir) | mm. 1-25 (auditions) | mm. 26-40 |
I hope to see you (and your families) at the picnic on Saturday!
Laura