Hello Everyone,
Thanks for a very productive rehearsal last night – we really ironed out some of our musical wrinkles. Thanks to all the altos who were able to make it to our sectional rehearsal. Sopranos, next week it is your turn – bring your questions!
If you were absent from rehearsal, I passed out the index cards that have your information on them (part and divisi, circle assignment, performance height). Please email any updates to your card and copy Kinley Russell on the email. You can include information such as, “I sing my part independently,” “I prefer to have a partner next to me or nearby,” “I prefer to not sing on the end of a row without a railing,” any information that will assist Kinley and me when we work on our performance formation. Thank you!
We worked exclusively on the 4 pieces that we did not include in last week’s mini-concert. Thank you for focusing for an extended time on each of these pieces.
Please let your section leaders know if you have musical challenges that you are not able to solve with the practice files. The section leaders can let me know what I need to include in rehearsal.
Below is the link to the Donald Brinegar post I mentioned regarding tuning. Extend your lower lip!
Donald Brinegar blog – forward to about 1 minute in.
Chamber Choir singers – this is the link to a small ensemble Water Women performance I really enjoy:
Water Women
Rehearsal Reflection
No Fairy Tale Here
– we worked on all the spots that go from unison to chords. Hopefully, this was helpful.
– compare mm. 16-17 (octave unison) to mm. 73-74 (also octave unison) and m. 75-76 (harmony).
– the rhythm in mm. 26-28 is not accurate – please work with the practice files here
– regarding the tempo – we will go a bit slower than marked in your scores. Especially the section beginning at m. 35 will be around 88-90bpm. Check out the reference recording already posted to our practice files – they take the slower tempi and it works really well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YII4_6zrBo&list=RD7YII4_6zrBo&start_radio=1 But as always, watch and I will do my best to keep us together! Recognize that softer passages tend to slow down and louder passages tend to get faster but a steady tempo is what we need (most of the time!).
– clarity of consonants is of utmost importance to the power of this piece. Practice speaking your part in rhythm, strongly enunciating as many consonants as you possibly can. Remember that voiced consonants need to be on the same pitch as indicated in the score (not below the pitch). Examples of voiced consonants are B, D, G, J, L, M, N, R, V, W, Y – if you can sing it high or sing it low, it is a voiced consonant. Unvoiced consonants do not have pitch. Examples are F, H, K, P, S, T. And of course, there are numerous voiced and unvoiced consonant blends.
The Radium Girl
– sopranos, please add a breath at m. 4 after ‘darkness’ – originally I had said to not breathe there.
– again, consonant clarity for the power of the storytelling!
– sing Bm as though a clock chiming (keep the M resonant)
– lu section beginning in m. 25 add an H (like you are singing the word ‘who’) before any moving note that does not have an L. So, m. 26 should be sung, ‘lu hu lu hu hu.’ This should keep this section clean.
– we will stomp (right foot) as indicated in the score (ST) when we sing the refrain ‘You steal my face…’ At the end, we will continue stomping (even after you drop out singing) and crescendo the stomps until the end.
– we will sing mm. 80-81 a total of 6 times.
Jan/Feb birthdays, sing the 1st time, then continue stomping
March/April birthdays, sing the 1st and 2nd times, then continue stomping
May/June birthdays, sing the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd times, then continue stomping
July/August birthdays, sing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times, then continue stomping
September/October birthdays, sing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th times, then continue stomping
November/December birthdays, sing all 6 times then continue on and sing mm. 82-87. Notice the rhythm shifts. Continue stomping.
– we will stomp mm. 88-91 2 times (stomp it once, take the repeat, then end with a final stomp on m. 92)
Malala
– attention to singing a pure AH that tunes will be key (pun intended) to us avoiding the dreaded pitch drift. (see info link above).
– we sang through all the musical iterations of ‘I am Malala’ recognizing that they are not all the same. Can’t be on ‘autopilot!’
– whenever you have the phrase that occurs in mm. 5-7 throughout, give a slight lift between the last 2 syllables. I really appreciated what Ann H. shared about this articulation:
I like how in the piece we’re singing, the opening “Malala” motif sounds childlike, girlish… like something a kid eager to get to school might happily hum to herself. This morning as I listened to the Vox Femina recording for the first time since becoming steeped in this book (Malala Yousafzai’s new memoir, Finding My Way), I noticed a subtle change they make in m. 6, where they insert a tiny lift between the first and second “la.” That interruption—no wider than a bullet—really struck me. I had to stop the recording and play it again to be sure I hadn’t imagined it.
As I said in rehearsal, I am a fangirl of Iris Levine and Vox Femina – they are a very accomplished ensemble and I really appreciate Levine’s artistic choices.
Be Like Jane
– worked on pitches and rhythms mm. 157-end
– reviewed the contrasting section mm. 112-156
– we need to work on transitions (especially 156-157). I will do a better job of being clearer here!
– S1 note that m. 149 begins on a high G, mm. 152 and 155 begin on a high F.
– we will aim to sing the tempos marked in our score (the reference recording is super fast!)
Looking Ahead to 11/17/25
I plan for us to sing sections of all of our repertoire next week. We may not sing every piece all of the way through, but I will do my best to address the areas that need our attention and review. Please work individually on the spots that are challenges for you.
It is full speed ahead to our next performance on January 12th at Carolina Meadows – our first tech rehearsal (black performance attire, black folders, new scarves, etc.). We have 5 more rehearsals in 2025 and 1 rehearsal in January after our holiday break to dig as deeply as possible and maximize every element of expressiveness. Now is the time to review individually so that we stay on top of what we have already accomplished and move forward together as an ensemble.
I am already looking forward to Monday’s rehearsal – hope you are, too!
Laura