March 3, 2026, Music Notes

Thanks for a very productive rehearsal last night! It was wonderful to hear so many positive remarks regarding our Rise Up! performance on Saturday. I don’t know if you noticed, but I had to bury my head in my music several times because I was moved to tears and if I had looked up at you I would have been a puddle. I found the experience to be very powerful and thought that we and SV sounded amazing. What an experience! I’m so grateful that so many of you could make the rescheduled date, but please know that we greatly missed those who couldn’t attend. Hopefully, there will be no postponement shenanigans in our future.

Special thanks to all who worked extra hard managing the details each time we rescheduled; there were so many tasks requiring our attention.

Special thanks to all who assisted with set up for our rehearsal in the sanctuary. There was a lot to carry back and forth and I appreciate all of the helping hands.

We are making great progress on our music; we are right on schedule. Thank you for your diligence. Please review as needed during the week so that we don’t lose ground. Our spring semester rehearsals fly by and soon we will be giving our preview concert in April!

Rehearsal Reflection

Be Like the Bird all

– we sang through, energizing the dotted notes

– decrescendo on ‘her’ in m. 6 (but keep the energy going so that we don’t experience pitch drift)

Koowu mm. 33-43

– we reviewed the G Phrygian Dominant Scale (the 5th mode of the C Harmonic Minor Scale with a raised 4th). Before I sing this piece, I sing through the scale with my tuner (TE Tuner). It really helps to sing the scale and then the piece!

– we worked on pitches and rhythms in this section

– when singing ‘Koowu’ start with a clear K, then Koo is louder than wu. There should be a perceptible decrease in sound on the second syllable

– mezzos, note the first note in your short phrases in this section so that you can keep your bearings

– everyone note the dynamics – mm. 33-35 crescendo with a decrescendo in m. 36. mm. 37-41 crescendo with a decrescendo in 42

– note the syncopation in mm. 36, 40, 41. Clear consonants, K (cry) and F (fly) will help accentuate this interesting rhythm

Jump mm. 52-72

– mm. 52 and 54 start at approximately a C and glissando down for two beats with a decrescendo, singing on the M

– mm. 57-72, close to the M immediately

– mm. 57-72, bring out the accents with a glottal onset (described as occurring when the vocal folds close firmly before airflow begins, creating a crisp, “popping” sound as air pressure forces them apart)

– attached is the exercise sheet we used at rehearsal. Copies will be available at rehearsal next week – no need to print at home.

Flight mm. 65-99

– note the quarter note triplets in mm. 97 and 98

– we worked on pitches and rhythms on this section and reviewed from the beginning

– changing tempos (rubato) will be essential in communicating the text of this piece. As you become confident in your part, look up so that we can sing with ensemble precision and remain flexible

Your World mm. 46-62

– we need to stay on top of this piece; it is one of our most challenging this spring

– we worked on pitches and rhythms on this section and reviewed from the beginning

Hope everyone has a great rest of your week!

Laura