September 22, 2026, Music Notes

Happy first day of fall!

Thanks so much for all of your work at rehearsal last night – we covered a lot of material! I had the best time and I hope that you did, too!

Please review individually so that you retain what we learned together. The practice files on our website are a tremendous resource for accomplishing that (thanks, Karla!).

Upcoming Events this Week:

Ukrainian Women’s Chorus

Thursday, September 24, 7 pm

Westminster Presbyterian Church (3639 Old Chapel Hill Rd, Durham, NC 27707)

Kirsten’s recital

Friday, September 25, 7 pm

First Presbyterian Church, Raleigh (112 S Salisbury St, Raleigh, NC 27601)

(Kirsten, please let us know if this address is not correct)

Unfortunately I have to miss our picnic on Saturday – I was so looking forward to it! I hope that everyone who is able to attend has a GREAT time. One of my Governor’s School friends died in his sleep this past week and his family just posted that his service is going to be in Fayetteville on Saturday. I will miss being with you.

Rehearsal Reflection:

Seasons of Love mm. 1-32

– Pronunciation of ‘seasons’ is see-zuhnz (shape the uh toward an ‘AH’ but not too far!). Then keep the vowel open (don’t close early to the N)

– Pronunciation of ‘love’ is luhv (shape the uh toward an ‘AH’ but not too far!)

– Worked on pitches and rhythms

Gia l’ore sen volano mm. 1-24

– Make note of when parts cross (altos above sopranos) in mm. 4, 5, 16, and 17.

– Note that the cadences in mm. 18 & 24 are unison

– This needs a ‘sparkly’ texture – very light!

– Rachel is going to work on our Italian pronunciation with us (thanks in advance)

– Worked on pitches and rhythms

Now I Become Myself mm. 1-54

– Worked through pitches and rhythms

– Began working on phrasing

– The vowel is open and vertical in ‘now’

– The N is on the pitch indicated in the score. N is a voiced consonant so we have to be precise with no sliding or scooping when we initiate singing

– Sopranos mm. 15-16 put the S of ‘places’ on beat 1 of m. 16, mm. 19-20 put the S of ‘faces’ on beat 4 of m. 20.

– This piece gives us a tremendous opportunity to explore clarity of text using our best diction – it’s going to be fun to work on!

About Time mm. 1-40

– Worked through pitches and rhythms

– Gwen Hall (composer) will be with us at our retreat. I’m looking forward to her insight and inspiration

– We worked on the dynamics mm. 33-40

What the Heart Cannot Forget mm. 1-57

– We worked through pitches and rhythms…but will need some more work, especially mm. 16-26

– mm. 16-19 is very difficult to balance – we need to hear the S2s loud and clear!

Turn Around mm. 1-61

– We worked through pitches and rhythms…we need to pay close attention to the syncopations

– m. 57 we need to hear the A2s (they have the best part in m. 57!)

– ‘Round’ needs a tall vowel with space for resonance! We sing this word a zillion times so we will want it to be our best!

– The second syllable of ‘sparkle’ needs to stay open (don’t close to the L)

Try to Remember mm. 1-44

– We worked through pitches and rhythms – sounds wonderful already!

Controlled Burn – mm. 1-109

– We will work on this at our next rehearsal

Looking Ahead to 9/28/26 (our last rehearsal in September!)

Thanks to all who stayed for Chamber Choir auditions – you already sound wonderful! We will potentially need to shift a few voices to balance the ensemble…but let’s work it out at rehearsal. It may be fine as it is. Darcy already volunteered to sing A1 – thanks, Darcy!

Both pieces are in 4-part divisi (with an added part in Wanting Memories that pops up a few times) so we won’t have to worry about upper and lower divisi.

Ellie Sheridan