AD Music Notes

This is where you’ll find notes from Laura Sam about the pieces we’re singing each semester.

October 8, 2024, Music Notes

Oct 8, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a wonderful rehearsal – great work, everyone!
This is going to be a bit short because I need to get ready to head up to Boone to help clear out some flooded houses.
Rehearsal Reflection:
Here in My Heart mm. 103-152
– mm 115-116 stagger breathing
– take breaths at the end of mm. 128, 136, 144
– note the S1/S2 part crossings on pages 11 and 12
– minimize the final R in lingers, brighter
– the syncopations are much improved – we will target some that are still problematic next time we rehearse this piece.
I Love You/What a Wonderful World mm. 79-end
– we covered a lot of ground tonight, adding the ensemble part (staves 5&6). Nice job with that! I would like for everyone to know both parts – the Chorus part and the Ensemble part so that we have the greatest flexibility in what we ultimately decide for the performance. Thank you for learning both parts!
– note the tempo changes
– m. 55, S1 sing F# – E (half notes). It is what is written on the 5th staff for the S1s.
– go ahead and practice the solo part if you are interested in auditioning. I will want to choose a soloist before November 4th – more info to come.
Measure Me, Sky! mm. 56-69
– Epic! Love hearing you sing this piece.
– when we reviewed from the beginning we had difficulty with page 9 – we will review that together but please have a look at that individually when you are practicing on your own.
– We will want to find the quieter parts of this song and also work to shape the phrases throughout.
Nigra Sum mm. mm. 83-end
– page 9 change the text ‘terrat’ to ‘terra’
– we will need to work through the cadences on this piece so that we stay together! There were a few places that we rushed through the breaths, especially mm. 64, 69, 74, 82
– we needed to explore our quietest singing on this piece! I don’t think that we have yet found it – but we will!
Sky Dances mm. 67-end
– this piece is really coming along – sounds magical!
– we lost our way a bit on page 6 so let’s take a look at that section
– tricky rhythms are sounding much more confident – still need to work on ‘bears.’
– we need to be very gentle about singing the 64th notes. Listen to the MUSE recording for inspiration – they sing this aspect so well!
Some Glad Morning mm. 60-101
– we will spend time on this next rehearsal and work out the questions on pitches/rhythms
Looking Ahead to 10/14/24:
Some Glad Morning mm. 60-101
Honour the Earth mm. 119-147 (end)
I Am mm. 68-105
Sing Wearing the Sky mm. 68-82
We will review any and all other pieces as time allows.
Chamber Choir
We will work through questions/challenges that I heard on both pieces. Let me know where you are having troubles!
We will also work on unifying our tone, especially on Earth Song.
Already looking forward to our next rehearsal!
Laura

October 1, 2024, Music Notes

Oct 1, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Special thanks to Kay for leading the alto sectional. I appreciate everyone’s work! It was wonderful to have Deb back – yay!
I will attend the NC American Choral Directors Conference in Charlotte this weekend – I am looking forward to hearing new perspectives, listening to lots of wonderful choral music, and connecting/networking with my colleagues/friends.

read more…

September 24, 2024, Music Notes

Sep 25, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Rehearsal was so wonderful – thanks for the focused work from everyone. We got so much accomplished! I did realize on the drive home, however, that we reviewed everything except Some Glad Morning (I neglected to turn the page on my notepad; I was so excited about Sky Dances!). We will catch up on it next week.
I hope that you enjoyed our circle-singing review. I look forward to walking around and hearing the various circles when I’m not playing the piano! (Also very much looking forward to Deb’s return!)
We gave our circles flower names (I think I remembered them all – correct me if I did not!):
A – Azalea
B – Bluebells
C – Cosmos
D – Daisy Dames
E – Elderberry
F – Forget-Me-Nots
Rehearsal Reflection:
Here in My Heart. mm. 55-102 (reviewed mm. 1-54)
– Altos have a skip down of a 5th from m. 65-66 – it is an unexpected leap but you handled it well
– m. 79 new material and the crescendo was ah-mazing!
– continue to make sure that you are singing a syncopated rhythm when there is an 8th note at the end of the measure that ties over the barline. We need to make sure we don’t sing those notes on the beat.
– great work on the consonants. Challenge yourself to continue to focus on enunciating a new consonant each run through. The F of ‘fill’ is super clear!
– Wonderful review!
I Love You/What a Wonderful World mm. 60-78 (reviewed mm. 1-59)
– pg. 11 S1 upper/lower divisi
– pg. 12 A1 upper/lower divisi
– pg. 14 S1 stays on the G#, you don’t have the melody here
– pg. 14 A2 has a skip up from B# to E, then you will be in unison with voices above your part
– pg. 15 A2 have the moving notes and we all have a rit.  so careful watching there, please
– ‘what a’ is sung ‘wadduh’ – soften the T
– minimize the R and L in ‘world’
– minimize the R in wonderful ‘won-duh-ful’
– great job on the new material and wonderful review!
Measure Me, Sky! mm. 35-55 (reviewed mm. 1-34)
– mm. 50-55 key change, G Major to B Major – EPIC!
– keep the vowel of ‘sky’ open to an AH, the vanishing vowel of the diphthong is sounded at the very, very, very end of the note
– let’s work on really enunciating these consonants – so many opportunities to sing this piece with clarity and bring this poetry to life with expression.
– really exceptional work on this piece
Nigra Sum mm. 23-82 (reviewed mm. 1-22)
– breathe at the end of m. 64, 69, 74, 82
– thanks, Diane, for leading the Latin pronunciation
– let’s continue to see how expressively soft we can sing the soft sections of this piece. mm. 75-79 will be our real challenge, especially for the sopranos!
– wonderful review!
Sky Dances mm. 35-66 (reviewed mm. 1-34)
– notice the new rhythms in m. 56 for the sopranos and new phrasing for the altos on pages 9-10
– wonderful work on this piece!
Some Glad Morning mm. 35-59 (mm. 1-34)
I inadvertently skipped this one – sorry about that!
 
Honour the Earth mm. 1-48
– Great review
I Am mm. 1-29
– Of everything we are working on, this piece is our biggest challenge. If you have time for individual practice, please spend it on this piece with both the practice files and the reference recording.
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 1-39
– Nice work on improving the tuning mm. 19-26.
 
Looking Ahead to 9/30/24:
If we are able to use the choir room in the new building, Kay and I would like to lead sectionals and focus on a few aspects of our singing that we think would enhance our sound. Alto 1&2 will meet in the regular space, Soprano 1&2 will meet in the new building choir room. If we are not able to have that space next week, I’ll send a follow up email. But, if we can divide for the first section of the rehearsal, this is what we will cover for the 1st half of rehearsal:
A1&A2 with Kay and Deb in the regular rehearsal space
S1&S2 with me in the new building choir room (across the street from where we rehearse)
Honour the Earth mm. 49-115
I Am mm. 30-67 (as time allows, review mm. 1-29)
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 40-67
For the second half of the rehearsal the sopranos will rejoin the altos, we will take a short break, then rehearse the 2nd half of rehearsal together in our regular space.
Honour the Earth mm. 1-115
I Am mm. 1-67
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 1-67
Some Glad Morning mm. 35-59 (review mm. 1-34)
As we have time, we will review any of the following…but I do want to spend the time we need on I Am so we may not get to these:
Here in My Heart. mm. 1-102
I Love You/What a Wonderful World mm. 1-78
Measure Me, Sky! mm. 1-55
Nigra Sum mm. 1-82
Sky Dances mm. 1-66
Chamber Choir:
Please see the attached for the part assignments (thank you Karla for creating the spreadsheet/PDF and thanks to everyone for your flexibility in switching parts as needed so that we have a balanced ensemble – much appreciated!)
Please also check the divisi on Sing My Child – it is detailed on the PDF.
Sing, My Child mm. 1-74
Earth Song mm. 1-37
See you next week!
Laura

September 17, 2024, Music Notes

Sep 18, 2024

Hello Everyone,

I enjoyed our rehearsal and am so pleased with the progress we made on our music. I really appreciate our early attention to dynamics, text expression, vowel shapes, articulating consonants, and phrasing – well beyond learning the notes and rhythms. Yay!
Save the date:
WVC is invited (once again) to participate in Durham Community Sings!
May 31st 10am-4pm
This is a choral festival hosted by the Choral Society of Durham. WVC members participated last year and had a great time. In the morning we rehearse and then after lunch give a concert of the pieces we have worked on. In addition, choral ensembles have the option to sing and if there are enough WVC signed up to participate, we will perform one piece from our spring repertoire. This is an optional activity and we will have members sign up to participate closer to time. Last spring there were several hundred choral singers gathered for the event and it was a lovely time.
Jannifer Stasack will be our retreat clinician. Her focus will be working with us on Sky Dances and singing with expression. I’m really looking forward to her time with us!

read more…

September 10, 2024, Music Notes

Sep 16, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a lovely rehearsal last night – I enjoyed making music with you all! Welcome back to all of our returning members and welcome to our 5 new members! The beginning of the season is always such a special and exciting time. So much work to get everything ready but then we SING and it is glorious – makes all the work so worth it.
We had many different aspects of the chorus to discuss in addition to rehearsing our music – thanks, Janet for your leadership. I am always inspired by the numerous ways all of the members create such a wonderful chorus, giving so much behind the scenes. There is a way for everyone to contribute in addition to singing. :). I think that is one reason (a big one!) for the strength of our community. 🙂

read more…

August 27, 2024, Music Notes

Aug 29, 2024

Hello Everyone,

What a joy to see everyone and to read through our repertoire together – such fun!
A huge thank you to everyone who put in so much work to get us off to such a wonderful start. Thank you, thank you! I’m so excited about our season ahead.
A question was raised regarding the YouTube practice track for Nigra Sum – Karla clarified that it is at the marked tempo, quarter note = 69 beats per minute. The previous WVC performance of Nigra Sum that is posted is considerably faster, about quarter note = 86 beats per minute. My intention will be to conduct this piece closer to the noted tempo marking of 69 with rubato throughout. Thanks for asking, DS!

read more…

May 21, 2024, Music Notes

May 22, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a craic rehearsal last night! We sucked diesel! Delira and excira! (pronunciation of ‘delira and excira’ is at around 2:15 with some other funny Irish slang in this video).

https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/slang-school-niall-horan-teaches-you-irish-slang)

I appreciated the update and instructions from Jackie – we are in very capable hands! Now we all need to ‘get our stuff done!’ (if we have not already).

read more…

May 15, 2024, Music Notes

May 16, 2024

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for a lovely rehearsal!

I stated my goals for our tour rehearsals:
1) Thoroughly rehearse our repertoire so that we can sing together with confidence (and without stress) when we are in Ireland. Our tour rehearsals will help us to not only learn our new music, but also help us to be able to best blend and balance our voices, achieving the most musical and lovely sound possible, as we come together as a new and unique ensemble.
2) Include activities that help us to get to know one another better.
3) And through these activities, learn more about Ireland (or share what we already know). Monday, we divided into teams and played Irish Trivia while enjoying cupcakes decorated with a Shamrock – Ireland’s national flower, or Montbretia – also called Crocosmia or Falling Stars. I have learned that although we will probably see this plant with pretty orange flowers along the roadways, it is nonnative and invasive…BOOOOO!) https://www.seasidesquirrel.ie/blogs/news/we-need-to-talk-about-montbretia

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April 23, 2024, Music Notes

Apr 24, 2024

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.

read more…

April 16, 2024, Music Notes

Apr 17, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Woohoo! We made such great progress on A Stór and Now Let Me Fly as we move toward our performance  – great effort everyone! After last week’s rehearsal, those were the two pieces in most need of our attention and we accomplished what was needed to bring them up to speed (well, almost with A Stór!).

read more…

April 9, 2024, Music Notes

Apr 10, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a fun and productive rehearsal last night! It was ah-mazing to sing through all of our repertoire and take stock of where we currently are with everything – and for the most part we are in very good shape – BRAVA to all!

read more…

April 2, 2024, Music Notes

Apr 3, 2024

Lovely rehearsal last night – really sounded wonderful on much of what we sang through last night in mixed formation – great progress! We definitely also found some gaps and will work on those sections next week.

read more…

March 26, 2024, Music Notes

Mar 27, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a very enjoyable and productive rehearsal last night. We covered a lot of ground and WOW, things are really sounding great and coming together so nicely. What a treat for my ears (and hopefully, yours, too)!

Thank you for sending your solo auditions – those are due tomorrow if you would still like to send yours. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening!

read more…

March 19, 2024, Music Notes

Mar 24, 2024

Hello Everyone,

I enjoyed our music and shenanigans last night – wonderful work, one and all! Special thanks to the S1s and S2s for their extra work at sectionals and for Virginia providing such detailed notes.

Thank you for providing your performance information – I will work on a new seating chart for our next rehearsal. For those not present, I sent you an individual email request for that information, if you would please reply as soon as possible that would be very helpful.

read more…

March 12, 2024, Music Notes

Mar 24, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a fun-filled and productive rehearsal. Hats off to the altos who spent extra time at their sectional going through a list of challenging spots that Kay had noted (thank you, Kay!). \ read more…

March 25, 2024, Music Notes

Mar 6, 2024

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for working so hard on our three Irish pieces last night. I think that musically we are in a very good place to continue to learn from our retreat clinician, Dr. Annie Barry, on Saturday. Annie knows that we are very much looking forward to her expertise with the Irish language and all things musical.

Annie is going to create transliterations of the Irish text for each piece this week (hooray!) – we will share them with you on Saturday and then you can transfer the pronunciation notes to your music as is most helpful to you.

If at this point you are unsure of any pitches/rhythms on the Irish pieces that you cannot work out for yourself using the practice files, please let your section leader know so that we can also answer those questions at the retreat. By the time we finish with the retreat on Saturday, I am optimistic that we will be well on our way to performance ready Irish pieces!

read more…

February 27, 2024, Music Notes

Feb 28, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a wonderful rehearsal last night – I enjoyed every minute and hope that you did, too! I am very pleased with all the great work we are accomplishing together.

Kinley let me know that we will rehearse in the sanctuary next week – across the street from our usual space. Kinley is going to send an email with a map, so please be on the lookout for that.

read more…

February 20, 2024, Music Notes

Feb 20, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for your focused work tonight on our music. I apologize for not covering as much ground as I had intended – I definitely spent more time working on Will the Circle Be Unbroken than I had budgeted – BUT we did make wonderful progress, especially singing in tune! Hooray! It’s already so much fun to listen to.

Thank you for the beautiful birthday singing! Happy birthday to all of the February birthdays!

I am going to make this email short because it’s late and I need to be up at the crack of dawn to travel to KY for the Southern Division Regional American Choral Directors Association Conference….so I hope you will understand my abbreviated notes. read more…

February 13, 2024, Music Notes

Feb 14, 2024

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for a lovely rehearsal last night! I heard such gorgeous singing – it filled my heart to overflowing (as evidenced by all the hearts on my sweater!)

Again, welcome to all of our new members – it was very fun to meet you and we’re glad you have joined in our musical adventures.

It is also wonderful to see so many returning singers – your dedication and continued contributions are deeply appreciated!

read more…

February 6, 2024, Music Notes

Feb 6, 2024

Hello Everyone,

What fun to read through all of our spring repertoire at rehearsal last night. I anticipate that we will have a great time working on it together. 🙂

Please remember to review your self-assessments and set personal goals for this semester. And of course, take time to celebrate all that you/we accomplished last semester!

read more…

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