Buying tickets

At Sunday's rehearsal, I forgot to mention that Chorus member Thom Sargent has discounted tickets for sale. Here's the skinny, according to Connee Souza from the NBSO:

Please note that Thom Sargent will continue to have tickets available for musicians and choral members at rehearsals for the December concert.  They are priced at $25 per adult and $10 per student.  (children and adults with student IDs)

$5 of each adult ticket sale goes back to St. Anthony’s Church.

Regular ticket prices are $30 per adult and $10 per student, so this is a discounted rate.

NBSO Musicians are entitled to a 50% discount on adult tickets for all of our concerts, but they must be purchased through the Z box office.  The box office fees are as follows:

$4 processing fee for all orders

Plus $3.50 per ticket convenience fee if ordered by phone or online.

So after adding these fees to the musician discount, the $25 ticket price offered through Thom isn’t far off and is much more convenient.  Of course they may choose either option. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.  And please encourage all musicians and choral  members to sell the concert to all of their friends and family!  There is no limit to the number of discounted tickets they may purchase.

Thank you!

Conee Sousa

Marketing Coordinator

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

P.O. Box 2053, New Bedford, MA  02741

Tel:  508.999.6276   ext. 23

Fax:  508.999.0958

Email:  csousa@nbsymphony.org

www.nbsymphony.org

Rehearsal plan and more for 11/3

First, the good news: our three Messiah movements last night showed that it won't take too much to bring that music to a high level. At the same time, many people were making the same mistakes that happened last year, such as not following rests or dynamics. That stuff is in your score, and all you have to do is what's in the score. Please make an effort to be more attentive to the printed music.

Second, the bad news: last night's rehearsal of Zelenka was not good. Last night was not supposed to be a reading session, and I'm afraid that, for many of you, it was. With only five rehearsals left before the dress rehearsal, we don't have time for flat rehearsals like last night's. Along with having a complete familiarity with your music pre-rehearsal, you are also expected to have your music bound or in a black binder (not stapled or loose), double-sided to avoid too many page turns, a pencil, and, as I notified you several times about lighting issues in the rehearsal space, a light if you have difficulty with low-lighting situations. And, finally, all of the score markings were to have been in your scores before last night's rehearsal.

There also seems to be a great deal of confusion about what has been communicated. For that reason, I am going to list the following blog posts that must be reviewed before 11/3:

• Score markings: add these to your scores now
• Score correction: a small one
• Zelenka performance recording: give it a listen, but be aware that the recording is a half-step lower than our sung pitch
• Zelenka practice audio: download this for your voice type (You must download; it won't play from your browser.)

I've asked multiple times for Chorus members to add their email addresses to this blog. To do so, look for the "Follow by email" box in the right column of this blog. Add your email address there; you will receive a confirmation email to which you must respond.

After every rehearsal, this blog is updated with the agenda for the next rehearsal. I do this so that you can prepare specific items in advance and so that you don't have too much on your plate. 

THE REHEARSAL AGENDA FOR 11/3 IS THIS: 

• We will only look at Zelenka. Because of last night's unpreparedness, we need to devote an entire rehearsal to this.
• In your preparation (yes, you are expected to prepare before next Sunday), it's helpful to be aware of the most difficult sections. Here's what they are, in order of hardest to easiest:
• K & L
• J
• I
• C
• D
• F
• H
• pp.2-3

I'm aware that people have to miss a rehearsal here or there. The burden is on you, not us, to be prepared. If you must miss next week, use this rehearsal agenda to prepare on your own. If you missed last night, click here to see what you missed. 

Finally, a note for those who haven't paid for their scores yet: If you ordered a printed score, I paid for it (not the NBSO or anyone else), and I need to be reimbursed. A couple of you said that you ordered your scores "by accident." These can not be returned to the printers for a refund; I can not seek a refund from the Post Office for the shipping. That said, please have exact change or a check for me at the 11/3 rehearsal.

Altos: small correction

Altos:
Zelenka: p.18, m.189, write in forte

Notes in advance of our first rehearsal

Please add these notes to your scores before we meet this week. If you are using the Messiah scores from last year, these should already be in your scores, but please check to make sure. If you have the new scores, you need to write these in.

Please make sure to do this so that we can maximize the quality of our rehearsals and avoid redundancy.

Errors:

• Glory to God
• m.19, "God" should be quarter note
• m. 48, soprano C# is 8th note followed by 8th note rest; accent "to" and "ward"
• Hallelujah
• m. 19, tenor: "reign-eth" should appear an octave lower than written

Text modifications:

• And the Glory
• always pronounce "Glory" as "Glo-dy" (no R!)
• no R in 
• Lord
• together
• for
• anticipate "sh" in "shall" and "fl" in "flesh
• sopranos: m.109, change “glory of the Lord” to “Glah-deh ahv thah Lahd”
• And he shall purify
• "and" is pronounced as in "band"
• The “r” of “purify” is always a “d”
• Bars 25 & 55: roll “rrrrrrrs” on “rrrrrighteousness”
• sopranos:
• m.15: sing this as “and hay shall pyah-deh-fah”
• m.36: sing this as “and hay shall pyah-deh-fah” and sing "Levi" as "Lay-vi"
• m.42: sing this as “and hay shall pyah-deh-fah”
• m.53: sing "unto" as "ahn-tah"

• O Thou
• No "r" in: 
• Glory
• Lord
• your
• pronounce "thou" very simply:
• "thah-oh"
• not “thah-oo-wuh”
• "behold" is "beehold"

• For unto us
• No "r" in:
• for
• born
• government
• wonderful
• counselor
• everlasting
• father
• shoulder
• Elongate the front end of the vowel in
• wonderful
• counselor
• ...thus de-emphasizing the diphthong

• Glory to God
• anticipate "gl" before the beat
• no "r" on
• glory
• toward
• "and peace"..."and" sounds like "band"
• Sopranos
• m.30, pronounce "will" as "weh-ll"
• Hallelujah
• Sopranos
• mm.57-58 sing "Kehng of Kehngs"
• mm.63-64 sing "Kahng of Kahngs"

First Rehearsal! (Sunday, October 27, 6-8:30pm)

Our first rehearsal is this Sunday, from 6-8:30pm at Friends Academy in N. Dartmouth. Please prepare in advance of this rehearsal according to the agenda below. We will begin promptly at 6pm, so please arrive a little earlier to set up your chair and, if it applies to you, pay for scores.

Click here for information on the rehearsal venue.

This is the first of six rehearsals that I'm leading. This rehearsal will focus a lot on Zelenka--all of it, in fact. In advance of rehearsal, make sure to listen to the YouTube video while also preparing with the audio files. This is not the hardest music, but it's not the easiest music either. Since we don't have much time to prepare, please don't expect to learn every note in rehearsal; you should do this on your own.

Here's the plan:

5:50pm: set up your chair; pay for your scores
6-6:15: warmup and introductions
15-20: Zelenka pp. 2-3
20-25: Zelenka rehearsal F
25-35: Zelenka rehearsal H
35-45: Zelenka rehearsal I
45-55: Zelenka rehearsal J
55-7:05 Zelenka rehearsal K
5-20 Zelenka rehearsal L to end

7:20-7:30 BREAK, pay for your scores

30-40 Zelenka rehearsal D
40-50 Zelenka rehearsal C
50-8:05 And he shall purify (working reverse by letter)
5-20 For unto us (working reverse by letter)
20-30 And the glory (working reverse by letter)

NOTE: Game IV of the World Series begins at 8:15. Rehearsal will only affect 15 minutes of the game. I promise. I am working with MLB management to postpone the start of the game till 8:30pm.

A few items before our first rehearsal

As you know, we're just under three weeks away from our first rehearsal. Please read on:

• Why do I keep sending emails? Because not everyone is registered at the blog (http://nbsochorus.blogspot.com/). At this point, my plan (if at all possible) is to send no more emails. (Yay!) Instead, all information will be updated at the blog. If you haven't registered your email address at the blog, please do so now. (Use the "follow by email" box in the blog's right column. It's a two-step process, so you'll have to verify your email once you've registered.)
• Please come prepared for the first rehearsal. Many of you are familiar with Messiah, but the Magnificat is most likely new to 100% of you.
• Please review Messiah. It can't hurt. You will find choral learning files in the right column of the blog. 
• If you haven't done so already, please start working on the Magnificat. You'll find choral learning files in the right column of the blog along with a very stylish performance by Bach Collegium Japan.
• About a week before the first rehearsal, I'll post a rehearsal agenda. Please use the weekly agendas to guide your practice so that you're not having to look at everything all the time. The agendas are very clear, so you should know exactly what to have prepared before rehearsal.
• None of this is to scare anyone away from this non-auditioned chorus. However, it's important to know that we expect you to be prepared--but not perfect!--for rehearsals. To that end, please make sure to be familiar with the Magnificat before our first rehearsal, since we'll surely be looking at all of it. (Again, the full agenda will be posted one week before the rehearsal.)

For those of you registered at the blog, I'm sorry that you're receiving this message twice. For the rest of you, please register your email at the blog!

I'm looking forward to getting this underway. We're still accepting new singers, so please spread the word!

Concert flyer and discount tickets

Click here to view the concert flyer. (The flyer also contains information on buying discount tickets.)

Discounted tickets available through Thom Sargent:

tsargentsr@aol.com or 508-717-2824

Adults $25, Students $10 

$5 from each adult ticket will be graciously donated to the 

St. Anthony Church Organ Maintenance Fund

Visit www.nbsymphony.org for concert information