Thursday, November 28, 2013

Important: Saturday call time changed to 2pm.

Rehearsal begins exactly at 2:30pm on Saturday. This means that all chorus members need to be seated by 2:15. Why so early?
  • we need to work out seating arrangements for this rehearsal
  • we need to be in place early enough so that people aren't walking around valuable instruments (and their players)
That said, please plan on arriving at 2pm on Saturday. You don't need to be there any earlier than that, but you shouldn't be there any later than 2:15. (Note: use the Nye Street entrance to Global Learning Charter School.)

Once you are seated, the orchestra rehearsal will commence, but the chorus will not sing till 3:20 (O thou that tellest). This is followed by an orchestra break from 3:35-3:55 during which I will warm you up.

I know, it's a lot of waiting, but that's showbiz. Make sure to bring something to read during all of the down time.

Click here for the complete rehearsal schedule. Please print it out and familiarize yourself with it so that we don't need to spend rehearsal time calling out pages numbers, etc.

Finally, I had this nice email from a member of the Mastersingers: 
Mastersingers have bought nametags for Saturday. Some of us thought that we have been seeing some of these same faces in the chorus for several years now, and we still don't know names. So in the interest of camaraderie, we would like people to make and wear a nametag for Saturday. We will try to set up outside the door of the rehearsal room and catch people as they come in.
animated thanksgiving photo: Happy Thanksgiving - blinkie banner with animated gray cat gif on top z_blink_thanks4.gif

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Weekend schedule & location

Saturday

2:30-5pm rehearsal @ Global Learning Charter School (behind St. Anthony's)

5-6:30 dinner served (gratis)

7-9:30pm rehearsal @ St. Anthony's


Sunday

1:30 concert call in St. Anthony basement

3pm concert starts

Sitting and Standing Directions

Please mark these in your scores. (This may be updated further.) All sit/stand cues will be given by conductor.

Magnificat: stand throughout

Messiah:
  • sit during Overture & Comfort Ye
    • conductor will cue standing towards end of Comfort Ye
  • sit after And the Glory
  • stand towards the end of But Who May Abide (conductor will cue)
  • remain standing, sit after O thou that tellest
  • stand towards the end of The People Who Walked (conductor will cue)
  • sit after For Unto Us
  • stand at the beginning of And Suddenly (#16)
  • sit after Glory to God
  • stand after He Shall Feed His Flock

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Two small items

If you have a chance, please view this video promoting our concert and also post it to Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teqwD_yuka8




By the time you read this, it will probably be too late for many of you to listen in, but I'll be on the WBSM radio today (11/20) between 12:30 and 1pm to talk about the concert and all of the great work that you've been doing to prepare.

Monday, November 18, 2013

A few reading errors and plan for 11/24

It was nice to see just about everyone last night and to make such good music! As a reminder, our last rehearsal is Sunday, Nov. 24 from 6-8:30 at Friends Academy. The dress rehearsals follow on Saturday, November 30 from 2:30pm. (I'll post about those details next week.)

For those who missed last night, we identified a few mis-reads in the Magnificat:

  • Sopranos, p. 7, m.79: make sure you're singing a C#, not a B (second note in that measure). Thanks, Judy Willis, for identifying this.
  • Altos,  p.8, m.84: F#, not F-natural. Totally my fault for not hearing this earlier. Fortunately, this makes the measure easier for everyone!
For 11/24, we will go through everything and continue to tweak where needed. You all know what to do, so I won't post a detailed agenda here. Just know that we'll run everything. And who knows?--we might end early!

Finally, as I asked last night, make sure to listen to the Magnificat before our dress rehearsal. As you listen, count your rests. This will be a useful excercise for the real thing.

Till next time...

Friday, November 15, 2013

Agenda for Sunday, 11/17

What a nice rehearsal Wednesday night! This Sunday, we're joined by the South Coast Community Chorus and Mastersingers by the Sea. Remember: rehearsal begins at 6pm (not 7pm).

Due to logistics issues at Friends Academy, we'll be placed on the steps in the back of the room, as we were Wednesday. As ever, lighting is an issue, so plan accordingly.

Because this will be a big group, please fill out all chairs in your section, and avoid leaving empty chairs. Because like-ability people sit together, I'm asking you (no, begging you) to make every effort to sit next to someone you don't know. Please do this.

The focus issues for this rehearsal are:

  • Messiah choruses: you know what to do. It's all on the printed page! Just follow what's already there.
    • We'll work some of these slowly but mainly do everything at tempo
  • Magnificat: At this point, we know all of the trouble spots. We'll work those slowly and then work to bring everything to tempo.

Here's the plan:

6-6:15 seating and warmup
15-25 And the glory
25-40 And he shall purify
40-50 O thou that tellest
50-55 Magnificat, p. 2
55-7:15 C and D
15-25 BREAK
25-35 F and H
35-8pm the big ol' Amen
8-8:13 For unto us
13-24 Hallelujah
24-8:30 Glory to God

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Additional audio learning files for Zelenka

With special thanks to their accompanist Erik Thompson, the South Coast Community Chorale has made their learning files available to us. Please look in the right column of this blog for "Choral learning files," and you'll see "Zelenka: additional audio files." 

As with the other files, these might need to be downloaded (they might not play from your browser). Normally, this is done with a right click and "save as." You should also be able to drag them to your desktop.

If you have any questions about accessing these files, please email me, and I'll try to help you figure it out.

Again, thank you SCCC. This is such a good example of our local choruses working together towards the success of our combined efforts!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Another small typo alert

Zelenka

  • Altos: p.8, m.85
    • sing "mi" for the entire measure, removing "le" on final quarter note ("les" remains on m.86)

Concert dress, Concert seating

Concert Dress:

  • Men: tux or black/very dark suit; white shirt; black bowtie
  • Women: white blouse; black pants or full-length skirt
Concert Seating:
  • At St. Anthony's, the sopranos will be located to the left of the conductor in the choir stalls; the altos will be located to the right of the conductor in the choir stalls. Tenors will be to the left of the conductor behind the orchestra; basses will be to the right of the conductor behind the orchestra.
  • This is the complete opposite of how we've been rehearsing. From this point onwards, we'll follow the concert seating, so please reverse yourselves next week.
  • This new arrangement for St. Anthony's allows for regular seating throughout the concert. Details on specific sit/stand directions are forthcoming.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Agenda for 11/13

That was a really good rehearsal last night! It's so good to hear such good singing, even with reduced numbers.

As a reminder, we have no rehearsal this Sunday; our next rehearsal is Wednesday, November 13, 7-9:30pm at Friends Academy.

We spent a lot of time yesterday starting and stopping to correct things that are already in your scores. What can you do to do what's already on the page so that we don't have to start and stop? About half of you are doing things right the first time. Which half are you?

There's also a reluctance to exaggerate dynamics, something that really needs to happen in the vast space of St. Anthony's. Please use the written dynamics and use them in total relief!

And don't forget to observe all of the written rests with good consonants.

On Wednesday, we start bringing things up to tempo. Here's the plan:

7-7:15 warmup
15-25 And the Glory (working in reverse)
25-40 And He Shall Purify (first working slowly and then working at tempo) Don't forget to work slowly in your own practice.
40-8pm Magnificat C and D, first slowly, then tempo
8-8:15 For unto us (working at tempo)
15-25 BREAK
25-45 Magnificat: the Amen, first slowly and then tempo
45-55 Glory to God (at tempo)
55-10 Magnificat F and H...will there still be an "alto problem?"
10-20 Hallelujah (at tempo)
20-30 O thou (at tempo)

So far, this is really fun for me, and it seems that you're having a good time. It's really a pleasure to work with all of you either again or for the first time. Enjoy the holiday weekend.


Monday, November 4, 2013

Rehearsal agenda for Wednesday, November 6, 7-9:30pm @ Friends Academy

What a great rehearsal last night! Thank you all for the work you did to prepare the Magnificat. Special thanks goes out to the South Coast Community Chorale, who reportedly spent two hours of their own rehearsal on Zelenka last week. (A head's up: they won't be with us at our Wednesday rehearsals, so don't expect to lean on them!)

As a reminder, we meet this Wednesday, November 6, from 7-9:30pm this week. (There's no Sunday rehearsal this weekend, and our second of two Wednesday night rehearsals is next week.)

In my previous post, I gave information on how to buy tickets. There aren't too many community choruses that don't charge membership dues while also providing a chance to work with a professional orchestra. With that in mind, please consider buying a ticket or two to give to family and friends. You can also ask them to buy tickets through you (via Thom Sargent); this, in turn, helps the organ fund at St. Anthony's, our concert venue.

Last season, I didn't put on any pressure to buy tickets, but, as I was returning from last night's rehearsal, I was thinking that this is a pretty good deal all around. More to the point, this sort of opportunity for singers relies on good ticket sales, so please don't just assume that the NBSO will bring in the audience. Just a thought, but, in lieu of a membership fee, consider buying a ticket or two as gifts. That way, we'll have a great audience, and both St. Anthony's and the NBSO will benefit.

Here's the plan for Wednesday night. (If you have to miss, please use this agenda as a point of departure for your own practice.)

First and foremost, make sure that you have all of the Messiah markings in your score. I've added a few more so please review all of them: You can find these by clicking here.

We will work all of the Messiah choruses in reverse order.
7-7:15 warmup
15-30 Hallelujah Chorus; let's focus on this being elegant, not simply loud and bombastic
30-40 Glory to God
40-55 For Unto Us
55-15 Magnificat, letters C & D; for obvious reasons, this is a difficult section of the piece; we'll focus on clarity and accuracy; on your own, make sure you know the notes at a slow tempo
8:15-25 BREAK
25-35 Magnificat, letter H; let's fix the alto problem with this section; if time, we'll look at F
35-45 O Thou That Tellest
45-9pm And He Shall Purify
9-9:20 Magnificat: the big Amen at the end; we'll work reverse by letter, again focusing on clarity and accuracy
20-9:30 And the Glory

Typo alert

Please take note:

Magnificat, p. 5, m.69: the alto part should read "su-o," not "su-am."