Suggestion for Jan 5 Rehearsal

Hey singing-type people!

I wanted to post a reminder/suggestion/bossy-bit about our first rehearsal for 2015.  There are a few things we've talked about in passing that got stuck under "Next Year".

1) Folder Clean Out!   We need to bring in all the music we've collected over the years, decide what we need to keep and file what we don't.  It might also be worthwhile to pick a date to go through the existing music files to see if there are any treasures in there we could use.  I know my folder is feeling a bit heavy.

2) Spring Concert Thingie!   We've tossed the idea around for months, but we haven't sat down to actually plan the thing.  The "Radio Show" idea seems to be holding water, but it won't happen if we don't push it up on the priority list.   The idea is that we can pick songs from anywhere about anything, as long as we can locate it to a particular year and maybe come up with some information about it.  We'd have some people be "announcers" who can read from scripts, we can keep our costumes basic, we can include members of the congregation, and we can have a couple of skits or bits of drama.  We need to get interested members from the congregation on board soon, and to get a date set.   I suggest we pick a date to discuss this, go to our corners to come up with our ideas, and put together a script outline.  Then we establish some deadlines and a kill date (aka, if particular things aren't in place by a particular date, we cancel the thing).

3) Scheduling!  I'd like to see us establish a rehearsal schedule ahead of time -- that is, we schedule what songs will be worked on during which rehearsal in prep for what performance dates and we keep this on the blog so there is NO mystery. I think we lean on Elaine's memory a bit too hard, and I think knowing ahead of time will relieve anxiety for many of us.  Also, I really like the idea of having more solos and duets, which will give individuals more flexibility -- that is, we know if we can miss a rehearsal for whatever reason because not everyone is singing.  If we pull more of those, we won't be in the "Who can sing this part?" situation.  We are so small now that an emergency for one member can really hurt us, so having easy back up plans would be smart.

4)  Contact List.  I know I don't have phone numbers or emails for everyone in the group, so I think putting together a list of contact info for each of us would be a good idea.  Not everyone is listed in the UUFC directory.  

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and is ready for a new year :)

December 1 Rehearsal Notes

12/1/14 Rehearsal Notes

Sorry I'm three days late on this!

We got great feedback about Benedictus; several people said we blended so well that they only heard one voice.

Recap of the schedule: 12/7 Susan Clay and Scott for Lo How a Rose, 12/14 Susan Clay and Sherri for Hosanna, and 12/21 all for First Noel/Pachebel.

Practice notes:

• The Susans will make the same vowel sound on the intro to First Noel/Pachebel.
• Susan Clay will start louder and do a progressive decrescendo as Susan Chandler joins in and they reach the lyrics.
• Paula will only switch to the second piano accompaniment for the bottom of page 6.
• We discussed the possibility of doing Three Dog Night's Joy to the World in January (1/18?).
• We discussed the possibility of doing We Are the Earth for Earth Day.
• Susan Chandler as soprano, Susan Clay as alto, Elaine as tenor, Scott and Sherri not currently participating but willing to be called in if needed.