geemony christmas I forgot again - most crucial rehearsal notes from 1/19/15

I really don't know what's wrong with me this week. Oh well.

Will fill you in on the rest tonight!!

This Sunday: blue hymnal #1003 "Where do we come from"
as a "Heart of the mother"-type round

Part one:    1  2  3  4  1  2  3  3  3  3  3
Part two:    1  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  3  3  3
Part three:   1  1  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  3  3
Part four:    1  1  1  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  3

Last time on line three everyone is pianissimo and one person back on line 2 at same time. This time Clay is on Part One and she will be doing line 2 at the end.



Feb. 1, subject is Buddhism so choir contribution will be solo of "Be Ye lamps" - this will be Chandler if back in health and voice, Clay as understudy :)

more soon tonight I really really really intend, anyway…  gah!

January 5 Rehearsal Notes

We cleaned out our folders and identified the following list of songs as ones to work on (i.e. make sure you have sheet music for these):

• Bright Morning Stars
• Alleluia
• O Vos Omnes
• Get Together
• Spirit, Open My Heart
• Benedictus (to keep performance-ready)
• Pie Jesu
• Angus Dei
• Joy To The World

We also talked more about a spring concert program, with time being given to people's "reach" or dream songs that they might sing or that might be good vehicles for others. Bring your ideas for these next week; we've already floated such diverse ideas as the theme song from Once and "Wicked Little Town" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. So nothing is off limits for the brainstorming stage.

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.

11/17/14 Rehearsal Notes

11/17/14 Rehearsal

Elaine, Sherri, Susan Clay, Susan Chandler, and Scott

We made a note to use the pitch matching exercise during our warm ups each time.

We worked out the following schedule: 11/30 Benedictus, 12/7 Lo How a Rose, 12/14 Hosanna (Moravian Fanfare) and possibly Give Light as the congregational hymn, 12/21 Pachebel|First Noel.

We agreed not to plan anything for 12/24 or 12/25.

We then rehearsed the November/December songs. For the Pachebel, which we all agree is an odd arrangement, the voicing we landed on was Susan Clay on coloratura-soprano, Susan Chandler on mezzo-soprano, Sherri on contralto when there's a contralto line and countertenor when there's not, and Scott on dramatic tenor. Elaine, if she sings it, is welcome to sing countertenor. Regarding the contralto line, the clearest explanation seemed to be that it gets its own staff but has the lead in notes from the mezzo-soprano part.

We closed with Heart of the Mother, which we agreed makes a good warm up song.

rehearsal notes 10nov14

Present were:
Elaine
Scott
2 Susans

We practiced:
Heart of the Mother
Benedictus
Pachelbel/Noël
Lo how a rose
Winter Lullaby

Upcoming possible Sundays …
11/30 - we will sing Benedictus - this will now just be Scott and 2 Susans b/c we have shifted parts in order to cover for those unable to come the last two weeks in a row and we will continue simply to rehearse it as a trio - Elaine will accompany

12/7 - Lo how a rose - Scott and Sclay

12/14 - probably Pachelbel/Noël - as this approaches we might have to limit this to those who are able to come to rehearsal also (like with Benedictus) - we are shifting some parts just in case altho of course the hope is that Paula will be back and that Sherri can join us as well

12/21 - hopefully Heart of the Mother - this will depend on whether Paula and Sherri can come to rehearsal…

On stand-by if possible/necessary - the Hosanna if Sherri is able and game

Anyone in town on 12/25 the joint Christmas svc with Peace Church will be that eve at 5pm - we have not planned for any definite pieces yet but might be able simply to do something from one of the services between now and then - or more if nec/poss….

Paula and Sherri were greatly missed (and of course Sara but we understand her situation and missing her at rehearsals goes without saying). We could not remem. when Paula was due back. Please let us know Paula if you read this.

11/3/14 Rehearsal

In attendance: Susan Chandler, Susan Clay, Scott Jaeschke

Songs worked on: Pachebel/First Noel, Benedictus, Winter Lullaby, Heart of the Mother, and Lo How a Rose E'Er Blooming.

That seems like it...anything else Susans?