YRCC Rehearsal Review 2022-Oct-18

 We discovered another good thing about meeting on Tuesdays: Halloween is on a Monday night this year, so our choir night is clear. And, we'll hopefully have extra chocolate and candy to share. 

The small group "There's Still My Joy" met and have a new arrangement that's more balanced, more 'choral' and prettier. Yay! Thank you, Donna for finding it. So, they're going to need at least one more rehearsal to learn it. 

Our warm-up included more dancing: a little twist again and "le freak". 

1. Magic of Winter was perfect. There was no hissing, because you watched my cut-offs. I love it when you watch me! Sometimes, I think maybe I'm a little over the top with all my conducting gestures, brandishing my baton like a weapon, and grabbing at the air with my left hand like a baseball shortstop. But, it's my own little dance and it works. 

2. Little Tree needs work. I love this thing and I want it to be good enough for Enid. Sopranos need to work on "Don't be afraid, put up your arms" and holding notes their full value. Listen to the recording from December 2015 on the website, or here. We decided that the soprano section, since they're not so huge anymore, can all sing at the beginning. It should be soft and very together, smooth, like a very small group. 

3. We Wish You a Merry Madrigal will be kind of a theme for our concert (Merrily Singing Together: a Real Live Holiday Concert) so we'll learn it with and without accompaniment. Donna improvised a fun accompaniment and I loved it, but I also love it a cappella - we rarely sing a cappella, and it's cool. So, I want to do both. Good Tidings (that we're together again) and merry, merry (merry making together again) and the fa-la-la element (singing merrily) are all simply perfect. This song also requires good watching for us to stay together with the timing changes. 

4. We Need a Little Christmas right this very minute. We're learning this one from the beginning. Some of us have seen it while we were having Zoom Choir. But, in real life, it's all new. 

Watch this: 

Don't worry; I won't ask you to dance. But, they look like they're having so much fun, right?!

5. Thank You for the Music is coming along wonderfully! Lauren is going to write out the parts in section C and at the end so you can see your part alone, but that takes some time. Hopefully, we'll have it next week. Think about singing that solo at E, or being Marlene's backup (Marlene wasn't there, so we volunteered her. I think she'd be a super "girl with silver hair")

We talked about the next small group, and listened to 2 Christmas Hymns from Voices United to decide on Once in Royal David's City. This small group will start on November 1st. 

Next week, Tuesday, October 25th, There's Still My Joy will meet at 6:45. 

Next week, we'll start promoting our concert: Merrily Singing Together: a Real Live Holiday Concert on December 4th at 3pm.