Bill, Blair, the One Voice trio, and Mad about Mozart all came early and did great! Bill brought a microphone and a cool mic stand that holds an iPad. I was able to use it during rehearsal and it was pretty neat.
We did a very quick warm-up, just the most basic stretching.
1. Why We Sing: The whole choir sang the whole beginning section where we often have solos switching off (10-26: everyone sings). You have to sing very, very soft, please. It's a really good sound when everyone is quiet. The contrast between the P at the beginning and the FF at the end is fantastic!
2. Sunshine Medley: We did it! We made it work. The key is to relax and make it fun. But, let's look at a few things we cleaned up: Remember to hold melting in bar 32 and clear in bar 36 to the end of the bar. We have to remember to slow down at bar 42, in that alto solo section that introduces Don't You Worry Bout a Thing. That makes it easier to sing that difficult section. Sopranos had a hard time with the ahs on the word out in "check it out". I thought the problem was the ties, but I'm looking at it again, and it's not. The ties are correct. You're singing 1 2 + + + + + + + + + + 4. (your first ah in the word out lands on beat one, which is not what's written but it's okay). the word out is: ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-out, followed immediately by don't you worry bout a thing. You tend to land on beat one, so you finish out on beat one and sing don't on beat two. Let the Sunshine is so much fun and sounds great. You don't have to read the music at all, just sing the melody twice, and then add harmonies, first just a few, and then, after a couple the first sopranos can go way up and the altos can divide if they feel like it, maybe some of you can sing with the tenors? We just have to all end together with an extra slow, the su-unnnnn shy-niiiinnnn. I'll try to get the audience to do it too, so it can be a bit sloppy ;-)
3. I Can See Clearly: This is amazing! It was so difficult at first with all the repeats and page turning, but we got it! We discovered a handy-dandy trick (thanks to Michele) for turning the pages and finding your spot. Use large paper clips, clipping one on the page at the location where you come in. This marks the spot and makes it easier to grasp that page with your fingers. Middle of page 6 at bar 25 and bottom of page 9 at bar 46 (for bar 45) is where I would put mine.
4. We Rise Again: We reviewed section C again, where we sing the chorus for the first time and the tenors and basses have some cool stuff, special timing. Everyone but tenor and bass must sing softly here, a quiet first chorus, drama. Our audience will love this! You sound faboulous.
5. Top of the World: Sweet! It's excellent.
6. Happy Together: Something magical happened. The altos forgot which line they were supposed to sing, and ended up creating a really nice harmony part at 13. I liked it so much, we're keeping it! So, altos sing the top line a third down from the sopranos bars 13-21. At 21, altos go to the bottom line and sing the bottom to the end, indluding the melody line at 30. Go altos! We had to review the ending, after the ba-bas. We got it pretty fast though. I have to remember to count clearly and then you can find your way in. You all come in on beat 3, which is what the descant was doing. Donna helps you with your note with a good chord on beat 2.
7. Viva!: A number of you were worried about this, but it's excellent! The audience will be so impressed! It does appear harder than it is, doesn't it? You've got this!
We talked about: Tickets for Children
We decided together to offer half price tickets to children 12 and under. Tickets will be $10 and we'll write the word CHILD on them. (Note: someone should bring a couple $10 bills for change to the concert. We had decided on $20 across the board partly so that we wouldn't have to worry too much about cash and change on concert day.)
We talked about: Red scarves for the "uniform"
We still haven't located Musette the cat and her basket with the extra ties and scarves, so anyone who has an extra scarf, an old one with the gold music notes, should bring it to the concert so that new people can wear one. We will spend some of the baking sale profits on new scarves and new ties to match so that we all can match again. I wonder if some of the women would like to have a necktie instead of a scarf next time. Blair has a few extra ties for now. The old and newer ties are very different colours, so maybe men can bring a red tie that they already have and see if it goes with what the others are wearing. On the website, there is a page called "Concert Wardrobe" which describes our uniform choices and shows how to tie your scarf or necktie.
Next week: Tuesday, May 2nd Run-Through Rehearsal in the Sanctuary, upstairs
6:30 all small groups and solos
7:00 everyone in and ready to start
Have your binders in concert order so that we're not searching through binders on stage.
Concert order was sent in an email and is listed on the website under "Spring Concert Order" in the members-only section. (you'll need to log in with your password). Some print-outs will be available next week if you aren't able to make your own.
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