My Singing Night 28-Sep-2023

 Here's the review of last night.  It was fun, and I'm so grateful for my YRCC friends who came! Hopefully, more of you will come next week. 

YRCC 2023 Rehearsal Review September 26

Warm-up exercises to shake off our day and relax and warm up our "instruments" featured the song Longer from the Jim Brickman album, Soothe Sailing. Might be nice to sing this song some day. Check out this sample of its lyrics, by Dan Fogelberg:

Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens
I've been in love with you

Stronger than any mountain cathedral
Truer than any tree ever grew
Deeper than any forest primeval
I am in love with you

(omg- what a rhyme! mountain cathedral and forest primeval)

We did a few vocal exercises from the book I have. We sang da-ba, doo-bee, and moo. 

1. Winter Song: We were able to sing all the way through. All we needed to do was learn the last 3 "is love alive" parts, and really just the first sopranos have a special thing. It's a soft ending, but it's dramatic, so I'll accept it ;-) The accompaniment stops so that the last line is a cappella, just voices, and it comes after the big layered part with the treble group. We do have to give that treble group an opportunity to learn their part, but they're going to be great. We reviewed the "oohs" because they're always hard to remember. 
2. Shine Hanukkah: This is super, and we just need to work on dynamics now, to make sure we're not just singing loud all the way through. Also, we'll need to practise watching for cut-offs (and I have to practise making them) whenever there's an "s" at the end of a word, like "little lights." We don't want to ask some people not to pronounce the s, but if you're really nervous about it, then don't. No big deal. The descant group will need a little more work too, and we have to figure out who's going to be singing. Right now, we've got the first row sopranos singing the descant, with the first row first sopranos singing the top and the second row sopranos singing the bottom. I suggested that all the sopranos who might end up in the front row should take a look at that part, just in case. It's not hard, except you have to come in strong on beat one, which is different from everyone else and different from what you've done up to that point. 
3. Breath of Heaven: We did a test drive to see if it works with men's voices. We've done this with only women in a large small group in the past. I really love this song, so I though men should be included too. We will try men on the Alto line. It's mostly, but not always melody. They'll need to adjust to reading in the treble clef, which basses never do, but tenors occaisonally do. 
4. Christmas Waltz: Oh, this is going to be awesome! We started at bar 103, right after the key change, the last chorus to the end. It's a nice big ending. The choir sounds so good! We had 6-part harmony and it felt fabulous. 
5. One Voice: Let me know if you'd like to do one of the solos at the beginning. We have recordings on the website, and we all sang them to see how they work. We didn't "learn" the next page, but we sang it and it was good. We're pretty good from 31 to the end. The first time through, it was too fast, so I have to remember to slow it down a bit. That's good, because then it will be a little longer. I love this song! 

At breaktime, I played a recording of All That Holiday Stuff, our first small group song. The small group will start next week at 6:30. Please sign up on the Event on the website. It will have the pdf of the sheet music and a link to the recording, and all the dates and times (3 early rehearsals). It's fun and energetic, and I can't wait to hear you sing it!

I announced my new Singing Night, Thursdays at Trinity United in Newmarket (aka Trinity on Main). 

I've posted more about it on a separte post. Please come if you're free Thursdays. Come tomorrow night. It would help us learn Wonderful World if a bunch of YRCC folk are there. 

There's also an opportunity to sing with an auditioned choir, Chorus York, sight reading Mozart, on October 14th. There's also a whole post about that. 

Next week, Tuesday, October 3rd

6:30 All That Holiday Stuff

• Do You Hear What I Hear
• Winter Song
• Little Tree
• Christmas Waltz
• Breath of Heaven

Invitation to Sing Mozart in Richmond Hill

Yesterday I announced that YRCC members have been invited to participate in Chorus York Sing. We received an email that said this:

Sing Mozart! Exploring great choral masterworks by Mozart

Join Artistic Director Jennifer Min-Young Lee for Chorus York’s first community choral reading session exploring great choral masterworks by W. A. Mozart. Singers of all ages and abilities are invited to take part in this choral reading session. The session will be held at Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church from 2-3:30 pm. Scores are provided at the door. 

Session fee - $10

Saturday, October 14, 2023 2-3:30 p.m.

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church (10066 Yonge St, Richmond Hill, ON)

I had a look at the Chorus York website, and they rehearse on Tuesday evenings, like us. 

I found this poster there. This is a cool opportunity to sing some serious music with an auditioned choir with a director who has a Master of Music degree in conducting and teaches high school music. 

I like their logo: Chorus York: Lifting your spirit through song.

My Singing Night at Trinity Newmarket Tomorrow, September 28th

Every Thursday from 7:30-9:30, please join me at Trinity on Main in Newmarket, at the corner of Main and Park for My Singing Night.

I'm hoping that a choir will develop, but I want to have the Thursday night time, which used to be choir practice time, for enjoyment and fellowship. The choir meets most Sunday mornings, but only sings in church one service a month. October's Choir Sunday is October 8th, Thanksgiving Sunday. I'd like to have a group singing Wonderful World for the offering/ministry of music, which you know very well. We'd also lead the hymns, but I have a tentative list, and they're not traditional 4-part ones so far. On Sundays, we can wear black and white like YRCC concerts but without a tie/scarf (no gowns necessary, unless we want to do a big gospel piece some day-wouldn't that be fun?). If you only want to come on Thursdays, that's fine, and if you can't come every Thursday, that's fine. I do want this to be a fun, recreational thing with as little pressure as possible.

I invited the congregation to come and bring friends, and I'm inviting you too, as my friends, and you can bring a friend if you like too. 

I plan to send out a review of the evening each week to anyone who comes and gives me an email address to send it to. Last week was a trial run with a small number of current choir members. I hope to keep the same format every week. Here's a copy of last week's review:

My Thursday Singing Night at Trinity Newmarket

At yesterday's YRCC rehearsal, I mentioned my new Singing Nights at Trinity United Church in Newmarket (corner of Park and Main).

My Singing Nights are on Thursdays in place of the former choir practice, but open to anyone. 

Trinity's Choir only sings once a month and rehearses most Sunday mornings, but people at Trinity love to sing. So, I thought I'd offer to host an evening singing time with a time for choir members to practise their pieces but also have fun. I've offered to conduct the choir with the accompaniment and help by the music director, Kevin. Kevin is not available evenings, so I'll need to use recordings until a rehearsal accompanist presents themself. 

My hope is that with extra time to rehearse and lots of time for fun, recreational singing, and time to socialize too, the choir will grow. My goal for the church is to have a good-sized choir for the Advent season to sing at Christmas and at a Candlelight Service. Candlelight services in the past were lead by the Senior Choir, with lots of audience participation on carols in the hymn book along with readings by choir members and a few choral selections. The church's great big sanctuary is a magical place at night with the lights turned low and with candles glowing. This year will be different, and will possibly feature a theatrical presentation. 

I hope that some YRCC memebers will be available on Thursday evenings. I know that some of you sing at your churches and I hope you continue to do so. I don't want to poach anyone away. If you're  not busy on Thursday evenings, please come and sing. If you can sing with the choir on our Sundays (October 8 and November 5, to be confirmed) that would be wonderful too. The Candlelight Christmas Service is going to be Sunday, December 17 and I'm hoping we can prepare something nice and choral for that. 

We'll sing from 7:30-9:30 every Thursday for now, maybe switching to 7-8:30 when the weather gets wild. My vision for this is for it to grow so big that we need to meet in the Sanctuary to accomodate all the people who want to sing, like Choir!Choir!Choir! but with pop and hymns (wouldn't that be cool?!). Right now we're pretty small and we can meet in the music room. Please use the Park Avenue entrance. There will be signs posted. 

Here's the poster. It's hard to read. Click on it to enlarge it or save it to enlarge it.

YRCC 2023 Rehearsal Review Sept. 19

I'm invigorated, exhilarated, and excited! Last night was so good!

We did a lot of work but also had a lot of fun. The men's section is getting nice and strong, so much that Melinda's thinking of moving back to Alto. 

We started with a physical warm-up focused on relaxing, and enhanced by some relaxing music (Jim Brickman's cover of Sailing from his album, Soothe Sailing). I think I'll continue to play a piece like that for the physical warm-up, because a bonus is that it keeps it to 3 minutes or so. Then we did the same vocal exercises as we did last week. Warm-ups are important but sometimes I get carried away. 

1. In Our Town in December is going to be strong this year. In the past, we've had solos in several places. It was a soft, story-telling piece. But, this year I want it to be one of the bigger songs, and people will recognize it from past concerts. We'll have everyone singing most of the time. But, I'm thinking of having men only sing at 24 and then women only at 32, SA. Everyone would be together again at the pick-up to bar 40 (Singing "Peace on Earth"). Remember Sopranos are on Part 1 and all others are on Part 2. The ending is wishy-washy, so we're adding an extra "in our town", which we will improvise. 

2. One Voice: We sang from 31 to the end, learning the ba-ba section and the special "one, one, one, one voice section. It was a little challenging getting from there to 39. Donna has a solution, to add a ritardando on the accompaniment before "Just". I can cut you off for a clear "s" sound on voice too. We have one more page to learn, and then there are the solos to work out. We're doing really well on this! 

3. Shine Hanukkah fits our  theme of Holiday Lights beautifully and it's fun too. On the sheet music, at bar 5, it says that the first verse should be SA and second verse SAB. But, I want to have the tenors and basses on verse one, especially strong on the words "You must bow to only me.". Then, when all the Israelites speak, in the second verse, everybody sings. There's a special top line on the last page, called Descant, for a small group. We had the first row Sopranos on that, firsts and seconds dividing the two parts. It's got to be strong on beat one, because everyone else comes in on the and of one. You've got to push that. 

4. Winter Song We've got a big chunk of this under our belts too. We can sing from 43 to 66. I love how we ended on my favourite part "inside my arms" (you're not where you belong: inside my arms.). Next time, you'll see we can sing from the beginning to 66. We'll review those oohs. You get to sing them twice, so it'll be worth it. We had to identify 3 people for the treble group, which sings three times, actually. We saw 59 and 69, but they first show up at 35. At bar 70, the treble group does a fancy bit that's a lot like the fancy repeat bit of Walking on Sunshine. Only, this time, it's going to be super easy for everyone, and only the treble group has to worry about when to start and when to stop. Lauren, Kit, and Marlene have volunteered for this special part. (the word I was searching for last  night was "Tribute", like Katniss) It looks like we have recordings for all the parts, including those solos. If anyone has a violinist and a cellist in their family or circle of friends, the sheet music includes parts for those. How cool would that be? We've had a cellist play with us before. 

5. Christmas Waltz: We just sang through once as an introduction. This is new to everyone except Blair, who has sung it with another choir. It's quite a new feel for us, this jazzy waltzing. It's not a very common Christmas melody, but some of us know it from the Carpenters' version. A number of crooners have sung it. Here's Frank Sinatra:

We have parts recorded for this and they're on the website. Thank you to Tabatha!

There's also this video that Blair mentioned, from Alfred Music, that has a choir singing and follows the score. 

We're getting ready to start small groups. I've spoken to a few people about a fun, cheesy, theatrical song called "All That Holiday Stuff". It's jazzy and it's got a kick-line section. We'll start that one first, I think. I've also got a pretty song that Lauren recommended called Canon of Hope. I'll play them for you next week so you can consider joinging the small groups. Small Groups rehearse from 6:30 to 7:15. 

Next week, Tuesday, September 26th

• Shine Hanukkah
• Winter Song
• Christmas Waltz
• One Voice
• Breath of Heaven

YRCC 2023 Rehearsal Review Sept. 12

Our first night back was excellent. It was so good to be "home" again, in our room in the Regional Building on Yonge Street. (Hopefully, they'll have the timing of the doors opening figured out soon)

It was wonderful to see so many people returning to choir again, some of whom we haven't seen since before COVID. 

Best of all, we sounded beautiful. I got goosebumps!

We had a brief physical warm-up and did a few vocal exercises. We talked about breathing using our whole bodies with a focus around our middles. Your belly should stick out and then go back in (and your shoulders should not go up toward your ears). 

1. Why We Sing: So beautiful! We all sang all the former solos at the beginning. It sounds good both ways. We'll see how we end up performing it this season. If you have any strong preferences, let me know.

2. One Voice: This is a powerful and dramatic song that fits my theme even though it's not explicitly about being a light. It was extra-dramatic one year when the power went out just as we were starting our concert. Luckily, the piano is acousitc, and our soloist didn't need a microphone. Heather started singing "One voice, singing in the darkness..." and it was funny and wonderful. Take a look at that solo, and then duet and then trio, and let me know if you feel like it's something you'd like to do. We learned the parts and sang to the end of the piece starting at bar 39. The first sopranos have to warm up really well on concert day, because I want this to be our first song.

3. Winter Song: I love this piece. This was a duet which we all loved and wanted to sing. Maybe we'll do that other One Voice some day too. We had a young cellist play as well and it was so moving. We laughed a little about how everyone loves "bum-bums" (Sopranos generally don't). We sang from the bum-bums at 43 through 47 to 54. When we sang through the first time, we noticed some interesting repeats toward the end. We'll look at that next time. It's one of those things where different parts come in at different times, but most of the choir repeats the same thing 3 times, so don't worry. 

4. In Our Town in December: This is a perfect song for my theme, and I love how sweet and clear it is. We have had solos in some sections in the past. I'm not sure if we'll do that this time. We had a special ending last time which I think we will do again. We repeated "in our town" with some improvised harmonies. We'll see. We definitely need to improve on the ending that is there. We didn't review any parts, just sang it, sight reading and following the choristers who remembered. We have the parts recorded and available on our website. 

5. Mele Kalikimaka: Impress your friends and relatives. It always surprises folks when I can sing along to this holiday favourite. Most people have heard it but don't know it. It fits the theme beautifully and it's pretty easy and fun. We didn't do any learning, just sang it through. We have the accompaniment recording, but no parts. 

6. You'll Never Walk Alone: One of our favourite pieces. I love the piano part, so cool. We're very strong on this one, so new folks always catch on quickly. (However, it took us ages to learn it the first time.) New folks, we have recordings of parts for S1, S2 and Baritone (TB) on the website to  help you practise at home if you need extra help. If any of the altos have the alto recording saved somewhere, please send it to me!

A  big thank you -THANK YOU- to Carol, Debbie, Peggy, Ann and Lauren who made sure we could all register quickly and easily and get our binders. Big thanks to Melinda for dealing with the equipment and for bringing treats for break time. Yum! Bill, thanks for bringing some of the harvest of your vegetable garden. We did a lot of talking at breaktime, maybe partly because we had food to eat and talk about. Food is always good for talking. 

Think about a small group offering or solo or duet in our theme. Tab is going to send me something to look at. Blair and Marlene have a duet. I'd like at least 2 more and up to 3 more. 

Next week, Tuesday, September 19

• In Our Town in December
• Shine Hanukkah
• Winter Song
• Christmas Waltz
• One Voice

YRCC Winter Concert 2023: Holiday Lights

Our theme this season is "Holiday Lights" 

The idea is that the Star of Bethlehem is my/our inspiration. We can also lead the world to love by shining our own little lights, singing of light and love, especially powerfully together. 

Holiday lights can light up a tree, brighten a home, and light up a town. Holiday lights are most commonly a string of lights, but they can also be net lights, a larger group of lights, like us. And, we can brighten the dark winter days with light and love and our songs. We can be stars!