Room Change for Tuesday, March 5th:
We will be in the Committee Room across the hall (in our old room) on the left as you enter the administrative centre in our usual door. We were moved to this room not long ago for a rehearsal.
Just this week, we're moved across the hall. When you enter the building, don't go right to the seminar room by the washrooms but go left to the committee rooms on the other side opposite.
There will be signs on the entrance and on the door on the left.
I saw a good post on Facebook that got me all riled up. It's my pet peeve. So, here's what I posted:
This is what I'm always saying. This is where I get up on my soapbox. We need to change this way of thinking that singing and dancing are not for everyone but need to be skills that only a few are worthy of performing. Nonsense. Balderdash. Singing and dancing are for everyone, everyone. Just play some music on the radio or on your phone and join in with your voice and body. It's sooooo good for you! Your voice is your voice and it's beautiful, and singing is natural. Your body is also beautiful, and it's designed to dance. You absolutely don't have to be skilled or talented to sing or dance. If people judge you when you're not in a competition and they're not being paid to judge, then that's their problem, and their loss. But, maybe they can be encouraged to join the fun. Art too. Make stuff because it's fun, and makes you feel good. Finally, why do some people think that it's not manly to sing or dance or create art?!!! Makes me furious. Stop that! Okay. Off the soapbox now.
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| This was the post on Facebook |
Thank you for your patience with me yesterday. I was distracted by worries about my old puppy and his ultrasound, and didn't feel like warm-ups, but felt like talking, apparently. We did have a bunch of stuff to talk about, but partly it was just me.
We did the tiniest warm-up (lip trills and raspberries in roller coasters) and then sang right away.
1. Star Carol is so pretty! We just noticed one spot where the sopranos need to come in with more confidence on beat 1 so that everyone else can come in confidently on beat 2. Last page, bar 59, sopranos please come in strong on beat one.
2. Rewrite the Stars: Two new soloists took a test drive. Jane and Kent took a shot at the solos and they were pretty good. Those solos are quite difficult. Well done, brave soloists! If you think you'd like to try one out, please let me know. The timing is tricky and the notes are high for tenors but pretty good for altos, and low for sopranos, mostly sitting arond middle C, Bb and D. The first one was sung by Zac Efron in the movie, and the second by Zendaya, but anyone can sing either one. In the recordings on the website, you'll find the first solo in the TB part recording, and the second in the S part. We found a tricky soprano spot in this song too: middle of page 13, you're suddenly singing alto notes, down from a high D at the top of the page to a low D in bar 91 and then a Bb in 92. Circle those bars or make some kind of note to remind you to go way down low there.
3. Nella Fantasia: I got better at remembering to sing in English after page 6, but still messed up a couple times. Yikes. You're getting pretty good at this too! Don't be discouraged if you're not 100% yet. This is a complicated and challenging piece, and we're singing it in two languages. Anytime I see the tenor line written in that Treble Clef an octave down (with that little 8), I know it's not going to be a walk in the park. We do have recordings of parts for this song too, so please take some time to do a little homework if you're feeling frustrated. We will work on parts some more before our concert, obviously, but we do have tools for you to work on your own if you're struggling (or if you're just especially dedicated, like I know some of you are- I hear you). I actually have some recordings from Richard Heinzle with him singing the parts that I'm going to add. He sings the words along with the piano, which is amazing, but only in English, so the first 6 pages for the sopranos will be a little off.
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| Clue: this arrangement will not be easy |
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| Long-short, long-short |
Night of Stars met at 6:30 and made good progress. They have one more rehearsal for now.
We talked about:
The Executive: Lauren introduced the Executive, since there are a bunch of new members. We can always use help, and Jane had some fun work to share, some cutting of shapes for the decorations for our concert. If you would like to help out on the board, the role of Public Relations Coordinator is open. Jane has been doing some of the work on top of her usual duties. The primary job is booking the seniors' home performances. But, PR has included advertising when we advertised, and making the posters and tickets for our concerts. Lauren has been doing that in addition to her regular work as President. Every week, we can use help getting the equipment in and out. For the concert, there will be additional tasks that volunteers can do. Let us know if you'd like to help out.
May 25th Concert with the Newmarket Citizen's Band. We will need to create an Event so that you can sign up for this because they can't have all of us on the stage. And, we have to figure out if we'll be sharing the stage with the band. We have some time to get details worked out. There will be a rehearsal on the Tuesday evening before the concert, May 21st. If necessary, we'll book an extra rehearsal for us to learn the song we're doing with the band.
March 7th YRCC trip to RHCPA for Choir! (x3). Show starts at 8. We'll need someone to make a reservation for the restaurant (Rhapsody Continental Cuisine) for 5:30, I think. Melinda announced that there is one ticket left of the 12 purchased. $50.
Seniors' Home outside of our usual area: Stouffville, actually just north of Stouffville (Bloomington and Ninth Line). Thank you for the many of you who raised your hands that you'd be willing to travel to sing for these folks. Hopefully, they'll be okay with the one Tuesday we have left. Jane has been booking our Tuesdays in May and June. And, one will be taken with the band rehearsal.
Next Week, Tuesday, March 5th
Night of Stars Small Group meets at 6:30
6:30 The Night of Stars small group met for the first time, and discovered that they need a few more altos. Luckily, some altos volunteered to join next week. This piece of music is classical, a very famous barcarolle from an Opera, which is so famous that it's called The Barcarolle, so you might be familiar with the melody. The original is sung in French and they sing "Belle nuit, รด nuit d'amour" beautiful night, o night of love. The English translation adds the stars, which suits our theme.
Our warm-up was one of our favourite, and fan-favourite, songs: Hallelujah! It's going to be our encore song. I wasn't sure about it because it's not in our theme, but as an encore, it's allowed to be an outlier. We talked a little about dynamics and our arrangement. The choir knows this so well that new folks should be able to follow easily. We'll study it a little later if you think you need it. Let me know.
1. Star Canon: we learned the whole thing in one shot, all the parts to the end. This song is based on Pachelbel's Canon in D, which you'll recognize from countless wedding ceremonies, and from our choir piece Canon of Joy. It's a sweet, charming, whimsical song that quotes a nursery rhyme: Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. The arrangement is in two parts, but toward the end it adds a "small group" part. I'm assigning the Tenors and Basses to that small group, so that we end up in 3 parts. Tenors and Basses will move around a bit, then. Starting at bar 5, Part ll will be only Altos. At bar 13, Sopranos enter as Part l. From 21-29, Sopranos and Altos continue alone. At 29, the Basses join the Altos in Part ll, and then the Tenors join the Sopranos in Part l. At 41, the "small group" starts, and that's all the Tenors and Basses. You're on top until the end. Part 1 is Sopranos, and Part ll is Altos for pages 7 and 8. Please mark up your music in pencil only! If you want pen marks or highlighter, make a photocopy that you can use as a "working copy" just for you. It's legal.
2. Nella Fantasia: People were suggesting the "working copy" solution for this song. The way it's written for both Italian and English can be confusing. (I got so confused singing Italian randomly throughout-yeesh!) Lorraine and Melinda both printed copies so that they could highlight their parts and black out the parts they're not singing. So smart! Melinda discovered that while I had said that only Sopranos are singing Italian, there are a few words of Italian that everybody sings at the end of the first verse. So, the lesson learned could be to wait until we've covered each section before you make your notes. We studied the first verse, the melody in Italian for the Sopranos, and all the ooohs for everyone else. The Altos divide for a few bars (15-17). Front rows are on top, back on the bottom. There's a little bit of tension on the first note of bar 15, that releases on beat 2 before the Sopranos sing "pien'd'umanita" full of humanity. Altos are so cool! Altos and Basses trade off runs of quarter notes in bars 13 and 14. Make sure those are strong. We have recordings of the accompaniment and all parts. Just be aware that the bold notes were chosen, so there will be extra notes and missing notes where the English words have a different number of syllables. If you've got your part highlighted, on your working copy, then you should be able to see what you need and follow along with your recording. Be sure to use pencil only on the purchased scores.
3. Joseph: We reviewed Song of the King and learned Close Every Door. Colby is going to be an excellent King. Blair can be his back-up. Remember that the Tenor part is written right under the Soprano and Alto parts during that solo. Reminder: at the end, on page 20 in the middle system, it's just Sopranos and Tenors. It's too high and we don't want anyone hurt. Close Every Door is awesome. It starts off sweet and a little sad, but ends up powerful. Starting at 192, we get loud, and the ending starting at 200 is full of passion. The next section, Benjamin Calypso, is a huge contrast and has 2 solos. Maybe you want to look ahead for next week? We sang from the beginning through to the end of Close Every Door. The Joseph Medley is coming along swimmingly.
We talked about:
The Choir!Choir!Choir! concert in Richmond Hill on Thursday, March 7th. There's only one ticket left. We have 12. It's going to be a wonderful evening.
The Bass Clef small group coming up, starting March 12th. Anthem from Chess. The arrangement we have is SATB, so we're going to adapt it to TTBB with 3 solos at the start, and we're removing the aahs, to highlight the piano there. If you're looking ahead, focus on bar 49 to the end.
Another small group will be The Rainbow Connection, and I'd like to have a bunch of different instruments joining. If you play some guitar or ukulele, please join this. It looks like nobody plays the banjo. Clarinet, sax, recorder, anything like that would be fun. I'll bring my triangle, tambourine, and guiro, along with my little collection of "classroom instruments".
I forgot to talk about:
Our concert with the Newmarket Citizens Band! Saturday, May 25th, in the evening (but we'll be occupied most of the day) at the Old Town Hall in Newmarket. Save the date! And, let your friends and family know. We will have a rehearsal with the band on the Tuesday evening before that because we'll have a song to learn to sing with a band accompaniment. What a great experience that will be! Those dates are already on our Calendar. We get to sing for about half an hour on our own, and then we sing a grand finale with the band. The theme of that concert is Beyond the Horizons, so our songs about Stars and Dreams will fit in nicely. There will be a limit on the number of choristers because the stage is smallish.
Jane has started booking the seniors' homes visits for after our concert. I had a request from a dear close friend of mine to try to get a group to go to a home in Stouffville, outside our usual area. Let's be sure to talk about that next week.
Next Week, Tuesday, February 27th
6:30 Night of Stars small group
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| website |
Well, they say that planning a vacation trip can be as good for you as actually going on the vacation. It's called Vacation Anticipation. And, it sure worked out that way this time. I was so excited when my handsome husband said he'd planned an all-inclusive resort holiday in Punta Cana for us for my 60th birthday! It was a gift that started giving as soon as I learned about it. We watched videos and read reviews to prepare, and I bought a couple new swimsuits and spent lots of time playing with my summer things, planning outfits. We talked about it with anyone and everyone. Weeks of happy anticipation.
It was even more beautiful and exciting in real life, the resort and the weather, the ocean, the sand, everything. Paradise. I wish I hadn't gotten sick. I was struck with a flu, tummy-issues, cough, fever, sniffles, misery. COVID test was negative, at least. I missed one full day, lying in bed suffering. I managed to sing and dance and enjoy the pools and the ocean and shows and aquafit and some of the food and drink. We celebrated our birthdays. I loved having non-alcoholic Pina Coladas when I discovered that I could tolerate them. I did feel cheated out of all the food and drinks I could have had. It was disappointing that I couldn't enjoy everything with my wonderful husband. It wasn't the vacation that we dreamed of.
It felt good to be home and to sleep in my own bed with my warm puppy; being sick and miserable is best at home. However, I must say that being sick in the carefree environment of an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana was pretty close. At home, I had to cancel things, disappoint people and push myself to do things that needed to be done. At the resort, I just had to put on a swimsuit and flip-flops and get myself onto a lounge in the shade by a pool. Palm trees, sunshine, fun music, and happy beautiful people everywhere is good medicine.
This was only our second winter beach getaway in close to 30 years. I want more. I learned some things about packing my carry-on that I want to try. I didn't think it was such a big deal to have a week in the sun in the winter, but it really is. It's fantastic, worth putting money aside for. Now, maybe we should start dreaming about our 2025 getaway. Mexico, maybe? Aruba?
But, wait: there's a summer holiday to plan first! Vacation Anticipation.
An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.
Here's what we listened to and sang:
We spent a fair bit of time talking about Good Friday and Easter, Taize music, and Hymns that we like but are a little painful to sing. We listened to a little bit of my J Balvin playlist so I could share the kind of music played by the pool in Punta Cana. We talked a little about body positivity which I was happy to see there among most of the women on the resort. The return of snow and cold helped me to appreciate my holiday even more. I had prepared a Love theme for Valentine’s Day, and we went down memory lane a little too. We didn’t have snacks or a break so we left a little early. It was, as always, a lovely evening in lovely company.
We will cancel My Singing Night on Thursday, March 7th because I will be going to a Choir!Choir!Choir! concert in Richmond Hill with friends from the YRCC!
Next week, Thursday, February 22nd, we might have some parking or access issues. There is a special event on Main Street, Ice Lounge on Main, running from Thursday evening through the weekend. Main Street will be closed from Water to Park. Maybe you can spend some time there before coming to My Singing Night.
It's Valentine's Day today, but yesterday, I celebrated love with my choir. I love my choir! Every Tuesday is heaven with you. My warm-up was Elvis's Can't Help Falling in Love and then All Shook Up for us to twist and sing with. We swayed and stretched, loosened up our bodies, and sang along with Elvis. Any time you're feeling a little down, put on some Elvis and sing and dance until you're feeling better.
The Wishin' and Hopin' small group met at 6:30 and did great! Loosen up and have fun with this song. It's funny and sweet and has a serious side too. Don't feel embarrassed to sing those words. Here's the message: Make your dreams come true; don't just lie there wishing and praying for things to happen.
1. City of Stars: There's an optional solo, but I'm not choosing that option. I love how our tenor and bass sections sound together. We haven't had such a big, beautiful group in a long time. Start of soft and mysterious, wistful. We get strong on pages 6 and 7. Bottom of page 7 where it says Freely: this means you need to watch me. I will conduct each word, each note. We slow down and it's the whole group, so you need to move with me. Same thing happens on page 8 for the Sopranos and Altos under Freely. It's easier for you because it's an ending too, and you're used to doing that for me with endings, watch for each note.
2. Rewrite the Stars: I love this one so much! And, we had a goosebump moment. We got a perfect sound at 19, page 3. Tenors and Basses came in perfectly on "What if we" and the sound of those chords when everyone sings in "Re-write" OMG. It was beautiful. Let's just do that pefectly each time we sing the beginning of the chorurs: What if we rewrite the stars (19)? and No one can rewrite the stars (57) and then How do we rewrite the stars (84)? Everything else will fall into place. We do need soloists for this. Blair and Melinda each tried both of them and I need backups for them too. These solos are in the same range, so can be done by women or men in any combination. Please consider singing one of these solos. Also, the last page, the ending is a little duet, a soft ending. This is such a hopeful piece, but the ending suggests that some dreams don't come true, no matter how much we wish for them.
3. Joseph: One More Angel and Song of the King! So, I hope my Elvis warm-ups inspired us. Song of the King is a little crazy. There's a big solo, and I hope we have an Elvis hiding in the tenor and bass section. There is an option for a small group to sing it, though, if that works. The bop-shu-wa-du-wa's are easier than they look! So good! Tenors, watch out: SAT is written all together in the treble clef. The section at 155 is also pretty easy, so nice to sing! We reveiewed One More Angel from last week and then we sang the whole thing from the beginning to page 20! Go, go Joseph! My favourite line comes in One More Angel "Joseph, the things that you stood for, like love and peace, never die" and we sing it three times :-)
4. Star Canon: New song! This is super-sweet and should be pretty easy too. This will be our opening song. There's Pachelbel's Canon, and there's the children's rhyme, Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. Have you ever wished on a star? Wish Upon a Star is our theme. This arrangement is written in two parts in the treble clef. So, we'll need to add in the tenors and basses down an octave here and there. Basically, Part l is Soprano with Tenors sometimes, and Part ll is Alto with Basses sometimes. At the end, there's an extra line on top. That will be Tenors and Basses.
We talked about:
My birthday and Lauren's birthday. We both turned 60 this year! Jane had cakes for us. Yum! Thank you!
Chinese (Lunar) New Year. Happy New Year to all who celebrate! Stanley and Mona brought sweets for us. Year of the Dragon is supposed to be very good, lucky. It's funny, my year 1964 was a year of the dragon, but my birthday fell before the new year, so I'm technically a rabbit but I have a lot of dragon qualities. This should be a good year for me and Lauren, so for the choir too.
Nella Fantasia: The first section is coming up next week, and all the sopranos will sing in Italian, and everyone else sings ooos. There's a cheat sheet with help on the Italian pronunciation on the website.
Choir!Choir!Choir! concert at RHCPA on March 7th. We have 12 tickets, of which 9 are available. Please bring $50 to give to Melinda in the next two weeks. I've set up an Event on the website where you can sign up. We will plan to get together for dinner before the show, so set aside the whole evening. It's a Thursday, so I'll have to miss My Singing Night.
Next week, Tuesday, February 20th:
6:30 Night of Stars Small Group
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| Year of the Dragon: Lucky for us! |
