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.
 |
| Clue: this arrangement will not be easy |
Joseph Medley: Benjamin Calypso! So much fun! There are two solos, and we all sang them, but I'd like to try out a few soloists on these next week. Please consider performing one of these, and I say perform because you have to put on a Jamaican accent and be playful here. I love the la-la section at bar 253! Tenors and Basses, remember the accent marks mean to sing that whole section (sim.) with each la-la long-short. This song ends with a big Sforzando, sfz, that leads into Go, go, go Joseph! I love it! We sang to the end, even though we haven't looked at the last page yet. So, that will be next week, and then we'll have studied the whole piece. We have recordings of parts in case you missed some rehearsals and feel a little lost. We reviewed last week's song, Close Every Door, and there were no issues that I could hear.
 |
| 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
- Joseph: Gogogo to the end
- Joseph: Benjamin Calypso
- Nella Fantasia
- Power of the Dream
- Rewrite the Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment