I know some of you are not only singers but also actors. If you are available on Sunday, December 17th in the morning (10:30) and then again in the evening (7:00), there is a good opportunity for you to use your talents. If you haven't done any theatre, this is a super opportunity to learn from an amazing educator and artist.
Trinity on Main, the United Church in Newmarket, is lucky to have Mary Lawlis running the Trinity Arts program again. Mary creates the most wonderful musical theatre productions and I will be helping with the music for this Community Christmas Pageant. It's a beautiful story, and music will be a big part of it. Plus, the play will be incorporated into a Sunday morning church service and an evening candle-light service of Christmas carols.
Interested actors, musicians, and production team members are invited to attend an information meeting in the sanctuary of the church at 461 Park Avenue (corner of Park and Main) in Newmarket either this Wednesday evening at 7:00 (tomorrow) or on Sunday, Nov. 5th at 11:30 am (after church) for about an hour. Rehearsals will be Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons for 1 1/2 hours.
The production is intergenerational. Children under 8 accompanied by a parent/guardian, and anyone 8 years old or more, including families, youth, adults, and seniors from the community are invited to participate. There are many roles in a production like this, including stage crew, artists, musicians, actors with and without lines, and more. It would be great to have some experienced folks come, but if you're not, then this is a good chance to learn from a very experienced educator to gain experience.
*Adapted from the book The Painted Chest by Judith Christine Mills
Please use Music Director Kevin Heung's email kevin@trinityuc.ca to contact either Kevin or Mary Lawlis if you want more information, but coming to either of these two meetings is recommended.
I wonder if you've ever noticed how wonderful our audiences are.
They are often exceptionally good at singing when they're invited to sing along with us, and very willing. I'm not surprised that many of us come from musical families and hang out with friends who enjoy a concert, a sing-along, or some karaoke for fun.
I've actually heard you speaking about siblings all playing instruments and singing together, family bonfires with harmonizing vocals and guitars and ukuleles, Christmas carols with the whole family, all generations, around the piano in the living room, etc. Maybe there's something in our DNA that makes us respond to music with more than usual enthusiasm (and talent)?
I just received a message from Cheryl in the Soprano section. She proudly shared a video of a cousin of hers playing piano with a violinist in a concert called "Rediscovering George Enescu and other composers". I Googled Enescu and found that he's considered to be the greatest, or the most important Romanian musician.
"Just sharing my(Cheryl's) cousin Stephen’s recent concert in Constanta... He has said if he’s ever back over this way he’d come and play for our choir."
Of course he would. We're a ton of fun, and I bet Stephen is too, knowing his cool cousin Cheryl.
An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.
Warm-ups:We started with watching the One Voice Children’s Choir sing You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen, as a gathering moment, and to feel drawn in to music and away from our everyday.
Sheet Music songs:
The Trinity choir and praise team will join together on November 5th to sing Rutter’s A Flower Remembered.We had sheet music and sang along with a video of a choir, and tried to sing with the parts videos, but had some technical difficulty. The music is not difficult and we’ll have lots of time to look at it at home and time to rehearse together before that Sunday.
Hymns: We sang along to these hymns for this Sunday
VU401 Worship the Lord
MV1 Let us Build a House
Pop and CCM songs for fun, thinking about how Love is Home
Wedding Song by Paul Stokey
Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle
Higher Love by Steve Winwood (notice the choir)
Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi (such a good chorus to belt out!)
Like a Prayer by Madonna (Let the choir sing)
Perhaps Love by John Denver and Placido Domingo
New Category: Watch a video
We didn’t do a campfire type thing but we spent time watching a scene from Come From Away, called “Prayer”, which I discovered when I searched for songs with prayer. The song in the scene is Make me a Channel of Your Peace. Here’s a link to my Trinity Singing Playlist on YouTube.
Everyone enjoyed my store-bought shortbread cookies. Our theme is always LOVE. We talked about hair, how it’s hard when it changes with age; it’s a big part of our identity. We talked about church, the meeting last Sunday and this upcoming one. It was a lovely evening in lovely company.
6:30 Canon of Hope- this small group did an amazing job of learning this pretty piece in one session.
Warm-ups included grounding and breathing with gentle stretching and then singing with Imagine. Melinda recommended it. Great idea to sing about world peace right now. Donna played our arrangement’s accompaniment and some of us remember the parts. We remembered Janet with great fondness.
1. One Voice is a gentle and powerful reminder that each of us has the power to be light, hope, love, to inspire others, so everyone will sing together/live in harmony. We had 2 people sing each of the 3 solo parts at the beginning. Cathy and Melinda, Blair and Kent, Lauren and Nadine. Those solos are recorded to help you out. Check them out on the website. We reviewed the alto and baritone parts all the way through and spent quite a bit of time on the one-one-one-one voice before 39. It sounds so good! Make a note on your music to turn to page 4 immediately on concert night if you're not singing a solo. We don't want page turning during the solos. It's distracting and totally unnesessary. I will remind you when to start, but you'll know by then. If you missed this rehearsal, I suggest you review your part using the recording on the website.
2. Winter Song: we also identified the soloists for this one. There’s the Treble Group that sings the melody at 35 and 59 and the building/layering repeat part on page 12 (starting with Part 1 at the bottom of page 11) Part 1 will be Cathy and Kit, Part 2 will be Lauren, Part 3 will be Marlene and Kim. The rest of the choir can simply repeat your page 12 until the piano stops, and then there are the 3 last Is love alives a cappella. Please be sure to watch for my cut-offs, especially at "inside your arms". Also, watch out for holding notes too long and not holding them long enough. Look at the rests. If there's a rest, you are silent for the rest, if there's no rest, you're singing through. If you’re still feeling uneasy about this song, please listen to the recordings on the website. The recording cuts of just at the end of the first ending on page 12, but it will help you to hear your part all the way to there. ("I love soft bum-bums, doesn’t everybody?")
3. Star of Wonder/We Three Kings of Orient Are. We played with harmonies for that chorus, which perfectly expresses my theme. This will be an audience sing-along, but I’ll play with the verses, I’m still deciding how to do them.
4. Fa-la-la/Deck the Halls: also an audience sing-along and we’re going to harmonize on the fa-la-las. We will also sing White Christmas with the audience. Probably with a small group on the intro?
5. Somewhere in My Memory (my keys, my phone…) We learned everything except the oohs in the middle! We are doing great on this one. It’s also one that has recorded parts to help you learn at home, thanks to Tabatha.
Next week, Tuesday, October 31st Halloween 🎃
If you need to come late because you have to shell out or accompany little ones, that’s okay. It gets dark early, so it shouldn’t be too late. Please come in costume if you feel inspired to do so.
6:30 Canon of Hope 7:00 Winter Song Treble Group
Christmas Waltz
Do You Hear What I Hear
One Voice
Somewhere in My Memory
Winter Song
The Posters and Tickets will be ready for distribution and sale on Halloween Tuesday. You can buy tickets for family and friends for $20 each, cash, cheque, or credit (no debit).
Poinsettia sales will start soon too. $30 each. This is a choir fundraiser. You get a beautiful large plant to keep or give as a gift, and, as a bonus, our concert is beautifully decorated (thanks, Jane!)
An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit. Hosted by Trinity United Church in Newmarket.
Warm-ups:Our warm-up was energetic and uplifting-I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas. It always feels good to move our bodies to music. Move anything that doesn’t hurt.
Sheet Music songs:
Somewhere a Child is Sleeping (YRCC) with proper printed scores. We listened to and sang with Kevin’s recordings, which were excellent, loud and clear and a good tempo.
Hymns: We sang along to these hymns for this Sunday
VU747 The Lord’s My Shepherd (an organ accompaniment on YouTube)
VU225 The Living God be Praised
VU422 God Be With You Till We Meet Again (byBluegrass Martins!)
Pop and CCM songs for fun, thinking about how Love is Heaven
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
I’ll Be Thereby Walk Off The Earth
In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
Heaven by Bryan Adams
Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United
The Prayer sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion
You Raise Me Up sung by Josh Groban
New Category: Sing-along/Folk/Campfire Songs
This Land is Your Land (Canadian lyrics)
We had chocolate brownies which I had baked. We noticed the safety of love. We talked about the December 17th Christmas Pageant auditions and rehearsals, and the upcoming busy season. We welcomed another YRCC member, Robin! We had more YRCC folk than Trinity folk and it was a joy for me to have my worlds ovelap like that. It was a lovely evening in lovely company.
6:30 All That Holiday Stuff: Super! And, 7:00 Marlene and Blair were also Super!
We started our time together this evening with a prayer and a lit candle to join people all over the world who were asked to pray for peace, observe a day of fasting, and light candles at 6:30 our time in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Mindful breathing, relaxation, and grounding were part of that meditative time. After that, we stood and sang Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, from memory, which gave us a positive boost.
1. Little Tree: was a perfect thing to help me feel good. I love this little song, and it always brings back memories of our dear friend, Enid Maize. It's excellent already. The only thing we had to review was when the sopranos come in with Don't be afraid at 25. This has to be strong, and the next section is my absolute favourite, an expression of love and devotion that sounds like a mother singing to a child: lift up your arms and I'll dress you in every beautiful thing.
2. Do You Hear What I Hear?: Love this! We learned page 7 and then sang the whole thing- so powerful! Sopranos, pay attention to the places where you don't have the melody. It's marked in the music, but maybe circle it or make your own note. Tenors and Basses, you have a lot of melody! Enjoy it and sing out strong.
3. Somewhere in My Memory: We started at the beginning, pages 1-5. Everybody is in right from the start in a beautiful harmony.
4. Mele Kalikimaka: We learned the beginning, which is a little introduction, supposed to sound like angels. It's very important though, because it expresses our theme: we see the same bright star. It was very good, but a few people in the tenor and alto sections asked for a review, so we had them sing the whole thing with Donna playing their part. Sometimes this is a perfect way to get more comfortable with a song.
5. Christmas Waltz: We looked at the weird bit at 65. I avoided it until now, but now that we've done it, we've looked at the whole song. Now we just have to review and perfect this fun waltz, get it feeling like a dance around a ballroom. Remember, you can always go to the website and listen to your part. If you haven't updated your password this year, then you will find that your password doesn't work. They need us to have longer, more complex passwords now.
Next week: Tuesday, October 24th
6:30 Canon of Hope Small Group (sign up on the website event, listen to a recording there)
Somewhere in My Memory
One Voice (assemble soloists)
Winter Song (assemble Treble Group: we need a few more, and they'll rehearse early)
An evening of music, connection, harmony, and spirit.
Warm-ups:Our warm-up was peaceful and uplifting- Just the Way You Are by Boyce Avenue. It always feels good to move our bodies to music. I first heard this recording while swimming in a pool in Cuba in 2016. Ahhh
Sheet Music song: Somewhere a Child is Sleeping (YRCC) with proper printed scores. We listened and sang with recordings of the tenor and alto parts, then sang along with a Frank Mills instrumental recording. I hope to have a new recording next week.
Hymns: We sang along to these hymns for this Sunday
MV 147 God Help Us to Treasure MV 221 I Am Walking a Path of Peace
Pop and CCM songs for fun, in the theme of Friendship
Count on Me by Bruno Mars
A Friend Like Youby Andy Grammer
Close To You by the Carpenters
Draw Me Close by Michael W Smith (a praise team song)
My Lighthouse by Rend Collective(a former praise team song)
You’re My Best Friend by Queen (with videos of Queen and then Voice Play)
You’ve Got a Friend by Carole King
I’m a Believer by the Monkees
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley (a video of the SRMS Spring Choir)
I Will be the Light by the Joy Vox Community Choir (YRCC friend soloist)
True Colors by the Sacramento Master Singers
Perfect by Ed Sheeran
Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars
Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel
We had banana bread which I had baked, at break. We talked about friendship feeling like home, where we are loved “just the way we are”, and how mothers and spouses and Jesus are often called my “best friend”. It was a lovely evening in lovely company.
My Singing Night supports and is supported by the Trinity Church Choir.
Warm-up music was A Time for Giving by Alexis Ffrench (there are two f's). I have an Alexis Ffrench playlist downloaded on my phone. I highly recommend his beautiful music. We did the choir massage exercise.
Our vocal warm-ups were from my warm-up book, Vocal Warm-ups by Klaus Heizmann.
All That Holiday Stuff met at 6:30.
1. Breath of Heaven: we got through the whole thing, but we'll review parts at the end next time, and anything else you need me to. I love this piece. Be sure to hold the notes you're supposed to hold. You'll see me with my left hand held high and open, palm up, and then I shut it into a fist. You can also count, but the timing is challenging. Sometimes I yell out the counts for you. At the end, see the note where it says to end holding on to the 'n', not the open vowel. Circle that. This is a quiet ending (I know, strange for me) and we end with the word 'heaven' completed, and the 'n' fades away. Have you listened to the 2014 YRCC recording yet? Here's a link.
2. Christmas Waltz: we started at the beginning (a loud beginning in 6 parts!), and we've only got a little bit more to do before everything will be review. If you've missed learning this song, please go to the website and listen to the recording of your part. Here's a link to the recordings page, but you need to sign in.
3. Do You Hear What I Hear?: No, you don't, because you are sitting in your section. I hear the whole choir and it's amazing, so good! We started at the beginning. I don't often do that, but I don't like to be too predictable. Also, we really want to sing this song. We got to the bottom of page 6, learning parts. I'm so happy that we have strong basses and tenors.
We didn't sing Mele Kalikimaka as planned because we ran out of time. We had a wonderful breaktime with a beautiful spread of sweets, and time to socialize. The room was loud with talking and laughter. It was time well spent. I shared a bit of a recording of Canon of Hope, the next small group song. You can sign up for it, and you'll see the music and a recording in the Event.
We talked about the concert a bit. We will be doing the pointsettia fundraiser again. The price went up to $30 which we decided was still a good deal. They're huge and always gorgeous. We'll look fabulous at the concert and then we can take them home to decorate our homes or to give to our concert guests. Be sure to start telling your friends and family to book off Sunday, December 3rd for your Holiday Concert. We will likely be arriving at 1/1:30 and the concert goes from 3:00-5:00, but with clean-up, we'll be out around 5:30/6. So, you can arrange for a light dinner and/or drinks after with your fans. You will love hearing how much they enjoyed your concert!
Next week, Tuesday, October 17th:
6:30 All That Holiday Stuff and 7:00 Blair and Marlene
I was so happy to see Colby from the YRCC join us! And, very excited to see Birgit who is happy to have the Thursday Singing Nights while she waits to join the YRCC. I just know that there are more people out there who want to sing more and will enjoy this.
The small group doing All That Holiday Stuff met at 6:30 and made excellent progress! It’s going to be great! It’s not too late to join this group. They’re meeting again next week and you’ll be able to catch up.
Warm-ups were fun! I didn’t feel like playing by the book, so we did a physical warm-up to an instrumental guitar version of Van Morrison’s Moondance by Zak Rupert. Then, our vocal warm-up was singing along to Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, the 1970 B.J. Thomas version, by Burt Bacharach.
1. Mele Kalikimaka: We had to do this because we’re in a heat wave in October, and Hawaii and palm trees make sense. My weather app says it feels like 31 degrees right now. We got a lot of this song done and it’s sounding good. We sang from bar 22 to 88! We only have the ending and the beginning to learn, and then we’re done.
2. Breath of Heaven: It’s so beautiful! I’m happy that we’re including the men. Tenors and Basses will need to read in the treble clef, but it’s not crazy different. Basses on the bottom, tenors on top. You don’t sing until the first chorus at bar 49. Don’t sing at 70, but come in at 78, softly. Basses stay on the bottom with the altos through to the end. Tenors sing the melody with the first sopranos, on top starting at 78. At bar 109, tenors sing with second sopranos on the same chorus notes as before, while first sopranos go up. Altos: you’ve got mostly melody. How cool is that?!! Sopranos, you mostly have a harmony above the melody. Don’t worry, it’s beautiful and not difficult. First sopranos have some melody on page 5, so second sopranos don’t, and altos don’t. At bar 70, second sopranos have the melody. You need to be strong and solid there. Enjoy your moment. You lose it at 78. First sopranos have the melody at 78 and share it with the tenors. So, seconds, you need to stay loud on your harmony part at 78. Everyone, watch out, and watch my baton, for the timing in the chorus. There are a bunch of 6/4 bars. I always try to give a strong beat one, and here I will also try to give a strong beat before one, so in a 4/4 bar, the 4 will be up high, in a 2/4 bar the 2 will be up high, and in 6/4 the 6 will be up high before I come down to beat 1.
3. Christmas Waltz: We moved back another section, so we were able to sing from 74 to the end! This is a nice, big choral arrangement with a soft ending, which I usually don’t like, but here, it’s effective. At the end we want to look at the audience and wish them the same thing too. I want us to get soft at 121, and clearly sing to our friends and family. Don’t forget, we have parts recordings on the website for this song.
4. Do You Hear What I Hear?: This is such a wonderfully big choral arrangement! Lots of us know this, so you’ll be happy to follow them, but you’ll be happy to know that we have all the parts recorded and on the website for you to listen to and sing with if you need a little boost. We only sang through once as a preview. This has my favourite kind of ending, big and very loud with a fermata for me, and with a powerful piano part with the notation “sempre con forza!” Forcefully, Emphatically, Vigorously to the very end!
5. Winter Song: I love this! We’re doing great. We need to get the treble group together for a special rehearsal, since we didn’t do your part, and once you’re strong and clear on that layering repeat part, then everyone else will be happier with the ending. Aside from the last page where people get lost, it’s excellent!
Next week: Tuesday, October 10 is the day after Thanksgiving
We’re going to have a longer break with decaf coffee, tea, and treats and time to chat. 3 people volunteerd to bring treats, and Kit will bring our coffee stuff and coordinate.
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.
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.
Shine Hanukkah: This issuper, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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!
We know that singing in a choir is good for us. We know it instintively and by experience.
There is a lot of research going on to prove that singing, and especially singing in choirs, is excellent for our health and well-being. It's kind of sad that those in power and with money have to have scientific evidence, proof, of this simple fact, and still might not fund it because it seems like a frill, simply entertainment. The myriad benefits, including therapeutic benefits cannot be ignored.
Here are a couple things that resonated strongly with me from the article:
The “Sing With Us” study, which enrolled Hardy and 192 others, is part of a growing body of research that points to the physical and mental health benefits of singing with others. Sing With Uslinked singing in the choir to reduced stress hormones and increased cytokines, proteins that can boost the body’s ability to fight serious illness.
Other studies have found a connection between singing generally with lessened anxiety, stimulated memory for those with dementia, increased lung capacity and an easing of postpartum depression.
A sense of achievement comes from creating notes with the body and by working together over manymonths to master a work. The text is often inspiring, or beautiful, Thurston says, so despite the day’stravails, choir members leave rehearsals feeling “this is a very positive thing that I can be a part of.”
I love how Thurston mentions "the day's travails". How often have we arrived at choir depleted from a long day at work, or just stressed from family and health issues, and felt all that pressure melt away within minutes of starting to sing? I've often said that choir feels a little like church. We're a community choir, not a church choir, so we don't sing many religious works, but even the popular music we sing is mostly about big important topics, like love and family and community, peace and justice. My concert themes are almost always about how singing together spreads love and peace. Choir is so uplifting!
We get a great deal of satisfaction when we conquer a difficult piece together after months of rehearsals too, like Stanley Thurston's choir. And, even when we can sucessfully sing an easier piece in one rehearsal, our hearts swell with pride and acomplishment. We feel like winners, goal scorers, champions and then we receive applause and even standing ovations at the end of the season!
Besides describing the many benefits of singing, the article points out that you can sing "if you can breathe and make sound". That's it. That's all you need. I have to remember that. So often people say that they can't sing and it makes me crazy.
I feel very strongly that everyone should have the opportunity to sing in a community choir. All kinds of communities should form singing groups. They don't have to be called choirs or have formal sheet music. Singing songs together in community builds community and benefits the individuals and the group in many wonderful ways. From the very youngest to the very oldest of us, we can all benefit from this positive and healthy activity.
Our last seniors' performance of the 2023 Spring season was a perfect end to a wonderful season. Happy Together was a good theme, absolutely appropriate and so much fun!
We had a lot of fun with our audience last night, residents at Oak Ridges Retirement Residence. Our small group of choristers were excellent. I always joke that the choir is much bigger but we only have the best singers in attendance. It might have been true. The sound and balance were sometimes goose-bump good.
And, we had the wonderfully talented Tabatha on piano accompanying us! Donna was home with COVID (feeling better but still testing positive-ga!) and so sad to have to miss the last performance. We missed Donna, but Tab was a super substitute, even adding bedazzling flourishes to This Little Light of Mine.
The audience was lively and appreciative.
Whenever we're together, it's a happy hour; the high I get from singing and performing with you is better than any other.
