Welcome


Welcome to Renate's Baton. This blog is mostly for and about my choir, The York Region Community Choir.

But, While I'm holding the baton, I'm in charge. So, if I want to talk about other parts of my life, I will. :)

The choir itself is a community and I'm discovering that we have a lot in common with one another besides our love of music and singing.

When I go off on a tangent, there is always a crowd coming along. Join us!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Changes

Hi Everyone!

Change is stressful.

Today, I got some good news. We have a schedule change. We were scheduled to sing early at our next seniors’ residence visit. That meant that our accompanist, Sapphire, couldn’t be there right at the beginning. So, we had to use our Plan B: a revised program, starting with recorded accompaniments and sing-along songs.

Recorded Accompaniments

We had a full year without an accompanist, 2009/2010. We survived with recorded accompaniments. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked.

We learned an important lesson from that challenging year. Record everything.  When your accompanist is late, or sick, you don’t have to panic if you have recordings.

We have a new keyboard and recording device, so we’re not only recording accompaniments, but also parts. It’s taking some time to learn how to do it, but we’re hoping to have everything recorded for our Christmas season before September.

Program changes
I set the programs for our seniors’ tour in advance so that everyone can arrive each week prepared to sing. But, I let the choir know that they should always be prepared for changes. We need all of our music in our binders, just in case. And, when I know in advance that there will be a change, I send out an email.

Nota Bene
Now we have this too, my blog. I’ve made a box called Nota Bene for a quick way for the choir to see if there’s a change or something important to remember.

Today’s change was a good one. We can all be together at 7:30 on Monday, and give the seniors at Park Place Manor our best performance!

Yours in harmony,
 Renate

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