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, April 10, 2014

Rehearsal Review and Preview: April 7 and 14

Monday, April 7
6:40: Edelweiss
Northwest Passage had to cancel their early rehearsal, so only Edelweiss met. They were able to start a little later and enjoy some extra time.

Warm-up was Happy :-)

Shenandoah was great. We reviewed page 6 for the Altos and Tenors, and the top of page 5 (away you rolling river) for the Sopranos. Sopranos, remember you don't have melody there. Your "way"note is the same as the tenor's first note of "away", but an octave up. If you imagine singing "away" with them, go back up to that first note.

Take Me Home is the name of our concert, so we quickly learned Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver! It's super-easy, since everybody knows that song, or so it seems anyway. We're singing it the way we do sing-alongs. If you can harmonize, do it. If your neighbour is harmonizing in a way you like, follow them. It's fun and big and I'll probably ask the audience to sing along. (Kudos to Sapphire who sight-read the accompaniment.)

We Rise Again is almost done! We learned sections B and C, so all we have to do now is the ending! Review the hmms, oohs and aahs in both sections and First Sopranos and Tenors have a different harmony on this first verse, so review that if you can.

We tried out different soloists for Song For the Mira. Everyone is so good. It will be hard to choose who sings in the concert. The flute sounds so pretty! We spent a little time reviewing pages 8-11 for the Altos, and Tenor and Bass can review that as well. I love this song. It's the one that's been stuck in my head this week.

We sang through The Hockey Song and it's great!

We also sang through Nella Fantasia, which was beatutiful! I thought this would be the song to stick in my head, and I wished it. This is one of my favourite pieces of music.

It's funny, around this time of the season, I love all of our songs. I guess they're like our children now. We've raised them and can be proud of them, and see and appreciate the beauty in each one. Something for you to remember: Little mistakes will not make us love them less. And, others rarely notice the little things that our children do that disappoint us, right?


Monday, April 14
6:20 This Land is Your Land
6:50 Northwest Passage

  1. We Rise Again: We'll learn the ending.
  2. Farewell to Nova Scotia: Sing through
  3. All the Little Rivers: review that transition at the top of page 6
  4. Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves: Sing through
  5. Song for Canada: Sing through
  6. Jamaica Farewell: Sing through

Note: our last rehearsal is after this, April 21. We'll go over any tricky bits that need review. Think about what parts those are. I'll take requests.

On April 28 we'll be at Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora to rehearse with the sound guy, Doug, and to see where we stand, etc. If you cannot be at that rehearsal, but will be at the concert, you must let someone in your section know, so that they save a spot for you.





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