But, first, I have to express my love for my choir. I LOVE MY CHOIR! I'm ever, always, grateful for this beautiful community we have, and the times we share, of art and life and feelings and emotions that we express in very big inclusive ways sometimes and sometimes in very personal ways. The music surrounds us and we are the music, so we are surrounded by beautiful people every Monday. We have shared joy and we've shared sorrow.
Yesterday was one of the saddest Mondays, maybe the saddest, ever. It was bad, but good to have our beautiful friends at our sides and all around.
Lauren made an announcement, sad news from a choir member who's planning for us to sing at her funeral. We're going to put Wintersong on the shelf, maybe to pick it up next year. We're going to add You'll Never Walk Alone, Higher and Higher, and Hallelujah to this season. Our friend is very private, so I won't write much here. Please contact Lauren for the few details we are able to share.
Our community is so beautiful that we have some special folks who stood up yesterday and said, "Come to me, if you need to talk. This is what I do." Cheryl (sop) is a social worker and she offered herself to help you, or if you prefer, to recommend someone else to help. Carol (alto) is a palliative care nurse, and she offered the same. Then Pat Richards (sop) came forward too. She works at Hope House in Aurora. Grief is a tricky thing. Singing at a funeral is a gift, an honour, but hard.
Some of us sang after break, and singing was what we needed and being together was what we needed. Going home was better for others, what they needed. Let's respect our friends and the different ways we take care of our selves. Please take care of yourself throughout this season and do lean on us- we'll hold each other up.
I'm sorry I missed last week's rehearsal. I had such a bad cold! I'm still feeling unwell. Anne-Marie was also sick. Lauren was sick but well enough to lead you, along with helpers Melinda and Jane, and Catalina of course.
Monday, September 30th (Evening Prayer met at 6:45)
- You Raise Me Up was part of the warm-up. Mmmm good.
- Let it Snow: 39-86, the 3/4 section.
- My Grown-up Christmas List: discovered the coda needs work
- Winter Song: mixing the new arrangement with the one we have is confusing. We can hand this back to Peggy starting next week. It's going to be hard next year too, but maybe I'll re-write the whole thing over the summer so that it's all in one piece.
- Your Song: coda needed some work here too.
Monday, October 7th (In the Bleak Midwinter met at 6:30)
1. My Grown-up Christmas List: We relearned the coda and then put it all together. It was great!
2. Let it Snow: We did the whole 3/4 section from 53-102! We will need to do it again and next time we'll try to sing the swing and straight sections with a marked difference. We sang from 15 to 102 and it's getting pretty good. If you have some time, listen to this choir sing and follow along with your music. This video is actually the sheet music, so it's right there. Peter hasn't been able to record the parts and now he's out of the country, so please try to sing with these videos to help you learn your part, and please try not to be absent!
3. You'll Never Walk Alone (we had a recording, but Catalina is planning to learn it)
4. Higher and Higher (Tab played the accompaniment, beautifully!)
5. Hallelujah (Tab played the accompaniment, beautifully!)
Monday, October 14 (Thanksgiving Monday- no small group)
Please come to choir if you can. But do spend time with family if you can and don't feel bad about missing. Whoever is there will continue to work on their parts and the team will benefit. We listen to and follow each other, need each other, so whenever one of us is strong, others will be stronger too.
Your Song
Let it Snow
Stuff for fun: Magic of Winter, Little Tree, Somewhere a Child is Sleeping?
Monday, October 21 (In the Bleak Midwinter 6:30)
Bring straws if you have a preferred one. I'll have a bag of straws too.
All I Want for Christmas
Let it Snow
Higher and Higher
You'll Never Walk Alone
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