September 23rd rehearsal review

Warm-ups included lip trills and tongue trills and a rollercoaster (oooweeeooo), and stepping and clapping while singing

1. Somewhere A Child is Sleeping is pretty much done!

2. Welcome Welcome Winter is cool! We got to up to 23.

3.We walked through The Banks of Newfoundland. Todd will sing the solo. It's a cappella, so there's no accompaniment. There are lots of ah's.

4. Song for Canada: We walked through. Heather Vickers will sing the first verse as a solo. We all join in at the French part, and everyone sings the top line. We're ignoring the SATB ah's. We looked at that, and discussed the pronunciation. Everyone sings the top line until bar 89. Then, the top line is a descant part which Kristen, Mary Ellen, and Robyn are learning. Everyone else is in the second line, up to the end at bar 114, where things get special We'll talk about that next time.

5. Hava Nagila is coming along well! We're ready to start the second page. Some people were wondering if the H in Hava might be pronounced like the H in Hanukkah, but it's not. The only time we make that 'ch' sound is when it's written 'ch'.

Please sign up for the November 3rd performance at St. Andrew's in Aurora, and for the January 26th Choral Extravaganza, and to join a small group.

Next week we will work on:

Welcome, Welcome Winter
Song for Canada
Hava Nagila
Banks of Newfoundland
The Magic of Winter

Song for Canada: French help

This is a sort of an English-phonetic transcription of the French part of the song, for those of us who get confused by spelling. Where there's a letter crossed out (n), you don't pronounce the letter, but it affects the vowel before it.

Wee 

ka noo vo shawn

Dee za pray zawn

An veu da kor kee dwa romp leer no cur

Pur ple dee vair

Too shawn lay deu mayr

urra vwa zan nif for may kan sel cur

Poor may lon zhay too vo zak son

Oh ra fran 

day kon yay dan son soo lay von

Kin no vwa zon 

som blish on ta eh ra shon ta

Wee 

bell oh zhoor dwee

Vwa mon pay yee

More links to recordings of our songs

In case you're anxious to get started, and can't wait for our recordings, here's some music for you to listen to:

The Hockey Song (scroll down to the song, click on listen with the score-quick time player needed)
In Our Town in December ( it's us! We'll have mic's this year. Remember, the power was out and only came on too late to get stuff hooked up? It was great, except for the solos. Valiant effort from the soloists, though.)
The Magic of Winter (sample from the publisher)
Mele Kalikimaka(sample from the publisher)
Mele Kalikimaka (us!)
So Long, Farewell (just a sample)
So Long, Farewell (choir video- very nice adaptation, getting ideas for us)
Song for Canada (just women, but we'll all sing together)
The Twelve Songs of Christmas (they're really good, eh?)

Banks of Newfoundland (won't help much, except for the general idea of the melody)

September 15th Review and Preview- links to recordings

Here's what we did on Mon. Sep. 15, 2013:

1. Warm-ups included a focus on the core and breathing.

2. On Eagle's Wings is now perfect :) We went over the ending and any other tricky bits with great success.

3. We read through Welcome, Welcome Winter to get a feel for it. It was hard because it was fast. But, there are no repeats and no solos, nothing tricky. Here's a link to the song on the publisher site. Click on the mp3 recording as if you were purchasing it and listen.

4. We read through Come, Emmanuel. It will be a fine complement to Welcome, Welcome Winter. They both have a similar mysteriousness. Here's a link to a YouTube recording of a group doing it a bit too fast and without accompaniment, but it will give you an idea.

5. We read through Somewhere a Child is Sleeping. It has a repeat that goes back to the very beginning, so it's easy to find and Sapphire has a big introduction before we sing. Because it's repetitive, it will be a good song to have a soloist for the first verse. Mary Ellen has agreed to sing it (yay!) and Kristen will be her back-up. It's a pretty song written by Canadian Frank Mills-he's related to us through Daphne and Steve and Mayfair Music ;)
One important thing to note about this piece is that there's an error in its presentation. It's written to look like SATB, but it's SAB. The soprano line is repeated, so altos have to read a line down, and tenors and basses are together on the bottom. Just mark clearly with pencil where you sing, circle it, or cross out the other lines, or whatever helps you (as long as it's in pencil).

6. We learned the first verse of Hava Nagila and it's beautiful! The harmonies are really strong and not hard! We're going to have to work on your pronunciation of Hebrew.
Each section repeats and has 2 endings. But, it's obvious and the song is so well known that you won't have any difficulty in figuring out where to go. We're thinking of adding guitar, drums, and tambourines to this fun celebratory song. Here's a link to a fun YouTube video. Not at all the style we have, but pretty. This link will give you a better idea of the words. Harry Belafonte's clear strong voice is easier to follow. If he can do it, you can too!

Sapphire and I are working on making recordings of our music to post on the website. Stay tuned.


 Next week:

We're going to look at The Banks of Newfoundland. Todd has agreed to sing the solo part (yay!)
We'll also look at Song For Canada. We're going to sing in French!
We'll start learning Welcome, Welcome Winter.
We'll start learning Somewhere a Child is Sleeping
We'll continue learning Hava Nagila.

September 9th, 2013 -first day back

If you missed the first day, here's what we did:

Warm-ups included stretching into the upper and lower ranges.
We sang:
1. You Raise Me Up first. (Love it.)
2. Go Now in Peace (which we're going to sing with the St. Andrew's choir in Nov.)
3. You'll Never Walk Alone (it was excellent)
4. Mele Kalikimaka- just sight-read through and then did parts up to 38
5. Calypso Christmas-just a sight-read through
6. On Eagles Wings (also very good)

Registration went quickly and smoothly. Thank you for pre-registering! It really helped.
We talked about singing at church on November 3rd for St. Andrew's in Aurora. We will sing On Eagle's Wings and You'll Never Walk Alone and then Go Now in Peace with their choir. A sign up event will be posted on the website soon.
We talked about the commitment sheet in your binder. Sign it and leave it there.
The equipment roster will be set up soon.
Please wear your name tags, since we have several new people.


If you want to look ahead to next week, here's what we'll do: 

We're going to look at new pieces mostly, and we'll have a coffee and treats break. 

• On Eagle's Wings
• Welcome, Welcome Winter
• Somewhere a Child is Sleeping
• Hava Nagila
• Come Emmanuel

Winter Theme, Solos and Small Groups

It was great to be back at choir tonight! So wonderful to see you all and sing with you!

Start thinking about solo and small group songs. As I mentioned, our theme is

Canada in December: Celebrate with us!

So, think of Christmas and other holiday songs, celebration songs, winter songs, even escaping winter songs. I think Stompin' Tom Connor's The Hockey Song is perfect. We have 2 general winter songs. More celebratory songs would be nice. Something French, something First Nations, any other culture would be cool, a Christmas song or any holiday song in another language, or written by a Canadian, performed by Canadians,...

We can have 2-3 solo songs or duets and 2-3 small group songs. We've got one piece ordered for a bigger small group of maybe 12-15 people: Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas, with a 70's theme. I've got an SSA arrangement of the Doctor Zhivago Theme, Somewhere My Love in case anyone's interested in that (snow and cold).

Send me your ideas!

Sing out with confidence: open wide and yell "Ricola!"

In this article, "3 Easy Tips to Better Singing", the author suggests a number of things you can do to improve your singing under 3 headings: 

1. Sing With Confidence 
2. Open Your Mouth Wide
3. Breathe With Your Belly

She suggests that to sing with more confidence, you can try to imagine you're on a mountain like the Ricola guy and sing out a hearty "Hello". Of course, you'll need to open your mouth wide and take a good deep breath too. 

I'm going to use this exercise for a choir warm-up. But, I'll start with #3. First, you need to breathe properly, and to do that you need to have good posture. So, we'll stand properly and breathe properly. Then, we'll make sure that we remember to open our mouths wide, relaxing and lowering our jaws and relaxing and opening our throats. Finally, we'll all sing out a confident "Ricola!" and also "Hello!".

Can't wait to try it!

Painting the Nursery Mural

This is the story of my daughter, Soraya's mural.

Our minister had seen Soraya drawing during church, so Rev. Heather asked Soraya if she'd be interested in painting a mural in the Nursery.

It took a while to build up the courage and find the right time, but Soraya finally planned and created the mural this summer.

She drew a sketch, researched how to paint a mural, and together we collected the supplies and spent a week at church. It was an excellent experience.

First, we got the girl in the paint department in Lowe's to help us pick colours for the background and decide how much we needed, and then we went to Michael's and to our basement for the rest of our supplies. We used latex paint, and acrylics mixed with matte medium, large and small rollers, and a variety of brushes and sponges and black marker.

The background was so pretty on its own!

At church, Dianne got us a ladder and the overhead projector as well as some overhead transparencies, and opened the door for us a couple times a day for a week.

We measured and taped and painted and waited. Waiting for layers to dry was time-consuming.

Using the overhead projector was magical. Soraya simply traced her drawing lightly with a pencil as it was being projected on the wall. Well, drawing while standing on a ladder wasn't easy, but the method was simple.

Using the overhead projector was magical.

I was allowed to help with the background (you can see me here touching up the green a bit) and the second coats of animals. It was fun.

Sometimes things looked strange at first.

It was interesting to see how the parts came together as a whole. It took some patience, but was worth it. 

When I first saw the finished lamb, how it was transformed by the final details, I was brought to tears by the miracle of it. 

When the lamb got its features, I was overwhelmed with emotion.

When the whole project was done, I nearly burst with pride. I literally jumped up and down. It was more beautiful than I had imagined. Each of the animals had its own personality and the colours were bright and perfect. 

We cleaned up and put all the toys back in place, and the mural looked like it belonged there, like it was meant to be. I guess Rev. Heather knew what she was doing!

The nursery mural.

It's wonderful!

I'm so proud of my Soraya's signature on her art on a wall at Trinity United Church in Newmarket!

Love your singing neighbour. Love every dancing child.

I read this blog post about singing that was recommended on a Facebook post. It's about the author's father's belief that he couldn't sing because he was kicked out of his church choir when he was young. The author said: "I think his church choir director confused worship with a concert. In her quest for perfection, she left in her wake a little boy who grew up to be a man afraid to open his mouth and sing."

I've grumbled about this before: People being told by someone that they can't sing, and that stops them forever. So many people when asked to sing along at a campfire or around a piano at Christmas say "I can't sing." It's so sad! Very few people (there's a statistic: 4% or less I think) are actually tone deaf. The rest of us -96%- just need to be supported to go ahead and sing (and I would even encourage people with tone deafness to join in on a sing-along. It's that much fun.). If someone doesn't like the sound of your voice, that's their problem. Same with dancing. We're not talking careers, but enjoying the ways we can express ourselves. Don't steal the pleasure of singing or dancing from anyone. Watch what you say. Be kind. Love your singing neighbour. Love every dancing child.

Current Executive 2013/2014

Introducing 

the Executive of the York Region Community Choir 

for the 2013/2014 Choir Year:

The Executive works together with the Director and Accompanist, and the Reading Committee, to choose music, decide when and where we sing, and make sure people are there to sing and to hear us sing, and take care of our equipment, finances, website and music library.The Executive is elected and the Reading Committee, Conductor and Accompanist are appointed. 

Our President is Lauren Solar (laurensolar@gmail.com). She was VP last year, and is adopting the more responsible role this year. Simply put, Lauren is responsible for everything happening. 

Our Vice-President is Heather Vickers (hvickers@rogers.com), who was President last year. She's taking on a more supportive role and will be there to help Lauren and anyone else on the executive when they need a hand.

** Please note:Sandra Winters (s_winters@bell.net) is not able to continue in her role as Public Relations Chair. If you need to contact us regarding advertising, or to book us for a concert, or just need some information, please speak to our VP, Heather Vickers, above, until we elect a new PR person. The PR role is to keep us connected to the community. Choristers, if you are interested in the PR position, let Lauren know. 

Daphne Young (youngdc@rogers.com) is our Secretary/Treasurer, having taken over from Michele Horton. If you want to write us a cheque, make it out to York Region Community Choir, and Daphne will put it in our account. We accept cash too. Daphne will keep our paperwork in order, creating and maintaining records like the minutes of our meetings and accounting stuff. Michele will support Daphne and will continue to represent us when we share condolences and congratulations. 

Trix Verge (trix.verge@gmail.com) is our Music Librarian and Webmaster. She has our music collection in her basement and makes sure we all have music to sing every Monday, and has extra binders made up for guests, or people who are checking us out. If you have a binder of music that belongs to us and want to know how to get it back to us, contact Trix. Trix is the one to go to for help using the website, and she makes sure that it's functioning properly. 

Carol Ford and Debbie Hood are the Registrars. They make sure the membership list is up-to-date and coordinate our Coffee/Social hours, among other things. They will be handling the waiting list. Debbie's had our coffee (and tea) equipment and supplies in her basement for many years. She buys good Decaf. 

Heather Vickers, Teija Cumming and Enid Maize are the Reading Committee. They help choose music and order it from the publishers, shopping in person and on line. They are chosen for their ability to read music and knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses. 

Renate Naghavi (That's me.) is the Conductor/Musical Director of the YRCC. The Conductor chooses a theme and selects music for each season, with the help of the Executive and the Reading Committee, and with input from the Accompanist. The Conductor teaches the music with the help of the Accompanist, and leads the choir in performances. 

Anne Marie Vandekemp has been the Assistant Director, officially and unofficially for at least a decade. Since she is one of the original members of the choir, Anne Marie is consulted on everything from music to venues and managing member politics. Together with Heather Vickers, Anne Marie leads the small group rehearsals. 

Sapphire Navaratnarajah is our Accompanist. She is a talented pianist who helps Renate teach the music and accompanies the choir in rehearsal and in performances. 

Summer Concerts

Last night Soraya, Victoria, and I went to a free outdoor concert at the East Gwillimbury Civic Centre (Leslie and Mt. Albert Rd). The band was Fleetwood Mix, a Fleetwood Mac cover band. I had forgotten what good music Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks made! Fleetwood Mix was a group of 5 excellent performers. They put on a very professional, passionate, fun show. We loved it! And, it was outdoors and free. Summer at its best.

This past Sunday, we enjoyed the free concert at Riverwalk Commons in Newmarket. We hope to manage some more of the Newmarket Music in the Park concerts.

Every Saturday there's music at Riverwalk Commons during the Farmer's Market and we've listened to some fantastic musicians there.

You can go to YorkScene.com to find all kinds of things to do and they've got a page for all musical events. Here are a few links that you might want to go straight to:

 Newmarket's Music in the Park: free concerts every Wednesday and Sunday
E.G.'s Music at Civic Square: concerts every other Tuesday.
Unionville hosts the Markham Concert Band on Sunday nights

We will just keep our lawn chairs, blankets, and bug spray in the car like our old soccer days.

I love swimming

I've had a few wonderful days at the beach so far this summer. It's been incredibly hot and humid, and swimming in a lake is the best way to keep cool. On our camping trip, we went to the beach at Port Burwell- at the town beach and the provincial park beach- and at Port Stanley on Lake Erie. Port Stanley was super! The town is charming and the beach was big and the sand was nice and clean. Closer to home, we enjoyed the clear waters of Lake Simcoe at Willow Beach. It's only half an hour away. Going to the beach reminded me that I love swimming! I love to be in the water. The best way to be in the water is in a lake with a beautiful blue sky above and clear blue water below, but swimming in a pool is great too. So, I've started to swim some lengths at the Magna Pool, and I'm feeling great!

Reading List: Long list for the Man Booker Prize Announced

The long list for the Man Booker Prize was just announced. There's the list below. Apparently, not all of these are available yet. And, I guess the library won't have them all. But, I like having a list like this, even if I don't read many of them.

I also like looking at what the Bookerellas at church are reading. I've read almost all of their books.

I miss my Reading Group. I was in a book club for 15 years. It got harder and harder to get together and finally just ended. So sad. I haven't been able to get started in another group again, even though I've had invitations to a couple of different groups.

I do have an account on Goodreads, and follow what others are reading, but it's not nearly as nice as talking about a book for a couple of hours with friends.

I haven't read any of these. Have you? I don't even recognize the authors, which is good: new stuff to discover.

Five Star Billionaire Tash Aw (Fourth Estate)
We Need New Names NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
The Luminaries Eleanor Catton (Granta)
Harvest Jim Crace (Picador)
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris (Sandstone Press)
The Kills Richard House (Picador)
The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)
Unexploded Alison MacLeod ( Hamish Hamilton)
TransAtlantic Colum McCann (Bloomsbury)
Almost English Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle)
A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)
The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)
The Testament of Mary Colm Tóibín (Viking)
- See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/longlist-2013-announced#sthash.awGQjrdt.dpuf

Camping: My final word is "yuck".

I didn't do tent camping when I was a kid. We had a wonderful, simple cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, on the Georgian Bay side. It was heaven. I went camping once with cousins.

I went into camping with my family with a bad attitude. So, I wasn't surprised when I didn't like it the first time. But, I was open to trying again because the first time we went too far for too long and complicated things somewhat with washable dishes and ambitious meal plans. And, my girls loved it. They woke up with smiles on their faces, were happy all day and went to sleep happy.

The 2nd camping trip was way better. It was shorter, in a perfect spot in Gatineau Park, our meal plans were simple and we used disposable dishes, and we concluded our trip with a couple of nights in a good hotel in Ottawa.

Now, I've had my 3rd camping trip and although I've worked hard on my attitude and simplified everything, I still cannot say that I like camping.

This time, it was the mud and mosquitoes and sleeping on the ground (even on a blow-up mattress, I was achy and miserable) that bugged me. We were lucky, we didn't have to set up or take down in the rain, but it rained every night except one. The mosquitoes were awful. The best way to avoid mosquito bites is to avoid mosquitoes. The woods we were in were teeming, so we had to leave our campsite to avoid the monsters, which we did as much as possible. Then, you can cover up. We were in the middle of a heat wave, so covering up was not possible and they bit through clothes anyway. So, we had to spray chemicals all over us and used an Off lamp and citronella candles. Here's an article on insect repellents that says they're not so bad, but yuck. I was achy for several days after returning to my comfortable bed at home. So, yuck is my final word.

However, I'm not the only one in the family so I put our camping gear away where we can find it if we need it instead of putting it all in the yard sale pile.

YRCC sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" (June 2013)

So proud of us for doing this song so well. It was a fun challenge.

Keep Cool Carefully and other thoughtful tips

(Barrie Waterfront from Ontario Trails Council Website)

Summertime is a good time to think about the environment. You're likely to spend time outdoors in nature, enjoying lakes and forests. Feel the love. Remember to do your part to reduce our impact on climate change (or climate chaos, as I've also seen it called).

Think about some small changes you can make every day to do your part to maintain the beautiful natural places that you love. Here are just a few to think about and to start you thinking about other little things you can do to show your love:

House and Garden:

• Use blinds or curtains to keep the sun out of the house to help keep it cooler. If you're just starting your landscaping, plant a big deciduous tree on the south side. And, set your thermostat to 25 or higher. It's summer, right? Open windows in the evening when it’s cool.

• Try not to use the stove or oven when it’s hot outside. Cook and eat outside (BBQ) or serve cold dishes. Plan ahead and cook in the morning before it's too hot.

• Switch to perennials. Find plants that tolerate our summers. You won’t need to water them.

• Container plants need to be watered daily. If you love container gardening, use a rain barrel.

• Hang your laundry out to dry. 

• Take advantage of the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

At Work:

• Wearing a sweater at the office? Speak up. Don’t put up with too much air conditioning.

• Make coffee at home. Drink it out of a real mug and sit and talk to your family while eating breakfast. Pack a lunch in reusable containers. Save money and the planet at the same time, and you'll probably eat better too. 

• Find out if you can work from home some of the time.

• Think twice before printing something. Can you read it and save it electronically instead? 

Holiday Travel:

• Don’t forget your reusable water bottle. You really don’t want to have to buy plastic bottles of water. Have coffee in the coffee shop. Stop. Sit. Talk to the locals. Use real cups. Don't idle in the drive-through!

• Travel close to home. Our part of Ontario is beautiful. Discover Ontario :) 

• Take public transit into Toronto and be a tourist there. 

• If you have to fly somewhere for your summer holiday, consider buying carbon offsets (this can be done formally, through a company such as Tree Canada or Carbon Footprint, or informally by making donations to environmental groups of your choice).

Summer Reading: Music stuff

I found an interesting reading list that I'm going to be working on between my more traditional escapist-novels-in-a-lawn-chair reading.

I've shared it on my Musical Empathy blog because the books are all about music, the brain and the soul. Nice, eh?

Here's a link to my blog post with the list.

BTW If you're looking for a good escapist novel, I recommend The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I just finished reading it and it's awesome!

Are you on Goodreads? Find me there, and we can be "friends".

The choir of life sounds great

"When we pay attention to nature's music, we find that everything on Earth contributes to its harmony."

As the conductor of a choir, I feel this keenly. In the choir, every kind of chorister adds her voice-the sweet, the crabby, the loud, the quiet, perfect pitch and perfect timing and the opposite too- but the whole is not the sum of the parts. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. And, the song is different depending on the perspective of the one who's listening.

What I hear when we perform a song that we've learned is harmony and love. I have put my love into it and it comes back to me multiplied. I don't hear the disappointment of the perfectionist who didn't get every single part right. I don't hear the missing voice when someone chooses not to sing. I don't hear the discord of a sour relationship between 2 sopranos. I hear that I have taught them well, and the strong are carrying the weak. I hear the choir singing the song together and the result is more than pleasing: it is electrifying and satisfying because I contributed well.

I love all the songs. I love the sweet ones and the grand ones, the jazzy ones and the funny ones. The easy ones are great and the difficult ones are great. I love the choristers too.

My choristers don't always understand that a performance went well. They don't have my perspective. They are in the middle of the choir, hearing the wrong notes and wondering about the singers who don't make a sound. They feel their own mistakes as huge distractions from the beauty of the song. I tell them not to worry, to try to relax and have fun. If they're doing their best, then it will turn out fine. Where they are weak, others will be strong. When they listen to a recording of the choir, they are surprised at how wonderful it is.

I see a life lesson in this choir experience.

The better the weather gets, the more I think about being outdoors instead of sitting at my computer. I want to go back to my childhood summer days at the cottage without even a TV, a really simple time spent mostly in the open. There was big open water, dense forest, fields of cows, and gravel roads. There were rocks and there was soft moss and poison ivy. There were storms and there were days when the lake was so calm and silent it was like a sheet of glass. It was wonderful. I am happy that my children also have some memories of that place and that way.

When I was a child, I just lived it and enjoyed it without thinking about it much. When I gave the experience to my children it was with intention and awareness. When I think back on it, I recapture that harmony and it inspires me to try my best and to relax, and to be mindful of my contribution and my perspective.

Origins of the York Region Community Choir

Finally, here is the promised Origins of the York Region Community Choir post. 

The Executive of the YRCC recently did a bit of house-cleaning and found a history of the choir which described the origins of our choir.

“In 1995, after the York Regional Police Male Chorus was formed, Sheryl Mac Phail and Wendy Evenden Loney, female members of the York Regional Police, created the York Regional Choir as a mixed choir which would welcome men and women employed by the York Regional Police as well as members of the surrounding community. By January of 1996, they had a director and an accompanist, and by late spring of that year, the choir performed. At the request of the organizers of the Celebration of the 200^th Birthday of Yonge Street, the choir performed an original composition written especially for the occasion by choir member Roy Hamilton at the Holland Landing portion of the celebration.

In 1998 a choir constitution was passed and the choir became known as the York Region Community Choir.  The first executive was lead by Wendy Loney as President, with Marlene Shruiff as Vice-President, Thelma Evenden as Secretary-Treasurer and Roy Hamilton for Public Relations.“

Since then, the choir has undergone several changes as directors and accompanists have come and gone.  At the moment, there are only a few members from those formative years.  The constitution has been updated but we have maintained a focus on singing a variety of music that reflects the variety of people that make up our choir and our community, as a fun musical outlet for our members and to share the choral experience with the community. We have collaborated with the York Regional Police Male Chorus, which rehearses across the hall from us. We participate in community events in addition to giving 2 public performances every year, and each season we set aside time to sing at several seniors’ residences. 

My baton, my magic wand

As I said, there were some stressful moments at the rehearsals, culminating in moments of utter frustration for me on Saturday before the concert. Walking around snapping at people, 4-letter-words at the tip of my tongue (in a church!), I felt that it would have been nice if my baton were really the magic wand that it sometimes feels like it is. Zap! It would have been nice. Pfzzzt! Bam! There were moments when I felt like a witch. 

Luckily, all of that negativity vanished when I actually picked up the baton and the choir started singing. It was heavenly, and I was transported as the true magic of the music did its work. Thank God for music! I still like to think that there is some magic in my baton. 

Success! Stressful rehearsals really do produce a good show

Well, we certainly had issues during the last rehearsals, but in the end the show was almost flawless! All the messy bits cleared up and we sounded fabulous!

The great variety of music was a smash! People loved all the different kinds of music we sang and there was very little time wasted with moving around. It went as smoothly as possible.

I think we gave everyone there a very entertaining Saturday night with a very high level of professionalism. Honestly, have you ever heard anything better than Kristen and Todd or Janet and the Kevins? And, I can't wait until you hear the recordings of our choir songs. I know that when you're standing in the choir, you can't hear what I heard. Just wait until you do! You'll be amazed!

The bake sale was fantastic as usual. So much variety there too!

Although I'm exhausted and my arms and neck are achy and I needed a nap today, I'm very happy and satisfied. I'm sitting in front of my big, beautiful bouquet of flowers and feeling blessed. Thank you, YRCC!

Last rehearsals went well!

Our last rehearsals went well.

We were very good, but not perfect, which is actually perfect ;) We can hope that all of our mistakes have been made and are done, and we're ready to be excellent on Saturday.

Cutting down the length of the program will help us to relax and focus on the pieces that are left. It was very difficult to cut pieces. I love all of the music. I hope your favourite pieces are still in.

We have a wonderful variety of music and a great mix of solos, small ensembles and big choir pieces with piano, guitar, ukulele, piano with guitar, and even snapping accompanying our voices, so it will be a real treat for our audience.

Most of our friends and family already expect this fun variety show, but I know some people will come expecting to be martyred after listening to 2 hours of hymns. (I'm sure you also get asked again and again, which church you sing at.) Won't they be surprised! We have so much incredible talent and energy in our choir and it's exciting to show it off.  I can't wait!

May 20: Victoria Day

We're a dedicated bunch! We had an excellent rehearsal on Victoria Day Monday!

We sang O Canada, and it was powerful.

Blue Skies is super with Lauren and Gerry doing the solos and all the snapping!

From a Distance is beautiful but we had to spend quite a bit of time reviewing sections. Please review pages 6 and 7 on your own so that we've all got it right. It's important to end strong.

We also spent more time than expected on Wild Mountain Thyme. Please review the words "go and we'll all." Bars 37 and 45 are the way you want to sing, and that's why they're the ones at the end. At the beginning,  it's different, slower. Look at bar 14. Be sure to come in on beat 2 with the word 'and'. Tenors and Basses are extra strong on the word "thyme" and at the end, starting at bar 46.

Small Groups: Lean on Me was fabulous, but we need to memorize it! I keep messing up my words. Spend some time this week memorizing Lean on Me.

Higher and Higher and Together Wherever We Go will not be meeting early until Tuesday. On Tuesday, come at 6:30.

I am working on the concert order. I'll send an email when I've set an order so that you can put your binders in order. We're almost there!

Breathing is Vital

We spend a fair amount of time on the topic of breathing.

Yes, it's vital. We can't live without breathing.  And, you might think it's just a natural thing. But, breathing efficiently and effectively is not something you can leave up to nature. In every physical activity, proper breathing technique is important. Running, swimming, every sport demands a different breathing technique. Singing is physical too, and you have to pay attention to your breathing.

When we do warm-ups, I'm always sure to remind you to breathe with your whole body, with a focus on your "core". When we sing, I remind you of where you can and cannot take a breath. I encourage you to mark the places where you need to take a breath, so that you do it consistently and so you don't run out of air and take a big gulp where you're not supposed to.

We talk about the team work a choir does when we use staggered breathing over a very long phrase. You take a quick breath when others aren't taking theirs so that it sounds like nobody's taken a breath at all. We should not be able to hear a breath in the middle of a phrase.

Particularly in solos and small groups, you can't afford to take a breath in the middle of a phrase, because you will be heard. And, the distraction will detract from the performance. Mark your breaths and pay attention.

Listening to some of the recordings of previous performances, I was hearing some annoying sounds of breathing where there shouldn't be any. It's almost as bad as frowning and making faces, and not watching, and wearing short sleeves when everyone else is wearing long sleeves. Watch the videos on YouTube before we perform again, and let's try to make this performance even better!

May 13

Higher and Higher was so good that we don't have to meet next week! Nobody has to come early.

I was very pleased to see that most of you were there, despite the Leafs' last game of the Playoffs. Yup. Their last.

One Small Step was super.
On Eagle's Wings is done, and excellent. We'll review it again next week, but it's good to go!
You'll Never Walk Alone was amazing! I thought we'd have lots to review, but it was excellent.
We also sang a stupendous Song for the Unsung Hero. No worries.

Kit and Michelle brought lots of yummy homemade cookies and Debbie made us decaf coffee so we had a nice long break and had a chance to chat.

Lean on Me is coming along very nicely and sounded really cool with the guitar amplified.

Next week is the Victoria Day long weekend, but we are still meeting. Hopefully, you'll be back from the cottage in time. This will be our last chance for learning. The following Monday will be the week of the concert and we will focus on running through the concert order to see if it works. Then, the next night, Tuesday, we'll go to Trinity Anglican in Aurora to see how it works there with the sound and entering and exiting, etc.

For Victoria Day Monday:

Blue Skies
From a Distance
O Canada
On Eagle's Wings
Wild Mountain Thyme

May 6

Higher and Higher and Together Wherever We Go met early and are having fun and doing well.

Our warm up was mostly about getting the most out of a breath. We had lots of long phrases in our music, especially places where one group is holding a note while the others are singing and the sound has to be consistent.

We spent most of our time on page 6 of every piece it seemed...weird.

I'd Like to Teach the World To Sing: great solos, excellent, but could be better on holding those notes all the way to the end and not dropping out or losing the quality of the tone.

From a Distance: We finished it! And, we sang it completely a cappella beautifully! The solos are lovely, especially the way Jane and Daphne's voices blend. Loved it!

On Eagle's Wings: We finished this too! I'm so happy with the way this progressed and was learned very quickly. It helps that it's a fantastic arrangement.

I'll Be There For You: Done too. It was so easy. I love a fun and easy song! Just watch for the parts where you're holding notes. Same issue as Teach The World.

Wild Mountain Thyme: Beautiful song. Solos are beautiful. Kevin's guitar is a great addition.



Next week:

Higher and Higher and Together Wherever We Go again at 6:30 (we need to review the alto part in Higher and Higher in the second half. Maybe we will stand differently?

Lean on Me at 9:30

We'll need to finish up You'll Never Walk Alone and get it working.
We'll review From a Distance and On Eagle's Wings.
One Small Step
Song for the Unsung Hero

Music makes you smarter- graphic from Online College.org

Perfect Choir Rehearsal: Planning

At the York Region Community Choir, we have a lot of fun and work hard to learn a great variety of music in preparation for our seasonal concerts and seniors' visits. Among us, there are some excellent musicians and singers who can read music and even sight-read. Most of the choristers, however, do not read music, except to know that the notes go up or down-ish, and use the music mostly for looking at the words, preferring to learn by ear. We have weekly rehearsals for 2 hours every Monday. You can see our repertoire for the present season in the right panel of this blog.

Here's how a good rehearsal goes. It's as easy as 1-2-3. 

Warm up physically and vocally, start and end with something that you can sing all the way through with some success, and do all the learning in the middle, with a break in the middle of the learning.

1.Warm-up

2. Success

3. Work

Break

3.Work

2. Success

1. Warm up

Starting on time, we have a good but quick physical warm-up and a vocal warm-up that helps to prepare for something challenging in the songs we're going to do. For example, if we're doing a song that has long phrases that require lots of breath, then we focus the work on breathing. When I can, I try to talk about some music theory and discuss the theory behind the exercises we do. They should be required to watch to be able to follow, so I change pace and vary the exercises.

The challenge is to be thorough but not take too much time away from singing. 10-15 minutes is about average. Sometimes, I choose a song that builds from easy and soft to more difficult and loud as our vocal warm-up if we're running behind.

It's important to have a physical warm up because a lot has happened in our day before we arrive at choir. We need to transition from stressed-out individuals with baggage to a relaxed and ready and unified choir.

Starting on time is always an issue. Obviously, it's best to start on time, every time.

2. Start and end with success

The first song and last song have to be something familiar that the choir can sing all the way through to give a feeling of success. Even if we're running late at the end, I make sure to end well. Better late than frustrated. I usually have the last song planned, but sometimes somebody suggests something. When that happens, I like to comply, because if the choir likes a song, they'll sound good, and when they sound good, everyone is happy.

Success is important. When the choir sounds good, I let them know. It's not hard for me to do, because I love them and love music and I'm very expressive. I cheer them on every step of the way. Sometimes, I'm over the top, but it's all good. We laugh, and it's like I'm their goofy mom and we're a family.

3. Work in the middle and break it up

The middle is where the work happens. The most difficult learning should happen in the first half of the night. We go straight to the tricky part of a song and learn it first. The section that's the easiest goes first. Usually that's Soprano. We listen to the piano play the part first, then sing. Sometimes, it helps to have the Sopranos sing their part sotto voce while the other parts are learning theirs, so that they can feel how the parts work together. That also gives them a job to do while the others are learning, so they don't have to sit and wait (and start chatting). Each section repeats their part as many times as necessary, sometimes 2 or 3 times, sometimes 5 or 6.  We sing that section or page, but not the whole song, unless it's fairly easy to sight-read. Then, we move on to another piece so that we don't get bogged down.

If we need to spend a long time on one piece, we take a break before starting another. Break time is important. It changes the pace of the rehearsal and gives choristers important opportunities for socializing and doing administrative business. Important team-building happens during break. Don't skip it.

We work on 2 or 3 pieces that need work, so we're singing 4 or 5 pieces in total for a 2-hour rehearsal. We might manage another run-through of a piece that's ready, for a total of 6. I've tried to do more, but almost always do 4-5.

When we're looking at a piece of music for the first time, we "walk" through it. I point out who's singing what and whether there is a repeat or a section that repeats with a key change, and where the loud bits and quiet bits are, so we get an idea of where we're going with the song. Then, we sight-read it, so those who are skilled sight readers have a chance to practise (and show off) this skill, and for others to get an idea of how the song goes. Then, I zoom in to the trickiest part that involves all part. If there's a hard part that's 4 bars of just Tenors, I don't do that first. Everyone should be involved in that first lesson.

Planning is key

I start planning a season months in advance. I make a schedule for the whole season, giving each day around 5 pieces and giving 3-6 rehearsals for each piece for learning and then review, depending on the level of difficulty. I plan each week's rehearsal the day before and review the plan before rehearsal. I usually learn all the parts of the tricky bits. I circle trouble spots as we sing, and make notes during rehearsal. I try to be flexible and adjust my schedule as I go. Although planning is key, flexibility is really the most important thing overall in my job as choir director. I always have to have a Plan B, or be prepared to make one up fast. That'll be the subject of another post.

April 29th

6:30 Higher and Higher met and we got through the whole thing
then we sang Together Wherever We Go

We sang Hallelujah and it was a bit messy at first, but we fixed it.
We need to listen to each other and blend.
We sang all of Flying Free.
From A Distance: We learned pg. 6 43-52, and now we know the whole piece-but we need to review the end.
Greatest Love was pretty and pretty easy.
I Will Always Be With You is always beautiful, slower or faster.
Monday Monday is fabulous.

Lean on Me met after choir and it's coming along nicely. We have to work on memorizing it.

Next week:
Higher and Higher is meeting again, this time with accompaniment

From A Distance
On Eagle's Wings
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
I'll Be there for you
Wild Mountain Thyme

Lean on Me

Concerts this weekend: Keynotes and Men of Note

Two of the choirs we shared the stage with this past Saturday will be singing again this coming Saturday.
The Men of Note and the Keynotes Choirs are both presenting their spring concerts this weekend.

Men of Note:
Saturday, May 4th at 7:30 pm at Christchurch Anglican Church in Stouffville

Newmarket Keynotes Seniors Choir:
Saturday, May 4th at 7:30 at the Christian Baptist Church in Newmarket