YRCC Rehearsal Review 26-Apr-2022

 Tuesday, April 26th

Small Group: no small group 

Choir Warm-up:

Short physical warm-up included some synchronized movement/rhythm and some stretches while sitting with good posture, and the same three new vocal exercises. We talked about how your sinus cavities and all the stuff in your head help to create the sound of your voice, and your voice is beautiful, like your face, unique and wonderful. Also, I reminded you that the way you sound in your head is different from the way you sound to everyone else, outside of your head, so it’s surprising to hear yourself on a recording. 

1. This Little Light of Mine

Soloists: Lauren/ Melinda (Kit might want to try too.) During the solos, don’t be too loud on your weekday parts, but not too soft either. We’ll crescendo to loud on the word “power”, so a bit earlier than what’s written. We’re going to sing the chorus after the solo softly the first time, a little louder the second time, and then at the key change, we’ll put it in high gear with a very loud F# from the sopranos and we’ll stay loud up to the end. Be aware of rests: there aren’t many. Most of the notes are held until the next one, so don’t cut things short.

2. I Can See Clearly Now 

Reviewed @20 Sopranos and Altos “I’ve been praying fo-o-or”. Also, changing I to we in a couple places. It’s great! Second time through was excellent. We’ve got this. 

3. Wellerman/ Farewell to Nova Scotia/ Sing-alongs

We set up the new projector and screen and tried out some sing-alongs! I’ll work with the projector and screen and the PowerPoint to see if I can get it better, but it’s very good!

4. Walking on Sunshine 

We learned page 11, the fancy part. It was tricky at first, but we got it! The page turning will be something we need to practise! At the bottom of page 10, we have to go back to page 5 to the Segno, and then on page 7 we have to jump to page 11 for the Coda.  I think we can make it 😊

We talked about:

Seniors’ Visits: Everyone needs to be at all the seniors’ home performances, as much as possible. If you know you’re going to be away, please let me know, especially if you’re in a small section (altos, first sopranos, bass) or you’re the only one (tenor). I will not be setting up Events. You don’t have to sign up, just come or let me know you can’t.

HOWEVER, we are not sure they still want us, so we have to confirm every week for the following week’s visit. And, we’ll confirm what they need from us. I’ll keep the YRCC Calendar up-to-date and we’ll communicate in all the usual ways as well. 

Remaining Rehearsals: We have 3 more rehearsals before we perform. Let me know if there’s something you want to review. We have started learning our last song, and the rest of our time is going to be for polishing up what we already know, and looking at the sing-alongs. I’ve dropped: Viva, Sunshine Medley, and Seasons of Love. 

Rehearsal Location TBD: Lauren and Jane are working on finding a space for us for May rehearsals, and possibly for June when performances are cancelled. Our room at Trinity is going to be used by the church for the month of May. 

Next week: Tuesday, May 3rd

Watch for an announcement about where we’re meeting. 

6:45 Small Group: Duet! Carol and Debbie are meeting with Donna to rehearse Tomorrow

1. Somewhere Out There
2. Why We Sing
3. Walking on Sunshine
4. You Raise Me Up
5. You’ll Never Walk Alone

YRCC Rehearsal Review 19-Apr-2022

 Tuesday, April 19th

Small Group: no small group 

Choir Warm-up:

Short physical warm-up and some breathing while sitting with good posture, the same three new vocal exercises.

1. Blue Skies

Lauren and Melinda, Snaps- all good

2. I Can See Clearly Now 

We did it! I fixed the section @16 by looking at the parts we sing together and changing the words in bars 20/21 so that we’re all together there. There’s enough jazziness without having us sing different words. Sopranos and Altos, please change your lyrics from It’s what I’ve been praying for to: “I’ve been praying fo-o-or”.  Maybe you can just circle the Tenor/Bass words and cross out yours? We reviewed the ending for altos and tenor/bass. We sang through the whole piece and it was good! 

3. Walking on Sunshine 

We will definitely be able to learn this, but it’s the last new piece this season. We will leave Viva! for next season. We started at the beginning (last time we learned the chorus at the Segno @44) and sang through to page 11. The page turning will be something we need to practise! At the bottom of page 10, we have to go back to page 5 to the Segno, and then on page 7 we have to jump to page 11 for the Coda. Yikes. 

4. Wellerman/ Farewell to Nova Scotia

We started with Nova Scotia, because we’ve sung it before with a big small-group led by the Kevins and Janet. We’ll just do the sing-along section (starting on page 2) this season. We’ll start with the chorus. We’ll all sing the melody. Soloists or small sectional groups will do each verse and the rest of us will sing the chorus with the audience. We’ll do the same with the Wellerman Sea Shanty. We’ll start with the chorus. We’ll all sing the melody. Look at the verses to see which one you like and let me know if there’s one you want to do as a solo. We’ll likely just figure it out at each seniors’ home, depending on who’s there. If you feel like harmonizing, just go ahead for the seniors sing-alongs, the same as any of the sing-alongs we do, especially for last notes. 

5. Wonderful World

This is beautiful, and the audiences will love it. I’m going to project the words for them to sing along! I think it’s important for all of us to remember the message of the song, that it really is a wonderful world. This Friday is Earth Day, so it’s a good time to think about how our music spreads messages of goodness and love. We need to love our world harder than ever because it’s hurting. #LoveEarth We need to sing for ourselves, to give ourselves strength and hope, and we need to sing for others too. 

6. Hallelujah

We had some extra time for a bonus song, and Hallelujah hit the spot. Always a feel-good song. Especially good to sing the word “Hallelujah” since Easter was just this past weekend. 

We talked about:

Seniors’ Visits (keep your Tuesdays free for us all through June): Everyone needs to be at all the seniors’ home performances, as much as possible. If you know you’re going to be away, please let me know, especially if you’re in a small section (altos, first sopranos, bass) or you’re the only one (tenor).

Remaining Rehearsals: We have 4 more rehearsals before we perform. Let me know if there’s something you want to review. We have started learning our last song, and the rest of our time is going to be for polishing up what we already know, and maybe looking at the sing-alongs. I’ve dropped: Viva, Sunshine Medley, and Seasons of Love. 

Missing music: There were a few copies of Tomorrow handed out with Good Morning, Starshine. And, I don’t have any now. So, if you have one in your binder, can you please give it to me? We may or may not have a soloist or a duet perform that.

Next week: Tuesday, April 26th

No Small Group Rehearsal

1. You Raise Me Up
2. This Little Light of Mine
3. Walking on Sunshine
4. I Can See Clearly Now
5. Sing-alongs (Wellerman, Nova Scotia, yellow book)

Contributing to Earth's Harmony: Earth Days and Choir Days

In an old post of mine, on June 12, 2013, I was inspired by this quote:

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

When I started reading this old post of mine, I thought that my focus would have been on the diversity of the choristers, their various contributions, and it was, mostly. But, an important thing that caught my eye today was this:

I hear the choir singing the song together and the result is more than pleasing: it is electrifying and satisfying because I contributed well.

Because I contributed well, I am electrified and satisfied. My attitude and my role are important. I often joke with my choir, that it's all about me. And, I guess if I'm writing about my experience and my point of view, it is. 

I do feel a huge responsibility, and I work hard for the choir, but my voice isn't heard in the songs. My contribution is not obvious, and it's not the thing that I think about in the moment, listening to the choir. It takes some reflection to consider it. And, when I really pay attention, I find that the biggest thing I contribute is not my teaching or conducting, but my love. My huge love for the choir inspires so much of my activity, my thoughts, my contributions.

There are so many lessons to be learned in a choir! This year, Earth Day is Friday, April 22, 2022. This week, we focus on the Earth, on the environment and climate and nature. I want to think again about our contribution to Earth's harmony, to nature's music. 

Each of us contributes to the beauty and harmony of the Earth, whether it's obvious or not, and whether we think about it or not. Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect on what we do and what we can do and what we need to do to keep the Earth beautiful. But, it's important to see the beauty and harmony in the first place. Keep thinking, keep believing, and keep singing: What a Wonderful World! We do this as individuals and collectively as the choir. 

Here's another gem from my blog post: 

They feel their own mistakes as huge distractions from the beauty of the song.

Don't focus on your shortcomings, the plastic things you still use, the recycling that you put in the garbage because you were tired, the light you left on. The gas your car guzzles and all those little things do contribute to the climate crisis, but you love the Earth. The strong voices carry the weak ones, and sometimes you are the strong voice. Love the Earth more and see its beauty. Love the Earth more and you will Invest in Our Planet (this year's Earth Day theme). Invest in Our Planet to protect and preserve it. Start with love and your actions will be powerful. Join with others and we become louder and even more powerful. 

Here's a snippet from earthday.org:

As individuals, we have the simple yet effective power to make our voices heard through our choices, our civic actions, and our personal interactions. What each of us does, and how we do it, has a huge ripple effect on our ecosystems, and on the pace of corporate and government action.

 

Back to me in 2013: 

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.

I'm looking at some of my old blog posts. I want to start saving and organizing my writing, my blog posts and bits and pieces that I have here and there. This post from June 2013 is a keeper. 

YRCC Rehearsal Review 12-Apr-2022

 Tuesday, April 12th

Small Group:

Good Morning, Starshine: we added Karen to the sopranos, and while we were rehearsing, Pat and Jack punched holes in the music I brought: The Wellerman Shanty and Farewell to Nova Scotia- a couple sing-alongs in a nautical theme.

Choir Warm-up:

We had a short physical warm-up and some breathing and did a couple of new vocal exercises.

1.     You Raise Me Up

Gorgeous! We’re just going to sing it the way it is- no extra verse- and we’ll invite the audience to sing in the chorus. (I added the chorus to our PowerPoint)

2.     I Can See Clearly Now

We did it! We learned the ending, so now we’ve covered all of this song. We’ll need some review, but it’s not bad. If Tabatha has any time, she’ll get the parts recorded for us so you can review at home too.

3.      Walking on Sunshine

This is fun! We learned the chorus at the Segno @44 and sight-read through the whole thing. There’s a tricky bit on page 11 @102 with sections overlapping their own melodies, like in I Can See Clearly. It shouldn’t be too hard.

4.     Sunshine Medley

We continued back-building the Don’t You Worry section, and finished it! We could manage performing this, but I’m going to hold it until we have a bigger come-back concert.

5.     We Rise Again

So beautiful! We reviewed page 5 and the ending. We could perform this today and it will be wonderful, but we’ll keep refining it.

 Have a Happy Easter, Everyone!

Next week: Tuesday, April 19  

No Small Group is scheduled for April 19

1. Blue Skies
2. I Can See Clearly Now
3. Walking on Sunshine
4. Wellerman/ Nova Scotia
5. Wonderful World

Muppets, Bugs Bunny, and Fun Music

The amount of classical music I was exposed to by rabbits and other creatures in Muppet or animated form is amazing. What a fun way to influence children's musical taste! 

Video games and movie soundtracks continue to provide serious music for all ages, wonderful symphonic orchestral works that play on the "classical" radio stations. Sesame Street is still at it (currently in season 52), introducing classical music to children and their parents along with lots of fun.

When I was teaching English as a Second Language to adults in North York, I had a workshop that I conducted for other teachers called "Serious Fun". I shared games that I used successfully in class to teach and to practise grammar, idioms and other vocabulary, spelling, all kinds of serious things.  The games added much-needed moments of silliness and respite from all of the pressures of being a newcomer to Canada and an adult returning to a classroom. Some of the serious fun included singing. 

Serious Fun is still my thing. I love to have fun with my choir, making sure to have at least one song in every performance that makes people laugh, something cute, something silly and fun. I pepper my commentary with dashes of silliness. We often deal with big, serious themes, and sing grand, moving pieces of music, so everyone needs these moments of release. 

When we rehearse, we need to have fun every week. We work hard learning music that's often in 4-part harmony and challenging. It's important for us to be able to laugh at ourselves, and to release the stress of the difficult passages in the music we're learning. Even more important for our weekly rehearsals is the need to release the stresses of the day, the stresses of life. My choir is Serious Fun like my grammar games!

Serious music, classical music, orchestral works, don't have to be heavy and challenging. Yesterday, Lauren (my friend and YRCC's lovely president) gifted me with an afternoon at the Symphony with her. The TSO (Toronto Symphony Orchestra) presented a concert called Totally 1980s. It was so much fun! We laughed and sang along (Don't worry: the audience was invited to sing and even dance along.) and we were also fascinated and impressed by all the wonderful musicians in the orchestra and the vocalists who performed a super mix of pop, rock, disco, and soundtracks from our youth. What joy; totally my thing!

I recently posted (on Musical Empathy: renatesmusicalempathy.blogspot.com) about my early memories of serious music, entitled "Sesame Street and Cartoons: Iconic Music Memories". I've spoken about the Muppets quite a bit lately, and because they were such a big influence on me, we're doing a Muppet-like version of Good Morning, Starshine rather than a Hair-like version.

Another thing I love about Donna, our new accompanist, is that she happily recounts being told by her students that she sounded like Kermit the Frog. I love Kermit and had a Kermit stuffy when I was little. Donna shares my playfulness, and she is seriously trained and seriously talented. I love that she laughs at my silly jokes. I think Serious Fun is Donna's thing too. 

A moment of conducting and singing joy rehearsing the choir.

YRCC Rehearsal Review Tuesday 5-Apr-2022

 Tuesday, April 5th

Small Group:

Good Morning, Starshine was good except we forgot to warm up and we had no altos. Kit has offered to sing the first verse as a solo. Thank you! We’ve established that we’re not crazy about this arrangement so we’re tweaking it in several ways. The aim is for our performance to be cool, adorable, and cheery, a sweet hug. Someone suggested imagining driving in a convertible sports car, and I added “with a Muppet or two in the back seat”.

The Choir Warm-up this week included raspberries, rollercoasters, and librarian shh!s. We also repeated last week’s new warm-up: Sing an itty-bitty witty-pretty song, song, song.

1.     This Little Light of Mine

I’m gonna let my little light shine- we’re going to let our big bright lights shine- we carry sunshine inside us, our eyes, our smiles, our actions let the light out

Remember the repeat @35 page 6, remember the key change: Sop and Bass carry the key change. We had no takers for the solo here. I sang it and I love to, but it’s not an easy thing in a performance for the conductor to sing in the middle of a song, so it would be best if someone came forward to take this on, and a soprano would be best so that the harmonies stay full.

I need to figure out how to conduct in 2, showing beats 1 and 3, while encouraging the audience to clap on 2 and 4.

We were all feeling this fun song, enjoying it, and Donna even added a cool run at one point! Loved it!

2.     I Can See Clearly Now

Wow! We learned the tricky part at 38 and reviewed the segno @25! We’re doing great. We are hopeful that we’ll get the parts recordings, but if we’re not perfect, this will still be a good one.

3.     You’ll Never Walk Alone

Walk on and on and on through the wind, through the rain, with your head up, dreams tossed and blown, but you're okay because you know you are not alone and the storm will end

We reviewed the special (neglected) second soprano bits (@31 dreams, and @41 and again @64 the extra note on beat 2) and we all reviewed the section at 57. We sang through twice and it was beautiful. I learned that I really don’t know the alto part. Debbie gets a gold star for being on her own and holding her own.

4.     Somewhere Out There

and even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star (same wish, to be together, to hug, to share a meal)

This is so pretty and not difficult! Something a bit tricky is the repeat and the Coda. Remember the repeat to Segno (@25 too. Timing seems to be an issue here. Gentlemen, don’t be afraid to follow Melinda. She knows where she’s going.) and then jump to the Coda on the last page with that special alto bit nice and loud. Remember special ending--- tru-u-ue, come true.

5.      On Eagle’s Wings

I skipped the Sunshine Medley, so we had time to choose a bonus end song and we chose On Eagle’s Wings. Some of us took off our masks and stood physically distanced instead so that we could really enjoy singing out on this beauty.

We talked about:

Our seniors’ tour. Every week starting the Tuesday after the Victoria Day weekend, we’ll be out at seniors’ residences. We’ll need to look at numbers, ours and the pandemic’s, as we get closer. You can get the details on the YRCC Calendar. Thank you, Jane, for arranging all of this!

Our equipment. We don’t have a volunteer yet to take over the keeping and hauling of the equipment. Jack took it this week, but we are looking into the possibility of the church having a spot for it.

Having men from the police choir join us this season. We can use the early rehearsal time to help them to “catch up” to where they can perform with us if necessary.

Next week, Tuesday, April 12

Small Group at 6:45/7:00 again: Good Morning, Starshine

1.       I Can See Clearly Now
2.       Sunshine Medley
3.       Walking on Sunshine
4.       We Rise Again
5.       You Raise Me Up

Music to hand out: Wellerman, Farewell to Nova Scotia

YRCC Spring 2022-This important Seniors' Tour

I've decided to copy one of my old posts here. It was from May 2012, written during the seniors' tour, after singing at Doane House Hospice. This year, 2022, we have a big seniors' tour planned. Our focus will be these members of our community who have suffered so much isolation and desolation during the pandemic. Since we're a small group this season, I hope we can all commit to going to every Tuesday performance of this year's tour (number restrictions might mean second sopranos will take turns?).

I'm listening to the Vancouver Chamber Choir now, one of their Music for Healing albums. It's very pretty, and calming if you can listen to a choir without frowning as you imagine singing (or facilitating) some of those complicated chords, interesting modulations, high notes. Majestic, sublime, heavenly music by Bach, Fauré, Gregorian Chants.

In May 2012, our theme was Showbiz! Music from Stage and Screen. The music was mostly happy and fun: Blue Skies, Get Happy, Regards to Broadway, Rainbow Connection, Do Re Mi. Remember the small group that did Born This Way by Lady Gaga? That was spring 2012. We also sang Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, Wind Beneath My Wings, Wonderful World. 

When I think of the healing nature of our music, I remember the senior audiences' laughter ("the best medicine"), and hear their shaky voices singing along, and I see stiff muscles needing to move to a catchy rhythm. When I think of our music as medicinal, I also think of us singing out loud and feeling the freedom of expressing our pride and joy and love with all our hearts and souls. When we sing one of our pieces observing none of the suggested dynamics, just Forte-loud the whole way through because we love it and need to sing out, that's healing something. 

The first Music for Healing album is called Finding the Still Point, so it's about stillness. I guess what kind of music you need will depend on what kind of healing you need, and how you relate to music, and surely there's some music for any and every ailment and affliction, for every person at any time. 

Music for Healing (Renatesbaton Tuesday, May 29th, 2012)

We know that music is magical. It affects our health and well-being. Singing in the York Region Community Choir is a wonderful, healthy activity that we enjoy every Monday evening.
Lately, our Mondays are even more rewarding.
We're on our seniors' tour. We're visiting retirement residences and nursing homes in our community. Last week we visited Doane House Hospice in Newmarket.
When we visit seniors to sing for and with them, we feel great because we're doing what we love to do, and it's good for us, and we can feel great about contributing to the health and well-being of our audience members.
I just read about The Vancouver Chamber Choir's Music For Healing recordings:
 a series of three discs designed to accompany people facing serious life challenges. It has been funded entirely through generous donations by individuals and organizations who want to be part of an important and ongoing gift to the therapeutic process in their communities.
The first two discs look amazing and are available on their website. The choir is presently working on the third CD. It's an impressive project. I can totally relate to their desire to connect with the community in this way, and can imagine that it's a very successful and satisfying mission. They say:
It is our way of saying through our music, “You do not stand alone”. 
Choral music can do that best. The sound of a community of singers, people's voices joining together in unison and in harmony, is special.
Check out the sound clips on the website. They are really extraordinary. There are samples of all kinds of music the choir sings.

This pretty visual can be found here.
Music Heals supports Music Therapy

Don't Forget: Tuesday is now YRCC Choir Night!

 

YRCC Tuesday Choir starts Tuesday, April 5th, 2022

The York Region Community Choir now meets on Tuesday nights. 

Monday, Monday will be a wonderful memory.

Good Morning, YRCC Muppet Fans

Good Morning, Starshine!

Sesame Street is my inspiration for our small group song, my YRCC Muppet friends. The Sesame Street version of Good Morning, Starshine is the best!

Those lyrics seem to be made for muppets. I wanted a "cute and fun" and possibly "silly" song which is always good to have. This one fits the bill, and our theme, beautifully. 

Gliddy glup gloopy, 

nibby nabby noopy 

la, la, la, lo, lo

Sabba sibby sabba, 

nooby abba nabba, 

lee, lee, lo, lo

Tooby ooby walla, 

nooby abba naba

Early mornin' singin' song

(now you have these lyrics to review)

There's this Sesame Street version and also a radio version by Oliver that I remember more than the Hair version. 

We made a couple of changes to our sheet music. If you want to join this small group, be sure to get those notes copied on to your music. 

I have a few copies still. 

We're meeting early next week, but not starting until 7:00.

YRCC Rehearsal Review 28-Mar-2022

 A big reminder that next week we move to Tuesdays! 

Monday was choir night for so long, it's going to be strange. But, the days of the week are all strange still for me, and I think there's so much transition happening for most people that it will not be a big deal. Put it on your calendars, set your alarms, do what you have to do to remember and to let your people know that Tuesday is now choir night. 

Small Group: Good Morning Starshine

We had our first small group rehearsal this week. Good Morning Starshine is adorable, but not super-easy. We made a few changes to get the melody more like we remember it. We discovered that the door opens at 6:30 sharp, so we'll meet at 6:45 and aim to start at 7:00 next week. It was way too cold to have to wait outside for the door to unlock! Brrrr!

I forgot to mention that we discovered last week that the doors were unlocking at 6:30 and locking at 7:30. So, we need to arrive punctually. Lauren is looking into having the doors open a little longer, but it's good that they lock after we get in. For security, it is best if we are downstairs with the doors upstairs locked. Let someone know if you need to be late so we can look out for you and open a door if necessary. 

1.     On Eagle’s Wings

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand

So we will shine our lights while being held in care, or maybe because we are held and carried and raised up by each other and given the time and space to shine. You raise me up to more than I can be.

We reviewed all the  "Make you to shine like the sun" they are all a bit different from one another, especially in the Alto parts. This is a well-known and well-loved song, but our arrangement is special and impressive. Even if we don't get it perfect, it will sound great and feel wonderful. We missed the other Tenors and Basses tonight because they get so much melody and their part is really strong in this. Blair is a trooper, and I would give him a hundred gold stars if that was my thing ;-)

Blair found our arrangement on the Alfred.com site. They've got an orchestra, and they sing it too schmaltzy for me, but have a listen:

https://www.alfred.com/on-eagles-wings/p/00-16104/

2.     I Can See Clearly Now

We learned the section at the Segno @25, which is where the blue skies are. Love this section! We sang all the way through, trying to remember last week's stuff and sight reading the rest. Not bad, but we'll be working on this for a while. No worries, but I'd love to be able to share this with seniors, and maybe at an outdoor public performance this year. 

Here's a recording on the Alfred.com website. It's in SATB and with a band, so a little different but it's our arrangement. 

https://www.alfred.com/i-can-see-clearly-now/p/00-41695/

3.     Sunshine Medley

We started the Don’t You Worry section building backwards with melody at 65=69. It went well. This line is pretty cool and not too hard. We sang through the whole thing, remembering and sight reading. I think it's going to be great! I'd like to save this one for December, but we'll keep singing it. 

4.     You’ll Never Walk Alone

Walk on and on and on through the wind, through the rain, dreams tossed and blown

This is one of our favourites and also a fan favourite. We've got this, but we can clean it up a bit too. We've been letting a couple things go. For example, the second sopranos have a few special bits that we've been ignoring. @31 dreams for second sopranos (yes, you get those 8th notes), also second sopranos @41/42 and again @63/64 have the G and the special A onbeat 2 (easier here because it comes out of a divided S1-S2 part). The audience would never miss these bits. Our arrangement is so special and impressive! We have recorded parts of this song if you want to hear this, however, I remember the recordings having some issues. I'll take a listen. (when I figure out how to get access to them- they seem to be gone)

 5.     We Rise Again 

As sure as the sunrise, as sure as the tides and the seasons, we rise again and again- In the voices of our songs.

Marlene is back from the visit with her beautiful new grandson- with pictures (thank you!)

Like You'll Never Walk Alone, this song is forgiving. We sang it without reviewing the parts to see how it felt and sounded, and sure enough it was good. We need a good soloist, which we have, and the first sopranos have to be together, and the rest is oohs that are background and not really listened to carefully, and the melody that everyone wants to hear. Great arrangement, super sound from our little choir! We'll keep working on this, getting it better every time, but it's not a worry.

We have/should have recordings for each part for this song on the website, but there is something wrong. I'm looking into that.

Other News:

Jane has been busy contacting seniors' residences and she's getting us bookings for June! We'll be performing for seniors this spring on Tuesday evenings. Since we're a smallish group, we should all be able to go to each performance, but we'll confirm this as the dates get closer. We do have to be prepared for things to change, as things have been doing for the last 2 years. 

For a concert, we'll look into getting a park in Newmarket and/or Aurora for an afternoon, maybe a Saturday afternoon or even a Saturday morning during market time? Still need to work on that. 

Carol also shared a baby picture- her new great niece who is named after Carol's mom and born on English Mother's Day. Edie/Edith is beautiful and Great-Aunt Carol is beautifully beaming. 

Next week, Tuesday, April 5th, 2022

6:45 / 7:00 Small Group: Good Morning Starshine

1. This Little Light of Mine
2. I Can See Clearly Now
3. Sunshine Medley
4. You'll Never Walk Alone
5. Somewhere Out There

On Eagles Wings- YRCC will shine like the sun

One of the songs we are singing this season and probably next is On Eagle's Wings. It's a pretty piece, and pretty well-known. US President Biden mentioned it in his victory speech in November 2020. Our arrangement is powerful and it feels great to sing it. I can't wait to sing it again at choir next week!

Here's a video of the us performing it, and you can also follow this link: YRCC singing On Eagles Wings

 This video was taken at our "We Are Winter" Concert in December 2014 at Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora. It was one of our packed December concerts; must have been more than 200 people there in the audience. 

We are really very popular in December. For many, our winter concert has become a family tradition, a yearly outing near the start of the festive season. I've heard people say that it kicks off the holiday season for them. We have all missed so many traditional activities for the past two years! Holidays were very different with celebrations, parties, dinners, gatherings, traditions cancelled or moved online to Zoom. 

I so much want to be there again, in front of a large audience, in front of my big, gorgeous choir!

I had hoped that spring 2022 would be our big reunion with our audience, our We Rise Again concert. But, with the pandemic still lingering, people still staying home, fear lingering, we will put a big concert off again, and will plan the big one for December 2022. We will shine like the sun! 

When we are all together, feeling safe in the palm of His hand, we will stand shoulder to shoulder and sing out to our friends and family, all of our fans again. We will shine like the sun. I promise.

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings

Bear you on the breath of dawn

Make you to shine like the sun

And hold you in the palm of His hand

YRCC Rehearsal Review 21-Mar-2022

Happy Dance

    

Monday, March 21st was WONDERFUL!

1. You Raise Me Up

When I am down and oh my soul’s so weary: pandemic, all the time!  So grateful for those who came and sat a while with us, on the phone, by zoom, in person, to raise us up out of the loneliness. Big love to our besties!

When we sang this, it felt heavenly. We’re back. Donna was fabulous, the choir sounds great! I was so happy! We sat side-by-side, not distanced, but sang with masks. It worked. We could hear each other and sing out with confidence.

For the first two verses, make sure you are holding notes as written, observe rests as they are, just a short breath maybe, and after the second ending, more legato, link the words together without a rest, especially mountains you and middle of page 6 : “You raise me up to more than I can be” all linked and lush and loud, not soft (ignore the “a little less” notation). This time we’re singing it as a big hug, soothing and lush- mark your music, erase notations to cut short, erase notation/notes to sing softly in the middle of page 6!

Thinking about adding an extra verse with an audience, having the audience sing a third verse, repeating the first, with the choir singing only mmm or soft doo-doos. We tried it out and it could work.

2.     I Can See Clearly Now

This is such a fun piece! I love it. We’re doing great so far. We sang all the way to the segno (@25). There are tricky bits: Basically, the whole section from @16 is hard for the sopranos and altos. The hardest, I think, is “It’s what I’ve been praying for.” We’ll have to review that whole section, but it’s pretty cool, and the tenors and basses get the melody, which is a nice change. We “walked through” the whole piece, taking note of the segno, and the coda, and how the repeat happens.

We sang along with a recording that Blair found for us. It’s from the Alfred Music site Alfred.com. It was quite a bit faster than what Donna and I like. We’ll do it slower. Here’s a link to that recording.

My YouTube channel has two choir versions. Here’s a link to my playlists. Click on the POST COVID Playlist and you’ll find all kinds of treasures.

3.     Sunshine Medley

Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright, let the sun in, don’t you worry bout a thing. It’s often difficult to relax and open up to good things after going through bad things. 

We reviewed the beginning, Here Comes the Sun, and continued with the transition to Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a thing. We walked through the whole thing, and even sight-read the Here Comes the Sun ending!

I had some blank stares during the Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing part. I recommend that you take a look at the video on my Post COVID Playlist (Here’s a link)  to get a feel for what I’ve got in my medley. I borrowed heavily from that version. There’s also a Here Comes the Sun and the Aquarius/Let The Sunshine video there for you. Here’s a link if you want to go straight to Don’t You Worry.

4.     Hallelujah

All TB on first solo All SA on second solo, we stood, some physically distanced without masks and it was so good!!! 

5.     Why We Sing

We had a couple more minutes and decided to sing this. Same idea with the solos: all TB all SA. We remained standing. Donna was sight-reading. It was awesome! What a talent! The choir was fantastic too! I felt a wonderful high that I haven’t felt in such a long time!

Take Note:

During break, we talked about moving to Tuesdays to keep Donna, and we all agreed that it was the best plan, and Lauren and Jane are working to make it happen.

We also talked about working toward seniors’ visits and maybe a park concert instead of our usual big formal concert. With the small numbers and pandemic stress, along with all the transitions happening, we decided it would be best not to have a formal concert.

We’ll have more details on performance plans as they get booked. Seniors concerts are only an hour, from 7 to 8 and we’ll look at Tuesday evenings in June.

Next week, Monday, March 28

6:30:  Good Morning, Starshine Small Group

1.     On Eagle’s Wings

2.     I Can See Clearly Now

3.     Sunshine Medley

4.     We Rise Again

5.     You’ll Never Walk Alone

 

YRCC Rehearsal Review 14-Mar-2022

It was wonderful having Donna accompany us and help us learn parts! You can tell she's been doing this for a while; she's fantastic. Donna is the accompanist for the police choir, so she can only do Monday nights for us until they start up again. We don't know when that will be. The Admin Centre is still closed. 

Someone suggested we blend the two choirs together, but that won't work for many of us YRCC folk who work during the day. The police choir does daytime stuff. And besides, they're a very different choir from us. I've actually been thinking for a while about changing our night to Tuesdays to see if some of those men would choose to sing in both choirs. Some of our women might want to join the police choir now that they're recruiting women. Everyone present thought that moving to Tuesday would work. We'd have to find out if our room would be available here at Trinity and later at the Admin Centre.

Something else that came up was whether or not we think we can perform a concert, or maybe just do seniors' homes since we're a smallish group. It's good to have a goal to work toward, but I guess we could change our goal to small seniors' visits, and maybe a different kind of concert, free, outdoors? 

Exciting. We'll be doing more talking and planning. 

Peggy came with all the new music, numbered and punched and ready to add to our binders. All the binders are ready for members to come back. Spread the word. 

Here's what we sang:

1. Wonderful World

I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. Reminds me of the people walking through the neighbourhood at all times of day, couples, families, fast walkers and slower walkers, andante, adagio, lento even. Our audience would enjoy singing along with us, I think.

2. Blue Skies 

Nothing but blue skies from now on… we hope and pray that the pandemic restrictions can end and we can sing freely again, projecting our voices with confidence, without masks,…a dream for now. We all wore masks or face shields so that we could sit closer together. 

 Melinda and Debbie sang the solos, and were great. Lauren has offered to sing one of the solos, so she could do the first and Debbie is the soloist for the second, but we always need back-ups, so let me know if you'd like to try either of these. 

We did snaps and jazz hands: mark your music where you start and stop snapping. Sopranos snap on page 1, everyone snaps during the solos. Jazz hands on the last word. 

We talked about solos in general. We have 4 songs with solos. Let me know if you are interested in any of these:

1. Blue Skies – 2 soloists (Lauren and Debbie, back-ups needed)

2. Seasons of Love- 1 or 2 solos and back-ups are needed

3. This Little Light of Mine- 1 or 2 solos (Mary-Ellen, another? back-ups needed)

4. We Rise Again- 1 solo (Marlene, back-up needed)

3. Sunshine Medley

Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright, let the sun in, don’t you worry 'bout a thing. It can be difficult to relax and open up to good things after going through bad things. We will try to let the sun in and also to let our lights shine. 

The time changes look odd, but we should not have to worry too much about them, because our Here Comes the Sun sounds a lot like the Beatles'. We sang all the way up to bar 42. We'll review all that next week. 

4. We Rise Again 

As sure as the sunrise, as sure as the tides and the seasons, we rise again and again- in the faces of our children, in the voices of our song.

Marlene is an excellent soloist for this! If anyone is interested in being a back-up, let me know. 

We started at C (middle of page 5, bar 19- if you need to add letters to your music click here) :

We reviewed all the parts in C. We need to hear T/B lines, which are cool and different. I need to hear the basses at bar 19 on beat 4. At bar 25, the basses joined the tenor moving on beat 3 in "ocean" and that was a good move. So, basses, please change your notes to a half note followed by a quarter there.

We'll go over it again next week, and we'll review all of the oohs and ahhs. We did the oohs and ahhs on page 7 and it was good to look at them again. 

We sang all the way to the end. We need to review who sings what in the last 2 bars @64, 65

I had planned to sing You Raise Me UP as well, but I guess we did a bunch of extra talking. That's fine. My planning is flexible these days. 

I had hoped to start the small group Good Morning Starshine on March 21st, but let's push that to the 28th. We'll talk about small groups next week. 

Monday, March 21st:

Here's the plan for next week:

1. You Raise Me Up
2. I Can See Clearly Now
3. Sunshine Medley
4. We Rise Again
5. Hallelujah

YRCC Updated COVID Protocols- March 2022

YRCC choir members, please come back as soon as you're comfortable. 

We have plenty of space at Trinity Aurora. We are currently sitting closer than 2M but wearing either a mask or a face shield. 

Here's the list of our updated pandemic protocols. 

1. Wear your mask. Wear your mask any time you are away from your seat. You can sing with your mask on, but you don't have to. We also have plastic face shields for everyone. Give a face shield a try. 
2. Stay healthy and do not come if you are feeling ill; stay home when you're sick. 
3. You can screen yourself online before you leave home here. (The Ontario screening tool. It's so easy! Click on "Start Screening" and keep clicking.) Or, you can screen yourself using this form, attached, a PDF version. We do not have to see your screening. You are responsible for this. 
4. Generally, wash your hands often with soap and water and dry them well. 
5. Use hand sanitizer when you can't access soap and water.
6. Avoid touching your face. 
7. Only go out when necessary (choir is necessary).
8. Keep high contact surfaces (door handles, for example) clean.

The church is asking us to keep our things, including coats, in the room with us. We are to clean/disinfect the high contact surfaces. We set up our chairs and then put them away after. Thank you to everyone who's been helping with that!

We are not asking for proof of vaccination anymore. But, personally, I hope you are all up-to-date on your shots. We will keep up-to-date with and keep following the provincial rules and the rules of our host, Trinity Anglican Church in Aurora. 

Stay safe and healthy, and come back to choir!