Agenda for 9/27

What a great rehearsal last night! We have now read through all of the music for the fall. (There is, in fact, one more piece (Biebl: Ave Maria), but I still haven't decided if we're going to do it.)


On 9/27, a photographer from campus will be taking our photo. I'm not asking you to wear concert dress, but please dress as you'd like to appear in the photo, preserved for generations to come.

I've posted videos of the two Messiah selections and Paulus' Pilgrims Hymn. (See the right column on this blog.)

Here's the plan for next week. Please look at the music on this post before next rehearsal. New members, make sure you have binders and a pencil! (This week's new members don't have all of the music yet, so prepare just what you have.)

7-7:10 warmup

10-20 Wondrous Love

20-30 Pilgrims Hymn (first half)

30-35 Steal Away (verses only)

35-50 Run to the manger

50-8pm Gesu Bambino

8-8:05 break

5-15 Little Light, pp8-end

15-25 Glory to God

25-35 Thankful, pp. 5-6, 1-5

35-45 O thou that tellest

45-55 Simple gifts (men may leave)

Have you friended Kappa Kitty yet?

Rehearsal checklist for 9/13

This is just a checklist of what we read last night. If you check this against the repertoire list, you'll see that I still owe you some more music.

• Battle Hymn
• Wondrous Love
• Steal Away
• All Good Gifts
• What a Wonderful World
• Pilgrims' Hymn
• Run to the Manger
• Gesu Bambino

Next Tuesday, we'll look at those pieces we didn't get to yet and possibly review some of the above.

Fall 2011 Repertoire

All fall 2011 repertoire is ready, and I'll be able to give you your music at this week's rehearsal. Make sure to bring a binder and pencil. A binder is required at all rehearsals.


Many of you have asked about what we're singing this fall. Here's the list:


Civil War program:

Wondrous Love
Battle Hymn
Steal Away

Holiday program:
Messiah: O thou that tellest; Glory to God
Run to the Manger (a nice gospel setting based on "go tell it on the mountain")
Gesu Bambino
Simple Gifts (Aaron Copland's setting)
Thankful (a Josh Grobin classic)
Little Tree (based on e e cummings poetry)
What a Wonderful World
Ave Maria (a stunning work by Franz Biebl)
This Little Light of Mine (an upbeat jazz/gospel arrangement)
Pilgrims’ Hymn (lovely work by Stephen Paulus)
All Good Gifts (from the musical Godspell)
Wondrous Love
Steal Away

And as mentioned, we're singing the Fauré Requiem in the spring!

Getting ready for fall 2011

Welcome back (almost) to classes!

We resume rehearsals on  Tuesday, September 6, 7-9pm. Our first performance (!) is Wednesday, September 7 at 1:30pm. You guessed it: Convocation!

Follow the calendar link to the right for the complete schedule.

We have several performances this fall, including one in mid-November and another at the Framingham Public Library. I'm looking forward to working with you all again! Please help to build membership by inviting your friends, other community members and new students. If you are a recent graduate, please consider joining us as a community member!

That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Pre-concert notes

What a great rehearsal last night! I'm ready for a great concert next week!

Before giving you notes, please fill out this form if you haven't already. (CLICK HERE)

These are basically the notes I gave in rehearsal. Please look them over with your music.

• Ave verum
• start pp...we'll build ONLY on the second page
• Laudate
• m.48-53, there is no breath! Sing it as one phrase
• Kyrie
• explode in "Ky" every time
• letter B is still piano
• Gloria
• there is no break from mm.7-12; keep it strong
• watch the cutoffs on "bis" throughout letter B
• m.67: watch the cutoff on "ctus"
• we will accelerate from mm.81-end
• Credo
• the basic dynamic is pp
• mm85-89 is still forte
• p21: note terraced dynamics during this page
• mm.129- end of page is still ff
• p. 25 is pp
• Sanctus
• p26: watch your slurs! Sing through each phrase for a consistent, full sound
• Agnus
• let the pp dynamic be a surprise each time, never get loud!

Remember: dress for men is all-black; ladies is all-black or black bottom w/ single color top

See you at 6pm on Tuesday!

Agenda for April 26, 2011

This is our final rehearsal before the concert! You all are sounding very good, and I'm delighted to see that we're bringing this to an even better level than I planned.

Please be prepared for a THREE HOUR rehearsal. It is very unlikely that we will need this time, but it is reserved for us in the event that there are some issues.

The rehearsal will begin with a FULL RUN of the program in order.

PROGRAM ORDER

• Ave verum
• Laudate
• Mass

Please put your music in this order before rehearsal.

CONCERT TIME

• Tuesday, May 3, 6pm warmup, 7pm concert

CONCERT DRESS

• men: all black, including black socks
• women: either all black OR black bottom with single colored top
• Questions: ask at rehearsal!

COMMENCEMENT

• Sunday May 22, 2pm on Framingham Town Green (parking at FSU)
• You have no idea how important it is to the chorus funding that we have good attendance at this event. Please click here to fill out this form to indicate whether or not you will be attending. Please, please, please try to come.