***Click here to view the 2011-2012 calendar of St. Louis Area Choral Concerts.***
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Monday, 2/6/12, our fourth practice for the 2012 Spring Concert. 45 singers were present. It was the last night to sign up for Christmas Concert CDs and fill out the Chorale Questionnaire. Prez Dan stressed the importance of attending rehearsals. We have 15 Monday-night practices remaining before the Spring concert. Please contact your section leaders if you are going to be absent so they can share any details/changes you might have missed. We started with "Kyrie." Roz was pleased with the improvement in preparation over the week. Special attention was paid to dynamics. On "Lambscapes" we worked on the pronunciation of the Latin, German and Italian. Choreography and dynamics were also practiced. Last up was "A Gershwin Portrait." We worked on Part 4 ("Fascinating Rhythm.") The rhythm was fascinating indeed, and we worked diligently on this piece. Roz felt we made good progress. We adjourned for Goodie Night after singing Happy Birthday to our February celebrants. Next week is the special rehearsal for the Tenors and Basses. Please refer to the "Our Schedule" page of the website for details. On a sadder note, we send our thoughts and prayers to Marian M. and Lyn M., whose husband and father (Francis) passed away today.
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Monday, 1/30/12, our third practice for the 2012 Spring Concert. 41 singers attended tonight's rehearsal. Signup sheets were out for Goodie Nights and Christmas Concert CD orders. There is still time left to fill out the Chorale Questionnaire and return it to Prez Dan at next week's rehearsal. The church building will be open for us on Presidents Day. Please refer to the "Our Schedule" page on this website for details, as it will not be a routine practice. To access that page, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the words "Our Schedule" in blue. After warmup, we started on Kyrie. Roz observed that more notework is required on this piece by the singers, and suggested that we practice the Kyrie, using our CDs, 10 times in a row this week at home. That'll git 'er done! We worked diligently on A Gershwin Portrait, Bugler's Holiday and He Never Failed Me Yet. Roz felt we made good progress on all three. Goodie Night next week!
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Monday, 1/23/12, our second practice for the 2012 Spring Concert. Prez Dan put out signup sheets for Goodie Nights, Christmas Concert CD orders, and a general questionnaire for Chorale members. Onnie presented our new 20-page hole punch. Life is good! After warmup, we worked on Lambscapes, Kyrie, A Stephen Foster Tribute and I Got Shoes. Roz said we made good progress.
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Monday, 1/16/12, our first practice for the 2012 Spring Concert. 46 singers attended, with some new faces in the crowd. Welcome! Prez Dan provided a signup sheet for Christmas Concert CDs. Carol B. is on holiday, so Roz did double duty as our accompanist tonight. Congratulations to Kathy A. on her recent marriage. Roz asked that in order to be better prepared for sectionals, singers report any problem areas with the music to their sectional leaders. We traded our old music for the new and picked up our practice CDs. Thank you to Onnie and the board for getting all of that ready for us. We did fresh reads on Lambscapes, He Never Failed Me Yet, I Got Shoes, An American Celebration, Bugler's Holiday and A Jubilant Song. It felt like "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" on some of them, with interesting new rhythms and whimsy. We had fun and also did some good work for the very first rehearsal. We sang "Happy Birthday" to the January celebrants and adjourned for Goodie Night. Thanks to the board for supplying the goodies! NOTE: Please check the "Our Schedule" page of the website for practice assignments and any changes in the schedule. We will have some changes in sectional attendance and time slots in the future.
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Sunday, 12/11/11: The 2011 Christmas Concert sounded and looked great from my seat in the audience. Congratulations, Chorale and signers! The audience turnout was much improved over last year, due to the sunny, dry weather. Stay tuned for details of the upcoming Spring Season on the "Our Schedule" page of the website, as well as this Blog. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Monday, 12/5/11, our fifteenth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. This was our real-time program run-through with announcements read by Joe, followed by Goodie Night. Good luck this coming Sunday, everyone!
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Monday, 11/28/11, our fourteenth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. Getting so close! We had good attendance and were happy to see Don D. back with us. Announcements: The side door is the only door to be used for rehearsals from now on. Next Monday will be the last night to sign up for the Christmas Concert Dinner at The Shrine. Alto Mary Ann H. has retired from the choir after 40 years! We will miss her, wish her well, and hope to see her in the audience in the future. Thank you to photojournalist Zia from the Belleville News Democrat who stopped by to take photos during rehearsal. Check Thursday's "Lifestyle" section. We made very good progress on the 2nd half of the program. Our signers, Cassie and Christie, were there to practice their beautiful language. Please note that the concert lineup is on the "Our Schedule" page of the website. Goodie Night next week!
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Monday, 11/21/11, our thirteenth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. 46 singers attended. We welcomed the SWIC signers for the concert who came to preview and record the lineup. Thank you, Cassie L. and Christie M! Signup lists were put out for Goodie Night, Grand Manor concert attendance and the Christmas Concert Dinner at the Shrine. Various forms of publicity items were made available for distribution throughout the community. Someone from the media will be here at next week's rehearsal to do an article and take photos. We worked on the 1st half of the concert. The following pieces are very close to performance-ready: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "All Is Well," "On Christmas Night," "Lullaby Of Worship" and "Songs Of Bethlehem." "Pat-A-Pan" is really sounding good. Roz reminded the choir to sing less loudly, as we don't want to drown out the flutist, who has her own melody lines. We worked on "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," focusing on that tricky rhythm! "Mary Had A Baby" involved working on dynamics. With Ken M.'s solo, it is sublime. "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" is coming along well. All of these pieces have room for more tweaking and improvement. Other than continuing practice in between rehearsals and listening to each other while singing, the big takeaway is to keep those heads up and focus on Roz. That is the key to everything! Our prayers and support go out to Don D. and Gene H. for health concerns or procedures. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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Monday, 11/14/11, our twelfth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. We had an attendance of 50 singers. Roz gave us the lineup for the Grand Manor concert on December 8: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, Pat-A-Pan, Ding, Dong! Merrily On High, Go Tell It!, Singalong and Silent Night. Please be there at 6:30 p.m. in festive Christmas attire. Prez Dan is going to bring a signup sheet to rehearsal so we'll know the number of singers attending. He also read a lovely thank-you note from Lovey V. - Onnie W. provided publicity postcards and Ken M. gave details of the Christmas Concert Dinner at the Shrine. Tonight we worked on the entire second half of the concert. Major points made were keeping energy (and heads) high, tempos steady and assertive ( esp. "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy,") and moving together. Roz felt the rehearsal was good and very constructive. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 11/7/11, our eleventh practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. 45 singers were in attendance. Thanks to Anne von B. for providing concert lineup sheets. Publicity posters were made available to put in shop windows, churches etc. - Prez Dan made several other concert-related announcements. Those can be found on the "Our Schedule" page of the website. Ken M. will bring the Shrine Dinner signup sheet in a week or two. Millie D. and Shirley M. will not be able to continue this season. We'll miss you! After warmup, we sang through "Lullaby Of Worship," which is sounding very good. We must pay close attention to Roz for the cutoffs. "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" is really coming together. We made good progress on "Pat-A-Pan." We need to listen and tune to each other during the piece, and also sing the words more percussively. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" sounded wonderful. We spent the most time on "Mary Had A Baby" - Dynamics, dynamics, dynamics! Ken M. delivered his solo with sweet intensity. Goosebump City. We then adjourned for Goodie Night!
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Monday, 10/31/11, our tenth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. 28 singers attended our Halloween Night rehearsal. Roz led us in a very spooky warmup, singing "Boooo!" in minor keys. Creepy good! Starting with "All Is Well," the a cappella version required some work on notes, keeping the tempo moving forward, and all the parts staying in sync with each other. "Pat-A-Pan" was sung at concert tempo with only drum and flute accompaniment. It sounded great! We spent a good amount of time honing the rhythm of "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," along with clean consonant cutoffs. (Say that 10 times, fast!) "On Christmas Night" is really coming along. We worked on dynamics and keeping the tempo steady. We ended rehearsal a bit early with "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." We focused on chord work and cutoffs. It's sounding very good. To see the entire concert lineup, check out the "Our Schedule" page of the website. Our love, support and prayers go out to Lovey V., whose husband passed away this past weekend. Also prayers for family members Kathy A. and Ken M.
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Monday, 10/24/11, our ninth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. While the Cardinals were playing Game 5 of the World Series, the choir had a very productive rehearsal. 50 singers attended. Our chief Cardinal Nut, Prez Dan, informed us of some interesting concert dates in town. Thanks to all who signed up for November Goodie Night. We send love, support and prayers for those that are dealing with health issues: Lovey's husband, Ken H.'s father, as well as Jan C. and John F. We started rehearsal with "Calypso Medley," making good progress. We worked on rhythm, transition, closing those "m's and n's," and the percussive "tch-tch" tenor line. "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" is coming along, with focus on its special rhythm, and nailing those consonant cutoffs. We sounded a bit rusty on "Songs Of Bethlehem," but got our mojo back after about three passes at it. We closed with "Silent Night," paying attention to cutoffs. It was poignant, yet powerful.
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Monday, 10/17/11, our eighth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. Thanks again to Mickie M. for taking notes for me. I hear there was quite the interesting vocal exercise for diction employed by Roz this week: "The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue." Gosh, I'm so sorry to have missed that ;P - A lot of hard work was applied and progress achieved during this rehearsal. Roz was pleased. The songs rehearsed were: "Pat-A-Pan," "Lullaby Of Worship," "All Is Well," "On Christmas Night," and "White Christmas/Sleigh Ride."
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Monday, 10/10/11, our seventh practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. Thanks go out to Mickie M., who took notes for me in my absence. First of all, we welcome the new tenor! Songs practiced tonight were: "Silent Night," "A Christmas Blessing," "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" and "Go Tell It!" - Attention was paid to cutoffs, enunciation, rests, accentuation, rhythm and staggered breathing. Rehearsal ended a bit early due to the Cardinals' post-season game in progress. Please note some new dates regarding solo auditions on the "Our Schedule" page of the website.
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Monday, 10/3/11, our sixth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. 50 singers here tonight, including a new soprano. Welcome, Barbara! The signup sheet for Goodie Night is filled for November. Thank you! December still needs to be filled. Rehearsal began with "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," with attention paid to dynamics and rhythm, especially on page 7. We were sounding much better after working on this piece. "Mary's Little Boy Child" entailed work on rhythm and "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby" required focus on rhythm, dynamics and closing our "n's," "m's" and "ng's." Phew! We ended with "A Christmas Blessing," with Roz stressing clean phrasing and dynamics. This one really flowed beautifully, if I do say so myself. We broke early for Goodie Night, after first singing "Happy Birthday" to September and October celebrants, and especially our director. It was a great spread of treats, and we filled the basket on the table with individual birthday cards for our indefatigable Roz.
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Monday, 9/26/11, our fifth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. With 46 singers present, rehearsal started with announcements. Prez Dan reminded us that the Goodie Night signup sheet has one open slot for October. We still need people to sign up for November and December. We will once again be performing at The Grand Manor in Fairview Heights on Thursday, December 8, at 7:00 p.m. Cardinal Fever was apparent as rehearsal got underway, with the Cards playing for a wild card spot tonight. Even Roz was asking for score updates. It's a rare occasion when cell phones are not requested to be turned off! Health-related prayers go out to Lois K., Ken Hise's father, Barb R.'s husband, and Andy M., who remains on the transplant list for both heart and kidney. Opening with "All Is Well," we focused on vowel-shaping, dynamics and expression. With "Mary Had A Baby," we worked diligently on shaping the ever-changing dynamics. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" needed some note work, and centering our vocal tone. "Silent Night" went very well, with attention paid to creating a sense of awe and wonder. Enunciation was also addressed. Last up was a dust-off of "The Singalong," including working on the transitions between songs. Again, Roz was pleased with what we had accomplished this week. (I never did find out what the final baseball game score was.)
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Monday, 9/19/11, our fourth practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. We had a nice turnout of about 50 singers. We welcomed back Onnie, our Super Secretary/Marvelous Music Librarian, from her trip. Aloha! She promptly distributed our new copies of "Go Tell It!" Additionally, CDs from the 2011 Spring Concert were handed out. Ken Hise's mother recently passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Tonight we started with "Songs Of Bethlehem," working on the a cappella section and enunciation. We did a cold reading of the jazzy spiritual, "Go Tell It!" Needless to say, the rhythm on this one was the primary focus. With "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High," Roz requested more punch, accentuation and lilt for the piece. Last up was "Pat-A-Pan," attempting concert tempo on the last run-through, continuing to hone the rhythm of the individual parts and closing those "n's." Roz was pleased with our progress tonight.
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Monday, 9/12/11, our third practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. A rousing round of applause was given to our returning accompanist extraordinaire, Carol B. We missed you! We were also pleased to welcome Janet and Pam to the soprano section. Prez Dan put out signup sheets for future Goodie Nights and 2011 Spring Concert CD orders. Rehearsal started with "Lullaby Of Worship." Phrasing and dynamics were addressed. With "Mary Had A Baby," rests were added, along with more attention paid to dynamics and accenting notes as written. Maintaining a steady tempo was emphasized by Roz in "On Christmas Night." Next up was "Mary's Little Boy Child," where tempo was the main focus. With "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy" we worked on rhythm, accents and closing our "m's" and "n's." We ended the evening with a quick run-through of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Roz said we were making good progress and accomplished a lot in this rehearsal. For clarification: "Calypso Medley" is comprised of "Mary's Little Boy Child" and "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy." The "Singalong" is, in order: "Silver Bells", "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", "Winter Wonderland," "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Holiday Blessing."
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Monday, 9/5/11, our second practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. Turnout was only 26 for Labor Day Monday, but we had a very nice rehearsal at Crossroads Christian Church. The "Two Tenors," Ken H. and David K., totally held their own! After warm-up we did a cold reading of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Roz added a quarter rest at the end of Measure 26 and a caesura (complete break) after the first beat in Measure 102 (between "Lord!" and "Al-le.") Altos are to only split on measures 51 through 54 and where there are four notes in a chord. With "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," Roz showed us where and how to shape the phrasing of the piece. An eighth rest was added to Measure 15, between "us" and "Lord." Roz was pleased with our preparation for the run-through of "Pat-A-Pan" and "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" (working on enunciation and rhythm.) We concluded with "All Is Well," with emphasis on enunciation.
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Monday, 8/29/11, our first practice for the 2011 Christmas Concert. We have a beautiful lineup of songs for this season's presentation. At least 50 singers attended rehearsal, with a few new faces and returnees. Welcome to all! Our new President of the Board, aka "Chief Cat Herder" is Dan Upton. Congratulations and thank you! Our diligent Treasurer, Carl Eschman, has retired. Thank you for your many years of service, Carl! Anne von Brecht is the new Treasurer. Congrats and thank you, Anne! Prez Dan read a thank-you note from the birthday celebrant we performed for this summer, and a thank-you letter for our performance at the Memorial Day ceremony in Swansea. Valerie D. is out with a broken ankle and we wish for her a speedy recovery. Babette was at rehearsal with a broken leg and we also wish her well. Next week's rehearsal will be at Crossroads Christian Church in Caseyville at 7:15 p.m., due to the Labor Day closing of United Presbyterian Church. Please click on the "Schedule" link to read the details on that page of our website. Maps with directions to the church were made available to everyone. Last season's music was exchanged for our new music and practice CDs, with sparkly, embossed "MECC" pencils in each of our envelopes. Could that be a hint? :)
Singing commenced after a nice warm-up by Roz. We worked on creating intense drama for "Mary Had A Baby." With "Ding, Dong! Merrily On High" and "Pat-A-Pan," rhythm and enunciation were emphasized. We wrapped up the abbreviated rehearsal working on the transition from "White Christmas" into "Sleigh Ride." Yummy treats were supplied by the Board (Thank you!) afterwards. The music to practice for next week can be found on the "Schedule" page of the website.
~ A Special Note ~
Ada Louise Kays, the mother of our accompanist Carol Brookshier and Patty Buckhannon, passed away on August 12. She was well-known by many of us in the Chorale, as she almost always attended our rehearsals, rooting us on in her sweet quiet way. It was a privilege to know her. We celebrate her life, and surround Carol, Patty and their families with our love and support.
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Monday, 6/27/11: Altos enjoyed their annual summer night out at Tim and Joe's in Belleville. From left to right: Ruth, Ann, Pat, Mia, Kathy, Laura, Roz and Anne. Mickie had to leave early, but she was there too, by Jove! We had a great time and missed all who could not attend. See photo below. *P.S.* The party-girl Altos decided to squeeze in a second "Altos' Night Out" by gathering at Cutter's in Belleville on August 22. All the usual suspects were there, and had a great time. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, 5/15/11: A little birdie told me that despite the yucky weather, the Art On The Square Concert went well. You all sounded wonderful, including Eddie the drummer. Way to go, singers! About 30 of us performed. The photo is up on the homepage. Here's to a sunshine-filled day for the Memorial Day Ceremony concert! For details, please visit the "Our Schedule" page of the website.
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Monday, 5/9/11: A fun time was had by all at our Pizza Party/Rehearsal. Thanks to the board for supplying the pizza, salad and the purple silverware! I am not sure who brought what, but an additional thanks to those who provided the ice chest full of sodas and all of those luscious desserts! I counted about 40 people in attendance, and it was great to see Tom K.'s smiling face again. Roz had some very nice words to say about our Spring Concert performance last Sunday. Some of us have told Roz that we would like to perform at St. Matthew United Methodist Church again next spring. Eddie A., their wonderful drummer, will be joining us at the Art On The Square concert. That's really going to pep things up. After lots of food and socializing, we rehearsed the concert lineup. We continued to polish up areas such as tempo, energy, diction, entrances, exits and transitions. A sign-up sheet was put out for those wishing to purchase the CD recording from the Spring Concert. More details were given on the Memorial Day Ceremony concert. Please visit the "Our Schedule" page of the website. Here's to a fun and uplifting outdoor concert at Art On The Square!
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Monday, 5/2/11: In this blogger's opinion, we presented a wonderful Spring Concert yesterday for the 2011 season! There's nothing like the gift of music shared with loved ones, friends and the community as a whole to bring joy and hope to these uncertain times. Infinite thanks to our intrepid visionary, director Roz S., and the priceless artist who anchors us always, accompanist Carol B. -- Thank you, Joe W., for your warm and flawless introductions to the music performed. Special thanks to everyone at St. Matthew United Methodist Church in Belleville, among them drummer Eddie A., his wife Ruth and Grant S. who also contributed their percussion skills. Thanks to "Deej" on sound. Making our performance complete were Denise B. and Rachel A., our SWIC student interpreters for the deaf. Soloists, you just plain rocked it. And thank you Anne V., for your superb flute-playing talent. Thanks go out to Kay P. for taking photos for our website. Thank you most of all to our audience and sponsors. In other words, we are grateful for everyone who made this performance possible! Even the rain held off until after the concert. Please visit the "Our Schedule" page on the website for the remaining Spring Season schedule. I hope to have photos up soon.
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Monday, 4/25/11, our fourteenth and final full-length practice for the 2011 Spring Season. We performed the entire program, including introductions (Thank you, Joe!) announcements and intermission. Welcome and thank you to our Spring Concert ASL signers from SWIC, Rachel A. and Denise B., who also attended. After the run-through, Roz had us go over a few rough spots. The following song pairings will be sung back-to-back with no introduction in between: Song Of Creation/Ave Verum, All Things Bright And Beautiful/My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit/Ain'-a That Good News!, Broadway Legends/You'll Never Walk Alone, Tell My Father/America... The Dream Goes On. Let's all keep our heads up, our energy high and our eyes on Roz. See you on Saturday morning! (See the "Our Schedule" page of the website.)
Good thoughts and prayers for Tom K., who is hospitalized, Barb M., whose brother recently passed away, and John F. at home. It was good to hear that Ann R. is doing somewhat better.
Is it okay to pray for no more rain? :)
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Monday, 4/18/11, our thirteenth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. What a difference a drum makes! Eddie, the magnificent drummer from St. Matthew United Methodist Church was present to practice with us on several tunes: Pass It On, There's No Business Like Show Business, Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat, and Armed Services Medley. He and his daughter will be our percussionists for the concert, and we thank them. His steady beat will assist us in maintaining those peppy tempos. Broadway Legends/You'll Never Walk Alone was next. We put finishing touches on phrasing, tempo and transitions. The sublime "The Prayer" duet was rehearsed over break. Next up was Tell My Father, with the amazing Anne V. on flute. We closed the evening with America... The Dream Goes On. Watch those rests and keep the tempo up. We had three generous choristers step up to fill the upcoming vacancies on the board. Our thanks go out to Ken M., Babette R. and Marinda S.
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Monday, 4/11/11, our twelfth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. Announcements: This will be President Sandy's last season serving on the board. We will miss her strong and graceful leadership, but we're very grateful she is not retiring from the choir as well! This creates an opening on the board for someone to serve a 3-year term. Please consider running. We need you! Candidate nominations will be announced next week.
Ken M. has reserved a private room for our after-concert dinner at Fischer's at 4:30 p.m., for anyone interested. It will be an "order off the menu" setup, so no commitment or up-front money is needed. There will be a sign-up sheet for the dinner at next week's rehearsal.
Please read the "Our Schedule" page of the website for important dates, times and other info regarding the upcoming concert (written in orange.) We keep in our thoughts and prayers John F., Andy M. and Pat H., who are experiencing health issues. We were very glad to hear that Don D. is doing well!
We ran through the first half of the program in concert order. It's really coming together! We have a little polishing to do, but Roz was overheard to remark, "Wow!"..."Yeah!"..."Beautiful!"..."Lovely!" at various points during rehearsal. A few notes: "Song Of Creation" - The opening three notes are to be strong and separated. We performed "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" a cappella and it sounded very good. "Pass It On" - We rocked this piece with Roz drumming on a stool. Thankfully, we will have a drummer at concert too. Watch Roz carefully on this piece (and every piece!) so that we can achieve a good volume balance between choir and soloist. "Ain'-a That Good News!" - Roz pointed out that softer doesn't mean slower. On the rest of the songs, work on maintaining energy and following the "golden hands" of Roz. As for the lucky stragglers who got to hear Ken M. and Kathy A. rehearse "The Prayer"...*sob-swoon-thud* :)
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Monday, 4/4/11, our eleventh practice for the 2011 Spring Season. The tenor section was a bit thin tonight. "Tell My Father" was rehearsed, with Anne V. and Kevin L. delivering beautiful solos. The central message of this evening's rehearsal was to keep our eyes on Roz at all times for her direction, and to intensify our practice sessions at home with the CDs. To paraphrase President Sandy, we are approaching our concert dates quickly, and these last few rehearsals are crucial for adding the final touches for a great performance. If you have missed any rehearsals, please contact your section leaders for the most current rehearsal notes. Their phone numbers can be found on the "Our Schedule" page of the website. The songs we worked on tonight were: All Things Bright And Beautiful, Pass It On, Broadway Legends, You'll Never Walk Alone, There's No Business Like Show Business and Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit/Ain'-a That Good News! Nice job, soloists! We concluded with Goody Night.
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Monday, 3/28/11, our tenth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. The women practiced "It Might As Well Be Spring" (much better tonight!) while the men left the room to pick up/try on the new vests. They're going to look so sharp! We are very near performance-ready on "The Seal Lullaby" and "Song Of Creation." We're coming along well with "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat," "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" and "America... The Dream Goes On." We closed with "Armed Services Medley," which is ready to go.
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Monday, 3/21/11, our ninth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. The women rehearsed "It Might As Well Be Spring." It's definitely coming along nicely, with some work needed on tone, articulation and phrasing. It's going to be beautiful! Roz had everyone stand next to someone from a different vocal section to practice "Pass It On" and "There's No Business Like Show Business." Good progress was made, with some work needed on rhythm and transitions. Speaking of transitions, we closed the rehearsal with "Broadway Legends." Solo auditions commenced, with one to three singers auditioning for each part. Congratulations, soloists! We are going to have a very nice variety of voices for the concert. NOTE: Second Sopranos have their sectional next week.
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Monday, 3/14/11, our eighth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. Attendance was down a bit this week in the tenor and alto sections. We were informed that Ann R. will not be finishing out the season, due to some health concerns. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Ann, and we are looking forward to seeing you in the audience at the concert, and hopefully back in your chair next season. We had a great rehearsal, if I do say so myself. Actually, Roz said it first ;) What a difference a week can make. Well done, everyone! Tonight we sang Ave Verum, The Seal Lullaby, Song Of Creation (The sopranos rocked!), Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit/Ain'-a That Good News!, You'll Never Walk Alone, and closed with America ...The Dream Goes On. We are getting there for sure, with continued diligent practice at home. Good luck to all who are auditioning for solos next week, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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Monday, 3/7/11, our seventh practice for the 2011 Spring Season. Roz praised the tenors and
basses for putting in good practice time on "Tell My Father" between rehearsals. It showed! Roz then pointed out that we only have four
"regular" rehearsals remaining. Gasp! My, how time has flown (due to a couple of unavoidable rehearsal cancellations this season.) We all
need to step it up by using our practice CDs to get performance-ready, and we've got what it takes! First up tonight was "My Shepherd Will Supply
My Need," where staggered breathing and maintaining the energy throughout the piece was stressed. Our rhythm is improving on "Pass It On."
"All Things Bright And Beautiful" left a bit to be desired, especially at concert tempo. Our second run-through showed some improvement.
Dynamics were the main focus of "Song Of Creation." President Sandy showed the choir the black vest that will be the new look for the men.
For those who do not own a plain black vest, Sandy has a sign-up sheet for sizes needed. We wrapped up the evening by singing "Happy Birthday"
to our March celebrants, and a very nice Goody Night followed.
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Monday, 2/28/11, our sixth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. We did more fine-tuning of
"The Seal Lullaby," then proceeded to "Broadway Legends," our first run-through of the entire piece. Let's just say we all need to hit
those practice CDs stat! Roz did a lot of work with us on notes and introduced some cuts that are on the CDs. After running through the
tune a few more times, working on transition points, we started to sound better. "Ain'-a That Good News!" showed good progress from last
week, with cleaner entrances. "There's No Business Like Show Business" - We're getting there. Our final piece was "Armed Services Medley,"
a la marcato, "with strong accentuation." It sounded lively, proud and powerful. Please check the "Our Schedule" page on the website, as next week's
rehearsal will be divided into specific time periods for different vocal sections.
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Monday, 2/21/11, our fifth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. After warmup, we started with
"Ave Verum," focusing on energy, staggered breathing, vowel shaping and dynamics. Next up was "Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit" and "Ain'-a
That Good News!" We practiced the transition between the two pieces, and worked on dynamics and tempo. We closed the evening with "Sit
Down You're Rockin'The Boat," working on our "Singlish" and rhythm. Solo auditions will be held March 21st at 8:45 pm. Please check the
"Our Schedule" page of the website for details.
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Monday, 2/14/11, our fourth practice for the 2011 Spring Season. We had good attendance again
tonight with about 50 in the risers. It was great to see Barb M. return after having surgery. The men started off with their first
read-through of "Tell My Father (TBB)," a very poignant piece. Next up was "The Seal Lullaby." We are continuing to work on the shaping
of this tune. Our first attempt at "Pass It On" involved a good amount of time spent working on the fun rhythms and "Singlish." Roz said
we made good progress. After break, "Song Of Creation" required work on articulation, dynamics and phrasing. The ladies concluded the
evening with their first run-through of "It Might As Well Be Spring (SSAA)." Tonight was a very productive rehearsal. Our thoughts
and prayers go out to Glynn D. and Don D., both of whom are dealing with some health issues.
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Monday, 2/7/11, our third practice for the 2011 Spring Season. It's good to be back after last week's storm
and cancelled rehearsal. We had a nice turnout of about 50 singers. President Sandy handed out letters for advertising. She also suggested we reach out
to businesses that have sponsored us in the past. During warmup, Roz pointed out that pure vowels all have something in common. We worked on maintaining
a consistent, focused tone for the Ma-Me-Mi-Mo-Mu exercise. We were much better prepared to practice "The Seal Lullaby" this week.
Phrasing, dynamics and our collective midwestern twang were addressed. We don't want to have to change our name to the Metro East Country Western Community
Chorale, right? "You'll Never Walk Alone" required work on staggered breathing, as the phrases are long, requiring high energy throughout.
"There's No Business Like Show Business" entailed working on notes and rhythm, adding staccato to the opening section of the piece. This is going to be a
fun tune. We made good progress, sang "Happy Birthday" to our February celebrants, and concluded with Goody Night. Reminder: Tenors have sectionals next week.
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Monday, 1/24/11, our second practice for the 2011 Spring Season. With no snowstorm approaching this week, our
attendance shot up to 60. Thanks, Mia, for recruiting a new soprano. Welcome, Tammy! Shirley D. organized the vocal sections in the new riser arrangement
as we were settling in. Roz warmed us up from the piano, as Carol is away this week. We continued to warm up with "Ave Verum," working on vocal tone and
breathing. A good amount of time was spent on "Song of Creation," with chord work on this modern piece. It was noted that both of these songs require soft
intensity in spots. We sang through "Broadway Legends" to page 16. Roz handed out her new rhythm arrangement for the last song of this medley. It replaces
measure 298 (Pg. 34) to the end, and is also what we will hear on our practice CDs. Working on "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat" was a hoot, as the rhythm
is quite syncopated and fast. Apparently the midwestern pronunciation of "down" leaves a lot to be desired when singing it. It's "DAH-ohn," not "DAY-own."
Roz felt that we made good progress. We closed with "Armed Services Medley," beautifully arranged by Roz. It was great to see Pastor Doug at rehearsal.
He brought the Christmas Concert CDs, which were handed out. Onnie has the signup list for those that still want to purchase them.
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Monday, 1/17/11: Altos took advantage of tonight's rehearsal being cancelled and dined at Tim and Joe's in Belleville. They had a great time and missed all who could not attend. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 1/10/11, our first practice for the 2011 Spring Season. Happy New Year, all! It was nice to see
familiar faces again. We had an impressive turnout of 45, considering there was a large snowstorm predicted for later in the evening. We arrived to
see that the chairs were in a new formation, all along the back wall. Roz thanked us for a great Christmas concert, which was very nice to hear.
Christmas music was exchanged for the spring music. We also received our new practice CD's. Yay!
Announcements: We warmed up with "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." With "Ave Verum" Roz went over the Latin pronunciation and noted that staggered breathing will be
critical in this piece. "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" was next, with special attention paid to the syncopated rhythym. This one is going to be fun!
Our last song was "The Seal Lullaby." Dynamics will be a key part of this hauntingly beautiful tune. We dismissed early so everyone could get home before
"the big snow."
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To all of my fellow Chorale members,
Have a Charlie Brown Christmas, A Happy New Year, and remember the Reason for the Season! I'll be thinking of you all over the holidays, and how we totally rocked out at our Christmas Concert!
See you next year!
Regards,
Laura P. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sunday, 12/12/10, our Christmas Concert at the Lady of the Snows Shrine Church was exceptional. Except the
audience was about half normal in size due to the really bad weather - 2" of snow, cold and very windy. Again, our three soloists, Sue DeLorme, Kevin
Luechtefeld and Ken Metze, were AWESOME! Please note the two new pictures from the concert added to the Welcome web page.
Hard to believe the 2010 season is over.
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Thursday, 12/9/10, our Christmas Concert at Grand Manor. WOW, we sounded great! Our two soloists, Sue DeLorme and
Kevin Luechtefeld, were AWESOME! This was a great way to tuenup for the main concert Sunday.
Saturday, 12/11/10, our pre-concert "dress rehearsal" at the Shrine Church, went very well.
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Monday, 12/6/10, our sixteenth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Our numbers were good. We sang through the entire concert with
announcements. It went extremely well - we're concert-ready! Two Interpreters - SWIC students - and their leader were also there to prepare their signing. Next stop:
Grand Manor Thursday night, practice Saturday morn at the Shrine Church, then the concert Sunday afternoon.
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Monday, 11/29/10, our fifteenth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Our numbers were down, probably
due to colds and flu. We sang through the entire second half of the concert lineup as scheduled. We needed more polishing than last week. I need to
focus some practice time on this half.
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Monday, 11/22/10, our fourteenth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. We sang through the
entire first half of the concert lineup, as scheduled. We're nearing concert quality! Roz had to polish a few spots, but great progress is
apparent. The soloists were really great tonight!
Note the cancellation of all sectional practices for the rest of the year. And the 2010 Christmas Concert flyer link from the home page.
Also note that music at the Lincoln Home is cancelled until they fix the piano!
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Monday, 11/15/10, our thirteenth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. We sang through the
entire second half of the concert lineup, with the addition of "Ding Dong! Merrily On High." The second half was rough in spots, and Roz
worked diligently with us on those areas. It was a very productive rehearsal. We are sounding gooood!
Concert Posters are now available for members to post at business locations and churches.
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Monday, 11/8/10, our twelveth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. We sang through the entire first half
of the concert. A few difficulties here and there, but generally we were good to very good.
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Monday, 11/1/10, our eleventh practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was good - I counted 61
singers. We sang the scheduled songs except for Children Go Where I Send Thee: Silent Night, Drummer Boy, Glory Hallelujah to the Newborn King, the Sing
Along, and Carol of the Children. We also sang Celtic Noel and Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly light. And then time for Goodies! Just the number of songs
covered tonight indicates we're getting nearly concert-ready.
The winners of the solo tryouts last week are Kevin Luchtefeld - Glory to the Newborn King, Ken Metze - The Jesus Gift, and Sue Delorme and Kevin -
Children Go Where I Send Thee. Congratulations to all!
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Monday, 10/25/10, our tenth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was good - I counted 59
singers once everyone showed, though a few basses were missing. We sang the scheduled songs: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light (from memory!!!),
The Jesus Gift, Ding Dong! Merrily on High, Rockin' Christmas Celebration! and A Christmas Blessing, missing A Charlie Brown Christmas and adding
A Celtic Noel. We're starting to sound like we are ready for the concert! We were done before 9:00 to allow the solo tryouts. There was good interest
in the solo tryouts, with at least three trying for each of the three parts - a sign of a good and healthy choir!
Goody night next week!
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Monday, 10/18/10, our nineth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was good in all
sections except the sopranos - flu bugs still? We sang mostly what was scheduled, except we started with Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light and
did not sing The Little Drummer Boy. Scheduled and sang: Candlelight Carol; the Sing Along; Children, Go Where I Send Thee; Do You Hear What I Hear; and
closed with A Charlie Brown Christmas. We sounded very good, though that soloist on Children Go Where I Send Thee needs to work on his notes and the
Ten Commandments phrase. Roz fixed a few things as we went, as always.
Note solo tryouts are next week at 9:00 pm.
Laura Pearce agreed to consider being our hisorian, continuing voluntary work Bob Vielweber started and continued for years. The two BIG history
books contain interesting photos, flyers and news clippings.
Did you know that you can play your practice CD's on your computer? Free programs like Real Player, Apple's Quicktime and Microsoft's Media Player
do the job. You can sing along with the speakers or ear phones.
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Monday, 10/11/10, our eighth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was down a little this week,
possibly from the flu bug. We sang Carol Of The Children, Glory Hallelujah To The Newborn King, Rockin' Christmas Celebration, and Silent Night.
We postponed Candlelight Carol until next week. I thought we sounded very good. Note new detail on solo tryouts on the schedule page.
Our next challenge is to decide the Biblical references for our version of "Children, Go Where I Send Thee:" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Meaning for Biblical references in a slightly different version of "Children, Go Where I Send Thee"
(from Wikipedia 10/9/10 - shows how exciting my Saturday nights are): Monday, 10/04/10, our seventh practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was down a little this week. Name tags were handed out by Anne
vonBrecht to each section. They're very attractive and easy to read. They are to be returned to the ziplock bag of each section after every rehearsal.
Starting in November, Tenors go back to having sectionals the second Monday of the month. John S.'s hip surgery is scheduled for Oct. 25. We wish him
well. We sang Happy Birthday to Roz, and again to our October celebrants. The songs we worked on this week were A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas
Blessing, The Little Drummer Boy, A Celtic Noel, Ding Dong! Merrily On High, and Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light. We broke early for Goodie Night!
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(A personal You-Tube late-night excursion 9/29/10) Here's the Peter, Paul and Mary version of "Children Go Where
I Send Thee," titled "Jane, Jane:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2HSfKjOKYI. I also loved a comment on their version of "The Rising of the Moon:"
"Leave it to PPM to sing of an Irish uprising on the BBC! :)"
Monday, 9/27/10, our sixth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was good, though the
Cardinals last home stand of the season removed a few of the guys. We ran through the scheduled songs except A Christmas Blessing: Break Forth,
O Beauteous Heavenly Light (tenors finally getting the timing right!), Children Go Where I send You (nice job on the solos, Sue!), Silent Night
(this is trickier than I thought), Rockin Christmas (guys need to work on the Beach Boys part) and Glory to the New Born King. We did fairly well,
with Roz correcting most issues as we went. Lastly we sight read Carol of the Children since we just got the music tonight.
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Monday, 9/20/10, our fifth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was good, but the air
conditioning was off after a 90 degree day. We practiced The Jesus Gift until we got it right - sounding good! Then we worked on O Break Forth and
Charlie Brown Christmas before giving up due to the heat. Its got to cool off soon!
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Monday, 9/13/10, our fouth practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Attendance was light; the Cubs-Cards ball
game was especially tough on the tenor section. We sang "A Charlie Brown Christmas," measures 1-98, the 5 Sing-Along Songs (Silver Bells, Let It Snow,
Winter Wonderland, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer [no sheet music; sing from memory] and A Holiday Blessing.), "Candlelight Carol," and "The Little
Drummer Boy." The last time through each piece was sounding good!
Thanks to Laura for last week's blog, though I didn't get it posted until this week.
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Monday, 9/6/10, our third practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. Our Labor Day turnout for rehearsal was about 50 singers...not too shabby! Roz had us move closer together to cover the empty seats. Speaking of seats, we need to remember to return the blue chairs to the round table in the rehearsal hall, and return the brown folding chairs to storage afterwards. Leave behind, in both the Soprano and Alto sections, 7 blue chairs in each row. Our lovely accompanist Carol was absent, so Roz started us out from the piano with a long phrase warm-up to practice our breathing, maintaining an even tone color for every vowel. We followed that with our "Laughter is contagious" warm-up to prepare us for "Ding Dong! Merrily On High." After working on our "gloria," keeping it crisp and short, and running through it at concert tempo, Roz noted that we had made some improvement. For "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light," Roz instructed us on enunciation and dynamics. We then rehearsed the beginning of the piece, which we have memorized, without our music. The tenors really shone from practicing at home and tonight's sectional. Way to go, guys and gals!
We ran through "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to Measure 57, with special attention paid to rhythm and "doots" in the "O Tannenbaum" section.
**Note to Altos: The first note in Measure 36 should be changed from D-natural to D-flat.**
Next up, "Rockin' Christmas Celebration" was sung through Measure 97. Roz said, "Not bad!" For "Children, Go Where I Send Thee," we sang through Measure 70 with work on rhythm, rests and notes. We did a quick run-through of our encore piece, "A Christmas Blessing." Finally, a brush-up on "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer," its transition from "Winter Wonderland," and a fresh sight-read of "Holiday Blessing."
"Luddy" (our 'Get Well' turtle plush toy) was dispatched to Babette, who remains sidelined with an ankle injury. Goodie Night commenced! It was a fun and productive evening.
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Monday, 8/30/10, our second practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert. There were about 62 singers present, a great turn-out again! We elected
Ken Holmes, Jim Means and Anne vonBrecht to three-year terms and Dolly Roth to a two-year term for our Board of Directors.
All but the Tenors sang notes to "Break Forth O . . ." from memory, Tenors being sent to the woodshed for more work on this during next week's
sectional practice. Then we sang "Jesus Gift" fairly well as a group, but this will be mostly backup singing for a soloist at the concert. Then we
struggled with Children Go Where I send You, measures 1-35. We also tried a little of Rocking Christmas, measures 1-50, but didn't quite get into
the Beach Boy spirit. Lastly we sight read A Christmas Blessing. I thought it was a good first pass; Roz spotted a lot of work to be done.
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Monday, 8/23/10, our first practice for the 2010 Christmas Concert! Nice to see everyone again,
along with an amazing ten new singers! First we collected the new music. Then lots of announcements, many captured in the Schedule web page.
After a good warm-up, we launched into "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light." We also sang "Ding Dong! Merrily on High" which, though
rusty, sounded like we had sung it before. Then we worked on "Glory Hallelujah to the
King." We closed with sight reading all of
"Silent Night," which went very well. Then goodies! A great start for the new season!
An E-Mail from our President, Sandy Sullivan:
Dear MECC Friends,
There was a lot of drama going on in the Alto section last night, so for those of you who don't know, here is the scoop! Babette Rensing was not feeling well last night and as she was leaving she fell. She has a really bad sprained right ankle with torn ligaments. She will know later today if it is, in fact, broken. She will be non weight bearing for one week and in a cast for 2 weeks. That means....no driving. ow she is very swollen and in a lot of pain. Please keep her in your prayers for a quick recovery. Who would have thought that going to music practice would make you end up in the ER?!? Thanks to our wonderful Alto friends who were helping her.
HANG IN THERE BABETTE!!!!!!
A special thanks to everyone for such a great job at rehearsal. We have a lot of work to do before December 12th, but we already sound so GOOD. Listen to those CD's. They really help.
Have a wonderful week.
Sandy
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May 25 e-mail from Roz: Saturday, June 12th is a big day for two MECC members.
First, Mia Shelton will be participating in the 2010 Komen St. Louis Race For the Cure. She has set a personal goal to
raise $100, so whatever you can give will be greatly appreciated!
Later that day at 7PM I will be singing with the St. Louis Metro Singers in a Broadway showstoppers concert at Lindbergh High School auditorium. Tickets are $12. I'll have them when I see you in Swansea on Memorial Day. If you don't get them then I'll give them back to the Metro Singers so they'll be available at the door on the 12th.
See you soon!
Roz
And her May 5 e-mail: There's a good concert coming up on Saturday, June 12th at 7 PM. It's a Broadway Showstoppers
presentation by the St. Louis Metro Singers. It will be at the Lindbergh High School auditorium, 4900 S. Lindbergh Blvd
in Sappington. Come and hear some tunes that will probably show up on our concert next spring. (Some of them are really
cool.)
St. Louis Metro Singers concerts are usually free, but they do one a year as a fundraiser, so the tickets to this one
are $12 each. I'll have some to sell on Monday, and if I run out, I can get more to bring to our gig on May 16th.
Here are the tunes we're doing:
Les Miserables Medley: At the End of the Day, I Dreamed a Dream, Castle on a Cloud, Do You Hear the People Sing?, On My
Own, Bring Him Home.
Phantom of the Opera Medley: Phantom of the Opera, Think of Me, Angel of Music, All I Ask of You, Wishing You Were
Somehow Here Again, The Point of No Return, The Music of the Night.
Other songs: Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat (from Guys and Dolls), I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (SSA),
There Is Nothin' Like a Dame (TTBB), Gershwin tunes: Summertime and Embraceable You, I Won't Dance (Don't Ask Me).
Directions to Lindbergh High School: Take 255 South, cross the J.B. Bridge, and exit Tesson Ferry. Go Right. Turn Left
on South Lindbergh.
Sound like fun?
Roz
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Sunday, May 16: the Art on the Square Concert went exceptionally well.
This was probably the biggest audience we've had there - the tent was almost full. Their sound system was very good, too.
We sang our selected songs as well as ever, if not better than ever. The audience really got into the "I'll Fly Away"
Medley, clapping throughout.
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Monday, May 10, Pizza Party at 6:45 pm. Good pizza from Pizza World; the salad
was excelent. Good cookies for dessert, too - I ate too much as usual. Thanks to all who helped prepare this feast!
Practice for the Art on the Square Concert followed. It sounded like we had sung these songs before! If only that
50's Medley soloist would get his act together!
The donations from the Spring Concert were the best ever for a Spring Concert.
Many others also liked the pennywhistle player Allison Niessen's work. Someone commented that you can hear her and her
group Celtica play Tuesday nights at Castletown Geoghagen, 104 West Main, Belleville. They are also playing a Celtic service at St.
Michael's Episcopal Church on Route 158 (111 O’Fallon Troy Road), O'Fallon, this Saturday, 5/15/10, at 5:00 pm. Laura adds:
Http://www.newcreationpc.org/ is the web site of the New Creation Presbyterian Church, which meets at St. Michael's Church.
Note on the righthand side the details of the Celtic Worship for May 15. If you click on "Getting Here", top center of the
page, you will find driving directions. I'm also including the article from the O'Fallon Progress:
New Directors were not elected; this will be done at our first August practice. Let Sandy Sullivan know if you are
interested or have questions about being a director.
Roz advised that she now plays music at the Lincoln Nursing Home on Wednesdays (not Tuesdays any more), 11:30 - 12:30.
Don't forget the Memorial Day Concert at Melvin Price Memorial Park, in the 1500 block of Caseyville Avenue, Veteran's
Memorial Building, 10:00 am (better get there a little earlier).
Also mentioned was the Patriotic Concert Sunday, June 27, 3:00 to 4:45 pm at St. Paul United Church of Christ,
Belleville, IL, under the direction of concert founder, Norbert Krausz. There are three June practices on Wednesday nights
- oops, I didn't get the dates and times written down, but probably 7:00 pm the prior three Wednesdays.
And Roz e-mailed 5/5: There's a good concert coming up on Saturday, June 12th at 7 PM. It's a Broadway Showstoppers
presentation by the St. Louis Metro Singers. It will be at the Lindbergh High School auditorium, 4900 S. Lindbergh Blvd in
Sappington. Come and hear some tunes that will probably show up on our concert next spring. (Some of them are really cool.)
St. Louis Metro Singers concerts are usually free, but they do one a year as a fundraiser, so the tickets to this one
are $12 each. I'll have some to sell on Monday, and if I run out, I can get more to bring to our gig on May 16th.
Here are the tunes we're doing:
Les Miserables Medley:
At the End of the Day
I Dreamed a Dream,
Castle on a Cloud,
Do You Hear the People Sing?,
On My Own,
Bring Him Home.
Phantom of the Opera Medley:
Phantom of the Opera,
Think of Me,
Angel of Music,
All I Ask of You,
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,
The Point of No Return,
The Music of the Night.
Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat (from Guys and Dolls),
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (SSA),
There Is Nothin' Like a Dame (TTBB),
Gershwin tunes: Summertime and Embraceable You,
I Won't Dance (Don't Ask Me).
Directions to Lindbergh High School: Take 255 South, cross the J.B. Bridge, and exit Tesson Ferry. Go Right. Turn Left on
South Lindbergh.
Sound like fun?
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Sunday, 4/25/10, our Spring Concert at St. Teresa's Church in Belleville, IL. We
had a great audience and the acoustics seemed good with people in the building. My favorite was the pennywhistle solo
by Allison Niessen, "Her Mantle So Green," accompanied on the synthesizer by Roz Stevens, our Director. Most of the first
half was excellent, except for the difficult "Dona Nobis Pacem," which is complex enough that much of the audience
probably didn't notice our issues. The second half went well also, especially Ken Metze's solo on "People."
From Roz's 5/3/10 e-mail: You did a GREAT job on Sunday, and I am very proud of you. I heard only wonderful comments from our audience.
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Monday, 4/19/10 - our fifteenth and last Monday-night practice. We sang through
the entire concert for time. The first half had a lot of rusty spots as we haven't sung these for two weeks. The second half
was much better. Practic, practice, practice!
Dress rehearsal Saturday morning at St. Teresa's Church.
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Monday, 4/12/10 - our fourteenth practice. We sang through the second half
songs. The results were about the same as last week - several songs sounded good, many needed some work. We also
sang "Dona Nobis Pacem" again - Roz gave us a 3.5 out of five, so this difficult work also needs your practice.
Sandy stopped by to thanks us for our support during the last few weeks - she'll be in the audience for the Spring
Concert.
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Monday, 4/5/10 - our thirteenth practice. We sang through the first half
songs. Two were concert-ready, about two more were close, and the rest need some work. Practice, practice, practice!
Sandy's father's funeral is Thursday morning in St. Peters, MO. Volunteering singers will carpool from First United
Prebyterian Church. I didn't catch the time, so call Roz if you are able and interested in volunteering.
Our last "goody night" of the year was wonderful and delicious - thanks to those who provided the treats!
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Monday, 3/29/10 - our twelvth practice. We're sounding better, but still a
few rough spots, too. We got through most of the scheduled songs, but Roz had a very sore throat and had to stop at
nine - no break. No parking problems, either.
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Monday, 3/22/10 - our eleventh practice. We got a break! We must have done well,
or did we get the break so we could hear about the parking changes? We'll assume it was our good singing. We worked on
all the scheduled songs: "Canticle Of Peace," "God Be in my Head," "Let There Be Jubilant Praise," "Fly Away Medley," "Let There Be Peace," "For
America," "How great Thou Art," and "Dona Nobis Pacem." Most needed work!
Parking changes (heralded by Roz's horse whistle, chich can break fine glassware): Enter by turning north from Hwy 161
onto Royal Heights Road. Hopefully the rest is obvious, and we'll have a parking director there the first night. Almost
like valet parking!
New information (Friday, 3/26) on the parking situation from Keith: Last Monday we were told about parking restrictions
after Easter. Please inform our members that it has been changed. We can continue to park in the sanctuary parking lot as
we have for years.
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Monday, 3/15/10 - our tenth practice. This was a fairly typical, uneventful
mid-season practice with plenty of problems for our director Roz to fix. She tackled all of that with gusto! For the record,
we started with "Rising of the Moon" since Allie our flautist was present, who really added much to the piece!. We then sang
all the scheduled songs: "Offertory," "The Salley Gardens' Red, Red Rose," "Down To The River To Pray," "Dona Nobis Pacem,"
all of "The Music Man," "America, The Beautiful," and "Canticle Of Peace."
We were good enough to get a break this week; apparently last week was bad enough that the break was skipped! Roz
emphasized that practice, practice, practice will help improve our singing so we get the mid-practice break! Talk about the
carrot and the stick approach!
Jessica Davis is selling cookie dough to help support the Belleville West High School Girls' Soccer Team. And Keith
pitched the St. Patrick's day Dinner at First United Prebyterian Church this Wednesday 4-7 pm. And Don mentioned that we
may sing, on a voluntary basis, on Memorial Day, 10:00-10:30 am, at Melvin Price Park.
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Monday, 3/8/10 - our ninth practice. Please contact Onnie if anyone needs one
of the forest green MECC Logo T-shirts that are worn for our less formal concerts, like "Art On The Square." They come in
Men's sizes S-M-L for $15, and XL for $20. President Sandy handed out small brightly colored post-its to mark the
transitions in "Lost In The Fifties Tonight." Thanks, Sandy! The group marked them together, guided by Sandy and Roz.
This rehearsal we worked diligently, non-stop, on 5 tunes from the concert lineup. On "The Rising Of The Moon," dynamics
were stressed. For "Oh, Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells," Roz had us creating dynamic arcs, carrying energy through each phrase,
and singing marcato. We were also reminded to look up from our music at Roz. There are several crucial tempo changes within
the piece. Definite progress was made. On "Red River Valley," we finally sounded more secure of our notes. We worked on
staggered breathing to carry the flow and energy through phrases. According to Roz, we did much better than last week.
Hooray! "Lost In The Fifties Tonight" involved much time spent on our "sh-booms" and "ya-da-das", making those rests crisp
and precise, as well as reviewing the fun rhythms, the several transitions in the piece, and getting the words down. I
must say, it was fun watching Roz doing a little 50's dance while directing, helping us all get into the spirit of the
piece. Our final tune was "Dona Nobis Pacem." We reviewed and worked on some vocal parts separately, fine-tuning entrances,
sonority and note work. I was thrilled to hear Roz say: "We are light years ahead of the first time we sang this tune."
With those encouraging words, rehearsal was concluded. It was a good workout, and we all needed a drink of water :)
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Monday, 3/1/10 - our eighth practice. As you all know by now, Tom Kinkelaar's mother passed away on Friday. President
Sandy announced that a nice sized group from the Chorale was present to sing at the funeral this morning. A big thanks to
everyone who volunteered on such short notice. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tom and his family. Sandy also announced
that ad packets for our Spring Concert programs are now available, as well as donation forms. Dan Upton has volunteered to
be our Thank You Committee, which will involve sending out Thank You notes when needed, using our new MECC notecards. Thank
you, Dan! And welcome back, Carol and Patty! We missed you last week. Congratulations!
Roz thanked us for sending her to the American Choral Directors Convention, and introduced us to an exercise on vowel
"coloring." We warmed up singing vowels brighter and darker, opening and closing. It was very instructive.
Opening with "Red River Valley," it was observed by Roz that there is still note work to be done on our parts at home,
and reminded us that we only have seven more rehearsals left before concert. She pointed out to be mindful of the
crescendos and decrescendos in the piece as well. We sang "God Be In My Head," working on our breathing technique to carry
energy completely through each phrase. Next up was "Let There Be Peace On Earth," where we focused on utilizing the rests
for breaths. We also brushed up on the a cappella section of the piece. We closed out the evening with "Dona Nobis Pacem,"
with a thorough session of note work for all parts. Roz stated that this piece is coming along, and sent us all off to
enjoy Goodie Night.
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Monday, 2/22/10 - our seventh practice. Some good news was shared this evening. Our accompanist, Carol Brookshier,
was with her daughter at the hospital, awaiting the birth of a grandchild. Alto Patty Buckhannon, Carol's sister, was
also absent due to this blessed occasion. We wish Carol's daughter a happy healthy delivery!
Roz announced that she will be attending the American Choral Directors Convention in Cincinnati this month. Have a
wonderful time, Roz, and bring back some great ideas for the Chorale!
On a sad note, Kathy Hedger's father-in-law passed away this week. Our thoughts and prayers go out to family and friends.
The group seemed better prepared this week. We covered a lot of ground. After warm-up, with Roz doing double duty as
accompanist and director, we started with "The Salley Gardens' Red, Red Rose." We concentrated on carrying breath energy,
vocal intensity, and pure vowels. On "Fly Away Medley," we practiced at performance tempo. NOTE: Altos are to split on
three-note chords, with the exception of Measure 98 to the end, where Altos are to sing the bottom note. For "How Great
Thou Art/Majesty," Roz added new rests and cutoffs, and addressed phrasing. We also worked on some "Singlish." NOTE: A
typo was corrected in Measure 85, where Altos are to sing an "F," not an "E." We reviewed "For America." At concert, this
will flow into "America The Beautiful," where we focused on the areas where quarter notes are followed by eighth rests.
Hit those notes and get off of them quickly! Next up was "Lost In The Fifties Tonight." We covered "Sh-Boom," "The Book
Of Love," and "Graduation Day." A quick run-through of "Dona Nobis Pacem" with Roz attempting to accompany/support our
parts on the piano was rough, though a valiant effort! We will do much better with Roz back up there on the podium next
week. We closed out rehearsal with the moving and powerful "Canticle Of Peace."
GOODIE NIGHT NEXT WEEK!
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Monday, 2/15/10 - our sixth practice. We had a good turnout this week,
especially with a 5-inch snowfall the day before. Thankfully, the roads were not too bad tonight. Roz announced that
soprano Mona took a fall and broke her elbow. Our prayers and good wishes for Mona's recovery. Feel free to send her
a card as she heals. Onnie announced that copies of "How Great Thou Art/Majesty" have arrived for those that still need
them.
We started rehearsal with an "ear warmup", ascending in a 5-note minor scale and descending in the major scale,
singing "Mo." Challenging and fun. After a shaky beginning on "Red River Valley," Roz stressed that we need to be
using our practice CDs more in between rehearsals. In addition to note work, we worked on phrasing, staggered breathing,
dynamics, energy level and "singlish."
We did a bit better on "Let There Be Jubilant Praise," working on rhythm and being ever mindful of those rests/cut-offs.
Next was the lively "The Rising Of The Moon," with Roz focusing on dynamics.
The balance of rehearsal was spent on "The Music Man." We worked from Page 8 to the end. Roz added more rests and
instructed us on tempo changes, phrasing and dynamics. We spent some time doing note work on the more complex barbershop
harmonies, and worked on smoothing the transitions between songs in the medley. And after a little needed persuasion
from Roz, we now have a few volunteers in each section to do the "clip-clop" sounds of hoofbeats for "The Wells Fargo
Wagon" section of the piece.
We finished up with "Slow Me Down, Lord," enjoying Ken H.'s solo. Have a good week, everyone!
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Monday, 2/1/10 - our fourth practice. Copies of "The Lord Bless You and
Keep You" were returned to Onnie, since it was replaced in the lineup by "Canticle Of Peace" last week. Roz read a
letter to the editor of the Belleville News-Democrat from someone who thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas Concert. What
a special treat that was to hear!
We warmed up with "God Be In My Head;" Roz emphasized concise consonant endings and the dynamics of the piece.
She reminded everyone to always be looking up from their music so we can follow her direction.
Next up was "Down To The River To Pray." The key point this week with this Appalachian style gospel tune was: Do not
sing through the rests! In addition to working on our initially "sloppy rests" and the rhythm, Roz also added instruction
on phrasing.
"The Music Man" was fun to sing (Pages 1-10) for the first time, with Roz adding some rests, phrasing, staggered
breathing tips, and assisting us with notes and rhythms. We will continue to work on this piece next week.
We sang a rousing "Happy Birthday" to our February celebrants, and concluded with Goodie Night, always a very popular
part of the process!
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Monday, 1/25/10 - our third practice. After opening announcements, we warmed
up with a new piece of music: "Canticle Of Peace," by Joseph M. Martin. This gentle yet powerful song was commissioned
by the Kirkwood United Methodist Church in memory of the victims of the Kirkwood, Missouri, City Hall shootings of
February 7, 2008. Note: This will take the place of "The Lord Bless You And Keep You," which will be removed from the
concert lineup. Roz will bring 10 practice CDs for "Canticle Of Praise" next week, for those who requested them.
We then worked on "The Rising Of The Moon" for the first time. This driving Irish folk song required attention to
rhythm and dynamics. Roz also gave us specific cut-off changes in various parts of the piece. We are to have a penny
whistle, a tambourine, and perhaps even a fiddle playing along with us on this one!
Continuing our steady work on "Dona Nobis Pacem," we made good progress and stopped at the bottom of Page 2. We will
continue this progressive approach on this song next week.
Next up was "Lost In The Fifties Tonight," with its short and crisp "doos", "doots" and "booms." Roz added some
cut-offs, phrasing, and reminded us that the word "baby" is to be sung as "bay-beh," not "bay-bee."
"Music Man" had some typos that were corrected by Roz, and then on to "Oh, Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells."
We sang this song right through for the first time, with Roz adding some rests and dynamics.
The rehearsal ended with Roz sharing an anecdote which I will call, "Oh, Roz, Stop Ringing Dem Chimes." Apparently,
while playing "1812 Overture" with the SAFB band, Roz was banging away at the chimes during one rehearsal, and failed
to notice that the band had stopped playing. Now that's passion!
We welcomed another tenor to our group tonight. Hooray!
President Sandy Sullivan informed us that we now have blank
notecards available with the Metro East Community Chorale logo on them. They were designed by David Klingel. Thank you,
David! Please see either Sandy or David for details.
Christmas Concert CDs remain available from Doug Cripe.
There are still some empty spaces on the Goodies Night sign-up lists for February 1st, March 1st, and April 5th.
Happy practicing!
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Monday, 1/18/10 - our second practice. Good solid rehearsal. We started work
on our opening piece for the concert, "Let There Be Jubilant Praise!", focusing on syncopation and note work. Next up was
"America, the Beautiful," with its gospel swing rhythms. We worked diligently on 6 phrases in this piece that lead with a
quarter note followed by an eighth rest. We got through the entire song and made good progress on those "hot" notes. Work
on "How Great Thou Art/Majesty" is postponed until all members have received their copies. We made some headway with
Bach's "Dona Nobis Pacem," on which questions regarding vocal tone and time signature/note value were addressed.
Roz mentioned two words regarding this piece: "Sonority" (resonance) and the beautiful "polyphony" (a texture consisting
of two or more independent melodic voices). We will carry this piece over to next week. We concluded the evening with a
run-through of "The Salley Gardens' Red, Red Rose," with Roz giving special attention to phrasing and vowel work on this
gently flowing Irish folk song.
Happy Birthday to all of our members with January birthdays! The Chorale serenaded them at last week's rehearsal.
Tonight we happily welcomed a new alto and soprano to our singing family.
Orders are still being taken for the Christmas Concert CD. They are created as each order is placed, so remember to add
your name to Doug Cripe's list. They are $5.00 each, and are beautifully mastered, thanks to Gene Hausmann and Doug.
Goodie Night is in two weeks (February 1.) President Sandy Sullivan has the sign-up sheet for members to bring snacks
for that evening.
Important Note: Solo Tryout information was posted by Roz. Please see "Our Schedule" for details. Happy practicing!
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Monday, 1/11/10, our first practice for the 2010 Spring Season - Happy
New Year, all! Nice to see everyone again. We had a lot to do and got right down to work (okay, after a little
cajoling by Roz.) Tenors had their sectional practice at 7:00. Old sheet music and practice CD's were traded in for
new ones. Thank you, Onnie!
Roz started us off by complimenting us on the Christmas concert. She loved our energy
level, among other things. I thought we did very well, too, but it's so nice to hear it from our esteemed director.
She also said that due to our performance, we now had a few new recruits. After welcoming them, we also applauded
our greatly-missed returning singers.
Roz then stated her goal for this Spring season. She wants to teach us
how to recognize what a pure vowel sound should be. To demonstrate, the first song we attempted was "Offertory." We
concentrated on elongating the vowels and clipping the consonants of certain words, as well as phrasing and staggered
breathing.
We sang through "Fly Away Medley", working on its various syncopated rhythms. A note from Roz: Even though
this song is "a tempo" on the practice CD's, we will need to follow Roz's tempo directions during actual practice. There
will also be solo auditions for this piece and another. Further details will be posted on the website under Our Schedule
soon. Roz led us through several cuts and transitions in "Lost In The Fifties Tonight." Section leaders, please make
sure these changes get communicated to those absent. We will be singing it soon! The various themes of "Dona Nobis
Pacem" were pointed out to us by Roz, and we practiced by everyone singing them in all of the four voice parts.
We wrapped up by singing straight through "Red River Valley," which flowingly blends into a beautiful version of "Down
In The Valley."
Goodie Night, provided by the Board, was enjoyed by all, and we thank them for all that they do.
Please note: Doug Cripe has the sign-up sheet for purchasing the Christmas Concert CD.
On a sad note, many of you may have heard that George Percivall, one of our tenors, passed away in his sleep over the
weekend. At the request of his family, the Chorale will be singing at his funeral tomorrow morning. A moving a cappella
version of "The Blessing Of Aaron" was rehearsed before adjourning for the evening.
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December 20, 2009 - Concert Sunday! We met 45 minutes before the 3:00 show
at the Shrine Church to warm up. The audience was so large the panels had to be removed from behind the north seating
area for more room. We sounded great! Hodie, our most difficult piece, seemed flawless, as were several others. Merry
Christmas, everybody!
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Monday, December 14, 2009. It's time for the show! We ran through all music; it's
sounding great. See the Schedule page for more info.
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November 23, 2009. Our fourteenth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert.
With a bad cold and a California trip I managed to miss three practices and couldn't seem to raise the energy to blog last
week. The chorale has a more polished and confident air than before. When we "are on the mark" we are more precise with
vowels, consonants, blending and timing and really sound great. But we're not yet always on the mark with some sections
lacking confidence. And the dynamics need more attention, as Roz pointed out. We have some time left to polish and refine all
those areas.
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Monday, 10/19/09, our nineth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. We had
great attendance; Sandy mentioned we have 71 singers in all. She also reminded us of our $25 per season dues, which helps
cover the cost of music. The practice was intense and we made good progress on the songs practiced - Christmas on Broadway,
Rejoice Noel (twice), and Lullaby of Worship. Some behind the scenes humor near me: after Roz compliments us that standing
up to sing had just made us sound 30 years younger, one of the guys remarked "Hey, I was a boy soprano then!" I think his
math was off by at least another 30 years.
Ken Metze has again arranged dinner at the Shrine Restaurant following the Christmas Concert 12/20/09, $43.50 per couple.
Please let him know if you plan to attend (and pay!).
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Monday, 10/12/09, our eighth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. We
had good attendance. We warmed up with Lullaby of Worship, then practiced intensely on Songs of Bethlehem, Celtic Noel and
Angel's Carol. So intense that a bass noted that they had never sung a certain passage correctly before tonight! The last three
are nearing concert quality!
We sang Happy Birthday again - maybe we need to get a better version of that song!
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Monday, 10/5/09, our seventh practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. We had good
attendance. We first practiced Songs of Bethlehem and bombed - Roz assigned further study on that one. The other songs went
much better - Rejoice, Noel!, Glory To The Newborn King, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and The Promise Is Near.
Roz remarked that the full choir's fortissimo reminded her of blasting away with a full pipe organ!
Sandy Sullivan thanked Roz, Carole and Ann for providing wonderful music for her son's wedding and shared with us that
the bride had the flu and had to excuse herself during the ceremony three times - covered well by the musicians. Those
unplanned surprises create the weddings you remember forever!
It was also "Goody Night" which, as always, was quite popular.
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Monday, 9/28/09, our sixth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. We had good
attendance - just a few empty seats. We practiced Rejoice, Noel!, Hodie Christus Natus Est, and Christmas On Broadway. We
struggled here and there and Roz polished there and here - it felt like our most difficult practice so far. But my absence
the last two weeks no doubt contributed to that feeling.
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Monday, 9/21/09, our fifth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. Our annual
golf group party caused two of us tenors and a bass to be absent; we'll be back next week.
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Monday, 9/14/09, our fourth practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. We have some folks out with injuries and illness,
so there were a few empty chairs this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all. We spent a lot of time on two
pieces tonight, working on Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas for the very first time (a beautiful piece arranged
by our own Roz), and doing vowel work, parts and phrasing on Angels' Carol. We just had enough time near the end of
rehearsal to do a cold run-through of Songs of Bethlehem. At the end of rehearsal, Roz showed us changes she has made
in Rejoice, Noel!, which will be practiced for the first time next week. See the "Our Schedule" page for details.
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Monday, 9/7/09, our third practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. 48 singers tonight -
not bad for Labor Day. We sang The Promise Is Near, Angels' Carol, and Lullaby of Worship prior to consuming goodies. OK, OK,
maybe we're not at concert-quality yet.
Pastor Doug also has a few CD's from last year's Christmas Concert for anyone interested. Still $5.
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Monday, 8/31/09, our second practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. Wow again - 59
singers arrived. We sang Winter Moon of Bethlehem, Guide Us to Your Perfect Light, and Hodie Christus Natus Est. All three
were nearing concert-level quality at the end.
Pastor Doug has CD's from the Spring Concert for $5 and will fill additional orders. Let There Be Peace On Earth from the
CD was placed on the web site 9/3/09.
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Monday, 8/24/09, our first practice for the 2009 Christmas concert. Wow - 58
singers showed, with about seven new members! Practice was short with new music handed out, old music collected (good
job Onnie!), and goodies (thanks to the providers!) devoured beginning at 9:00. We sang Glory to the Newborn King and
Away In A Manger and attempted The promise Is Near. It was a good start!
I can hardly wait to hear those practice CD's with John Rutter's choir! But I've got to find that 3-hole punch first.
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Monday, 5/18/09 - no practice tonight! We're off for the summer.
I thought the concert at Art on the Square went very well. We only had about half the choir, and the audience was about
the same in number, though changing as some came and others went.
Then I stayed to watch and listen to the group following us, "Raw Earth." They had three belly dancers, too! They danced
a few times with those big swords (scmitars) balanced on their heads. No bloodshed, thankfully. The band had up to five
drummers, a mandolin, a bass guitar, and two saxophones. Only one vocal - Gershwin's Summertime - really well done. Their
audience was about the same size as ours. I hope to see more of the music acts next year. The art was interesting, too.
......................
From Sandy Sullivan, 5/17/09: Dear MECC members,
Great job today singing at Art on the Square. For those of you who are not aware, our group received a $200 check as a donation for our performance today. We received a lot of free advertisement from the Art on the Square committee and absolutely provided some good wholesome entertainment for the crowd today.
Thanks to all who showed today! It was good to see you all again.
Tafra Perryman sent me an e mail saying someone left their music folder there today. She has it and lives near me, so I am picking it up this week. If it belongs to you, let me know. If it is not claimed by August, I will bring it to our first practice for the Christmas program.
Enjoy your summer!
Sandy Sullivan
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Monday, May 11, 2009, our only practice for the Art on the Square Concert this
coming Sunday (be there at 2:40 pm - songs are asterisked on the Schedule web page). First was a wonderful pizza party
with many goodies for dessert! Nothing like
singing on a full stomach.
During warmups Onnie shared a good tip for those over 50 to always point thumbs up when raising hands overhead. This
protects the shoulders' rotator cuffs.
Practice went quite well with only a few rough spots requiring a little work. It was a short practice.
Roz shared a sad personal note with us that explained her unusual melancholy. Roz, we all wish you Godspeed in
putting this behind you and much more happiness in the future.
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From Roz, Chorale Director, 4/30/09:
Everybody sang their little hearts out and I'm very proud of all of you.
Roz
From Sandy Sullivan, Chorale President, 4/29/09: Dear Chorale Friends,
Congratulations on a fine job last Sunday. The comments from the audience were very positive and it was quite obvious that they were enjoying the familiar music as several people in the audience were spotted "singing along". Roz definitely chose some crowd pleasing songs.
You are now enjoying a much needed break, but don't get too comfortable. We have one more week off and then get together on May 11th at 6:30 in the rehearsal room for a thank you party of pizza and salad, desserts and drinks, all furnished by the MECC. Those performing at Art on the Square stay for rehearsal and the rest can go home after the party if they don't wish to stay. Please bring your music that night.
After Art on the Square you have the whole summer off. We will reconvene in August. Onnie will send out postcards to remind you of our start-up date. Please recruit new bodies for the Christmas concert. Our tenor and 2nd soprano numbers are pretty low, so keep an ear out for new people.
Our sunshine lady, Ruth Klingel had surgery this week. Patty Buckhannon has offered to send a card from the chorale, but it would really be nice if others from the group sent out special cards to her. (22 Windsor Dr., Belleville 62223)
THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR THE GREAT PERFORMANCE!!!!
Sandy Sullivan
From "The Blogger" - Sunday, April 26, 3:00 pm - the Spring Concert at Zion Lutheran Church! (See the
new picture on the Home page, thanks to my wife Bonny, the photographer.) Attendance was good - my mass e-mail brought four
first-time audience members! Most of it went very well, a few things could have been better, as with most live performances.
On to the Pizza Party and the Art on the Square Concert!
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Saturday, April 25, at 8:30 am - our fourteenth and last practice for the Spring
Concert. This practice is always unusual but we have to get used to the new environment. Its nice to not set up the risers,
though the stair steps are a little too narrow. We did fit, but it will be slightly different tomorrow with everyone.
The acoustics seemed less alive than in our practice room, and will be even less with people in the room. The microphones
certainly helped the soloists and may be helping the choir more than we can tell.
As usual, perfecting the procession in and out was our biggest difficulty.
Remember to be in the Practice Room downstairs at 2:15 pm before the concert.
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Monday, April 20 - Our thirteenth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We practiced the more difficult pieces and
generally did well. If we can get our finger pointing right, WE'RE READY FOR THE CONCERT!
Don't forget the Saturday practice at Zion, 8:30 am. The next practice after the concert is Monday, May 11, after
the 6:30 pm Pizza Party, for the Art on the Square concert (sign up for that this Saturday).
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Monday, April 13 - Our twelvth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We practiced
our many rough spots on All Things Bright, God Be in My Head (dynamics), 3 Ravens (tempo), Good News (rhythm),
I Bought Me A Cat (dynamics), Rainbow (tenors and basses), and 60's Gals/Guys. We also practiced our choreography on the
60's music.
Post cards are now available to invite to the Spring Concert. (E-Mail works, too!)
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Monday, April 6, 2009 - Our eleventh practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We ran through the entire concert, including
Joe's announcements, not stopping to fix the many rough spots. We have some work to do next week!
All four volunteers were accepted to be on the Board of Directors. Flyers for the Spring Concert are now available. And
it was "goody" night.
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Monday, March 30, 2009 - Our tenth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We ran through
the concert's second half - see the schedule page for the list. Seems like every song was half forgotten on the first try,
but sounded good on the second attempt. On the lighter side, we learned an Italian gesture, heard leg drums, saw that Roz
cannot simultaneously direct and play finger cymbals, and one song arranger was promoted to composer. It was a busy night!
We agreed pizza and salad night would be May 11 at 6:30 pm, followed by practice for the Art on the Square concert, all
in our usual practice room.
A new chorale roster is available - thanks, Onnie!
Risers, synthesizer and amplifier will not be needed at Zion Lutheran - hurray! (almost no setup!)
Anyone interested in being on the board of directors please contact Sandy. Elections for those three year terms will be soon.
A translation from a Google search for "Gone the Rainbow's" Gaelic "Shule Aroon" refrain: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, March 23, 2009 - Our ninth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We
worked on the concert's first half (23.5 minutes): A Jubilant Song, All Things Bright, God In My Head, Three Ravens,
Every Time I Feel the Spirit, A-Ain't-a That Good News, Slow Me Down, Long Time Ago, I Bought Me A Cat, Gone The Rainbow,
and American Celebration. The first song was good the first try; all the others required a little rework.
The great whodunnit: which soprano was humming through the rest?
The group picture from the 2008 Christmas Concert was added to the web site's welcome page.
The song order is now on the Schedule page.
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Monday, March 16, 2009 - Our eighth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. We
sang The Lord Bless You and Keep You, Every Time I Feel The Spirit, A-Aint-A That Good News, 60's Chicks and 60's Guys,
and Long Time Ago. Each needed some work. 60's Guys needed so much work we tenors and basses received remedial singing
after the usual practice.
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Monday, March 9, 2009 - Our seventh practice for the 2009 Spring Concert.
We sang God Be In My Head, Let There Be Peace On Earth, the Irving Berlin Medley, Gone The Rainbow, Bought Me A Cat,
The Lord Bless You and Keep You, and Seven Ravens. Work was needed here and there, but real progress is evident.
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Monday, March 2, 2009 - Our sixth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert.
We worked on God Be In My Head, Long Time Ago, The Lord Bless You And Keep You, Every Time I Feel The Spirit,
and A-Ain't A That Good News. Still some rough spots, but improving. Goody night, too.
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Monday, February 23, 2009 - Our fifth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. Sorry
to say I had to miss due to medical issues, but I'm sure all had a good time!
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Monday, February 16, 2009 - Our fourth practice for the 2009 Spring Concert was ladies only!
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Monday, February 9, 2009 - Our third practice for the 2009 Spring Concert was
tenors and basses only. We worked most of the practice on 60/s Guys. The last half hour was devoted to Ain-a That Good News.
Both are difficult, but progress was noticeable.
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Happy Birthday, Carol!
Christmas Concert CD's are available for those who ordered them - $5.00.
We voted unaminously to trade in the old synthesizer for a new one, and speakers if necessary - we have the money.
And it was "Goody Night."
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I re-designed the web site to remove the old music lists from the "Welcome" page - let me know if
something doesn't work right!
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"Star Carol" and "Love Came Down at Christmas" were scratched to shorten the program.
A new, official Chorale Picture will be taken at the Christmas Concert.
A new concert January 18th, 2:00 pm, at United Methodist Church on Belleville's East Main Street was proposed;
please let Sandy Sullivan know next Monday if you can sing at that concert.
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The concert flyers are available and one was added to the web site. Post cards are also available.
The goodies were delicious-looking, but I cut way back due to too much Thanksgiving feasting last week.
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Practice of the second half of the songs went well, with enough time left
over to tackle Hodie. All is sounding better. I feel more comfortable with the music than ever as the
practice CD's have allowed more and better practice time. Most of my practice time is now a cappella to remove
all crutches.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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We started practice with "Hodie," and its sounding much better. A little "Angels We Have Heard On High"
carried us into our short break. We then worked on "Fruitcake," followed by the Calypso Medley, which seemed
to need a lot of work.
Doug finished the picture taking for the directory.
We will record "The Blessing of Aaron" next week.
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Doug's picture-taking continued.
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Roz surely has a mighty whistle to call the practice to order! She said she learned that in junior high.
We worked on Christmas on Broadway - seems we mostly forgot it since it was last practiced - and Sleigh
Ride. I see a need to review all the songs on the practice CD weekly to keep the memory alive. We broke at
9:00 for "goody night" and I consumed too many delicious calories, as usual.
Pastor Doug Cripe is taking pictures of all members to compile a directory with pictures, to be sold to
members for $1.00 each to cover costs. That's a great idea!
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Our most difficult piece, Hodie, was practiced with "ahs" instead of words. It eventually
sounded good, but finding your place, without words, if lost was impossible. The rest of the
practice went extremely well, and attendance was way up with the Cardinal baseball season's end.
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We worked a lot on Love Came Down at Christmas.
The men's parts on Drummer Boy was a lot more fun than I thought
singing a drum part would be. We closed with a little work on Christmas on Broadway.
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Otherwise a very normal practice, with greater focus on detail than prior weeks. So the only
other song practiced was "Christmas on Broadway."
I got my practice CD - watch out now!
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Our warmup breathing exercise was actually quite good: Straighten the spine and uplift
the chest so that the upper chest is sloped back. Then fill the lower chest with breath and
tighten the abdominal muscles for support.
Note the Director Web Page now features Rosalind rather than Steve Wilson. I wonder if she
still likes to travel.
The songs for this week's practice focus are now listed on the Schedule Web Page.
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We got sad news that Steve Wilson's father passed away. Steve was our director for last season and
many seasons prior. About twelve of us volunteered to sing at the funeral Saturday, 8/30, and did
sing. Steve was able to cantor, amazingly. All was in New Baden . . . "You can't get lost in New Baden."
The decision to begin half-hour sectional practices before the regular 7:30 practicies was also
announced. We agreed there would be a Labor Day rehearsal, also.
Oops - guess I have to sign up for a practice CD!
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Our warmup included some stretching - thank God my back didn't go out! Then we
warmed up with a new trick of trying to sing notes we read from Roz's fingers. Most of us do
better from paper! We then worked through "Stille Nacht" and "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy."
Roz promised us practice CD's next week which will have our separate parts then the entire
choir for each song. Wow - that's a lot of work! These should prove to be very helpful.
We broke up a little before 9 for "goodies" which were all too cholesterol-producing for me.
It all looked very good, though.
Now to rearrange that music one more time.
See the four new pictures from the Spring, 2008 Concert on the Photos page!
Come, come, come O love,
Come quickly to me, softly move,
Come to the door and away we'll flee,
And safe forever may my darling be.
Monday, February 2, 2009 - Our second practice for the 2009 Spring Concert.
We weren't ready for "For America." We struggled through All Things Bright and the Irving Berlin medley. We did better
on Let There Be Peace, but it is easier. We need to work those practice CD's!
Monday, January 26, 2009 - Mother Nature threw a snow storm at us and we
cancelled the rehearsal. Work with those practice CD's instead!
Monday, January 19, 2009 - Our second practice for the 2009 Spring Concert.
We struggled through All Things Bright and Beautiful, 60's Chicks and Guys, and For America. Not all have their
practice CD's yet. Christmas Concert CD's are in production. Note the schedule change on that page - we'll get a one
week rest to allow focus on the 60's music.
Monday, January 12, 2009 - Our first practice for the 2009 Spring Concert. After receiving our 2009 music and
returning last year's music, welcoming several new choir members, and some warmup, we started with the two songs we'll
sing this Sunday, Jubilant Song and Aaron's Blessing. We then struggled through Ain'-A That Good News and Every Time I
Hear the Spirit. Slow Me Down Lord sounded good. My attempt at arranging Gone the Rainbow (with help from Roz) sounded
good, too, though we had a few changes. And we received our practice CD's. All in all a good start for the new year.
Sunday, December 21, 2008 - THE CONCERT - all went extremely well. It was nice to see our prior
Director Steve Wilson and many others in the audience.
Saturday, December 20, 2008 - our "Dress Rehearsal" went well. The only song we sang completely was
"Hodie." The started each of the others and did some of the endings. And we practiced entering and leaving
the risers. We were done within an hour. Of course setting up and removing the risers was another half hour
on each end.
Monday, December 15, 2008 - practice cancelled due to icy conditions and forecast. Practice from
the CD's several times to get ready for the dress rehearsal Saturday and concert Sunday.
Monday, December 8, 2008, our seventeenth practice. We concentrated on some problem areas like Hodie (separate
the notes), Angels We Have Heard (Glaw-dee-ah), Ding Dong (shorten the "ah" in Gloria), Carol of the Little
King, Winter Wonderland (rhythym), With A Ring, Calypso Medley (rhythym), and Stille Nacht (German pronunciation).
Monday, December 1, our sixteenth practice. We sang through the entire concert, standing, complete
with Joe wargo commentation. It went quite well, though we tenors missed an entrance in Hodie and struggled
with the Drummer Boy Bolero portion. Standing through an hour and fifteen minutes will be a challenge,
especially if it is warm on the risers. There may be more in chairs (or wishing they were) than usual.
Monday, November 24, our fifteenth practice. Roz provided two very nice, professionally-done photos
of her and Carole for our web site - see their web pages! Also noted on the Schedule page are those songs
without verbal introductions. Monday, November 17, our fourteenth practice. Practice ran through the first half songs. It went so
well we also did "Fruitcake" and listened to Take Six's versions of "Hark the Angels Sings" (very crisply
done) and "Little Drummer Boy" (we wouldn't have known what song it was!). You can now see the concert order
on the Web Site's Schedule page, and our Fruitcake recipe as well!
Monday, November 10, our thirteenth practice. We got our 2008-2009 Picture Directory for only $1.00
- it really is nice and well done. The practice went fairly well; our entrances are getting stronger, but
the first time through a song is still a bit ragged. Next week we tackle the entire first half of the concert
(see the Schedule page for the list).
Monday, November 3, our twelveth practice. Doug made a last call for pictures for the Picture Directory.
Practice went well; we broke at 9:00 for "goody" night. I ate too much as usual.
Monday, October 27, our eleventh practice. It's no longer warm outside, but the trees are beautiful,
changing every day!
Monday, October 20, our tenth practice. It's still warm, but that will change the rest of this week.
We worked on "Love Came Down for Christmas" a lot, then "Angels We Have Heard On High," "Candlelight
Carol," "Carol of the Little King," and "The Little Drummer Boy." We closed with "Holiday Blessing." It
continues to sound better each week once we get the song reviewed and refreshed in our minds. The
practice CD's do seem to be have an impact beyond Don being upset over hearing Shirley's parts all the
way from Dayton, Ohio yesterday.
Monday, October 13, our ninth practice. It's still warm! We worked on Star Carol, Angels We have Heard,
Ding Dong Merrily On High, Hodie, Go Tell It, and Drummer Boy. Though there are trouble spots yet, we're
starting to sing like we know the music.
Monday, October 6, our eighth practice. It's still warm outside - it can't last much longer! Attendance
was down a little from last week's high for unknown reasons.
Monday, September 29, our seventh practice - my how time flies. The practice highlight
was Roz's birthday! A gentleman doesn't ask how many. Chocolate-on-chocolate cake and singing ensued.
Monday, September 22, our sixth practice. A normal and good practice, though without
an accompanist. First up was Stille Nacht, trying to perfect the German, and also communicating
that Peace, Peace would be united with this work.
Monday, September 15, our fifth practice. A higher priority, our annual golf group party,
called for three of us male singers.
Monday, September 8, our fourth practice. We tenors began our first sectional
practice by choosing "Hodie" as our subject matter. We were doing pretty well with the words.
Once we returned to "does" with the rest of the chorale we struggled. When everybody is
singing the same syllables its harder to keep your place.
Monday, September 1, 7:30 pm, our third practice. A very normal practice, except
attendance was a little low, perhaps 80%, due to the holiday. The basses had the first
sectional practice at 7:00 so the rest of us gawked when we arrived.
Monday, August 25, 7:30 pm, our second practice for Christmas, was a fairly normal practice
working on "With A Ring and a Jingle and a Pop," "The Star Carol," "Ding Dong Merrily On High"
and "Holiday Blessing."
Monday August 18, 2008, 7:30 pm, our first practice for the Christmas concert. We had a great
showing with 54 singers, our Directer, Roz, and Accompanist, Carole. First order of business
was to exchange last season's music for this season's music - thanks Onnie for your
efficiency. But you could have told us it was in concert order BEFORE we had filed it into
our notebooks. Then purchase CD's of our last concert from Gene Houseman. Next find a place to
sit in our sections.