Prep for Rehearsal 7/1/2020

Hi Friends,
I'm really looking forward to seeing you for our rehearsal. A couple of things to be aware of:

• Please vocally warm-up before hand. Below are links to YouTube warm-up in each voice range. Each one is between 15-20 minutes.

Soprano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54w9PlMECkI
Mezzo-Soprano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcfirmtcx84
Alto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8W17MXgvOQ
Tenor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZTGeqaU9bc&t=635s
Baritone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJJJ1HxD49c&t=293s

• Sopranos: 6:30, Altos: 7:00, Tenors: 7;30, Bass: 8:00

• We will be rehearsing Beati Quorum Via and There is a Pleasure. Soprano I and II will be together, and Bass I and II will be together. Please see the last blog posting for the divisi. Some altos and tenors will need to be at both section rehearsals because of the overlap. I encourage you to be at the whole rehearsal for harmonizing with the other parts.

• After gaining entrance into the rehearsal, you will be instructed to mute and I will direct from the piano. You will rehearse your part muted, singing along with the piano or with me. If I come to the end of a phrase or section and you have a question, raise a hand and un-mute and I will address it.

• The following are directions from Ovid on the use of the new platform which is called Micrsoft Teams. Ovid will be moderating the site. One of the reasons for using this site is that we will in time be able to hear each other.

We will be exploring Microsoft Teams for our Virtual Rehearsal spaces as it offers the following capabilities for us:

• Online storage for sheet music and rehearsal parts
• Separate Virtual Rehearsal spaces by section contained in one Team
  
• Presenting PDF's, Videos, and other content during Live Virtual Rehearsals
  
• Archiving Live Rehearsal Meetings for later reference

SETTING UP MICROSOFT TEAMS

Each singer will receive an invitation to the Microsoft Teams group for Bel Canto - I suggest that everyone uses their iPhone to use the Microsoft Teams platform.

The iOS app can be downloaded here (hint: open the link on your iPhone):

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1113153706?country=US&culture=en-us

or you may point your phone's camera to this QR Code:

Otherwise, desktop users can use the web app version, which may require you to run a browser plug-in (hint: don't install the desktop application version) :

The dedicated link to the Main Teams Channel is:

https://io.lvd-ent.com/belcanto

or you may point your phone's camera to this image:

For tomorrow's rehearsal, there will be four different meetings rooms separated by sections. Virtual Rehearsals will be done using these dedicated URL's:

SOPRANO

https://io.lvd-ent.com/bc-soprano

ALTO

https://io.lvd-ent.com/bc-alto

TENOR

https://io.lvd-ent.com/bc-tenor

BASS

https://io.lvd-ent.com/bc-bass

USING THE TEAMS PLATFORM

• There will be a "waiting room" available for those joining the rehearsal early - Ovid will initiate each virtual rehearsal with Ted at the scheduled start time
• You may choose to connect via video and audio or audio only
• Once the sectional rehearsal ends with Ted, you may remain on the platform to continue practicing with the rest of your section.
• Questions and comments can be left in your section's discussion page or the Main Teams discussion page
  

For technical support or trouble-shooting issues, call or text Ovid - contact information is down below.

OVID

ovid@lvd-ent.com

(707) 337-1177

Rehearsal for CD (Please note change of date)

Dear Friends,
For those of you who weren't able to attend our Zoom meeting, we had a good time catching up. We also discussed our plan to rehearse for the production of our CD. Originally, I had said we would begin this Wednesday, June 24, but I need to postpone one week. So we will begin, on Wednesday July 1st. Here is the breakdown of the plan:

We will rehearse each section of a piece for 30 minutes as follows (this may rotate over time):

• 6:30 to 7:00 - Soprano part(s)
• 7:00 to 7:30 - Alto part
• 7:30 to 8:00 - Tenor part
• 8:00 to 8:30 - Bass part
• If there is a three-part divisi (SSA or TBB) I will let you know when I will be rehearsing two parts together

5 minutes before your appointed time, sign in using the link that will be provided that week. After a few instructions, each person will mute themselves. I will give instructions and rehearse each part on the piano with individual lines and then eventually with harmony. Each singer will sing along with the piano only hearing him or herself and me. Please have a pencil handy so you can mark breaths, dynamics, tempo changes, and suggestions for mood and tone. I will stop periodically to address questions and repeat sections.

I want to encourage singers to use the entire 2 hours as often as possible and practice their part along with the other parts. For example, after the soprano sectional, sopranos can sing their part opposite the alto line, then with the tenors, then the basses. This will be your opportunity to harmonize and strengthen your independence.

I am going to try to get a good microphone on my end so that you can hear me more clearly. I would suggest your using good speakers or ear buds, but NOT noise cancelling headphones. You want to be able to hear yourself naturally along with the other parts (not what you hear in your head.)

For July 1st, I want to rehearse Beati Quorum Via by Charles Stanford. Divisi will be as follows:

• Soprano I: Suzanne Quinlan, Annie Budash, Melody Neal, Karen May, Carissa Wendt
• Soprano II: Lisa van Stuijvenberg, Eileen Hunt, Hunter Hollingsworth, Joanna Mittman, Wendy Valle
• Alto: Cassi Tynan, Gina De Luca, Michele Conyers, Suzi Gilbert, Cyndi Kasten
• Tenor: Joe Pesch, Chuck Dresel, Dan Bunnell, Berkeley Rousseau
• Bass I: Thom Hinesley, Dana Zaccone, Ovid Ocampo, Andrew Moore
• Bass II: John Kasten, Matthew Gracy, Peter Mellencamp, Ben Schmidt, Robert Mittman

I would also like to rehearse There is a Pleasure. This means that some of the cross-over parts will need to plan to rehearse with both sections.

All of the music is on the Resources Site (Melody, I haven't forgotten you.)

Tentatively, the plan is to rehearse this way and learn the music as well as we can with distance learning, and hopefully by early Spring, we can begin getting together to rehearse as a group, to record in March and to release the CD at our May concert. Fingers crossed.

Also, I'm toying with the idea of doing a virtual recording of one (maybe two) of the songs. It would need to be memorized. In addition to having something out there on social media and/or YouTube, I would really like to use it as a tool for everyone to really work on their facial expressiveness while singing.

Please let me know if you have any questions via email. I look forward to seeing your faces on July 1st.

Ted