NOTES for Week of March 31, 2024

Dear friends,

Were a month away from our concerts and we need to focus our energies on really perfecting our repertoire.

• Please make sure that you're reviewing everything weekly, perhaps listening to the performances and singing along paying attention to expressiveness and tone quality.
• Get the word out. Send out cards. Invite friends, colleagues, family, and any music lovers. Let them know this is a benefit for a very good cause.
• Work on your memorization.

Here's a rundown on what I would like you to focus on in each particular song.

If Music Be the Food of Love

• Sing with a light, lilting, tone quality. Warm up on doo to get the easy flow without to much volume.
• Think courtly dance.

Can We Sing the Darkness to Light

• Work you parts (we haven't spent a lot of time in rehearsal) and watch cut-offs. Be exact.
• Make hm and oh musical underscoring the melodies with words

When You Wish Upon a Star

• This must be memorized this week. I want it to be rubato, and some have their noses in their scores and not watching.
• Use a light, almost breathy tone. Think jazz.

It Takes a Village

• I would like Brittany to sing the solo in the beginning and also in mm. 77-80. 
• Memorize. 
• Sing the repetitive patterns musically. Don't just sing the same way over and over.

Alleluia

• Don't over sing, especially at the key changes (mm. 42+ and 51+).
• It should always have a buoyancy to it, even in the 4/4 sections.

Ubi caritas

• Don't over sing going in m. 15. Also, practice the harmonic shift between mm. 14-15.
• This is harmonized chant. Keep it flowing and gentle.
• Men sing the introductory change at almost piano.

The Eyes of All

• The tone is lovely. Don't slur through "w's". Also watch the eyes. It sounds like thee-
• yize.
• Begin to move in m. 16 and do an energetic expansion to the sopranos forte in m. 26.

Breathe

• Really sense the breathing motifs throughout and sing them. 
• Make mm. 33+ warmer and more earnest.
• Make sure there is a natural sounding crescendo going into m. 49.

Song for Justice

• Sing rich, round tone, and really enunciate the words. 
• Put the time into this as we haven't rehearsed it as much.

The New Colossus

• Make the fanfare section at the beginning rich and powerful.
• Make the contrasts in dynamics and mood through come through. 
• The words have to be expressed.

Hold On!

• Really pour over this to memorize.
• Make sure you know where every syncopated chord is.
• Melody, if you have the high notes, I would like you to do m. 86-88 by yourself then have the 1st Sopranos join in m. 89.
• Anna and Chuck use a nice full, rounded tone on the solos. Check you pitches in mm. 82-84 

Grace Before Sleep

• Make the crescendo in mm. 17-20 be more intense.
• Those singing words in mm. 29-34, use a warm, intense blended sound. Those singing ah make it really full and warm.

Five Hebrew Love Songs

• #1: Really make sure to sing the tenuto (- or ten) articulations. 
• #2: Men (tenors, particularly), really work on the seamless quality of the unison melody when going up and down intervals large than a 4th. It sounds labored and not unified.
• #3: Make the entrances in m. 6 more confident and clean. 
• #4: Soprano I sing mm. 1-7 very smoothly and sweetly. 
• #5: Sopranos practice the timing of your ornaments. in mm. 11, 15, and 32, the two grace notes come before the next syllable. 

For TUESDAY:

6:30 - 7:30 EVERYONE

• It Takes a Village
• Breathe
• Hold On!
• If Music Be the Food of Love

7:30 - 8:30 MEN

We'll be focusing on places where you have solo sections or are not confident. I will take requests.

NOTES for Week of March 10, 2024

Dear friends,

We're almost to the halfway to our concerts. You've made good progress. Please keep it up. Mark your scores, practice difficult passages, and always rehearse using good vocal technique. That's how it becomes habit.

Please do what you can to get the word out for this concert. It's going to be beautiful and inspirational and benefits a very worthy cause. Share the posts on social media. Strategically help put up posters. Share the  cards. And even write a few of the cards as personal invitations to your friends and acquaintances.
Begin earnestly memorizing the following pieces:

• It Takes a Village
• When You Wish Upon a Star
• Hold On
• Grace Before Sleep

Hold On!

• Please be mindful of (and mark) each of the syncopated chords. They need to be precise. Upon memorization, you will be able to watch me and that should help. 
• I would like to hear any who are interested in the solos for women (5-17, 61-65) and men (37-41, 69-73) the next time we rehearse which will be March 19.
• I want to hear any and all Sopranos who can reach and sing mm. 86-89
• Please practice singing and observing dynamics and articulation (> , sf, sfp,) 
• Basses work on your solos in mm. 21-33. It needs to sound like one voice.

If Music Be the Food of Love

• This is Renaissance, so very dance inspired. Keep it lively and light. Think of the tone you produce when singing on doo.
• Rehearse the words to the second verse.
• Basses make sure the passages where you move up from F to C to F (mm. 3 and 17) are clean and in tune. Also the octave skip in m. 10.
• Sopranos detach slight the 1/8th notes in m. 12. 

When You Wish Upon a Star

• Altos practice the progression in mm. 1-2, especially the chromatics.
• Basses make sure your first two measures are clean. Also we need plenty of depth and accuracy on the BII part in mm. 22-25. 
• Sing with a light, no-vibrato tone all the way through.

The New Colossus

• Clean up any uncertain pitches.
• Next time we rehearse, I want to work on the opening which is unaccompanied. It needs to sound strong and confident.

Grace Before Sleep

• Sing legato on rich vowels with brief, clear consonants.
• Add expressiveness to words like grateful, gen'rous, evening of content, hearth is wide and warm, shelter, light thanks. Also, women be distinct on walked through storm and fled the wolves.
• As you memorize, you can watch the cut-offs (and -t of light) in mm. 40, 42, and 44

For TUESDAY, March 12

• It Takes a Village (if you're interested in the solo be ready to try it out)
• Alleluia
• Breathe
• Ubi Caritas
• The Eyes of All
• Hebrew Love Songs (#1 and #2) with Hebrew

 

 

NOTES for Week of March 3, 2024

Friends,

Thanks for a good rehearsal. 

1. Make sure you are reaching out and letting your friends and family know about our concert. Hunter has posted the graphic on our Facebook page. Go ahead and share it on your social media. Also, consider people you might personally invite with a postcard.
2. If you're interested in any of the solos, be prepared to sing in rehearsal. I'll let you know the week in advance of the rehearsal when I will want to hear them. 
3. Thank you Chuck for your work in preparing our grant proposal to the Napa County Arts Council.

It Takes a Village: 

• Begin memorizing
• Next time we rehearse (March 12), I will listen to auditions for the solo. If you are interested but won't be at rehearsal, please let me know.
• Please practice with articulation (

1. Bass detached and accented in mm. 55+, 
2. Tenor make the mm's very resonant and burst into ah in mm. 49+, 
3. Soprano make the he's detached as indicated in intro on 1st page in mm. 45+, 
4. Alto sing legato with attention to dynamic rises and falls in mm. 53+

Eyze Sheleg! (#4)

• Be accurate intonation and unified on the onset of each pitch in the intro. Accent the first Bong, then sustain the tone on -ng as you restate the bo- portion of the word. Establish your on pattern and rate.
• Suzanne, please choose 3 sopranos to sing the solo part on p. 19 together. 
• Soprano/Alto will observe the optional rests in mm 8. 
• Let me know if you're interested in the speaking solo. It can be male or female.

Rakut (#5)

• I would like to work through unification of the Soprano part grace notes and turns when all are together.
• Work on Hebrew pronunciation

Alleluia

• Sopranos make non-slurred notes in the melody at beginning slightly detached with connections in slurs. Easy mf. All others sing light mp. 
• In 4/4 sections really sing tall vowels with crisp consonants at syllable changes.
• Tenors sing your mf at mm. 9-12 lightly
• Don't sing to heavily at mm. 43-49. 
• At m. 50 crescendo to full, not necessarily overloud volume. It should never sound heavy. 

Breathe

• Make the phrasing/dynamics feel like breaths. Most soft, some (as in mm. 48-56 more loudly). Create the rise and fall sound of breathing complete with suspension and recovery phases.
• Start very softly. Always listen to the Altos.
• There is a Tenor solo in mm. 81-84.

Can We Sing the Darkness

• This is more challenging harmonically than it appears. Really know your part.
• Sing the second syllable of beautiful as [tə] 
• Thank you Gregory for your assistance on the piano!

FOR Tuesday, March 5

If Music Be the Food of Love

When You Wish Upon a Star

Hold On!

The New Colossus 

Grace Before Sleep