NOTES for the Week of November 30, 2025

Dear friends,

This is the week. Hopefully you're feeling good/well and ready to bring great concerts. A few housekeeping items.

1.  Tuesday we will be rehearsing at Napa Methodist in the choir room. Again, please be there by 6:25 as the door will be locked. If you must be late, please text Joanna to let her know.
2. Thursday, our dress rehearsal will be at Napa Methodist. I would like to start at 6:30 sharp so we can warm up and run a couple of things before/while the instrumentalists are setting up to start at 7:00. We have a lot to run on Thursday and I will try to give you some breaks so that you're not standing the whole time.
3. Friday, the call time will be 6:15. We will warm-up and do any sound checks. We will have to be out of the sanctuary by 7:00.
4. Sunday, the call time will be 1:30. It will be a long day, so pace yourselves. Since we are doing two concerts please save your voice, meaning minimize visiting. Perhaps do quiet things like reading. Plan to bring snacks and/or a sack lunch. And plenty of water.

This week I want to work on performing. That means:

• Entering/Exiting with energy and confidence. Smiling with your eyes and acknowledging your audience. Let them know you're grateful they're there.
• Hold your music up, so the Audience and I can see your faces, not the top of your head. Sing expressively. Eyes bright and with energy.
• Sing with meaning. Focus on important words (verbs), observe all expression marks (even exagerate dynamics), and in the music without expression marks (Renaissance and Baroque) always 1) energize sustained notes, 2) energize 1/8th notes, 3) energize ascending pitches, 4) ease off week syllables, descending pitches, and most cadences. 
• Intonation is crucial. Sing at the top of all pitches, being mindful of repeated pitches, cadences, and descending lines. 
• Never over-sing. Make the music dance.

I want to share something with you about Frostbound. There's been some question about it's meaning. Here's a short synopsis. 

Summary of Meaning

The poem uses the imagery of a harsh, binding winter to describe a state of emotional paralysis or despair. The speaker addresses a "beloved" whose heart is "still and grey," like a "frostbound lake" that is soundless and bound by an "icy sway". 
The central message is an appeal from the speaker to this person: the speaker's own heart, which is a "furnace strong and red" with "fire" and "flame," can warm and revive the beloved's frozen spirit. The poem ends on a hopeful note, suggesting that these emotional chains of frost can "fall, and those that fettered lie / May live again". 

Key Themes

• Emotional Confinement vs. Warmth: The contrast between the cold, static imagery of frost and ice and the dynamic, warm imagery of fire and flames is central to the poem's meaning.
• The Power of Love: Love is presented as a powerful, almost miraculous force capable of reviving a person from a state of emotional deadness.
• Hope and Renewal: Despite the bleak imagery of winter and death, the poem maintains an underlying message of hope, suggesting that change and renewal are possible, much like the changing of the seasons. 

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

*African Noel

Jubilate Deo

The Angel's Message

Season of Light

Frostbound

*Nutcracker Medley

Iesous ahatonnia'

*30-Second Merry Christmas

* - memorized