Rehearsal Blog Update 10/23/2013

Dear Ensemble and Vocalise Singers and Families,

Our performance dates are approaching!

Schedule Reminders

Oct. 26^th

What: Montalvo Arts Concert

What: Premier of new choral work, Everything That Happens, by NY composer Roberto C. Lange in collaboration with visual artist Nene Humphrey.
Who: selected singers --> please check your email for the most updated rehearsal schedule

Nov. 2^nd

What: Annual Fall Workshop and Potluck

When: 10:30am-2pm (10:30am rehearsal, 12:30pm concert, 1pm lunch)

Where: LAHS

Nov. 24^th 

What: Pier 39 Tree Lighting Concert

When: call time 1pm, concert @ 2:15pm.

Where: SF, Pier 39, open stage

What: 30-minute performance of holiday music

Attire: holiday-inspired: black pants/long skirts, black top, red/green scarves, Santa hats

Tickets: free!

Dec. 7^th

What: Holidays With Cantabile Concert

When: call time 11:30am (in uniform), concert @ 1pm

Dec. 11^th

What: Rehearsal for concert with Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Ballet Academy

When: 5:00-7:15pm

Where: regular rehearsal location (Foothills Church)

Dec. 13^th

What: Dress rehearsal for concert with Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Ballet Academy

When: 6:00-8:00pm

Where: Cubberly Theatre, Palo Alto

Dec. 15^th

What: Holiday Family Concert with Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Pacific Ballet Academy

When: call time 12:30pm for run-through, concert @ 3:00pm.  Where: Menlo-Atherton Auditorium

What: 20 minutes of Cantabile holiday favourites: When Christmas Comes to Town, Seal Lullaby, How Many Christmases, Jingle Bell Swing, etc.

Attire: holiday-inspired: black pants/long skirts, black top, red/green scarves, Santa hats

Tickets: free!

Please note:

- Rehearsals the week before thanksgiving (Nov 18^th and 20^th) are our last regular rehearsals before the concert and are MANDATORY.

- In order to participate in the Dec. 15^th concert, you must attend both the Dec. 11^th and Dec. 13^th rehearsals.

- Additional repertoire for the Dec. 15^th concert does not need to be memorized.

Musicianship

Ensemble A: If you had incomplete questions or mistakes, a note was made in the front of your book. Please look there, and look through last week’s pages. Any mistakes that you have made on last week’s homework were circled. Please find them and attempt to correct your errors. If you have questions about the material, do not hesitate to email cassie@cantabile.org. In your email, state the page number and question number and your problem. Also remember that you must complete the questions that involve the CD, and fill in the blanks with the words stated on the corresponding CD tracks. Your corrections will be marked next week, along with this week’s homework assignment. This week’s assignment: pages 4-6.

Ensemble B:  I believe the issues with sonicfit have been fixed, but I will need you to re-register. Please watch your email for further instructions and a confirmation of the new join code. Cassie’s group only: finish writing in the solfege for measures 11-33 of When Christmas Comes To Town. Remember that 28-33 will be in another key!

Vocalise: Your next assignment will be posted by Monday, Oct.  28^th, and due next Monday, Nov. 4^th. In the future, tests will always be posted at the same time as practices for new concepts so that those of you who wish to test out of a category may do so.

What to Practice

ENSEMBLE

Donkey Carol: Altos, focus on pages 41 and 42. Here you are in canon with the sopranos, but the melody is different in several places – not what you’d expect! Sopranos, your tricky part is on pages 43-44. It’s coming along nicely, so now it’s time to start memorizing.

Angels Will Guide You Home: We talked about leaning in and pulling away in some spots. Find and circle as many as you can of those places in your scores.

Man With The Bag: Below is a youtube video in case you’ve never heard this piece before. You will sing this with the Intermediate Choir:

Man with the Bag

Memorization Homework: Agnus Dei and Jingle Bell Swing

VOCALISE

Mass:  We got some great work done on the Mass last Monday. For this week, focus on the Gloria. Page 13 to the end is still the trickiest section, but it’s coming along nicely. Sopranos: make sure the pitches in m. 83, and m. 93 to the end are accurate. Altos: on page 18 be careful that you’re going down accurately from the A to the Ab in m. 81 to 82, and also check your pitches from m. 89 to 95. If you have a piano at home, try to play another part while singing yours. Otherwise, sing your part along with the youtube video posted previously to practice putting it into harmonic context.

Winter Wonderland: Take a look at the jazzy intro. Soprano 2s and Altos, the harmonies you are creating may not be what you expect!

Memorization Homework: Apologies for the error in last week’s blog about memorization – you do NOT need to have Seal Lullaby memorized at this time. The Angel, and The Snow should now be memorized.

Happy Practicing!