Performance. You're on stage!

How we love being up on the stage! It is a dream we all share.

Or, so we sing in Regards to Broadway. For some of us, it's more of a nightmare.

I know that there are some people in the choir who would be quite happy if we just sang together every week in our rehearsal room in the Administrative Centre, and never set foot on a stage.

Don't worry. Performing on stage is anxiety-provoking, stage fright is fairly common. But, we're not giving a speech, being judged or graded, there are no spotlights, and you don't have to wear stage make-up. We're all dressed the same in black and white, like zebras, so that predators can't pick out individuals to attack. (remember to also wear black shoes and socks/hose)

Performing in a choir is awesome! You get the big adrenalin rush, the excitement of being on stage and the thrill of the applause and you're up there surrounded by your friends and not singled out for inspection. You worked hard to learn all kinds of music in 2, 3 and 4 part harmony. Now it's time to show off to our friends and family and neighbours.

You should relax and have fun, but there are some things to remember when the choir is on stage in front of an audience.

• Blend in -like the zebras. Don't draw attention to yourself, unless you're doing a solo at the microphone. That's true for your voice and for your posture.
• Hold your binders closed in your left arm, when you're not singing. So, that's also when we're walking on to the stage and off of the stage.
• When you're not singing, look at the conductor or the soloist. Glance at the audience. Smile and look engaged in the performance. Pay attention to whatever else is happening on stage. Do not look at your shoes, drink, pick your teeth, frown...
• When you're singing, smile with your mouth and your eyes. Look at the conductor. Glance at your music and at the audience. 
• If you make a mistake, chances are nobody can tell. Don't make a face. Keep smiling, keep going.
• When the audience applauds, look at them and smile. We will take a bow before we leave the stage.

There will be times during the show when you can sit down off stage. This is when you can have a drink of water, or glance at your shoes. But, while you are sitting down during the small group and solo performances, you must be excellent supporters of your choir friends and examples of good audience behaviour. Pay attention to the performance. You are still in front of the audience. 

If you feel stressed, that's ok. This is good stress. You'll get energy. If you're feeling yucky, breathe. You'll be surprised how much it helps to just take a good deep breath and let it out, phewwww. Think positive thoughts. 

Avoid coffee and alcohol before a concert. They not only mess with your stress, but also are bad for your voice. Water is important. Keep hydrated. There are also lots of ideas about what kinds of food to avoid, but the most important thing is to eat something. Don't overeat, but you will need lots of energy. Rest and sleep are also important. 

Women can tuck your white shirts or blouses in or wear them out- whatever makes you feel more comfortable. Notice in the picture above that it looks fine to have them out. Black pants or skirts should go down to your feet, or be worn with black pantyhose. We don't want to draw attention away from our faces. Trix will make sure we all have scarves or ties. Help your friends tie their scarves like Girl Guides. 

We're a great group and have fun together. It shows when we sing. People love that! We always have praise from our audiences about how we appear to be having a good time when we sing. We do have a good time. We enjoy ourselves. We love singing, we love music and we're going to share that with our audiences. 

They are going to love us. 

I'm sexy and I know it.

Hello Everyone!


Catchy title, isn't it? I'm talking about music, though, not about my attractiveness, my magnetism, my allure.


Ce qu’on ne peut dire et ce qu’on ne peut taire, la musique l’exprime. 
(Victor Hugo)


--Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.


So, when we want to say something, but can't, we can express it with music. Like, "I'm sexy and I know it!" (LMFAO-Loving My Friends and Others, not the Internet abbreviation, they say.)


Maybe Victor Hugo wasn't thinking of that, but music does liberate you, doesn't it? You will sing things that you wouldn't say, for sure. Don't we all love to prance around singing "I'm sexy and I know it?!" (Ok, if you don't, then just humour me with this one. I know other people besides myself who do. really.) 


I have been known to say similarly arrogant things when I'm holding the magic baton that turns me into "The Intrepid Choir Conductor." Fearless and reckless are related, right? My theme song "Ain't She Sweet" became my theme song because I always say to seniors when we're about to start singing it, "We're going to sing a song about me!"


Another recent example of singing something you wouldn't say is that Mumford and Sons song that I love, Little Lion Man. The chorus has the f-word in it. I'm no fan of cussing, but that song is awesome and I'll sing right along (when my kids aren't in the room). I do wish there was a clean version of it, but it I guess it would lose some of it's power, wouldn't it? 


There you go: it's power. Saying things you can't- shouldn't- say, things that are forbidden to say, is powerful. Even declaring your love for someone, or your pain, openly-out loud- is huge. And, we need to express our love and our pain, regret, loss, joy and celebration, and even our self-confidence.


Passionate expression is powerful. That's part of the magic of music!


Feel the passion when you sing, let it out, and share it!


Yours in harmony, 
Renate

Almost done!

Hello Everyone!

We're almost done!

We've got the next 3 weeks to finish learning (a very small amount) and to polish up all our pieces and then we're going to have an amazing show!

Some people are worried that we don't have enough time to get it all together, but I'm sure we can manage. We've got a few little bits to learn to finish TV Time and a few little bits to learn in the ABBA Medley and the rest is just polishing. We have a great number of excellent choristers who know their parts and they lead the others who are excellent followers.

Have a look at the list of what we're singing, to see if there are things in your binder that you don't have to worry about. There are a few pieces that we decided not to do this year.

Remember that we are a community choir and our job is to have fun and entertain our friends and families on May 5th, and then the seniors in seniors' homes after that. We don't have to be perfect. Nobody in any of our audiences will have the scores in front of them to see if we should have been singing in harmony but were in unison, or vice versa :)

They will hear heavenly harmonies, dramatic dynamics, and memorable melodies that they will love. We have lots of beautiful music to offer our audiences, and I'm sure they will appreciate the variety and quality of the songs we're going to sing.

We sing for fun, but we also sing to stretch our musical ability, to learn and improve continuously, to grow. That we have done, and we will continue to do.

Every year we get better, each of us and all of us.

Yours in harmony,
Renate

Music Terms for April

I stole these from this site-click here.

Glossary of music terms

Accent: An unusual manner of pronunciation, e.g. "Y'all sang that real good!"
Accidentals: Wrong notes
Allegro: Leg fertilizer.
Bar Line: A gathering of people, usually among which may be found a musician or two.
Beat: What music students to do each other with their musical instruments. The down beat is performed on the top of the head, while the up beat is struck under the chin.
Bravo: Literally, "How bold!" or "What nerve!" This is a spontaneous expression of appreciation on the part of the concertgoer after a particularly trying performance.
Cadence: When everybody hopes you're going to stop, but you don't.
Chord: Usually spelled with an "s" on the end, means a particular type of pants, e.g. "He wears chords."
Chromatic Scale: An instrument for weighing that indicates half-pounds.
Coloratura Soprano: A singer who has great trouble finding the proper note, but who has a wild time hunting for it.
Conductor: A musician who is adept at following many people at the same time.
Countertenor: A singing waiter.
Crescendo: A reminder to the performer that he has been playing too loudly.
Da capo al fine: I like your hat!
Espressivo: Close eyes and play with a wide vibrato.
Fermata: A brand of girdle made especially for opera singers.
Fine: That was great!
Gregorian chant: A way of singing in unison, invented by monks to hide snoring.
Harmonic Minor: A good music student.
Harmony: A corn-like food eaten by people with accents (see above for definition of accent).
Heroic Tenor: A singer who gets by on sheer nerve and tight clothing.
Interval: How long it takes you to find the right note. There are three kinds: Major Interval: a long time; Minor Interval: a few bars; Inverted Interval: when you have to back one bar and try again.
Messiah: An oratorio by Handel performed every Christmas by choirs that believe they are good enough, in cooperation with musicians who need the money.
Modulation: "Nothing is bad in modulation."
Opus: A penguin in Kansas.
Pause: A short period in an individual voice in which there should be relative quiet. Useful when turning to the next page in the score, breathing, emptying the horn of salvia, coughing, etc. Is rarely heard in baroque music. Today, the minimum requirements for pauses in individual pieces are those of the Musicians' Union (usually one per bar, or 15 minutes per hour).
Supertonic: Schweppes.
Tempo: This is where a headache begins.
Vibrato: Used by singers to hide the fact that they are on the wrong pitch.
Virtuoso: A musician with very high morals

Which ones are your favourites?

CD mix up

Sorry about the mix up with the CD's.
Here's what we have on the discs:

	Soprano CD
1	Chorus of the HS	Sop 1
2	ABBA	Solos
3	ABBA	Sop 1
4	Hail Holy Queen	Sop
5	Wonderful World	Sop
6	Wind Beneath My Wings	ACC

So we’re missing the second soprano parts which are on the Alto disc, Chorus and ABBA

	Alto CD
1	Chorus of the HS	Sop 2
2	ABBA	Sop 2
3	Get Happy	Part ll
4	Hail Holy Queen	Alto
5	Hallelujah	Alto
6	True Colors	ACC
7	Wonderful World	Alto
8	You Raise Me Up	Alto

We’re missing the alto parts that are on Tenor/Bass disc, Chorus and ABBA

	Tenor/ Bass CD
1	Chorus of the HS	Bass
2	Chorus of the HS	Alto
3	ABBA	Tenor/bass
4	ABBA	Alto
5	Hail Holy Queen	Bass
6	Hail Holy Queen	Tenor

We were completely missing the tenor part for Chorus, but it's on a new Tenor CD.

TV Theme Songs

Ok, now I've posted way too many of the theme songs from our medley, but they're all out of order and there are a few missing, so I hope I haven't given too much away to potential audience members.
Keep scrolling down for more. If you're stuck, hit home and older posts at the bottom and then you'll be able to scroll down through more of the posts.

The Addams Family Intro Theme Song 1964 - 1966

Brady Bunch 1969

Carol Burnett Sign off Song

Oooh. It was her left ear here!

Happy Days Intro Early/Mid Seasons

1979 Three's Company Season 4 Opening & Timex Sponsor Bumper

We sang pianissimo and fortissimo!

We did it!
We talked about piano, p, and forte, f.
We looked at our music and saw pp for pianissimo and ff for fortissimo, and we sang very quietly and very loudly in the right place at the right time! Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves was beautiful.
Well done, choir!

Verdi - Nabucco - Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves

Look how many singers there are, and they manage to sing quietly. We're going to work on dynamics on Monday. We've got to get better control of our volume.
And, listen to how  nice and short their short notes are. Very nice performance.
Ours will be great too!