Thanks!

Thanks to Christina and Tristan for taking the rehearsal for me while I was in Ottawa. It is a great feeling knowing that I can go away and the work will be accomplished.  For those who missed the rehearsal you will need to get the notes from your colleagues - especially the material on finnish pronounciation - before we go at it again in January.

Next up Messiah.  I'll see you for only two rehearsals on November 30 and December 7 before turning over the choir to Noel Edison.  Please don't underestimate the need for us to dust off this score and get those runs practiced up to tempo. Looking forward to renewing this old friendship once again!

So I'll see you next  Tuesday evening at Bethany.  Have a great weekend.

Reference Recordings

In your preparation for Baltic Landscapes, hear are some reference recordings which you can see/hear on YouTube.  They are by no means definitive, however will serve as a reference point for your own learning.  When I have a little more time, and can get them to Sean, we can put recordings of the other rep on the Choir Only portion of the website. In the meantime this will get you started. Happy listening.


Benedictio – Urmas Sisask: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnB1rC5sq94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vCXxyG9p8Q


Totus Tuus – Gorecki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3qOBQ1ZkQM

O Crux – Nystedt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgx9VoDSXuQ

Ave Verum Corpus – Raminsh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLtvqUaseLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMoCREW2qNk

Thursday Thoughts

I hope you all had a well deserved rest last Tuesday night.  Thank you all for working so hard to bring Voices Remembered and Mozart Requiem to such musical heights.

Now on to the next project(s): Baltic Landscapes and Messiah. I have chosen the repertoire for Baltic Landscapes, as the Baltic composers (of which, for this concert  will include those from Scandanavia - Norway, Finland, & Denmark; Poland, Latvia and Lithuania) are writing some of the most exciting choral repertoire today.  And for this program, obviously we will be working in a number of languages: Finnish, Russian and Doukhobor - a dialect which comes from Russia which settled in the south eastern part of British Columbia. 

As you know from looking at the music in your envelopes, about half the program is sacred music - in Latin, and half is secular. Note: The Russian/Doukhobor set of Slavic folksongs which will end the program - a very cool set of pieces written by the Canadian/Latvian composer Imant Raminsh for the Vancouver Chamber Choir's tour to the former Soviet Union in 1989 -  is on its way from the publisher and I will have it to you before Christmas.

This program will be challenging because of languages which are less common than the ones we usually sing, complex harmonic structures, lots of divisi and finite, precise tuning. I am heartened that some of you have mentioned the program content with enthusiasm.  This concert will be another Camerata landmark.

But first let me put it all in context: You just sang an excellent half program on November 7 of which, if you missed no rehearsals, we had 9 Tuesdays (including the Tuesday of concert week in the hall).  For this program, if you miss no Tuesdays,  we have 13 Tuesday rehearsals (including the Tuesday of concert week in the hall) to learn a full a capella program of some of the most difficult rep I have programmed for Camerata.

How we will help: In a separate blog post, I will list recordings of the repertoire available either on YouTube or which Sean will post in the Choir Only section of the website. This may take a couple of weeks. These recordings are to be used as a model only, not as difinitive performances. In addition, Christina will prepare spoken texts of songs and we will also post these in the choir only section of the web site. You can go to these resources anytime at your leisure to review texts and to get the sound and nuance into your ears. The IPA work which Christina has been doing all fall with you will be invaluable in your marking of your scores as she goes over these texts with you.

Your responsibility: There can be no wasted rehearsal time, so learning notes on Tuesdays is not an option - for anyone. Please don't underestimate the group process - I know that you have the ability to miss a rehearsal and prepare on your own, however the balance of a divisi section of 2 or 3 singers singing harmonic minor seconds really suffers if you are not there. So try, if possible,  to schedule your business trips so that you are there on Tuesday nights.

Speaking of missing - next Tuesday I have to be working in Ottawa (I could not refuse the Canada Council again) but I am leavning you in capable hands with Tristan and Christina.  You need to be familiar with the following pieces for Tuesday:

Benedicto - Sisask
First Snow - Holten
Ave Verum - Raminsh
Auvksihuutopsalmi - Psalm of Invocation - Rautavaara
O Crux - Nystedt

Thank you to Tristan and Christina for allowing me to go to Ottawa with the confidence that you will be in very good hands. I will see you all on November 30 at Bethany for the first of two Messiah rehearsals in preparation for Noel Edison.

Camerata in the news

Kudos to The Coast for taking the time to come to Voices Remembered and share their impressions of our concert.  Read all about it here: http://www.thecoast.ca/ArtAttack/archives/2010/11/08/voices-remembered

Outstanding work last night in Mozart Requiem. I know how weary you all are but I hope the music making and the ovation last night in the Cohn energized you.  See you on Sunday afternoon.

Thursday Thoughts ...but a little earlier in the week!

The great Robert Shaw used to regularly write his choir after rehearsals to comment on the rehearsal, offer his thoughts on the music, encourage (and admonish!) the singers, eand so on. Shaw used to always begin his letters with "Dear People" (after his death a book about Shaw was published called "Dear People" - a great read by the way).  So in my attempt to articulate everything going on inside my head and heart, I'll begin, fondly:

Dear People,

In the history of Halifax Camerata Singers there have been few times I have been as moved by your performance as I was on Saturday night. To be pragmatic, there were little things which went wrong, however as long as we all live and breathe, there will always be the human factor.  But the difference on Saturday was, we sang through the program, I was struck by the many times I looked at you and saw complete joy on your faces. It was not the plastic smile some conductors tell kids choirs to wear in performance, but rather the light in the eyes - the look in which I can tell that you are really "getting it! "   Peter Togni felt it, Jeff Enns talked about it, the Coast article on Monday called it "soul-stirring and heart touching," and a friend in the audience who has really critical ears called it "exquisite."

Peter emailed me yesterday and I told him I would communicate his thoughts with you. These are Peter's words: 

"Once again may I say BRAVO for such a wonderful musical meditation. It was very good to be there and to meet Jeff Enns and hear his beautiful music. May I say BRAVO  again  for such an immaculate performance of Requiem Et Lux.!! I was deeply moved as was my whole family. The boat is now in the water. It was so great to speak with so many of your wonderful singers last night, their enthusiasm and depth of understanding and care for this piece was most humbling. They really have become a great choir and  are not only a treasure here in Halifax but in Canada. Your deep commitment to the truth of music and your energy and spirit and what you have done for choral singing is truly astounding! I look forward to more projects together in the future."

Powerful words which are important for you to hear.

There are so many people to thank:  Thanks to all the soloists who had a part in the concert. This was a concert where I didn't have the opportunity to acknowledge each of you but you are all appreciated for stepping up and selflessly giving of your talents in the many small solos each of you performed. Thanks to Tristan, for your gentle spirit and good humor and always being ready to get the choir in voice for me. You will have bigger roles to play in the concerts to come. Cynthia,  thank you for playing the daylights out of that bugger of an accompaniment and making the room sound like we had an orchestra playing its heart out with us! Tenille, thank you for coordinating the nightmare of details and events leading up to the concert. Your learning curve was beyond steep and I look forward to working with you in future projects. Finally, I would be remiss not to single out my respected (and much loved) colleague, Christina for all the help you have given me in the preparation of this concert, for your working with me on "Camerata vision" and the extraordinary heights you have brought Xara in such a short time. Xara is a treasure of which we all can be proud. You need to communicate this to these young women.  In a more somber note, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your very ill grandfather as he approaches his last days.

We all are weary but as we approach Mozart Requiem this week, I hope the music will give your batteries a quick charge and get you through to Thursday (until you at least have a couple of days off before the Sunday afternoon concert).  You all have Tuesday, November  16th off but I will bring a new package of scores for you this week so you can look them over before the 23rd.

Keep checking the blog, as it will be the way I will communicate with you re reference recordings for the new repertoire, scheduling issues, and notices other than Thursday Thoughts. 

Finally, in my thanks to everyone, I deliberately left the choristers to the end. You all the heart and soul of this organization and the raison d'etre we all are making music together.  Thank you for the light which was shining in your eyes last Saturday night. Dear People, indeed!

Congratulations Geoff and Jackie

Congratulations to Geoff and Jackie Gillespie on the birth of Lauren Pamela who arrived on Tuesday (rehearsal!) night. Weighing in just shy of 7 lbs, Geoff tells me it was a close call getting to the IWK on time as within 15 minutes of getting to the hospital, Lauren was born.  No doubt Geoff is already beginning vocal training and singing little Lauren to sleep.  Best wishes from all of us to the happy Gillespie family!

Thursday Thoughts

I hope you have all thawed out after Tuesday night's "chill fest!" Apologies for the lack of heat in the church however I was told that the church had the heat on! What I wasn't told was that it was apparently set at 15 degrees! Nonetheless, for the first rehearsal in the venue it went really well.  And on Saturday we get to sing these incredible texts through one more time before the concert. Remember that for the dress rehearsal  you are required to wear your formal attire for the entire rehearsal as the photographer will be shooting the choir while we are singing in order to get numerous poses. (Boys get up early, shave without cutting yourself to shreds and get that eye liner on straight!)  I'll see you at St. Pats and will do my damndest to get the heat up to above freezing!

Singing in a venue like St. Patrick's has unique challenges. It compells us to think about diction and text all of the time. You are not used to this and the temptation is to let the room do the work. The temptation to sit back and do what we do in Studio 4 is natural - it's what we practiced for that room in dynamics, phrasing, articulation of text...everything. However this doesn't work and the music comes off as "mezzo."  Dynamics have to be taken to the ends of the spectrum to be effective - from the softest ppp in the Tavener to the most demanding fff in the Togni and Vaughan Williams. You have to imagine the audience holding their breath, leaning forward to experience a focussed, well-supported pp in "Give rest or Lord to your handmaid..." and then have them absolutely blown away by the sheer dramatic power of "Come enjoy rewards and crowns I have prepared for you."

Please understand that I can't teach you to sing with passion.  It has to come from within. I can't teach you to sing expressively, you have to do that because you believe in the music. At the end of the day what I can do is remind you of the details, remind you of the interpretation, remind you of what we have worked out together to bring these texts alive. But individually, in order for it all to work you have to be out of the score and this needs to be happening from everyone. (I so sound like a broken mp3 !)

Basses when you sing your opening solo of  "Even When God Is Silent" it needs to be more confident from the very first sound you make AND from memory! The same with p. 44 and 45 of movement IV of the RVW.  Memorize these solos gentlemen, every single one of you, and know them cold for the dress.  And lest you think I am picking on only the basses, first sopranos - the pickup to m. 81 of "Many Winters" was still problematic - not together and tentative. (It was fine last week so I know you can do it)  And I'm sure the altos and tenors had their places as well but my memory right now is not recalling them.

But in the end it is up to you. You have the tools and the skills to sing a brilliant concert.
Basic reminders include:
- sing to the exit signs - not to me.  Use every opportunity to fill the church with sound - some pp, some ff and all gradations in between.
- over emphasize diction, especially consonants at phrase endings.
- my tempi will be slightly broader - you felt that Tuesday night in the RVW.  Enjoy it!
- breaks in the music will be longer to allow chords to clear. You felt this in the Togni, and the Tavener on Tuesday. Use the space to prepare for the next chord. If there is a big break, it is for dramatic significance.  Go with it!
- careful not to spread the vowels in the ff pasages. Remember the diction coaching we have worked on so carefully. An excellent example of where this happened on Tuesday night was the last page of the Tavener. Look at this text before Saturday and think the IPA. It will be clear where and on what words this happened.

Finally, I cannot overemphasize the need for you to arrive at both the dress rehearsal and ultimately the concert, rested. If you do not, you are letting down your colleagues as you certainly will not be able to give your best. If you are not rested you will make mistakes, you will sound vocally tired and ultimately you will not sing with confidence.  I expect that as a member of this choir, you give your absolute best in concert.  I expect the same of myself  (without the singing part!).  But above all, remember to have fun on Sunday night and that together, we will create magic.

Thursday Thoughts

Thank you all for working so hard Tuesday night. We are seeing the results in the music and with two rehearsals to go (next Tuesday and the dress) we have the time to sing through the program a couple of times. At the risk of being obvious, the key to success in this program now will be reviewing what we did Tuesday night, checking the places where you are having individual challenges, and committing as much  of it to memory as possible.  The rest is listening and being aware not just of your section but all the other sections in the choir. I was excited after this rehearsal as I am realizing the musical possibilities of us singing this program at St. Patricks. I am excited as we once again get to share a concert with the youthful enthusiasm of Xara. I am excited as two composers for whom I have tremendous respect will come and hear us sing two world premieres of their pieces.

So as you continue to study, work, and memorize, please remember the following:

- please use every opporttunity to tell people about the concert. Sell those tickets! I sent an email to the SNSC in preparation for this Saturday's Mozart Requiem rehearsal, letting the singers that you would have tickets at the rehearsal to sell.

- Tuesday's rehearsal is at St. Patrick's on Brunswick St. Parking will take longer than at the MCPA so allow enough time to find the church and get parked.

- the Saturday November 6 dress rehearsal will also be a photo shoot and concert dress is required.

Have great week and see you Saturday.

Thursday Thoughts

Someone said to me Tuesday night, that there was a study done which stated that in order to perform a piece to the best of your ability, you had to sing it through at least 8 times. Given the original source, I have no reason to doubt the statistic, and if we take the theory to its nth degree, then we will have to sing some of the rep through twice on October 26, November 2 and at the dress on November 5 to achieve the magic number. Not sure if this is possible, however I do know that as most of the work is now complete we do need to sing through "Many Winters" many times to let the piece jell. Your work on Tuesday was concentrated and in the end, aside from a few glitches, we have the majority of the piece.  So what we need to do now is review individually, memorize as much as possible and be able to get out of the score.

By now you all have my email re Jeff Enns' suggestion as how to solve the text question in m. 36 - 40.  It should be an easy fix so take a look at what that it means for you re the text and make the changes. 

I also talked to Peter Togni yesterday and I asked him to send me his thoughts on "Requiem et Lux" which I am including here for you to read and think about:. I believe it puts his piece in context:

  " On January 17th 2009, the world lost a great Canadian painter, the 55 year old John Brocke. He was killed in a head on collision near his home in the Annapolis Valley. On that day I lost a dear friend who was always like a brother to me. I first met John when I was living in Calgary, in fact we were next door neighbours and shared many things, we even made wine together. John's paintings were huge, he was very maticulous so much so that he could only complete one or two paintings a year. His work was filled with  his deep faith and with incredible light and hope.  John and I  had another thing in common,  a great love  for Russia, it's people, art and music. John had once visited Russia to meet with  artists and to study icons. This Russian visit  was very important to him and it influenced his work deeply. He was also very much drawn to the sense of  pathos in  Russian sacred choral music.  Because of this I wanted " Requiem et Lux " to flow like a Russian Orthodox hymn. The first part is  somber, human, full of tears  with great passionate swells. The second half of the work moves into the light and speaks of eternity. "

In the next two weeks we have the opportunity to promote this concert in all kinds of ways.  Dave J. made an excellent suggestion at the AGM after Tuesday's rehearsal - that we need to make better use of social networking to promote our activities. We're already doing this in Danielle's N.'s regular Facebook posts, (and many of you are doing the same by announcing the concert and selling tickets on your profiles)  and our usual use of email to promote the concert to our address contacts. We have a fabulous new website which has the ability to accept ticket payments online - really easy and convenient so make sure you mention this to people. Twitter was another suggestion. But let's not forget about the tried and true methods: posters and flyers, announcing the concert to our church choirs and having our tickets close at hand to sell to people with whom we have everyday contact. I'm doing an interview with Olga Milosevitch the week of the concert and Tenille has blitzed the local churches, CBC and the press with a great PSA. The generation of a lot of talk and hype about the concert will pay off so please do not underestimate your role in all of this.

Thanks for your thoughts, your hard work both in rehearsal and at home and your obvious committment to this music. Please stay healthy, as from now on to the concert, I need everyone at rehearsals.

Thursday Thoughts

With two (2) more rehearsals before concert week, everyone now needs to be in high gear and getting this music in your heads. We all need to have portions of this concert from memory so that at crucial times in the scores, I can be assured that I have your eyes. The time for note learning is over and over the next two rehearsals (before we go to St. Patrick's where the acoustic alone will be the challenge) my emphasis will be on "performing" the repertoire.

"Many Winters" still is a challenge and I ask that everyone spends time with this score before Tuesday. This sounds obvious but really know where you need to look up - ie tempo changes, meter changes, etc. Historically Camerata has not premiered new pieces with its best possible performance but after the choir has sung through the pieces a number of times, the performances/recordings are considerably stronger. Last year's Gjeilo piece was a classic example. I think with much effort we can break this trend for "Many Winters."  This is my goal - that Jeff Enns gets a truly inspired reading of  "Many Winters" when he sits in the audience on November 7th.  The same for Peter Togni's piece "Requiem et Lux."  Think about what this means for each of you.

Please remember: 

- next Tuesday, October 19th we will begin rehearsal at 6:45 pm and will work for 1 3/4 hours until 8:30 pm when Camerata's AGM will take place. The AGM (which is for everyone) will run for 1 hour and we will be gone by 9:30 pm. The Board has been assembling documents and preparing for the AGM and will join us at 8:30 pm.

- the Saturday dress rehearsal (November 6th) will also include a photo shoot taking place throughout the rehearsal.  Concert dress will be required.

- this Saturday, we will rehearse Mozart Requiem at Bethany: 10-12:30 pm.  Please be there as the cancelling of the October 23 rehearsal depends on my assurance that everyone knows what they are doing by the time we finish Saturday's rehearsal.

- please sell our concert tickets. This concert is a great opportunity to put us over the financial top if everyone promotes the concert and makes an effort to sell the tickets.  Thanks to Danielle N. for a great Facebook page - eveyone forward it on to as many of your friends as you can. 

- you have Tuesday, November 16 off.  You will need the rest after the November 7, 11 and 14 concerts.

- only those who absolutely cannot do a concert for Musique St. Bernard on June 26, 2011 were asked to email me. Hearing from no one, I am assuming you all are free to sing the concert. We will discuss it as a choir but please put the date on your calendars.

- congratulations and best wishes to Lynn Erskine as he is ordained to the Christian ministry this Friday evening at Immanuel Baptist Church, Truro.

Thanks for your continued hard work.  See you all on Saturday.

Thursday Thoughts

Thank you all for a good rehearsal on Tuesday.  Although there is still work to be done on these scores, we made a lot of progress especially on "Many Winters."  As I said at the rehearsal, the more I work on this piece, the more I realize how profound Jeff Enns' setting is.  He will be coming to the premiere on November 7th, and in a recent conversation he told me he can't wait to hear us perform it live.

Jill Rafuse has asked me that if you plan on submitting memorial names to the program that the deadline is this Sunday, October 10. For new singers, submitting a name simply means you have the opportunity to remember anyone in your life who has passed on and who has had an impact on you: a family member, a teacher, etc. You may submit as many names as you like but the deadline is Sunday so please get the names to Jill.

Advertising seems to be going well but remember that deadline is fast approaching as well. Please get all program ads in to Tenille asap or at least speak to her and let her know the ad is coming.

Everyone who was at rehearsal on Tuesday now has tickets. You each only have 4 and you are our best advertisers. This concert has been very well attended in the past and we have a glorious opportunity to sell it out this year with the combination of the Camerata and Xara together.  If you have historically just handed your tickets back in, please make an effort to ask friends, work colleagues, fellow church choir members,  members of SNSC, etc., etc and you might be surprised who may want to come.  I'm asking that you make an extra effort, that's all. This organization belongs to all of us and the days of just showing up and singing are over. I have just come from a meeting with Peter Guilford of the Dept of Tourism and Culture and everyone out there is asking for more money. Our programs are increasing and so are the economic challenges of running an organization like Camerata.  Everyone from the Board, to the singers, to the staff are all working tremendously hard but let's increase our audience and show people why we won the Willan Prize in May!  (For those of you who don't have your tickets, you don't need them in hand to take orders.)

There were a number of people away on Tuesday due to illness and work committments, but remember it is your responsibility to keep up  with the work load.  I cannot take the time to review.  For this week the message is simple: review everything! I will finish "Many Winters" and Requiem et Lux" but be assured we will work on most of the rep. As well, remember "Eternity" needs to be memorized. Christina will have some time to work on that piece with you this Tuesday. 

I would be remiss not to congratulate Sheena Henderson and Jason Balcolm who will be married this Thanksgiving weeend.  I know that I speak for all of us in Camerata and wish you both years of happiness together.
Have a happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone. Thank you again for last Tuesday. You were a shining light for me in the middle of the chaos!

Update (and final) Program

Hi folks,

The original document posted on Sept 7 with the program order for our upcoming concert had an error on it.  I've replaced the incorrect document on the Sept 7 posting but am also including it here.

If you find it too small to read, just click on it and a larger image will open in a new window.

Thursday Thoughts

Dear Friends,

Thank you for many inspired moments on Tuesday.  The level of the choir's musicianship was significantly improved and many of you had worked on your scores.  The result was we were making music even on the new material we were reading for the first time. 

Things to remember:

- Saturday morning meet at Dal Arts Centre, Room 409 by 8:50 am to find your place, get settled and meet the clinician and masterclass participants. We begin at 9 am sharp.  Wear your new choir t shirts. Those of you who do not yet have them, meet Christina and change in the washroom.  We are finished the masterclass by noon.

- Saturday afternoon, if you are free, you are invited to join us for clinics, the SSA masterclasses but most importantly SING OUT! event where participants will gather at 4:30 PM to share choral music with the general public on the lawn of the Spring Garden Road Public Library. Passersby and choral friends will be encouraged to join in with song sheets provided.  Please encourage anyone you know to attend this last part of our day!  Share in the Culture Days experience and encourage more people to lift their voices together. We want hundreds of people there as we want to show the public and our decisin makers what our art form means to us!

For Tuesday's rehearsal:

Requiem et Lux - Togni
Many Winters - Enns
Kyrie - Nickel
Song for Athene - Tavener
RVW - IV & VI

Soprano auditions for the solo at the end of the RVW movement VI will take place this Tuesday and next from 6:30 to 7pm and during the break. Please email me if you are interested and we will set up a time.

Best wishes to Tristan as he takes on the SNSC on Saturday morning in their rehearsal of Mozart Requiem. I'll see the rest of you at the Dal Arts Centre.

Thursday Thoughts

Good morning everyone,

I think we all can hear the potential in this year's choir sound as there were some really lovely moments on Tuesday. I want to thank those of you who are working so hard to realize the vision of Camerata. It is obvious to me that you are in the majority.

However in order for the choir's potential to be realized to its maximum, it is the responsibility for all singers to arrive prepared on Tuesdays.  Last Tuesday, a number of you were struggling.   I can only assume that there are three possible senarios: either you did not prepare, you did not prepare well enough, or the music is above you. Any of the three is unacceptable to me and we need to correct it right away.  My expectations were made clear last spring, articulated in writing during the summer and verbally at our first rehearsal so this is starting to sound like a broken record. 

I have excellent resources with Tristan, Christina and Cynthia who are helping me realize my vision for Camerata.  I sincerely thank them all and appreciate their work.  I expect there are few choirs in the country who are blessed with such resources. By now you are aware of the direction I am proceeding with all of us on the team working on the unimanity of vowel colour, blend and ultimately good vocal health.  However all the resources in the world will not do any good if I am reviewing notes and rhythms week after week.

So lets have a go at it again. For next Tuesday's rehearsal please look at the list below and prepare carefully:

Even When God Is Silent - Horvat
Kyrie - Nickel (the divisi bass line needs work.)
Many Winters - Enns  (review up to m 102.  Be familiar with the notes from m. 103 - end)
Song for Athene - Tavener ( I'll  sort out divisi on Tuesday)
RVW - mvts 4 & 6

Remember: you have until Tuesday, October 12th to memorize your vocal line for "Eternity" as outlined by Christina last Tuesday.   I would recommend that  you listen to one of the many You Tube recordings to get the piece in your ears.

Recommended recordings for other rep:

Vaughan Williams:

IV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Jl4dqoESs
VI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zfHiloldtg&feature=related

Larry Nickel – Kyrie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZC_lyvq1Tc

John Tavener - Song for Athene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcYcjc0Ylp8

For the ACCC conductor's workshop on the 25th please know the three assigned pieces.  In addition, the choir is asked to please wear your new choir t shirts for the morning workshop.  For new singers I would ask Christina to bring you a t shirt on Tueaday - we have your sizes as per the form you submitted to me during the summer.

Have a great weekend.  Christina, Cynthia and I will be hanging out with my Girls' Choir at our annual "Fall Tune Up"  - lots of fun in store for us!  See you Tuesday.

Comments

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Final Program Order

Hello all,

As an update to the program order that was in your music packages on Tuesday, here is the final, correct order of repertoire for the November 7th concert. There will be some brief spoken portions added to this but they will not be formal readings as in other concerts. More on this will follow.

If you find the type face below to be small, just click on the program and it will open in a new window in a larger format.

Rehearsal notes & other stuff

Dear Friends,

We're off to a great start. You were reading fast and furiously last night and we broke the back of a good many notes!

Here is some things you need to note:

Info for ACCC Workshop on Saturday, September 25:
Time: 9-am - noon
Place: Room 409 (upstairs), Dal Arts Centre
Rep list: (Pls learn/review on your own)

In Remembrance - Daley (either as separate copy or p. 21 in Requiem)
Even When God Is Silent - Horvat
Cantate Domino - Pitoni

Concert date correction:
On the program order given out last night, the date at the top for the November concert was incorrect. Please correct it to read Sunday, November 7th - 7:30 pm

IPA info:
Many thanks to Christina for beginning this process. Please make sure you have the IPA sheet always in your folder for quick reference. Begin to memorize the 5 vowels and their IPA symbols and your own "sounds like" examples. Begin using the symbpls to mark your scores.

Welcome:
I would once again like to welcome the new and returning singers to the choir and hope that you find a musical home in Camerata: Ann Bradley, Danielle Kain, Jill Wright, Stephanie Blanchard, Dave Jellicoe and Jeff Hennessy. Please introduce yourselves to these folks and welcome them personally.

For next Tuesday please prepare:
In Remembrance - Daley (quick 5 minute read through)
Even When God Is Silent - Horvat (review)
Kyrie - Nickel
Many Winters - Enns (review of m. 1 - 96)
RVW - Mvts IV & VI
Eternity - Bojesen (don't worry about divisi as it will be explained on Tuesday)

Please remember that we are at Bethany United on Saturday: 10 am - 12:30 pm to read through one of the great choral masterpieces of all time - Mozart Requiem. We will welcome our Youth Mentoring Program singers to this rehearsal and they will be with us for the rehearsals and performances of this concert. Please seek them out and make them feel welcome. Chances are they will feel a little lost!

Again thanks for your fine work last night. It is going to be a great year!

2010 Season Begins!

Hello Everyone,

In the middle of this heatwave it is difficult to believe that summer is once again coming to an end and fall schedules are ramping up. Camerata rehearsals begin next week: Tuesday, September 5, 7-9:30 pm at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts (MCPA) 6199 Chebucto Rd., near Windsor St. I am asking that everyone arrive at least 10 minutes early to meet the new singers, renew old friendships and collect your scores.

This is going to be a jammed packed season - schedule-wise you will be busy and musically you will be challenged. Everyone will be needing to work on scores in between rehearsals. We will be giving no less than three world premieres of new works this year and the repertoire will range from the Renaissance to music composed within the last month! This season, I want to welcome my new Assistant, Tristan Cleveland-Thompson and once again look forward to collaborating with our accompanist extraordinare, Cynthia Davies. I have also asked Christina Murray to continue her work as Diction/Language Coach. Each of these people will bring their own special gifts to help make Camerata a better choir and I am fortunate to have such a team of such capable musicians .

I recently read an article which interviewed some of the leading conductors of choirs from across the United States. The question posed to each conductor was "how can your singers be better prepared for their first rehearsal challenges? " In a number of the responses, the first suggestion was that the singers carefully review the choir's year long calendar and compare it to their personal calendar so that conflicts are avoided. Most importantly we eliminate the situation where a month before the proverbial May concert, where I get a call that something has suddenly "popped up" and prevents the singer from attending the dress rehearsal or (worse) - the concert. I thought "how obvious" however it occurred to me that not all singers do/have done this. Please make it your responsibility to check the year's calendar here on the blog.

The purpose of the blog is to be more effective in our communication, but in order for that to happen, you will have to check it each week. For the month of September I will email you reminders after rehearsal each week to let you know when the blog has been updated. After September, it will be your responsibility to check. For those of you who still are not able to access the blog, I have asked Christina to email you a set of simple instructions to let you to sign on and become a member - thus allowing you to see what has been posted each week. There will also be room to add your own comments - but remember, always be nice!

As you can see on your schedules, there has been an addition on Saturday, September 25. The Association of Canadian Choral Communities (ACCC) is holding its quarterly meeting in Halifax and part of its mandate to reach the broader choral community, ACCC is holding conducting workshops on Saturday morning and afternoon. Camerata has been asked to be the lab choir for conducting students for Saturday morning from 9 am to noon. Xara has been asked to be the SSA lab choir on Saturday afternoon. Both choirs will receive honariums which will go into general revenue. On the choir calendar, Camerata already has a scheduled Mozart Requiem rehearsal, however I would ask that you plan to be at the conducting workshop (led by the fabulous I Choristi's conductor, Debra Carins) so that the conducting students have a good workshop choir to hone their skills. (I know that a couple of you already have committments which you have already spoken to me about.) The three repertoire selections for the workshop will be taken from last season's repertoire and will be easy pieces for the new singers to learn quickly. I will bring the copies for our first rehearsal. Please see this as an opportunity for Camerata to give back to a community which has been overwhelming in its support of us this past year.

So welcome to the new season! Welcome new singers and returning old friends! Everyone - get ready for an exciting, challenging, demanding year of extraordinary music making. I can't wait to begin!

Season Wrap up

Well we've done it! Another season has come to an end and as I said in my recent Facebook post, you guys deserve to be congratulated! We had a wonderful weekend in PEI and I hope you enjoyed yourselves in spite of the heat, humidity and driving on PEI roads! The concerts were very successful: you sang a great concert on Friday night and the Celtic Mass for the Sea on Sunday night was a wonderful event for everyone involved. Scott and Jennyfer were very appreciative as was Christine Gallant in her thanks to me after the concert. The weekend's events (in addition to the Mahone Bay concert over a week ago) makes me realize that the outreach concerts we do are so important for many different reasons.

So, some of the important questions of the weekend which still need to be answered:
- did Ryan ever wake up on Monday morning?
- should we ever let Sean and Geoff play fooseball again?
- did Shona drool while she slept on the way home?
- does Greg's kids know he makes animal sounds when passing herds of cows?
- will Christina receive a flood of phone calls just to hear her say "bye" when she hangs up?
- did Jordan ever calculate the "Celtic MASS of the Sea?"
...and on it goes.

I thank each of you, your partners and families for all you have given to the choir this season. I know full well the committment each of you make to sing in Camerata. Have a wonderful rest, enjoy your holidays this summer and I will see you in the fall.

Indian River here we come!

Thanks for the good workout on the Celtic Mass last night. Note that we will not sing "Mary Ellen Carter" to end the first half of the concert on Sunday night, but will sing "Like A Child" (from the SOLACE recording) instead.

Some housekeeping thoughts for the weekend:
- you might want to bring a fan for your UPEI dorm room as it is supposed to be hot this weekend. Also remember your water bottles for rehearsals.
- Judith B. is reserving space for the choir at Charlottetown pub for 7 pm on Saturday evening for those who would like to join us for dinner.
- all scores will be collected after the concerts so please bring everything with you.
- please note that both concerts at Indian River begin 7:30 pm NOT 8pm.


See you all at Indian River for the CBC soundcheck at 4pm on Friday.

Welcome to the Camerata blog!

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our new blog. With the help of blog expert, Christina Murray, we have spent a good part of Saturday morning getting us up and running. While the 09-10 season is almost over this is a good time to get in the habit of checking here for Camerata information.

Please subscribe to this blog as by doing so, you will be alerted every time there is a new post. Notice the calendar to your right. All Camerata dates and events will be listed there. It is your responsibility to keep on top of this information.

In the past, I have sent rehearsal notes and other important information to you by email. I will no longer be doing this. Part of the rationale for the change is to avoid any issue with changes of email address and cluttering your inboxes. Instead, I will post rehearsal notes, programs, important pieces of news, etc. here for your information. Please understand that I expect you to check this blog at least once a week in order to keep on top of important Camerata news.

Congratulations on last night's concert in Mahone Bay. It was a great run-through for Indian River and our upcoming CBC broadcast.