Confessions of a Choral Singer

Violist Copies Nokia Cell Phone That Rings During Concert

2012-01-25T19:39:00.001-07:00

Violinist Lukas Kmit copies a Nokia ringtone that interrupts his concert. Lukas Kmit handled the cell phone interruption extremely well! Too Funny.
This happened at a Jewish Orthodox synagogue in Prseov, Slovakia.

BBC Proms 2011: Tim Minchin - F Sharp (Comedy Prom)

2011-11-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

I promised not to post so many videos, but promises are sometimes broken. This is just SO funny!

The Choir: Military Wives

2011-11-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

I've posted a lot of video recently, so I didn't want to post another, but here is a link to the first episode of this season's "The Choir," which I blogged about a few days ago. It's a BBC effort and Gareth Malone is the director of the choir(s). If you can't get BBC America, you can view entire episodes for free on your computer here.

Fauré Requiem - 1. Introit and Kyrie

2011-11-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

This choir and chamber group are really good. If you want to hear more, go to Youtube.com and search St. Pauls Episcopal Church Faure Requiem Salt Lake City. Charles is a great director and I'm sad that I missed it this year. Working 12 hour days will do that to you.

Fauré Requiem Rehearsal

2011-11-13T17:53:00.001-07:00

St. Pauls' Episcopal church SLC. Charles Black conducting.

BBC's "The Choir"

2011-11-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've watched Gareth Malone and "The Choir" since it's beginning a few seasons ago. This is the real deal. Why do the Brits do it better than us? They just seem to appreciate choir music more than most Americans do.

Anyway, this season, Gareth is setting up shop in a military base and forming a choir of military wives. Here are a couple of links to his newest endeavor.

The Choir in Devon

The Women Who Wait and Sing

If you have access to BBC America, this really is a great show.

The Sing-Off Revisited

2011-10-26T19:15:00.000-06:00

I was excited for a new season of the "Sing-Off," with Nick Lachey. The first season was exciting with choirs of up to 50 people performing a capella songs beautifully. The second season, groups were smaller but it was still an inspiring show to watch with beautiful music sung beautifully.

Sadly, season three has devolved into small, very polished groups singing hip-hop and covers from rock artists with a lot of beatbox and other percussive effects. It's much more like a show choir atmosphere and much less interesting.

I love music. My musical tastes run the gamut from Mozart to Adele, the Muse, Green Day, and occasionally Frank Sinatra. So I have no bone to pick with the performers on this show. They're top notch and fun, etc.

But I didn't tune in to watch that. I started watching the show because it was based on the premise of bringing back choir music to America. I loved it. And now I'm disappointed. This season has been glitter and glam and the same-old, same-old. If I want this, I can watch MTV.

When is America going to have something like the Proms that European countries have? Sorry educators, but ACDA conventions just aren't the same. When you're in high school and college, there are many chances to complete with other choirs in your age ranges. After that, there are very few chances to compete with other choirs and to hear them in turn.

About 20 years ago, we had an adult choral competition here in SLC that was adjudicated by independent judges from all over the US. It was wonderful! I sang in two choirs and had a chance to listen to about 50 others over the course of three days.

I was really hoping that this televsion series would be more like that, but sadly, it's turned into something much more like American Idol. Sorry Nick, it's over for this chorister.

For Knitters Everyhwhere

2011-10-24T21:05:00.000-06:00

Fron Male Voice Choir - Hey Jude

2011-10-22T17:28:00.000-06:00

The famous Welsh male choir (average age 67) singing "Hey Jude."

Stuck In a Moment

2011-10-19T19:13:00.000-06:00

My sweet baby girl singing and playing U2's "Stuck In A Moment." She learned this JUST FOR ME! I'm the luckiest mom in the world, yes I am, sorry, but that would be me, not any other mom.

The Three Kings - Moab, Utah

2011-10-17T19:56:00.000-06:00

Oldest daughter, middle daughter, and mom (me) road-tripped to Moab, Utah this summer. Wouldn't it be fantistic to have a choir singing in these red rocks? This photo has not been photoshopped. The clouds broke right behind that formation.

Young@Heart at Fenway - The Star Spangled Banner

2011-10-17T19:07:00.001-06:00

This is a snapshot in time of what I hope my future will look like. I hope I am still singing when I'm 80 and 90 and....if I should live so long!

Choral Music in Public Schools - a New Look

2011-10-16T15:18:00.000-06:00

If you have teenagers in school music programs, or if you're interested in schools and the decline of the arts, this project will inspire you. I'm not promoting this project or asking for donations for it, but this shows what one dedicated and visionary teacher can do. Here's the link to Big Voice.

Tonight - The Sing-Off!

2011-09-19T17:10:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted! I'm not singing in a choir currently, so I haven't had a lot of news, however, tonight, on NBC, we have news. If you've never watched "The Sing-Off" for heaven's sake why not? It's NOT like American Idol or any of those other singing shows. These are real choirs, singing in real harmony. I record this every season (so far two, this is the third) and it's my weekly "fix" since I don't have rehearsals right now. This is WORTH your time. If you watch it and disagree, please, leave a comment and tell me why.

U2 Nashville All I Want Is You

2011-07-08T19:29:00.001-06:00

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U2 pulls blind man onstage to play guitar. Bono GIVES him his green guitar!

Jonathan Puts the Beat in Beethoven!

2011-03-23T19:40:00.000-06:00

Don't Tune the Altos Flat! (Or Beware the Wrath of the Flatted Alto)

2011-03-14T17:01:00.001-06:00

When I was in another choir here in Salt Lake City, a rather exclusive choir, I might add...ahem. Here comes the story...

We were singing in the round and the director was making me REALLY nervous because he kept coming over to stand right by me and then would walk over and stand by the sopranos. This kept up for a few measures and then he stopped us, looked at the sopranos, and said, "Sopranos, you're sharp! Stop flatting the altos!" I SO wanted to fist pump!

So here, for your amusement, is what can happen when you tune the altos flat. If you don't approve of swearing, you might not want to click this link.

The Wearin' O' The Green

2011-03-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Come and celebrate St. Paddy's Day with Jubilate! We'll be celebrating a couple of days late, but it will be totally Irish anyway! This year, I'll be sitting in the audience and listening to the sweet and sometimes funny sounds of Salt Lake City's finest chamber ensemble. What a treat. So come and join me! Light refreshments will be served - wine, but no Jamisons, alas.

The place is Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church at 195 S. 700 E. SLC, UT. The date is Saturday, March 19th. The time is 7:30 p.m. The concert is free, but donations are always gratefully accepted.

Be There or Be Square!

PS22 Chorus Goes To The Oscars!

2011-02-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Studying Your Music at Home

2011-02-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Most choirs require some study time at home, so I thought I'd do a post about how to do that, however, trying to get a handle on this was difficult. People have so many different learning styles: some visual, some auditory, tactile, lots of combinations. So I’m limiting this to how I study my music. I’m not giving any advice!.

I’m a visual person. I’m left-brained and rather a perfectionist. Sometimes it helps to be this way and sometimes it’s a real pain and a hindrance, but there you have it. I yam what I yam.

I love to bring home new music in my folder (even if it’s old copies that are so dog-eared they almost fall apart.) I like the way it smells and the way it feels in my hands and I really anticipate taking the time to sit down and begin to look it over.

Since I work during the day, I carve out time in the evenings or on weekends to take my first. peek. But first!!!! I have to prepare......

(No, this doesn’t involve candles or chanting.) I have these wonderful colored pencils for marking and the indispensable yellow highlighter, plus a regular mechanical pencil and a really GOOD gum eraser. Ready to begin!

As I look through the folder, I first pick out any octavos that I’ve sung before. These go into one pile. Any octavos that I haven’t sung go into a second pile. Larger works go into a third pile. These are the loneliest since there’s usually only one of them per concert.

I look through the ones I’ve sung and mentally note if I have them memorized. If I do, they go back into the folder. Those will be worked on with the director at rehearsals and that’s really all that’s necessary.

Then comes the hard part. Do I jump into the most difficult work first or the easiest? Or the middle? Yes, I’m such a sloth, I usually start with the easiest. Path of least resistance and all that. Sigh. I yam who I yam. (That might be my motto this year.)

I scan the work first to see what happy surprises the publisher has for me. ”Save paper, save ink, save money.” All so that the actual performer, who pays top dollar for the music, can get carpel tunnel from page turning! How many of you have had the experience of MULTIPLE da capos in one piece? Go back, go back, go back, now go forward, now back, now forward again! I swear (and I do) that I’ve had pieces with 10 of those things within 10 pages! When I finally get to da capo al fine, I'm ready to fine that piece of music right out the door! Whew, it felt good to get that out!

I’ve been known to go to my handy dandy copy machine and tweak things to my liking. (Jubilate generally performs with our music, so turning a bunch of pages back and forth is a problem.)

Next, I look at the Key and Time signatures, etc. throughout the piece. If anything changes, that gets marked in red colored pencil. If there are any old markings, I generally erase with my GUM eraser so I don’t get confused, which is pretty easy for me to do.

Tempo markings get circled in purple. All fortes are marked in red and all pianos in blue. In my brain, blue=quiet and red=loud. For me, the different colors really stand out at rehearsals and it’s much easier to glance at the music and know what I need to be doing while I watch the director and try to do what he wants. Yes, Virginia, chorals singers ARE the best multi-taskers in the world!

Once this is done for each piece of music, I then begin to rehearse either at the piano or with an MP3 file. Luckily, I read music well, so normally, I just need to get the difficult passages learned at home.

Lest you think this is a one-time process, it takes many days and a lot of time to complete. Four weeks into a concert cycle, I still look at my music at home and correct any problems that were encountered in rehearsal.

Why in the world would any sane person go to all this trouble just to sing in a concert? I think because it’s totally magical. Singing with other human beings and making sweet music together is just about the most wonderful experience on this planet. At least, it is for me.

Three Degrees From Alfie Boe

2011-02-10T19:28:00.002-07:00

I’ve blogged a little about Alfie Boe before. In some circles, he’s being called “the next Pavarotti.” Those who have heard him sing know that statement is not far from the truth.

How am I, a Lowly Choral Singer, just three degrees from The Alf?

Darned lucky, that’s how! Alf is married to a girl named Sarah. My supervisor at work is Sarah’s uncle. And then there’s me! TA-DA!

A few days ago, Alf and his wife dined at Buckingham Palace, where Alfie sang for the Queen. During dinner he was seated beside Prince Charles.

I won’t tell you what he whispered to Charles, but it had to do with weddings and singing. :)

Alfie will be in performance at Sun Valley, Idaho on Saturday, March 19th. Tickets will be available for that soon and I’ll be putting that on this blog. What a treat to be able to hear him live!

His new album “Bring Him Home” can be preordered on Amazon. It will be released here in the States on March 1.

Sing Your Heart Healthy

2011-02-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of noise in the choral blogosphere lately about how singing in groups keeps people healthier, but not a lot of real scientific data on this. I came across this article from the Social Capitol Blog and it includes the following:

"The best evidence I’ve seen on the power of choral singing came from a study done in 2000 by Robert Beck (of U. Cal., Irvine) and others called “Choral Singing, Performance Perception, and Immune System Changes in Salivary Immunoglobulin A and Cortisol” (Music Perception, Fall 2000: 18(1):87-106.) that used saliva swabs before and after rehearsals and performances of a professional choir singing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. He found that immunoglobulin A (which provides immunity and lowers stress) increased 150% during rehearsals and 237% during performances. Singers self-ratings of various emotional states were highly predictive of the rise in immunoglobulin A."

Wow! If you want to stay fit, find a choir and sing your heart healthy! To read the entire article, go here.

Dis-Chord in the Choir

2011-01-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

I was sitting and knitting away, half-watching an old movie, mainly thinking about Leanne over at the Chorister and writing this post in my head. Click here to read about the background.

I decided to get it into a Word document and out of that mass of jelly. It tumbles around and leaves no room for anything else until I write it down,

One of the reasons I’m reading “The Nice Girl Syndrome” is because, as women, we often find ourselves being overlooked, undervalued, and in many cases, unheard.

Leanne was incredibly brave by posting the distress at St. Paul’s and by refusing to let it be swept under the rug. She paid a very high price for her bravery and honesty, and that sucks. If she were a man and had done the exact same things, would the ending have been different? I believe it would. If a man had said, “Hey, you’re treating people unfairly and with great indignity,” the music director might have taken a difficult look at his actions, and the dean of the cathedral would surely have implemented the suggested changes.

As women, whether in a choir setting, or at work, in church, or in the community, we have to use our voices and speak up against injustice. We can be powerful with our words and we should use them for all they are worth.

I may be half a world away, but I am Leanne’s friend and I say she and others were ill-treated and those people responsible should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Woman or man, if you see or you experience bullying and evil in your world, speak out! Your life may take a different turn if you do. It may be for the better or it may not, but you will feel better about yourself.

And in the end, how you feel about yourself is all that really matters..

A Little Night Music Fun

2011-01-24T22:36:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted any choral jokes in a long time, so here are a few from around the internets:

You know you're a choir nerd if -

you knock on a wall and try to match the pitch
unresolved chords make your head explode
you volunteered to organize the music library
you say vocal folds instead of vocal cords
you're an alto and really don't see the need for melody
the key of F Major makes you nauseous
you get separation anxiety every time you turn in music
you do chord analysis on the hymns during church (I did that as an undergrad)
you think conductors batons are unnecessary
you find it difficult to get past the first seven letters of the alphabet
you have the Eric Whitacre website linked to your homepage AND
you're still reading this list !

Pandora Radio

2011-01-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Have you discovered Pandora Radio? If not, go here now! At Pandora, you can create your own radio station that will play only music that you like. You add composers or songs you like and Pandora will add them and also add others that are similar.

For those of us who are choral fanatics, this is wonderful! All choral, all the time! Ummmm, well that might be a little much.....or maybe not.

How often are you listening to NPR and it's the news again? Or some classical something you just don't like? It seems like we choral fans have to wait until the Christmas season to get our fix. And yet, there's a whole world of choral music out there. So, let me at it!

My Decision

2011-01-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

After hearing from Jubilate's board president, I've made a decision - TA DA - I'm going to sing for the Easter Tenebrae services if they'll allow me to do just that and not the May concert. Then, I'll do the final 9-11 Memorial Concert in September and make another decision at that time about going back fulltime. The 9-11 will be the 10th anniversary of the attack and I really don't want to miss that.

My stress level is still pretty high because of work. I wish I could talk about that, but can't.

As far as what happened a few months ago regarding Jubilate - I deleted the post. That's the first time I've done that, but I was very angry and hurt at the time and later regretted posting it. Let's face it, people don't always live up to our expectations. I'll always be a little guarded around him now, but I don't think it was intentional. Giving up a 25 year friendship is not something I want to do.

So this will be a compromise for now. Tenebrae is one of my favorite "concerts" and I'm happy to be singing in that again.

Maiden Vermont Quartet

2011-01-09T18:13:00.003-07:00

I thought you all might enjoy another Christmas video, even though it's the New Year now. Here's my friend Cathy, of Maiden Vermont, singing in a quartet. She's third from the left.

People say I don't have any sense of direction and I guess that's pretty true. Cathy is third from the RIGHT as you're looking at the picture, or the tall gal in the middle. I just noticed this.

Maiden Vermont Sings 'Em In At Fenway Park

2011-01-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

One of Jubilate's former members lives in Vermont and now sings with Maiden Vermont. Here, they're singing at Fenway Park! First, the Canadian National Anthem and then the USA National Anthem. They sound great! Hi Cathy! We miss you! Lots of exclamation points!

Flashback 1968

2011-01-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is off-topic but so funny I had to post. I found these rollers at a local Shopko last week. When I was a teenager, this is what my head looked like each Saturday afternoon. Snort.

Yeah, the 60's kinda rocked.

What New Songs Will 2011 Bring?

2010-12-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Time to turn in the Christmas music and put away the Christmas CDs. I always feel a little nostalgic and sad in the last few days of December.

It’s cold and snowy outside and the excitement of holiday concerts and baubled trees is over for 2010.

The music of 2011 is waiting for me downtown in a paper packet. If I choose to, I’ll soon be loading it onto my iPod and listening as I drive to and from work.

It’s difficult to stay away. Jubilate is the only choir in town that performs a diverse and profuse amount of choral literature and does it all beautifully. Other choirs may perform 2-3 times a year, Jubilate usually gives at least 8 concerts.

Will I go back or not? Stay tuned....

My Favourite Time of Year - The Florin Street Band (Christmas 2010)

2010-12-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Christmas Eve! This video made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Enjoy!

Street Cellist Eli Potash Receives Gift - Salt Lake City

2010-12-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

Eli Potash is a street musician in Salt Lake City, Utah. He can be heard most nights in front of the Broadway Theatre downtown. He plays an old, beat up cello and makes it sing. Daniel Day, of the Daniel Day Trio, is his friend and wanted to do something for him. The trio gave him a new cello and case for Christmas this year. The wind was blowing when this was recorded, but you must hear Eli and the Daniel Day Trio play "Silent Night." This is the real spirit of Christmas. Click on the title of this post to see the full article.

Hallelujah Chorus -Quinhagak, Alaska

2010-12-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

My ex-husband used to live in Seward, Alaska. This is a VERY remote little village. A lot of work went into producing this!

Christmas Concerts Galore

2010-12-21T15:31:00.002-07:00

Here’s an update on Christmas concerts in Salt lake City for the last of December:

Tonight at 8:00 p.m and on Christmas Eve (Friday) at 4:00 p.m., the annual Christmas Carol Service will be sung at the Cathedral of the Madeline. Hear the choir school and the Cathedral Choir perform works of William Byrd, Anton Bruckner, and Herbert Howells. Get there early if you want a good seat (or any seat at all.) Seating passes are available by calling 801-994-4663. Free. The address is 331 E. South Temple.

Wednesday the 22nd at 7:30 p.m., Utah Voices present Handel’s “Messiah.” The concert will be at Libby Gardner Hall at the U of U. Address is 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City. Admission is $10 and well worth the price with Dr. Michael Huff conducting.

And after Christmas, another one! Octapella will give its Christmas concert on Monday, December 27th and Tuesday December 28th at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 S., Salt Lake City. Time is 7:30 p.m. for both concerts. These guys have a huge sound and really rock the house! You can go to their website to buy tickets or go to ArtTix or call 801-355-2787. Tickets are $12 for general admission.

Three spectacular choral concerts, all different, all worthy of your time.

TSA Holiday Choir!

2010-12-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

This Christmas season, the TSA employees at LAX are bringing some holiday cheer. And at airports these days, who doesn't need that? Here's a link to the TSA Holiday Choir!

TSA Holiday Choir Text and Video

I'm Trying To Understand...

2010-12-17T20:12:00.002-07:00

Most of you know that my full-time job is in the mental health field. On Wednesday morning, a colleague of mine shot and killed himself. I debated about posting this, but decided that no one will know who it is and that it may help me to deal with it.

I'm trying to distract myself with internet and TV, but the tears still come. Even people who work in the mental health field aren't immune to depression . It feels so surreal. He was a very nice man, but quirky, ya know? Didn't have a lot of friends, never married, depended on his mom a lot. He shot himself in her home. She came home from work and found him.

How is it we think we know people, but really don't know what they're dealing with?

He was in so much emotional pain that he chose to not take another breath rather than have to wake up and just open his eyes on Thursday. I keep thinking that he'll never see another snowfall or football game. I'll never walk into work again and say hello as he walks out. (We worked different shifts.)

He isolated himself a lot, didn't come to work parties or retreats. I tried to find a picture of him at work and couldn't. I have pictures of almost everyone, but not of him.

As I type this, I am so grateful that I have music in my life and not just to listen to. The privilege of performing music is almost terrifying in it's ability to lift me up and keep me sane. Without it, would I find myself someday sinking into that black hole with no way out?

I'm OK for awhile and then I start to tear up again. Why didn't I know? Why didn't I take more time to talk to him? We're all asking ourselves these questions right now and my workplace is pretty quiet. In reality, there's nothing anyone could have done or said that would have made much difference, but oh how I wish he had reached out a little more and that I had tried a little harder to be a better friend.

Altos Are Awesome (Yes, I'm A Bit Biased)

2010-12-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this on CafePress today and I'm definitely buying it. Merry Christmas to me!!

Not Choral Related But Funny, Especially If You Are A BYU Alumni

2010-12-13T17:05:00.001-07:00

This is not

Christmas Concerts This Weekend

2010-12-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

I want to get a quick post up about concerts this weekend.

Jubilate will be singing on Saturday, Dec 11th. It's a renaissance concert this year and should be gorgeous. They usually do a sing-a-long of Christmas carols at the end. Warm up your voice and join in! And Jubilate does the best reception in town. It's at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, 210 S. 700 E., SLC. It will be in the basement reception area in a cabaraet-type setting. It might be crowded, so come early to get a good table or seat. Admission is a donation to the Utah Food Bank, either money or non-perishable food. Time is 7:30 p.m.

The Salt Lake Men's Choir presents their annual Christmas bash on three nights this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! The Friday and Saturday concerts are at 7:30, the Sunday concert is at 4:00 p.m.
These concerts are at First Baptist Church of SLC, 777 S. 1300 E. The SLMC always gives a GREAT concert. They have an amazing amount of energy. Go to this one for sure! I'll be there Sunday at 4:00.

Bullying in the Choir

2010-12-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Bullying has been in the news a lot lately, mostly in connection with kids and the internet. For those of you who have been readers of this blog for awhile, you may remember my posts on my own experience with a bully in choir. Here's a link to part of that series.

http://confessionsofachoralsinger.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-almost-quit-my-journey-there-and-back_25.html

Anyway, it's a subject that I follow with interest wherever it happens, but especially when it happens in a choral setting. A blogger friend of mine in New Zealand has detailed an account of bullying in her church choir and it bears reading, if only to remind us to be kind. Here's a link to her experience.

http://thechorister.blogspot.com/

She's also a choral composer and has several pieces being performed around the globe.

Is bullying behavior more prevalent these days or do we just hear about it more? Have any of you been subject to this in a choral setting? If so, I'd like to hear from you. Please leave a comment and I'll respond.

Angry Alto Diva Cat

2010-12-06T17:56:00.001-07:00

Vivaldi's "Gloria" Tomorrow

2010-12-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

The First Presbyterian Chancel Choir and friends and soloists Camella Cañete, Felicia Lundie, Gretchen Windt, Albert Faraone, and Erik Sumner along with Larry Blackburn, organist, all under the direction of Music Director Russell McKinney offer their annual Christmas Concert.
This year’s concert features the popular “Gloria” by Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. The second half of the program will be made up of shorter works by John Rutter, Harold Darke, Tomás Luis de Victoria and others, with Pamela Atkinson reading seasonal lessons from the King James Version of the Bible. There will also be several familiar carols for the audience to sing along with. There is no admission charge, but a free-will offering will be taken to directly support the music program at FPC.

Sunday, December 5, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. The address of First Presbyterian is 12 "C" Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. See you there!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

2010-12-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

Summer Singers concert and other stuff

2010-07-25T20:27:00.001-06:00

Drama, drama, drama! As someone who hates the "draama," I sure can't seem to get away from it.

Sorry I've been gone for so long, I promise to be better at posting, especially since the fall season is approaching quickly.

Update - Summer Singers was awesome this year, probably the best we've ever done. We had about 35 people sing with us, one from as far away as Colorado. And we sang really terrific literature, all of the Frostiana series, five songs by Stephen Foster, Witness by Jack Halloran (FUN piece), Down by the Riverside arr. by Rutter, Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out by Mark Hayes, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic arr. by Willhousky. The audience joined us on two of those and the choir sang a descant.

Our director is much better this summer and he was rockin' the house. (See posts for summer of 2009 for backstory.)

The Summer Singers concert was arranged cabaret-style, with round tables. Our choir president is also a whiz at receptions and she got us all involved in setting up and breaking down afterward. The buffet was attacked during the intermission and by the end of the concert, there was not much left. People left feeling full of music and food and very happy.

Rehearsals for the annual 9-11 concert begin on Monday, August 9th, 7-9 pm at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church here in SLC. This is not a Jubilate concert, but a concert by the 9-11 Memorial Chorus and Orchestra. For more on how all this got started, click here.

Anyone is welcome to come and sing in the 9-11 Chorus. If you're in the area, come and sing with us! We've had people as far away as Germany come and sing in this event, so don't miss it. The Salt Lake City community really looks forward to this, almost as much as "Messiah" at Christmas.

I do miss my blogging and hopefully all the drama will be over with soon.

The Davidson Chorale sings the National Anthem

2010-07-04T13:25:00.000-06:00

Dental Hiatus

2010-07-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

This dental work is really getting to me and I haven't felt like blogging since the Face Plant of 2010. Ten teeth were cracked or shattered and I've spent more than enough time in my dentist's office. But, he's very good and has lots of nitrous and drugs. Still, the reconstruction of my mouth (out of which comes the music) has been somewhat painful. I now have temporaries on top and will go through another month of fiddling with this and that to be sure the permanent crowns are perfect. This process is daunting because they didn't have a lot to work with after the accident so they have to rebuild everything in front. Later, I'll post a picture of the temps.

Summer Singers is going great and Jubilate is now looking for a permanent accompanist and for an accompanist for our 9-11 Mozart Requiem concert. If you're interested, please leave a comment. It's a paid position.

Happy 4th weekend!

Face Plant

2010-06-08T19:53:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, I took a face plant outside a movie theatre. My daughter and I were going to see "Sex and the City, 2." She let me out to buy tickets while she parked the car. I tripped on the uneven cobblestones and "boom!" Down I went. On my face. My teeth to be exact. Here's a partial pic of the event.

Luckily, there was an EMT and a doctor right there. Now, I just need a whole new mouth! Of teeth, that is. Eight teeth were either sheared off or shattered. After a stint in the ER, my dentist saw me on SUNDAY and I have another appointment on Thursday. It will be several weeks before the new smile is in place.

If I never see SATC2, it will be too soon.

Anyway, I hope to settle down, balance my life and self, and continue this musical journey.

Summer Singers!

2010-05-27T20:37:00.001-06:00

Karma Cop

2010-05-11T16:56:00.000-06:00

Well, now I feel like a whiny donkey (translate - ass). I missed rehearsal last night. Karma really is a beeyatch! My car's battery died again. I called my insurance company for the free roadside service and it took them nearly 3 hours to get here. By then, it was nearly 9:00 and too late to make it.

I feel rather foolish and it's made me depressed all day long. Plus I missed a fun night.

The Karma Cop is on the way!!

Warning - Wild Rant, Read At Your Own Risk

2010-05-06T19:38:00.000-06:00

We have three weeks left until our Haydn concert and most of the choir is up to speed and sounding good. BUT, we have two people who have only been there for two-three rehearsals! And one of them sounds bad!

Aaaaarrrrrgh! Jubilate is a REALLY good chamber group, but we're so lazy about following our own standards. Both these people are former members. But it is not fair to everyone who has been there, that they are allowed to sing after only 3 rehearsals.

The rest of us have been to at least 12-16 rehearsals. Is our time not as valuable or something? We show up nearly every Monday night and give it our all. Why is it OK for someone to come in at the last minute, not having put in the time OR the study, and it's all right because "we need another tenor and bass." I love these two, but it's NOT OK.

When my daugher broke both her feet at the end of December, I knew I couldn't be at most rehearsals until the beginning of March, so I VOLUNTARILY dropped out of the February concert, even though I'm sure I could have done it, music-wise. It wouldn't have been fair to everyone else for me to sing without putting in the time.

I'm furious. Our tenor may be OK, he generally puts in the effort at home (although that's not the point), but the bass sounds horrible. It ruins the sound and sends a message that anyone can come in at the last minute and sing.

You can't pull this kind of shit in a play or musical or opera production or.................or anywhere else!

And no chocolate to be found.

A Little Night Stick Humor

2010-05-04T20:36:00.001-06:00

From the website of the Oratorio Society of New York:

FINES FOR CHOIR OFFENSES

VOCAL OFFENSES
Obtrusive Vocal Technique $20.00
Unsuccessful Pitch Approximation $10.00
Grotesque Facial Expressions While Singing $30.00

GENERAL TOADYING:

Insane Cackling at Conductors' Bad Jokes $50.00
Unwarranted Beatific Smiling While Singing $40.00
Conversations with Conductor in Language other than English $95.00
Conspicuous Score Marking $15.00
Violent Nodding $25.00
Raising Hand after Making Mistake $40.00
Raising Hand and Pointing after Neighbor Makes Mistake $100.00
References to Obscure Recordings/Performances $90.00
Pretending to Understand Absurd Metaphor $15.00
Actually Understanding Absurd Metaphor $25.00

ANNOYING BEHAVIOR BY VETERANS:

Singing High Notes Louder than Possible $25.00
Holding Same 1/4 beat Longer than Everyone Else $200.00
Singing Unassigned Solo Parts (sotto voce) $25.00
Singing Unassigned Solo Parts (fortissimo) $100.00
Tiresome Time-Consuming Anecdotes $30.00

CRIMINAL BAD TASTE:

Decomposing $25.00
Offensive Fragrances $35.00
Selling Amway Products $500.00
Absurd Fashion Statements $50.00
Having Entirely Too Much Fun $10.00

Pardon Me While I Scream

2010-04-29T20:05:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning to a freaking BLIZZARD! This was no spring fling, it was a full-on winter snowstorm. People, Saturday is the first day of MAY! Remember how May is supposed to be full of promises? Promise me this - NO MORE SNOW!

In Praise of Haydn Except for a Soprano

2010-04-27T11:29:00.002-06:00

As I’m sitting her listening to Haydn on my iPod, I’m thinking about all the crazy things that happen in our rehearsals. When advertising for new singers, we always say that they have to “fail” the psych test. By that, we mean they have to be slightly nuts. Our rehearsals are intense and sometimes raucous. Here’s a sample:

We’re performing Haydn’s “Paukenmesse” or “Mass in Time of War” for our May concert. It’s really beginning to gel and the ensemble is feeling really good, but there are still some rough patches to sand.

And one soprano REALLY doesn’t like this mass. While she was voicing her opinion last night, our director asked if it’s growing on her. Her response? “Like mold.” We all laughed so hard, it took five minutes to calm us down.

At which point, our director looked at his watch and informed us that it’s a new one. This one has all kinds of great features which help him during rehearsal time. (No it’s not an iWatch although I’m sure Apple has that on it’s list of next new great inventions of all time.)

Our director says he has control of the group in little “chunks” of time and at that point in the evening he was up to six whole minutes!

At another point in the evening, while working on a particularly difficult section, one of the tenors requested that our director not cut off the tenors before they actually found the right note! (Said tongue-in-cheek.) That laugh took another five minutes.

Hard to believe we actually get anything done but our concerts are quite lovely.

I'm An Idiot

2010-04-26T13:55:00.001-06:00

I’m such an idiot. My friend and I planned to go to a choral concert on Sunday. We had agreed to meet at a certain time and first one there would save a seat. The concert started at 5:00 p.m. At 6:30, I walk into the living room, look at my daughter, look at the clock, and say “Oh, S#$%!” (Cussin’ on a Sunday!)
It turns out the friend is still talking to me, but I missed a really good concert.

The gray matter is beginning to congeal.

Soprano Face Lift

2010-04-15T21:06:00.000-06:00

We always have a lot of fun at rehearsals. Being a true chamber choir, there's always a lot of input from everyone regarding the final product. We tease our director and yes, we challenge him! Not every director is meant for this kind of choir. It takes foresight, planning, and a special, slightly sarcastic, sense of humor to steer this group into stellar performances.

I'm always scrounging for blog fodder and so I make notes during rehearsals and hope that they'll provide something interesting or funny.

Last Monday we were working VERY hard on the Haydn mass and I didn't have much time to scribble notes so they were more "hen-scratched" than usual, in fact, I can hardly read them. But here's one thing that happened:

Our sopranos are awesome, but they can be LOUD, especially when learning new music. At one point, our director staggered backward, very exaggeratedly, pushed his face back, and said, "now that's better than a facelift!"

OK, you had to be there.

"I said forte (f), NOT fffffff!!!"

The "Bear" Facts

2010-04-08T20:38:00.000-06:00

My choral energy is up again and I've linked it to the weather!

After Christmas, the weather in Utah generally turns very ugly. (Unless you're a ski bunny and then it's all smiles.) We have snow, slush, and cold, dark evenings. I really dislike driving in a snowstorm or after a snowstorm. Roads turn icy and I get scared.

So rehearsals are a real chore during the months of January, February, and March. By April, the weather is turning sunny again and so is my choral mood. I'm so ready for those rehearsals and concerts.

Surprisingly, most of my fellow singers don't seem to have this affliction. They come to winter rehearsals all bundled up and totally OOZING energy. It makes me crazy! Gimme some of your energy!

And they do. After I get there, it becomes contagious and I enjoy the evening. NOT that it makes it any easier to leave my cozy home and make the drive the next time!

I think I was born into the wrong family, so to speak. Shoulda been a bear.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T12:19:00.001-06:00

Tenebrae Easter Services

2010-03-31T20:21:00.000-06:00

Easter is almost here and Jubilate has two Tenebrae services this week. Jubilate is not a church choir, but we have several area churches who very generously donate the use of their buildings to us for rehearsal or concert space. We try to give back in several ways, one of them being a Tenebrae service at Easter time.

Thursday night will find Jubilate at Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, 175 S. 700 E. in Salt Lake City, Utah. The service will begin at 7:00 p.m and will probably last until 8:00-8:30 p.m.

On Friday night, we will be at First Baptist Church of West Valley City, 3831 S. 2700 W., West Valley City, Utah. This service will also begin at 7:00 p.m.

The Tenebrae service celebrates the central mystery of Christianity: the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A deeply moving service of psalms, readings, and prayers,Tenebrae (Latin for “darkness”) recalls the gathering forces of evil after the triumph of Palm Sunday. The service begins with a lament, followed by reflection on the Lord’s betrayal and suffering. Yet it concludes with a dramatic assertion of God’s saving faithfulness in the midst of evil, sorrow, and pain, emphasizing the reason for our unshakable, expectant hope in the joy of Easter.

Both services are open to the public and are free. If you're in Salt Lake City, please join us. See the Jubilate Calendar for map directions.

Check Your Suckiness As A Singer

2010-03-30T19:15:00.000-06:00

Check out this hilarious post on The Chorister.

This and That

2010-03-28T13:19:00.002-06:00

I'm trying out a new template. Blogger has new templates in "blogger in draft" and there's been a lot of hoopla about it. I don't see much difference as far as new features go. The templates have always been customizable (is that a word?) and this simply adds a few new choices.

I like this one and might be experimenting with others in the next few months. I've added a new picture of me. I don't photograph well and my sacred vanity won't let me post what I REALLY look like first thing in the morning! You would seriously throw up and immediately stop reading this blog.

Moving Day

2010-03-23T21:01:00.002-06:00

My two youngest daughters are leaving for Washington, DC on Thursday morning. The youngest will come back here and live with me for six weeks until she finishes a few last classes and then she will move to DC with her sister.

It's been difficult to blog! All I can think about is boo-hoo for me! YAY for the girls but SOB for the mom.

It will be fun to have Abby here with me for those six weeks and sob time again when she leaves.

Sigh. Nobody told me it would this hard to be a mom AFTER the kids are grown.

I promise to get back to this blog and to the music world soon.

...

"The Devil's Trill"

2010-03-01T19:15:00.005-07:00

I'm reading a new book, "The Devil's Trill" by Gerald Elias.

Mr. Elias has been a member of the Boston Symphony and is currently the Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony.

The book is about the Piccolino Stradivarius, a three-quarter-size violin that has brought misfortune and death to all those who have possessed it. It is stolen from Carnegie Hall in 1983 during a young artists' competition.

The following is an excerpt from the book cover - "Daniel Jacobus is a blind, reclusive, crotchety violin teacher living in self-imposed exile in rural New England. He spends his time chain-smoking, listening to old LPs, and occasionally taking on new students, whom he berates in the hope that they will flee."

I'm in the middle now and can't put it down. It delves into the seamier side of classical music and sometimes reads like an old Mickey Spillane novel as in this excerpt, "...the story faded from front pages like last week's weather."

VERY good book, especially if you're interested in what goes on behind-the-scenes in the classical music world.

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The Blues (non-musical type)

2010-02-27T23:50:00.004-07:00

I can't believe it's the weekend again. Work is so busy and time just keeps on going.

I haven't posted much lately because I'm so sad. My two youngest daughters are moving away from me to Washington, D.C. It will be great for them since they love politics and the metropolitan areas of the northeast, but my heart is kind of breaking. This is it. I know that they'll never move back to Utah. Yes, we'll see each other and we'll talk on the phone and email and do the Facebook thing, but it's different from picking up the phone and saying, "Want to go shopping today?"

This empty nest thing sucks.

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Aaaahhhh, Me Loves Me Some Weekend

2010-02-19T17:30:00.002-07:00

Relax and enjoy.

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Grant Posts Interrupted

2010-02-16T18:35:00.008-07:00

I'm still recovering from the goombas and haven't felt much like writing, but getting the mail made me feel better.

Sometimes, the US Mail isn't all about bills! Here's a picture of what grant writing can do for your choir:

This is the second grant check that I've gotten in the past two weeks. It really does pay to apply for grants!

Your choir members will be elated that they don't have to finance everything through dues and fees.

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I Sound Like I've Been Swigging Helium

2010-02-08T21:10:00.003-07:00

As an alto, I sometimes fantasize that I'm a diva soprano. This weekend, it happened!

Actually, I sounded more like Julia Child. Bon Appetit! Or more accurately, Lost Appetit. Ugh.

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Beep, Beep, Beep...

2010-02-03T19:40:00.004-07:00

I’ve decided to back up a little bit.

What, you say? We’re continuing, starting, and now backing up??? What kind of a trashy blog is this anyway?

Hey, it’s my trashy blog so we’re backing up, baby!

Seriously, the second post in this series didn’t go far enough. My reason for writing about how to get a grant is to make it EASY. Well, easier, anyway. So I’m going to break it down further.

When people talk about a non-profit corporation in relation to choirs, what they generally mean is that they have a 501 © 3 letter from the IRS that exempts them from paying taxes.

A non-profit must “ support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern (such as the arts, charities, education, politics, religion, research, or some other endeavor) for non-commercial purposes.” – Wikipedia

First of all, you need a mission statement. If your choir doesn’t have one, here’s a sample: “The mission of Greatest Choir on the Planet is to perform quality music in an extraordinary manner.” It can be as simple as that. In fact, the simpler, the better for a mission statement.

Then you must have a board of directors. This can be peeps who sing in your choir or, in the case of larger choirs, it might be an outside board of people who don’t actually sing in the choir. It might be a combination of the two. For a grant proposal, you need to list their names, positions, addresses, and phone numbers.

The next step is to draft Articles of Incorporation. ALWAYS check with your state’s Attorney Generals Office. They are usually extremely helpful and can guide you in this step. They don’t need to be long and involved, but they should state the basics. Here is a link to a sample Articles of Incorporation for a 501 (c) 3 organization. Just insert your choir name and tweak them a bit to fit you!

Grantors don’t generally ask for Policies and Procedures, but it’s a wise idea to have them. They can save you a lot of headaches and heartache.

In my humble opinion, policies are different from procedures and should be separate but most choirs have them combined.

Policies are set in stone and deal with the big picture and they have few details. Conflict of Interest and Non-Discrimination would be examples of policies.

Procedures are simply guidelines and can change and evolve as the choir changes and evolves. Something that worked 5 years ago may not be working now and can be easily changed by voting. Examples of procedures would be audition procedures or travel guidelines.

Most choirs combine the two but as I stated before, it might be wiser to separate them. The post below this one gives an example of combined Policies and Procedures.

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Example of Policies and Procedures

2010-02-03T19:31:00.007-07:00

This looks a little weird because Blogger wouldn't let me format this in outline form. Please put on your outlining glasses when reading it!

The Greatest Choir in the World Choral Ensemble

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
2010

I. GCITW Responsibilities

A. GCITW is and will remain incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation of the State of Somewhere USA.

B. GCITW will develop and market a choral ensemble locally and nationally.

C. GCITW will act as talent agent, broker and representative to aspects of the entertainment industry that hire and utilize vocal and artistic talent on behalf of contract member/employees and others utilizing its services.

IV. Committees for the purposes of handling special needs or on-going choir functions shall from time-to-time be innstituted and approved by a vote of the Board of Directors.

V. GCITW Artistic Director shall maintain artistic control of the performers and performances.

VI. Conflict of Interest – In the event that GCITW becomes financially able and willing to employ part-time or full-time employees, no relatives of said employees may be hired by GCITW.

VII. Non-discrimination – GCITW does not discriminate membership due to race, religion, gender, or sexual preference.

II. GCITW Mission Statement:

The mission of GCITW is to connect with every human heart through joyous singing. The spirit of the music is expressed and shared with our audiences in a professional and intimate way to promote the love of choral music.

III. GCITW Artist Responsibilities:

A. Membership in the GCITW will be entirely by the selection of the Artistic Director and the Selection Committee.

B. Auditions will be required for all participating members of the GCITW.

C. Artistic counseling will be held between each artist and the Artistic Director for the purpose of mutual feedback and nurturing performance improvement.

E. Different classes of artistic membership may be created from time-to-time for different types of artistic performances, such as special events or specialized ensembles.

F. Rehearsals – The goal of rehearsals is the preparation of the entire group for upcoming performances. Any person missing from rehearsals diminishes the sound and distorts the quality of the music.

1. Attendance at all rehearsals is expected. Absence from rehearsals must be excused the by Artistic Director.

2. Notification of an absence from a rehearsal must be given to the Artistic Director at least one week in advance, except in emergencies.

3. Preparation for rehearsal is expected to be made in advance. This includes making the necessary arrangements to arrive at the rehearsal studio on time and warmed up. Part learning, language practice, and other performance skills are the artists’ responsibility. A minimum of two (2) hours practice outside of rehearsal time is expected of each member.

5. A maximum of two unexcused absences will be permitted per season.

G. Performances – The entire choral practice effort is aimed at performing selections flawlessly and with musical expressiveness required by the Artistic Director.

1. Absence from performances requires the Artistic Directors’ prior approval. Attendance for all performances is expected. Unexcused absence from a performance is a factor for dismissal from GCITW membership.

3. Notification of a personal conflict regarding an upcoming performance must be given at least one week in advance unless circumstances are beyond control.

4. Costumes and concert dress should be in keeping with the Costuming Committee approved styles. Perfumes, colognes or other scented products should not be used

6. Preparation for performances includes arriving at the required call time in costume, warmed up and ready to work.

H. Special Events (Unscheduled Performances)

1. Choir Vote – The choir may elect to perform in non-scheduled projects on a case-by-case basis. A minimum of 80% (30 singers) with an overall equal part balance must agree to the event, date and schedule of practices.

2. Once a commitment has been made, attendance is mandatory for all members voting to perform for a special event. Performance rules apply.

3. Notification of conflict in personal schedules is required the same as for scheduled performances.

4. Preparation for performances in special events is the same as for scheduled performances.

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Salt Lake Children's Choir

2010-01-31T21:24:00.002-07:00

BTW, that last post was the Salt Lake Children's Choir, directed by Ralph B. Woodward.

Il est né le Divin Enfant

2010-01-31T21:22:00.001-07:00

My daughter used to sing in this group. They still wear the same costumes - so darn cute! Chip Woodward, their director, is amazing.

More grant posts to come this week!

Red-Faced

2010-01-28T19:18:00.005-07:00

I just reread my last post and can't BELIEVE I started it with the sentence, "As we continue..., we'll start....

How can we continue BEFORE we've started??? Arrrgh! Life lesson - "APBP - Always Proof Before you Post!"

Swamps, Mires, and Grants

2010-01-25T19:13:00.007-07:00

As we continue paddling through the swampy mires of obtaining grants, we'll start with the basics. Your choir probably already has all of this, but startup choirs may not. It's a jungle and a swamp out there! Where do you start?

Well, I’m not getting into bylaws, a board, and all that. This series of posts assumes you already have that! (I assume a lot and yes, I frequently make an ass out of myself).

First of all, get an accountant! It’s the smart thing to do and will have big payoffs when it comes time to write your first grant. All the financial information can be emailed to you and will be at your fingertips without YOU needing to track receipts and spending. A treasurer is great, an accountant is better. Plan a spot on your board for this financial wizard. And PAY him well, he is worth every shekel.

You’ll need to declare your organization as a non-profit entity. This link to the Free Management Library is awesome. It will take you through everything step-by-baby-step! It even gives samples of all the forms and shows you how to fill them out.

Some granting organizations may also require that you have Dun and Bradstreet number. A D&B® D-U-N-S® Number is a unique nine-digit sequence recognized as the universal standard for identifying and keeping track of over 100 million businesses worldwide. Jubilate has one of these for identifying purposes.

Once you get these things in order, you’re ready to tackle writing your grant! It’s fun and frustrating, time-consuming and detailed. Remember the fun. People will be in awe of you. YOU WRITE GRANTS! WOW!

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Grants, Money, And Choirs Just Wanna Have Fun!

2010-01-19T17:59:00.010-07:00

Let’s face it peeps, like most everything else in this life, quality choral programming takes money. We all want to sing and have some fun, but at some point there is music to buy, there are venues to rent, stamps for mailings, salaries for directors, accompanists, and others. Suddenly this small choir that just wanted to sing has become a non-profit organization with all the accompanying headaches, woes, and gratifications.

So where does the money to operate a choir come from?

(By the way, all of the following information is for the USA only. I know zero about getting grants in any other countries.)

Some choirs begin by charging dues. Others require that members pay for music and costumes. These measures will cover some of the basics, but most choirs soon realize that they need other sources of income.

This is where grants come into play. Wonderful, Glorious Grants! IF you can get them! How do you find them and where do you start?

It’s been my experience that most federal grants are meant for large organizations. It may be possible to find a federal grant for a choir whose budget is under $50,000 a year, but I’ve never come across one.

Your best bet is to GO LOCAL! I’m not sure if it will keep your carbon footprint lower, but grant partnerships with your state, county, city, and local foundations really pay big dividends.

How do you go about finding out what is available in your state, county, and city? GOOGLE PLEASE! (No, I did NOT say Goober Peas! BTW, did you know that Goober Peas are peanuts in Southernese?) But I digress...

If you go to your Google toolbar (or any other search engine) and type in “utah arts grants”, you get resources for the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Zoo Arts and Parks, and the Eccles Foundation, all of which offer grant monies to small, medium, and large arts organizations. Or type “north carolina arts grants” and you get the North Carolina Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, or the Fayetteville Arts Council and so on.

You get the idea. There IS funding available! Knowing where to look is key.

Aside from state, county, city, and local foundations, there are also corporate grants available. For instance, Target awards grants yearly to deserving organizations that make the arts available to children.

The next post will deal with how to start a grant proposal. If anyone out there would like to write a guest post on how their choir has gotten grants, please make a comment and let me know, I would love to have another point of view.

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This and That

2010-01-12T19:11:00.007-07:00

I'm taking a very short Leave of Absence from Jubilate, just for the Valentine's Concert. My oldest daughter broke her left ankle and right foot and needs a little help. Her husband is wonderful but he's in school at Weber State from 8-1 p.m. most days so both extended families have been helping out. She won't be walking for about six more weeks!

We have two trauma hospitals here in Salt Lake, but the EMT's took her to the nearest ER which is a very small local hospital. The hospital staff waited nearly 30 minutes before taking off the inflatable cast and didn't realize she had also dislocated the broken ankle. The pulse in her foot was gone. Luckily, once they got it back in, the pulse came back, but because they waited, she almost lost her foot.

This happened a little over a week ago and she's doing better now, just a little depressed at being so danged helpless.

So this is one reason why I'm taking the LOA. My blankety-blank knee is the other. I find out on Thursday if I need more surgery. I'll post about that this weekend.

This week, I have to finish a grant evaluation for the year 2009 and submit it by Friday and start a grant proposal for 2010. Jubilate depends on grants for our existence. We have wonderful, generous patrons, but grants give us the ability to take choral concerts out into the community and especially to schools. We are proof that singing doesn't have to end with high school or college graduation!

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Opera in the Buff

2010-01-07T21:01:00.009-07:00

I've enabled the comments moderation on my blog again. I really hate to do that because I don't want to discourage people from commenting, but I got spammed today with an invitation to view some really rockin' nude celebrities.

But hey, looking at nude celebrities is not really my glass of wine. As opposed to cup of tea. I mean, Eeeuuuwww. On a classical music blog?

Hmmm, did Mozart ever wonder if nudity might bring more people to his operas?

Well, maybe that was a bad example, nevertheless, comments are moderated once again, so they won't show up as soon as you make them.

And now, let's all go to the opera!

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New Blog Features

2010-01-05T18:38:00.005-07:00

I've added a couple of new features to this blog. You can see the search feature in the top left corner. Just type in your query and it will show you all the posts that have that word in them. For fun, try "rehearsal." I was shocked at how many posts came up!

The other feature is a time-waster, kinda silly, and fun. In the bottom left corner you'll notice a mini-piano. Feel free to crank up the volume and plunk away! This one may not last long. If you like it, let me know!

Writing more thought-provoking and insightful posts is high on my list of non-resolutions this year. (If I call them "non" resolutions and fail to follow through, somehow I don't feel quite so guilty.) Ahem.

Most of the time, my writing flows as a kind of stream-of-consciousness type of thing, but in light of my non-resolution, I've begun a list of choral topics that might be worthwhile. For instance, are you curious about the inner workings of a choir? Do you want to know what we joke about, how we poke fun at our director (and he POKES back), how truly exhausting rehearsals can be or how exhilarating they can be? Are you curious about the divas and the drones? Do we stand in sections? (NO) Why have we banned the "B" word?

If you have topics you'd like to suggest, by all means, leave a comment. And to steal from Chris Rowbury's blog, if you'd like to write a guest post, please let me know. I'd LOVE to have another point of view!

Don't be shy, spill it, peeps! Leave a comment and tell me what's on your mind!

Purple iPod Passion

2009-12-30T17:11:00.009-07:00

Well, we had some excitement in our family yesterday. My oldest daughter fell down some stairs and ended up in surgery. For more on this, go here.

Jubilate had a welcome rest this past Monday night but rehearsals begin again on January 4, 2010. WOW! 2010! This is way past 2001 a Space Odyssey. This is a great era in which to live, especially music-wise.

Just think, we can load literally THOUSANDS of songs, symphonies, and videos onto our iPods and listen ANYWHERE. Santa brought me my first iPod, a beeyoutiful purple Nano and I'm really psyched.

We can also listen to podcasts or go to YouTube and see hundreds of choirs performing. It's a far cry from my parents day when radio and scratchy vinyl LP's were about it. As a teenager, I had records and tapes and you had to be at home to listen to them. We had a car radio but no tape deck or CD player!

Now, you can plug your iPod into your car speakers or, if you can afford it, have satellite radio.

I can't help but wonder...what will 2110 look like and how will music have evolved?

....

Wishing You a Joyful and Peaceful Christmas.

2009-12-24T13:39:00.001-07:00

The Awesomeness of ChoralNet

2009-12-23T17:24:00.005-07:00

Oh my gosh, my blog was featured on Choralnet today! I feel like a real writer! Or maybe like Sally Fields at the Oscars saying, "You like me, you really like me!"

Most days, I get 4-12 people who visit this site. Today at 5:00 p.m., MST, I had 147 hits. I'm awed by the power of the internet to link people together. Choralnet ROCKS!

Just Call Me Nostradamus

2009-12-20T22:08:00.005-07:00

Or maybe Sylvia Brown? Our Christmas concert was last weekend and you can read my predictions here.

We were exhausted. Eight evenings of rehearsals and concerts within a two week period of time, with our own concert dead last.

While it wasn't a disaster, it wasn't exhilarating either. No major mistakes or flubs were made, but we just weren't quite "there." The Vivaldi "Gloria" was good but not great and the other pieces were OK but rather lackluster.

Our audience was gracious with lots of compliments, but as a singer, you KNOW when it's good and when it isn't.

Adding to the exhaustion was the problem of standing for long periods of time. We had one short intermission, but otherwise, we stood for a one and one-half hour concert. That also takes a toll on the energy of a group, especially if you don't move around a bit. At least I got to prop myself on a stool because of my knee problems.

Our reception was lovely and I think people really enjoyed the evening but how much better it would have been if we had not been so tired. We're not like Chanticleer where they do this for a living!

It's so easy to want to do it all because we love to sing. Maybe it was a case of what my mom called "our eyes being too big for our stomachs!"

Anyway, the board will be meeting tomorrow to dissect this concert and to address a few other issues.

Oh, and we've been asked to sing at a Christmas Eve service. We'll be rested and raring to go and it will be lovely. A perfect ending for the Christmas choral season.

...

A Case of the Nasties

2009-12-17T20:30:00.003-07:00

These are the little creatures that took over my laptop last week. Nasssty! It's fixed now and I'll do a post soon about our Christmas concert. I'm still cleaning files and restoring!

Correction to Concert Date!

2009-12-11T14:05:00.004-07:00

The Christmas Concert is tomorrow night, SATURDAY the 12th, not Friday the 12th, which is actually today the 11th. (Confused yet?) Dress rehearsal IS tonight and people are welcome to come to that, too at the same location as in the previous post.

Anyway, just to let you know, my computer is down with a virus and is in the shop being fixed, so I won't be posting much until at least next week.

Thanks for reading this drivel!! :)

Christmas Concert 2009

2009-12-09T20:48:00.011-07:00

Jubilate will host it's annual Christmas concert this Friday evening, December 12th at 7:30 p.m. The venue is beautiful St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Salt Lake City, 261 S. 900 E. Admission is a donation to the Utah Food Bank.

We'll be singing Vivaldi's "Gloria" and other traditional Christmas songs. There will be the favorite audience sing-a-long and a fabulous reception after! Eat, drink, and meet the choir.

Come celebrate the season with us!

Giving the Choir the Finger (get your mind out of the gutter)

2009-12-02T19:36:00.011-07:00

I've posted before about our director and his quirky ways of conducting. He enjoys making up new gestures on the spot just to see what we'll do. Sometimes, he'll even do this in performance.

Monday night, we were singing Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium." It starts out pp (uber quiet) and we're NEVER quiet enough to satisfy him, so he begins directing with his pinky fingers, which he has done before. And IT WORKS! It looks totally ridiculous and works like a charm. And then we're all breaking up laughing and it gets completely out of control for a minute, but then we begin again and it's so hushed and gorgeous!

I guess we encouraged his quirky behavior because the Lauridsen piece gets much louder toward the middle and he did the following: as we continued to sing, he held up one finger on each hand, then another, then another, until all 10 fingers were up. And with each finger, we responded by growing louder and louder until we arrived at the mf (mezzo forte) indicated in the piece. CRAZY! We knew exactly what he wanted, even though we had never seen these gestures before and he didn't have to say a word!

Yes, peeps, this is what I call fun. Proud to be a geeky chorister!

...

Piano Stairs

2009-11-24T20:03:00.001-07:00

Fun and interesting.

Donkey Kong

2009-11-24T19:13:00.007-07:00

We had a great rehearsal last night with our own director.

Rehearsed Vivaldi’s “Gloria” with few interruptions. That was SO nice after last week. Right now it’s a matter of polishing and trying to follow each director’s interpretations.

The “other” director has programmed Rutter’s “Donkey Carol,” so we also reviewed that piece. Not my favorite Rutter carol. It kind of “galumphs” along in 5/8 time and I swear I can hear the donkey singing “Hee-Haw.” It just seems contrived. There’s a tendency to push to 6/8 at the ends of phrases, so we spent time singing while we tapped the rhythm. One of our sops, (a percussionist) had a trick – tap out the five notes, one on each finger. ONE,two, three, ONE,two, etc. Worked for me!

Having a rehearsal all to ourselves again makes me realize once more how grateful I am to sing with this group of people.

And if you want to read a really funny orchestral post, click here.

To Elaborate

2009-11-19T10:04:00.004-07:00

OK, so now I’d like to expand on what I was saying about good conductors vs. bad ones. I have a minor in music from the University of Utah (actually an education music minor) so I didn’t have a lot of anything. One year of theory and history sprinkled with some conducting and composition classes. After I graduated, I took some conducting classes in the community and actually learned a lot more there.

So I’m looking at this from the perspective of a choral singer and not a director and definitely not an expert.

I’ve never understood why some conductors spend a lot of time TALKING about what they want a choir to do. It’s ineffective at best and confusing at worst.

If you tell a choir you want them to “lift” their voices at the end of a certain phrase, each choir member will HEAR what you said differently. Some will sing louder at the end of the phrase, some will chop the phase off, etc. Really, you get as many varied interpretations as you have choir members. Then the director gets upset because he thinks the choir isn’t paying attention to what he is trying to convey. He then interrupts the choir every two-three measures, going over and over the same thing.

Remember the adage about doing things the same way and expecting different results? It never happens! So everyone ends up frustrated, confused, and resentful. Valuable time is wasted.

A great director/conductor will use his (or her) entire body to convey his interpretation of the music to his choir or orchestra. It becomes a dance with the director leading and the choir following. Great directors are great leaders, physically. They use hands, arms, facial expressions, body movements to gracefully move choristers along with them.

When I was in college (a hundred years ago), I took a ballroom dance class. (OK, my face is bright red now. I’m officially a geek). When we took our finals, the guy I was dancing with was not a good dancer or leader and so we both suffered because he was leading, being the guy and all that.

The instructor then asked me to dance with him and it was effortless! He led me around the floor so skillfully that I could have followed him even if I had never had a lesson.

And that’s the way it is with a wonderful director. He/she can lead you wherever he wants you to go, just by his gestures and body language.

Having said that, I realize there is enormous behind-the-scenes preparation and that some conversation is necessary. I like the way directors are using the internet to post notes to choristers about upcoming rehearsals. There are many ways to prepare and communicate information before, or in place of, rehearsal time.

When it comes time to step in front of that choir, however, speeches should be over, the prep work done, and everyone is ready for the dance.

....

Hijacked!

2009-11-18T20:25:00.004-07:00

Whoo, what a reaction to last night's rehearsal! We had a flurry of emails flying though the ether this morning.

It seems our director had anticipated that the director of the other group would run through the Vivaldi "Gloria" once, adjusting tempi, etc. and then leave, thus Jubilate would have had the rest of the evening for our own rehearsal.

As one of our members put it in an email this morning, "the technical term for what happened is 'hijacked.' Either that, or it was another massive psychological experiment to see how long before the Jubilate people all lost it (and it was darn close)."

Yes peeps, in trying to do a good deed, we ended up getting hijacked. I think we've learned some useful lessons!

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Jumping Ship

2009-11-17T21:16:00.008-07:00

I walked into rehearsal last night and smelled a rat right away. The chairs were arranged in the foyer like we do when we’re collaborating with another group.

Sure enough, the director of the OTHER group that we’re supplementing was there with a FEW of his choir members and for some odd reason, our director let him have all of Jubilate’s precious rehearsal time. We only have a few weeks until our Christmas concert on the 12th of December, so every hour is vital.

I sometimes scratch my head and wonder if the surgery he had was actually performed on his brain!

I decided to be a team player and managed to sit through the practice until half time. This OTHER director talked at least 85% of the time. Actually, make that 90%. We only sang for about 15 minutes out of an hour and a half.

At this point, I left as gracefully as possible and headed home. Sometimes my sarcasm bypasses my brain completely and noxious phrases just fly out of my mouth, so I played it safe and made an exit.

Really good directors use their hands, fingers, elbows, eyebrows and body language to convey what they want to a choir or orchestra. Sometimes talking is necessary to emphasize or clarify a point. Choirs should be SINGING 90% of rehearsal time!

And this is the truly weird part – this director is a graduate of Juilliard, is a wonderful violinist, has guest conducted all kinds of orchestras, and received a Fulbright grant for study in Rome!

I've never seen him in performance, but I've heard several people whom I respect say that they won't work with him. He can’t keep good musicians coming back.

It was painful. Singing should be joyful, not distressing. I can’t imagine an audience enjoying a concert when the performers are feeling uninspired and resentful.

Needless to say, I won’t be singing in those concerts.

And Here It Comes...

2009-11-14T21:51:00.003-07:00

I woke up today to sunshine. It was a beautiful day!

A few hours later, this is what happened:

THIS is what I have to navigate to get to rehearsals!!

Bah, Humbug, It's Cold Out There!

2009-11-10T20:08:00.004-07:00

It’s no secret that I dislike winter. The cold, the snow, the ice and especially, driving in the cold, the snow and on dark, icy roads.

When I get home from work on a cold winter day, all I want to do is curl up on the sofa with a book or the TV and a glass of whatever’s handy. I do NOT want to go out into the cold again.

That includes rehearsal nights. I love going to rehearsals in the spring, summer, and fall, but winter rehearsals leave me cold (snort!) When I get to the rehearsal site, I have a lot of fun, but it’s the getting there that’s so hard to do!

And then, I find that I’ve left my reading glasses at home. No glasses, no read the music. I have to stumble upstairs to our director’s office, snag a pair of his 1980’s HUGE, SQUARE glasses and hope they will help. They slide down my ears and off my nose and I miss every other note while I readjust them. Whoever said the 80’s were “far out” were exactamundo right on when it came to the size of reading glasses and hairdos.

And then, it’s out into the cold, icy night again for the drive home. But I’m considerably warmed by the musical workout and by the cheer of friends.

However, I STILL don’t like going to rehearsals in the wintertime! And puhleese, save me from ever again having to sing “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!”

...

Change is Constant but Wine is Forever!

2009-11-07T17:57:00.007-07:00

Each season Jubilate loses some members due to personal reasons. Someone may take a sabbatical or move to a different part of the world. There is illness and unfortunately, sometimes a passing from this life.

Change can be difficult, but each season, we have new auditionees who want to share their voices with us.

The Jubilate “sound” doesn’t change with the membership, but the underlying “notes” do. (OK, I’m comparing us to one of my favorite things – WINE.) As the singers change with the seasons, our undertones range from mellow rum to bright pear.

Each singer brings a different flavor to the Jubilate table. Some years, our undertones are polished, round, and focused while the next season finds us singing with spicy, elegant footnotes. Sometimes we have a cool berry finish, at other times we have the elegant perfume of ripe currants underneath the surface of creamy, rich sound.

Here’s to the musicians of Jubilate then and now, old and new, woodsy and sweet. May your voices ring out with joy this season!

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The Laryngospasms

2009-11-03T20:35:00.003-07:00

Here's the link to the Laryngospasms' website in case you'd like to hear more from these melodious medical men.

If you're getting these posts by email and can't listen to the videos, just amble on over to the blog to hear them.

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Waking Up Is Hard To Do

2009-11-03T20:30:00.001-07:00

This one's for Harry, our dubious director. Found it over on Allegra Martin's blog, http://currentconductor.blogspot.com. These are real gas guys!

Happy Halloween! Be Very Afraid!

2009-10-31T17:32:00.001-06:00

Make 'Em Laugh - Singing in the Rain

2009-10-24T17:02:00.001-06:00

Make 'Em Laugh!

2009-10-23T18:32:00.011-06:00

That last post was pretty negative. I find myself wondering if I should censor what I say here. I have a few Utah readers who probably know the people I know (it's a very small world chorally-speaking.) I don't name names, but if you live in Salt Lake, it's not hard to figure out.

However, what's the point of writing about how I feel if I don't say what I really think?

Some directors, like the one mentioned in my last post, wonder why their choirs don't survive and thrive. These are the stern taskmasters who expect miracles from choristers, be they newbies who haven't sung since high school, or are more seasoned singers who hold full-time non-choral jobs and sing as an avocation. These baton-waving starched shirts are set on glory! They want a 200 voice chorus and full orchestra and they want to perform Handel's Messiah with unseasoned voices in four rehearsals AND they want an audience of 1000 people cheering them on. (Spiffy run-on sentence, huh? I can do it again.) For these directors, it's all about THEM.

Hey, what happened to the music, dude?

So, let's talk expectations. Choristers want to feel successful, first and foremost. They want a good experience, both in rehearsals and in concert. So it's valuable to choose music that fits a choir's abilities. A first concert of Christmas carols at the local nursing home can feel wildly successful for a new community choir! Give 'em success and they'll keep coming back AND they'll bring you some tenors!

And lets face it, the least a director can do is crack a lame joke once in awhile. Jubilate's director has lame jokes up the wazoo! Sometimes they're so lame we have to stuff them back UP his wazoo! So store a few jokes in your arsenal and lighten up, if you want to keep a choir loyal and working hard.

And remember the music? Oh, yeah, it's NOT all about the director. Or for that matter, recording CD's or going on tours. It's about conveying passion and beauty to your audience with the most miraculous instrument on God's earth, the human voice. Voices weaving in, out, and through, creating astonishing harmonies and bonding people for a lifetime.

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Call Me A Whining Ass

2009-10-21T21:30:00.008-06:00

If you're wondering at the dearth of posts lately, wander on over to Puddle. Explains everything.

Rehearsals for Christmas have begun and our director was there for the first half last Monday night. He's still kinda peaked (peek-ED in Southern speak) but is getting better each week.

Jubilate has been asked to "help" another choir in the city that's floundering a bit due to lack of singers. Sigh. Yes, 'Stir the Pot" me has an issue with this. I'm all for genuine collaborations but this seems like nothing more than boosting their numbers.

AND it adds EIGHT more nights to our Christmas schedule, all within a two-week period! And Jubilate's concert is at the END. We'll be exhausted for our own concert! I mean, call me a whining ass, but that's extreme!

Our director said "Sure, we can do that" without consulting with the board! Yes, I love him, but sometimes I want to poke his eyes out.

So we've asked the group to send an email to our board chair if anyone feels they can't do it.

The director of the other group (they also have an orchestra) has a reputation for being very difficult. No one wants to sing for him, hence the lack of singers. People go a few times and then find more fun things to do with their free time.

Might it possibly be fun? HAH! Is stepping into a bear trap FUN?! Sure, it only hurts when I breathe!

The good news? I'll get a few posts out of it!!

....

"It Might Get Loud" Trailer

2009-10-05T20:08:00.001-06:00

And here's a trailer of the movie. I have to see it again! Seriously.

It Might Get Loud

2009-10-05T19:23:00.008-06:00

As most of you know, I sing mostly classical music, but I like a lot of different kinds and styles of music. Last night, two of my daughters and I went to the Broadway Theater here in Salt Lake City to see the movie "It Might Get Loud." And it did!

Hang onto your hats - or guitars! This movie is billed as kind of a history of the guitar as it relates to rock music, but it's REALLY about bringing together three guitar "put 'em on a pedestal" icons from three different generations of rock music, stirring the pot, and watching what happens!

Who are these three super-duper heros of the six string electric wonder instrument? JIMMY PAGE (Led Zeppelin), THE EDGE (U2), and JACK WHITE (the White Stripes).

The movie shows background on all three wunderkinds. There was some wonderful footage from when they were very young and just starting out. I thought I had seen every bit of footage out there on U2, but there was a clip from when they were still at Mt. Temple School that had the whole audience guffawing. They did NOT wear those outfits!!

And watching Jimmy Page play air guitar was funny, but still graceful. He has always looked like he and the guitar were born together.

The movie begins with Jack White in a cow pasture and he's hammering pieces of wood together, attaching a coke bottle, strings and wire to the wood. He plugs it in and "voila!" He states, "Who says you have to BUY a guitar?"

The best parts of the movie came in the middle when Jimmy Page began playing riffs from "Whole Lotta Love." Jack White and The Edge were pretty starstruck themselves at this point. The other great part came at the end when they jammed together on an acoustic rendition of "The Weight."

At times my heart hurt because it was so beautiful.

Here's the place to see it in Salt Lake City.

And here's where you can buy the DVD when it becomes available or sign up now to be notified.

You can rent the DVD here when it becomes available.