November 1, 2012 Rehearsal Notes

Hi everyone! Great rehearsal last night! So just a reminder, our concert order for Nov 9 & 10 is: Johnny, Pilgrim Song, Cindy and Come Thou Fount, although I'm not certain if we are singing Come Thou Fount on the 10th, but I guess we'll find out next week :)

We stayed in SATB for the entire rehearsal last night. During the first half we worked o our concert pieces, making sure we are familiar with all of the markings and dynamics. It is VERY important, if you are uncertain about certain areas of your music, to practice at home. As Erin reminded us, it is a requirement in our Membership Guide to practice our music outside of rehearsal. I would like to once again offer, if anyone is in need of help learning their part, I am more than willing to come and help you, no matter where you live, or how late or how early you need me to help. I am serious. If you want/need help, don't be shy. My number is 651-402-9682, so now you have no excuses :)

After rehearsing the concert pieces, we went through The Hand that First Held Mary's Child. We need to make sure we pay attention to the dynamic markings that Erin gave us several weeks ago. This song is dependent on the dynamics and the flow. Erin reminded us to think of certain colors that associate with the mood of the song and it should help us with our emtion. Then we went through Virgin Mary (memorize it!). I was happy to see a couple of altos without their music for the most part, so I'm hoping that next time we go through this piece to see even more people without their music. It is a very simple and short song. We can do it! Oh, and Erin had us change all of the words that start with -th to a -d sound, so instead of The Virgin Mary, it would be Duh Virgin Mary. Also, we are no longer making a -k sound on the word glory. Then finally, we went through Sussex Carol. The rhythm is very tricky in this piece, so please be sure to go over it at home. Thanks!

~Laura

Oct 25, 2012 Rehearsal Notes

Hi everyone! Great rehearsal on Thursday! I know we all learned a lot.

First of all, I just want to reiterate the confirmed concert dates & times:

Thanksgiving concert: Nov. 9 ~ Call time: 5:30pm
Rosedale Center Concert: Nov. 10 ~ Call time: 3:45pm
Rochester Concert: Dec 1 ~ Call time: 4:45pm
Christmas concert: Dec 7 ~ Call time: 6:00pm
Fireside @ Mpls Stake Center: Dec 9 ~ Call time: 6:00pm (as far as we know)

I also wanted to remind everyone that I need about 6-7 ushers for the concert in two weeks, so if you have family members who are willing to do that for me, let me know so I can get them the info they need.

Okay, so for rehearsal notes: we only have 2 more rehearsals before our Thanksgiving concert. Eek! I think we all realize after Thursday's rehearsal that we need to super oober make sure we know our notes. We won't have time to do anymore sectionals during rehearsal, so it is super important to go over your part outside of rehearsal and make sure you know your part.

We stayed in SATB the entire evening on Thursday. The pieces we went through are: Johnny, Gloria, Cindy, Go Tell It on the Mountain, While Shepherds Watched Their flocks, and First Nowell. Please review these at home so we can come to rehearsal next week ready to conquer them :)

~Laura

Oct. 11, 2012 Rehearsal Notes

Hello, everyone! You all did such a wonderful job on Friday at the fireside! It was such a wonderful event to be involved in. I loved hearing all of the different musicians. We have such amazing talents in the Church!

In Sectionals we worked on the following pieces:
Come, Come Ye Saints ~ Men, mm. 8-34 and Women, mm. 1-17. The women worked on making their sound unified and without vibrato. It is very difficult to sing this beginning without vibrato. Also, on the word Come, we need to make sure to close to the M immediately. I tried to have you all envision stalwartly marching closer and closer to your destination as one. It seemed to help as well when we made sure the rhythm was right on.
Sussex Carol ~ We ran through mm. 52-end making sure we knew the rhythm and then singing the notes. This section was similar to the beginning of the song, so the rhythm was easier to pick up. In measure 55 be sure to pronounce "the" as thee because the following word starts with a vowel. So it should be ''thee angels".
Go Tell It On The Mountain ~ We reviewed mm. 40-end. I had the women stand in a circle and imagine they were telling a story. Add some soul and have some fun!
For Unto Us ~ We reviewed mm. 26-72, making sure that each phrase has movement and as always, tall vowels :)
Finally we went through mm. 24-39 of Pilgrim Song. The sopranos will sing with the altos at measure 24 and then split off to their own part on measure 31 after the word "story."

In SATB we worked on:
Come, Come Ye Saints ~ We ran through the entire piece.
The Spirit of God ~ We ran through the entire piece. (We will be turning this piece in on Thursday)
Pilgrim Song ~ We went through the Forever section and Erin wants to make sure we get the entire phrase "I'm going to live forever" out so the audience will understand it.
Lastly, we sang through Cindy (memorized)...it was a little shaky, so be sure you have your parts memorized.

Thanks, and have a great week!
~Laura

Oct. 4, 2012 Rehearsal Notes

Hi everyone! Sorry I slacked off this weekend...I'm using Conference as my excuse :)

In sectionals we worked on While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, Letter I to the end. We need to make sure our phrasing flows in each section. We then refreshed our memories with Go Tell It On The Mountain. Be sure to practice the rhythms in this piece outside of rehearsal because they are a little tricky and it will be easier during rehearsal if you know your part. We then went over the runs in For Unto Us A Child is Born. Be sure to have good breath support and know where the notes are going in each run. You don't want to be surprised... Then we sang mm. 32-end of Pilgrim Song.  Be sure to have tall vowels. Finally we reviewed Cindy, mm. 1-50. This piece will be memorized, so you should all be working on this outside of rehearsal.

In SATB we sang through Come, Come Ye Saints, which is one of the pieces we will be performing this Friday at the fireside. ( We will also be performing The Spirit of God and A Child's Prayer). Be sure you know your parts for these three songs. Thanks! Have a great week!
~Laura

Sep 20, 2012 Rehearsal Notes

We are taking tshirt orders! Yay! I will be taking remaining orders next week and I need everyone's money that night as well because I have to pay upon ordering. If you have checks, make them out to Laura Michels.

Also, just a reminder that next week is the MMC Autumn Party.Altos and Basses are in charge of treats, so let's bring it!

We received two new pieces this week: The Spirit of God (will be performed on Oct. 12) and Angels We Have Heard on High. If you did not receive either of these, make sure to talk to John Horton before rehearsal next week.

In sectionals the women worked on Come Thou Fount with Erin. We need to make sure we have tall vowels and enunciate all of the words, paying special attention to consonants at the beginning and end of words. When words have two syllables, be sure to stress the first syllable and back off on the second.  The men worked on Johnny with Barb.  We then worked on While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, mm. 76-end. It is very important that we all know our notes in this piece. There are a few tricky places, so practice at home and know your notes :)  We then worked on The Spirit of God. The men went over mm. 48-80 and 87-103. The women covered 87-end. Then we worked on The Virgin Mary, mm. 73-end. This piece is going to be memorized, so be sure to work on that during the week. I have found it helps to listen to the Motab version on youtube. I had it memorized in 2 days. If I can do it, anyone can :)  Lastly, we worked on the stomp/clap section in Cindy. This is another thing that will be helpful if you learn it at home. If you need help, please let me know because I am more than willing to help anyone who needs it.

In SATB we ran through A Child's Prayer and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks with Barb. Then we did mm. 87-end of The Spirit of God, making sure we had the notes down. Finally, we worked on The Virgin Mary, mm 73-end. Erin had us change the pronunciation of Believer to buh-lee-vuh. We also need to make sure to not sing the k for gloria as hard.

Have a great week!

Sep. 13, 2012 Rehearsal notes

In Sectionals we worked on When Johnny Comes Marching Home, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, Virgin Mary and Cindy.

In Johnny, the women worked on pronouncing Johnny witha Ch- at te beginning...so it's Chonny. We need to make sure our vowels are tall and that we enunciate.

On Virgin Mary, we rehearsed, mm. 66-96. We need to be sure to note where the staccato notes are throughout the piece and be sure to cut off right away when we sing those notes. We need to have a darker  sound in our voices. We worked on getting our rhythms correct as well as notes.

On Cindy, we figured out who is going to be singing in Choir 1 and Choir 2, so there should be no more confusion. This piece will be memorized.

In SATB, we worked on Johnny, Gloria In Excelsis Deo, The Hands That First Held Mary's Child, and Cindy.

On Mary's Child, we worked on mm. 66-96. Erin had us circle the first and third syllables of most measures so that we can stress the important words. In four four time, the first and third syllables are usually stressed more than the second and fourth. In mm. 70, w need  change the quarter note on side to an eighth note with an eighth rest because there will be a quick break. In mm. 72 we need to change the dotted half note to a half note with a quarter rest. There is a breath afte the word anger in mm 73. In mm. 76 Erin is going to have us break after we sing Let Us, so pay attention to her at this point because she will be stretching out the phrase. We need to be sure in mm. 78 to not breathe between the words "hold" and "the." It is also very important to be completely in unison for the final phrase  starting in measure 84.

We worked on the ending of Cindy. Erin had us imagine a church revival when we sing the Hallelu! (choir 1) We need to be sure to enunciate during this section as well (choir 2).


We were so blessed to have Presidnt Wiberg come speak to us before rehearsal, and I am so grateful for his words. He reminded us that what we are doing is so very important and we do touch lives, even if we don't see it right now. He said that we have become a resource to the Church and we will be called upon to perform more often. He is such a sweet man and he will be missed when he gets released.

~Laura

2012 Chorale Retreat!

Hi everyone! I had a fantastic time at the retreat this past weekend! I am so glad to have gotten to know everyone better! I have a few pics to post right now, but I'm sure more will pop up soon :) Thanks to everyone who helped make the retreat super awesome!!!

~Laura