The Chamber Choir’s call was at 5:30 onstage. We’re singing the Vivaldi Gloria with the May Festival Youth Chorus, and have only sung it with them twice. So we went on stage and proceeded to do a terrible job. We had just a piano for this part of the rehearsal and it was hard to hear it, so we were terribly under pitch. We were also behind the beat . Bob was not happy, to put it mildly.
Back to the rehearsal room with the rest of the chorus, we did some meeting and greeting. Elaine, a former member of the chorus moved to Syracuse a few years ago, but comes back to sing one weekend every year. Michael Slon, a faculty member of the School of Music at the U. of Virginia is one of Bob’s former doctoral students from Indiana University, and he comes back to sing every year, as well. Singers lined up to greet them with hugs and warm words of welcome, and then we all sat down for a quick piano rehearsal of the Faure and the Bach before the orchestra rehearsal, which began at 7:00 pm
We started with the Vivaldi. This time it went much better. It was the first rehearsal for the orchestra for this concert, so they were getting into the pieces as well. After the Vivaldi we sang the Bach, and finished with the Fauré. We sang that in a strange order, starting at the end of the piece and working our way through it in seeming random order. The reason for that is that some pieces have more players than others, so Bob started with the movement that had all the instrumentalists involved. Then the violins left and we moved to another section. Then more instruments left. At the end I think we were down to brass, cellos, basses and organ. When we peform it, the violins will sit there and won’t play at all until, I believe, the last movement.
When all the orchestra had left, Bob kept us behind for a few minutes to work on a couple of little bits. We’re still a little under pitch, which is frustrating, and so that’s something we have to work on.
Wednesday night’s rehearsal will be the Berlioz, which will involve some choreography. It begins with a small chamber choir sitting in mixed positions in the center of the stage. Then the men from that group go to the side of the stage to meet up with the rest of the men to sing the second movement, and the chamber choir women will sneak off the other side of the stage. Then it’s intermission, and the whole shebang will file on to the risers for the third movement.
On a personal note, the May Festival requires a lot of stamina, as I’m sure you’ve figured out. My injured ankle last Thursday has created a need for even more of that rare commodity, as I’ve had to stand for long periods of time on my other foot, creating a new set of aches and pains. Here’s what the bad foot looks like on the morning of Day Twelve, over six days after I fell down those stairs (don't scroll down if you are bothered by the sight of bad bruises):
Back to the rehearsal room with the rest of the chorus, we did some meeting and greeting. Elaine, a former member of the chorus moved to Syracuse a few years ago, but comes back to sing one weekend every year. Michael Slon, a faculty member of the School of Music at the U. of Virginia is one of Bob’s former doctoral students from Indiana University, and he comes back to sing every year, as well. Singers lined up to greet them with hugs and warm words of welcome, and then we all sat down for a quick piano rehearsal of the Faure and the Bach before the orchestra rehearsal, which began at 7:00 pm
We started with the Vivaldi. This time it went much better. It was the first rehearsal for the orchestra for this concert, so they were getting into the pieces as well. After the Vivaldi we sang the Bach, and finished with the Fauré. We sang that in a strange order, starting at the end of the piece and working our way through it in seeming random order. The reason for that is that some pieces have more players than others, so Bob started with the movement that had all the instrumentalists involved. Then the violins left and we moved to another section. Then more instruments left. At the end I think we were down to brass, cellos, basses and organ. When we peform it, the violins will sit there and won’t play at all until, I believe, the last movement.
When all the orchestra had left, Bob kept us behind for a few minutes to work on a couple of little bits. We’re still a little under pitch, which is frustrating, and so that’s something we have to work on.
Wednesday night’s rehearsal will be the Berlioz, which will involve some choreography. It begins with a small chamber choir sitting in mixed positions in the center of the stage. Then the men from that group go to the side of the stage to meet up with the rest of the men to sing the second movement, and the chamber choir women will sneak off the other side of the stage. Then it’s intermission, and the whole shebang will file on to the risers for the third movement.
On a personal note, the May Festival requires a lot of stamina, as I’m sure you’ve figured out. My injured ankle last Thursday has created a need for even more of that rare commodity, as I’ve had to stand for long periods of time on my other foot, creating a new set of aches and pains. Here’s what the bad foot looks like on the morning of Day Twelve, over six days after I fell down those stairs (don't scroll down if you are bothered by the sight of bad bruises):
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1 comment:
dang girl! you did a serious number on that foot!
(and I'm concerned abt ankle edema as well!)
all that standing around singing is contra-indicated ya know?
dedication...*shaking my head*
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