IrinaDear mother of the bridegroom, it's sweet of you to thank us (the choir) so profusely for turning up on a Friday afternoon, but secretly we just do it because we love weddings!
Successfully canceled choir practice (only very few people could come anyway, and the weather isn't inviting) but found 2 people (on top of the 2 already committed who include me) willing to sing at a wedding tomorrow! #ChurchChoir
Pauliina LievonenA historical occasion today, that according to older choir members has never happened before: today there is no choir practise. We got the week off because last Saturday's concert was so stressful!
I've used the extra time to deal with a couple minor catastrophes at home. Not very restful but let's say time well spent. :P Also made a start on practising the next program: double choir motets by Bach and Schütz. It will take me a while to get Singet dem Herrn up to the right tempo, so best to start right away!
Harmony SeekerFirst church service in the hall today — and what a joy it was! All my pre-service nerves melted away the moment I recognised the anthem. Had to grab the lyrics online (no Braille copy on hand), but it all came together beautifully. My fellow scholar and I are navigating things together while we're without a director, including choosing the anthem each week and working out who sings the gospel acclamation. Singing in that hall was something else — the resonance was incredible. Now, a well-earned restful afternoon. 🎶✝️
#ChoralMusic #ChurchChoir #ChoralScholar #AnglicanChurch #SundayVibes #ChurchLife #ClassicalVoice #Accessibility #BrailleMusic #Worship
My red marker is AWOL. Perhaps I left it in the church (which I can check tonight, at choir practice). Fortunately I don't need to do any red markup right now but if I don't find it I'll have to buy another one. Perhaps my apprentice inadvertently put it in his pocket! (He'll need one of his own so if he has mine he can keep it, I'm charging any choir stationery to the church anyway) #ChurchChoir
Argh, when looking for Ascension and Pentecost stuff for youth workshop I found the Slavonic Easter exapostilarion, which I'd definitely have inflicted on the choir if I'd found it a month earlier. I hadn't even misplaced it, it was exactly in the right place, even on orthodoxekerkmuziek.nl! Just assumed I didn't have it. I think I'll be contrary and practice it anyway so we can sing it before Easter ends on Ascension Day (May 21 for us). #ChurchChoir
Thing that strikes me about our choir: when the whole choir is a bit nervous about a concert, it’s suddenly very quiet in the break room. Most amateur choirs I’ve sang in get the chattier the more nervous they are.
Fixing some wonky markup for tonight's service so I won't have to put up with it in the service and fix it after the fact. Sadly, can't do anything about the very unclear tone markers now without spending the next hour or so frantically retyping and re-marking the lot. Previous Choirbook Maker used tiny red type (the red is nice but the tiny almost illegible in the choir), also making the margins too small to put full-size numbers in. #ChurchChoir #ChurchMusic
lol, from an old Holy Week post: "get it into the sopranos’ stubborn heads that when I tell them not to sing the third above, they should not sing the third above" #ChurchChoir
After tonight's choir practice, I declare it weekend. Well, have to do some work tomorrow: put everything back where it came from, send links to things we practiced, write new Alleluia verses because we've got two different versions and they're both wrong. But anyway, having a real beer and basking in satisfaction. We actually got some really hard things into shape and in the last 5 minutes tackled a new thing that we're now confident enough to sing in the service.