Saturday, September 11, 2004

Great Beginnings

"That was one great example of the many great things you will find here at UAB." That's what our university president, Carol Garrison, said about our choir. (at least, that is pretty close to what i heard her say--my memory isn't what it could be)

Do you catch the significance in that? Before this morning, I had never met our president and she had never heard the UAB Concert Choir. In a short 10-minute, 3-song span of time, we "became" one of the great things about UAB in the eyes of the administration.

Now, the people involved in and around our music department already knew that good things were happening in all of our areas. We've known it for some time! Today was an important step in making it real to many other people.

Now . . . a short review from your director about Saturday:

1. Overall . . . fantastic energy, diction and tone. Faces were OK not great . . . we will be working on that for the entire year. Our faces will get better every day (or else I might pull a Menterro on one of you).
2. Pitch fell early in "Praise to the Lord." Leigh (my beautiful wife and outstanding musician-singer) thinks that the women sag a bit in their descending lines of the opening verse. I thought that it happened when sopranos ascend to the word "creation." Both may be correct.
3. Nuance on "Nobody Knows" excellent. You followed me very well and i felt complete freedom to hold, crescendo, emphasize, de-emphasize . . . basically, to do what i wanted to do. Memorizing music gives the conductor that freedom.
4. See What the End is Going to Be . . a very good ending work. Great job. It will get better as we go along. There is a way to make the last page even more exciting and we'll get to that very soon.

The best thing: our performance was musical, exciting, and procured a good image for us.

The worst thing: FAR TOO MANY STUDENTS WERE LATE FOR THE 9:00 REHEARSAL. Believe this: I will not tolerate people being late. It is not who we are and not who we want to be.

And finally . . . the most important thing . . . Remember that we are on the first steps of a long journey. Our next steps will tell us where that journey will end.

Wasn't that poetic? See you Tuesday.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked the doughnuts!!! but where was the milk? everyone knows you can't have doughnuts w/o milk. this was a simple mistake that could have been avoided. i deem it a tradgedy. but on a lighter note, we sounded very good!

Unknown said...

I think someone just volunteered to purchase/bring milk for our next donutfest.

Anonymous said...

I just want to say how much of a privelege it is to sing in such a wonderful choir. Thank you for allowing my sister and I into such an outstanding group. I look foward to many more concerts with all of you (yes this includes you Waylon). Thank you again.

Andrew Granlund

Anonymous said...

Andrew! along with you being awsome, you are the voice of God. -clay

Katie Mo said...

Hey Dr Copeland! I shared the wrath of God link with my dad - he loves your sense of humor! haha

Anonymous said...

one more thing,
thanks for the SUBTLE hints about what waits for us if we are constantly late, dr. copeland...
a great man once said, "To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late"
charles
p.s. (that great man was none other than myself)

Anonymous said...

Been thinking about, “To whom much is given much is required.” Gonna have to put a thanks out there to Dr. C for that simple but powerful cognitive re-adjustment. You rock the free world Dr. C!

Many Thanks
Keith

Anonymous said...

just kidding about the milk by the way

Anonymous said...

dr. cope-a-doo,
where oh where are the postings, eh? six hours a week is not enough. my every waking moment i yearn to know more, to be enlightened, enriched by the music making advice you give. please, benevolent teach, impart more pearls of wisdom.
francesca

p.s. to have a hurricane is human, to play (and win) scrabble is divine.

Katie Mo said...

HEY! GUESS WHAT I JUST DISCOVERED! There's this really neat-o song that they just played on my launchcast thingy and it's called "Francesca"!!!!! Frannie, you must have it. I will hunt it down for you.

Anonymous said...

katie,
if it was by Mutual Admiration Society, believe you me i know! stay with me and you will see why this completely blows my mind. i LOVE, like a man loves a woman, the band nickel creek. the mutual admiration society is nickel creek and their good buddy Glen Phillips. forever they had been sitting on this Mutual Admiration Society record. finally, they choose a release date....which is (drum role) my BIRTHDAY. THEN, i find out there is a song called francesca on the album and i was like "excuse me, band of my dreams, if you're in love with me, just SAY IT." incedentally, they didn't write it, glen did, but STILL. anyways, if it's not that song, then whoops.
francesca

Anonymous said...

no offence to francesca, but when do you ever have time to be on here and blog? don't you go to bed with the senior citizens, right after Perry Mason? WAAahahahha, anyways, everybody is doin a great job, but beware, i might call you out, but if so, it's not personal (probably) ;)
charles
p.s. clay, that wink was for you buddy ;)

Katie Mo said...

Charles is weird. Weirder than me.

Anonymous said...

no OFFENSE charles, but for a smart guy, you sure don't know how to spell "offense." hello kettle, i'm pot and my don't you look tarnished! i can't really spell, so i've no room to talk. you may notice the un-godly hours at which i post. my job is such that i can check out the blog while being a sub-par receptionist. tra la la.
francesca