Music Appreciation Class - Brahms Requiem

This is for Audrey, who asked about my presentation notes from today's Music Appreciation class that I covered for Dr. Gainey.


Class brainstorming and Brahms Requiem text

(<----this is Brahms)

Cincinnati Rooming List

Look here.

Cincinnati Weather

Defining how you should look in public:

Traveling on the bus: anything you want. jeans are fine.
Thursday night: Tuxedos and dresses
Friday: Look professional. No jeans. Khaki's for men, nice shirts. Women look classy.
Saturday: same professional look, will wear tuxedos/dresses that afternoon
Saturday bus trip: whatever.

Amahl help

Thank You
Emily
Olives and Quinces

Words for Emily:

Emily, Emily, Michael, Bartholomew,
How are your children and how are your sheep?
Dorothy, Dorothy, Peter, Evangeline,
Give me your hand, came along with me.

All the children have mumps,
All the flocks are asleep,
We are going with Amahl,
bringing gifts to the kings.

Benjamin, Benjamin, Lucas, Elizabeth,
How are your children and how are your sheep?
Carolyn, Carolyn, Matthew, Veronica,
Give me your hand come along with me.

Brrrr! How cold is the night.
Brrr! How icy the wind.
Hold me very, very, very tight.
Oh, how warm is your cloak.

Katherine, Katherine, Christopher, Babila,
How are your children and how are your sheep?
Josephine, Josephine, Angela, Jeremy,
Come along with me.

Itinerary, NCCO Performance

Look here for itinerary.

2008 Collegiate Choral Festival

We've not said much about it yet, but here is the schedule for the Collegiate Choral Festival:

Update: Thursday, November 13th

Projected Performance Schedule

- Times listed are projected PERFORMANCE time. Warm-up time and space will be provide during the performance slot prior to yours (i.e….you warm up for 20 minutes just before you sing!) J

- Note the 16 choirs participating in this year’s festival lends to a performances lasting from 9:20 – 3:50.

9:20 Samford
9:40 Shelton State CC
10:00 Montevallo
10:20 UA Tuscaloosa
10:40 BSC
11:00 Huntingdon
11:20 Auburn
11:40 UAB
12:00 – 1:10 LUNCH on site

1:10 Wallace Dothan CC

1:30 Wallace Hanceville CC
1:50 Northeast Alabama CC
2:10 Jefferson State CC
2:30 Tuskegee
2:50 UNA
3:10 Jacksonville State
3:30 Alabama A&M

Allergies?

We're staying in homes next Thursday night (as you know).

Do any of you have allergies that I need to know about?  Dog?  Cat?  Other?

I got tired

I got tired of the previous post.  It was fun, but time to move on.

Go welcome Samford University to the blogging world

Samford's got a choir blog.

Go welcome them and be charming.

New poll

Get your own Poll!

Check your name

Choir,

Please check your name for spelling and hometown here.

There are a few people who need to give me their information.

Leave a note in the comments if something is wrong. Thanks!

Clovis, not Clouis

Nick Cummins found the arranger of Garota. I've been looking for him for years! (I had it spelled incorrectly--Clovis, not Clouis)

Clovis Pereira dos Santos
(1932-, born in Brazil)

Translated Bio:

Clovis Pereira Dos Santos, was born in day 14 of May of 1932, in the city of Caruaru. Its father was its first professor of theory and solfejo. He lived its first years in a musical environment with its clarinetista father of the Musical Band New Euterpe. To the 18 years piano with August Manoel professor moved to Recife studying Dos Santos, in the Conservatory Pernambucano de Música, where it came if to become professor and it occupied its presidency. He was pupil of the Teacher War Fish of who if it became friend. He was managing artistic of the Television Periodical of the Commecio, where per many years she was regent of the orchestra of that unit of television Participated of the Movement Armorial with Aryan Suassuna and Cussy de Almeida, composing the first representative workmanships of that movement. It possessed its proper orchestra, participating actively, and with enormous success, livening up the carnavalescos balls of the city, in the main clubs of the city. Composer of innumerable frevos of street is one of the deepest experts of our popular music. In 1974, he journeyed with the Chorale of the University of the Paraíba, as representative Brazilian, in " Fouth International Choir Festival" , presenting in the Theaters " Kennedy Center" , in Washington and " Lincoln Center Performing will be the Arts" , in New Iorque. Guest for the Government of the United States of the North America, participated, in 1986, of " Music School Administrators" visiting in those diverse parents University and musical institutions, acquiring knowledge in programs of administrations of music schools. He is diplomee in modern harmony and orquestração, for the Berkelee School of Music" , of the city of Boston. Member of the Brazilian Society of Music Contemporary. He is professor of the Federal University of Pernambuco, in the courses of Graduation in Music. Detainer of diverse prize for its works has its name registered in the British Encyclopedia " Who´s Who In Music" , in its eighth edition. Great friend of Valdemar became de Oliveira who admired for its musical knowledge and started to give its contribution to the Theater of Fans of Pernambuco of who is one of the effective partners.

Beyond Words

Just a short note about the concert . . . I'm a bit exhausted.

I was extraordinarily proud of UAB Concert Choir tonight . . . you guys were as "on" as I've ever seen you.  Surpassed Ireland and every other previous concert that we've had, I think.  (but sometimes i forget)

A high water mark, I think.  I'll let others weigh in and see what they thought.

One Word Reviews:

Alleluia:  Magical.
Lobet:  Intimate.
Sacrum:  Holy.
Long Ago:  Introspective.
Garota:  Energy.
Country Dances:  Funny.

Congratulations, everyone.  And President Garrison was there.

The New Ticket

Saw it here first.

What does it feel like after a great concert?

Remembering a few months ago.

Father Hill

Choir,

Leigh received word that Father Hill from Ireland wasn't doing well. For those of you that went on the Ireland trip, Father Hill was the UAB graduate that followed us around to most every concert. He was full of joy and friendliness.

If you have it in you, I think it would be great to send him a note or letter:

Rev Ted Hill
4 Annville
Ballinlough Rd
Cork, Ireland

Thanks!

philip

Friday night instructions

A couple of notes:

Meet on Jemison stage at 6:00 p.m.

Be in choir room and ready for additional warm-up at 7:30.

You'll be seated in the BALCONY section of the upstairs of Jemison at 7:55. After BCC finishes, you'll meet me in the lobby and we'll file on stage.

For Ken Miller

I just had a call from Mr. Ken Miller, one of the most important influences on my early musical life. He gave me the first choral experiences of my life and I was fortunate to have him as my Minister of Music from 1st grade through my senior year in high school.

Mr. Miller may come to our concert Friday night, I just found out from him from a telephone call.

And . . he may be checking this blog for concert details, so I'm leaving them here:

Friday night, October 17th
8:00 p.m.
Alys Stephens Center
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Directions to the Alys Stephens Center here.

Program:

Birmingham Concert Chorale:

Hosanna to the Son of David (Thomas Weelkes) (1576-1623)
Bogoroditse Devo (Rachmaninoff) (1873-1943)
I Thank You, Jesus (Robert Morris) (b. 1941)

UAB Concert Choir:

Alleluja
EMC 198163
József Karai (b.1927)

Lobet den Herrn
Opus 32, 1
Berliner Chormusik-Verlag
BERLI00009
Albert Becker (1834 - 1899)

O sacrum convivium
Edition Ferrimontana
EF 2558
Vytautas Miškinis (b. 1954)


Long Ago
http://www.musicnmorebyrnr.com/Choral.htm
Raymond Liebau (b. 1937)

Garota de Ipanema
Manuscript, Arr. Cloúis Pereira

Country Dances
Ward Swingle (b. 1927)
SF-2
Glen Gardner, N.J. : Swingle Music, c1970

Kiyoshi

Congrats to Kiyoshi Scissum, soloist for Alleluia.

What song?

Get your own Poll!

Meredith Finds GFI

Meredith writes:

I found this picture and thought it might be something you would like to share with the choir.

Heloisa Pinheiro is in her early 60’s now and was the inspiration for the piece. “Her sole contribution came in walking past the Rio de Janeiro bar frequented by a musician (Antonio Carlos Jobim) and lyricist (Vinicius de Moraes) in 1962, day after day, usually while picking up a pack of smokes for her mother or making her way to an obscure stretch of sand the world would soon come to know as Ipanema Beach. They'd noticed the girl and been moved to write a song, but in essence she was just an impressive pedestrian.” She now owns a dress shop in Sao Paulo called Garota de Ipanema.

Here’s the entire article if you want to read more.

Copeland Triplets travel to the Farm

vgl - uab - the review

Five stars out of five.

A few lines from the review. I highlighted my favorite parts:

Video Games Live, a pre-packaged amalgam of video montages and game scores performed by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, descended on the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center with all the subtly of a digital air raid.

The most impressive, thought-provoking part of Video Games Live was its audience - a 1,300-plus throng made up mostly of teenage and 20-something gamers, many of whom surely never voluntarily set foot inside a symphony concert until Thursday night.

The scores for epic games such as "Final Fantasy," "Civilization" and "World of Warcraft" -- with their serious, insistent rhythms and vocalizing choir that sounds like it could launch into "Carmina Burana" at any second -- are especially intense.

The ASO and the wonderful UAB chamber singers laid into their roles enthusiastically while, onscreen, strange digital vistas emerged and eons of time compressed into five-minute chunks. It is easy to see why gamers get lost in such deliciously manageable musical and visual environments, and why, in comparison, the gnarly complexities of Mahler and Beethoven can seem, well, gnarly.

Full review here.

vgl uab ii

vgl uab

VGL: Over and Awesome

Congratulations, Chamber Singers and others! Tremendous performance tonight. The crowd went crazy for SEGA and World of Warcraft.

I enjoyed the whole show and was very proud. Soloists were tremendous and I was extremely pleased with everything.

Take the week off, Chamber Singers. No rehearsal on Monday or Wednesday.

Diction Help: Garota

Thanks to my once and forever friend, Laura Chipe, we have a wonderful resource for mastering the Portuguese language for Garota.

Listen here. Make notes in your music. I'll likely put up additional parts of the conversation that will provide a little more help.

UPDATE:

Here's the additional help, in the form of an extended conversation. I had Laura work through the text again, this time with me making serious attempts at learning what she said and her correcting me. I asked about a couple of words that surprised me (sorrindo) and she helped me understand the reasons behind her choices. I sound like an idiot from time to time, so you might enjoy that.

Alto Needed

SOUTHMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (P.C.U.S.A.)

1124 Montgomery Highway

Vestavia Hills, Alabama


ALTO

NEEDED IMMEDIATELY!

This is a paid position ($75 weekly) with the Southminster Chancel Choir.

The singer will be responsible for attendance at one Wednesday night rehearsal (7:30 – 9:00 p.m.) and two Sunday morning services (8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.) per week. Additional services required include Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, and Maundy Thursday. Extra rehearsals for the Festival Service of Nine Lessons and Carols and the Festival of the Resurrection will also be required.

For more information or to schedule an audition contact

Dr. Larry Hardin

Director of Music Ministries

664-5527, 432-9428

Video Games Live - Today and Tomorrow

Very proud of Chamber Singers today. Mr. Wall was impressed and I was pleased.

Jennifer Fisher sent this email tonight with a recommendation:

Dr. Copeland,

I was just watching a couple of the YouTube videos of the songs we're going to be singing. You seriously might want to post a suggestion that the choir watch the one about Halo - it has both Halo songs back to back, it's a (relatively) good recording), and it shows exactly what Mr. Wall was talking about in terms of our cutoffs at the end (the jumping of the stage thing...). Anyways, it helped me better understand what he was talking about (since it's not usual choir stage directions...).

Thanks,
Jennifer

Thanks for the idea Jennifer. As you wish:

Olha que coisa mais linda

Olha que coisa mais linda
mais cheia de graça
É ela menina que vem e que passa
nun doce balanço, caminho do mar...

Moça do corpo dourado, do sol de Ipanema
O seu balançado é mais que un poema
é a coisa mais linda
que eu já vi passar...

Ah! Porque estou tão sozinho
Ah! Porque tudo é tão triste
Ah! A beleza que existe

A beleza que não é só minha
que também passa sozinha

Ah! Se ela soubesse
que quando ela passa
o mundo sorrindo
se enche de graça
e fica mais lindo
por causa do amor
por causa do amor
por causa do amor

uab opera makes uab home page

Click here for a great photo.

Love it. Thanks Meredith and Facebook.

Solo for VideoGamesLive

Congratulations to these singers:

Kiyoshi Scissum, tenor solo
Samantha Pace, soprano solo
Jessica Johnson, alto solo

Garota

Listen. Alot. AwholeLot.

Best Hamburger Search

Note:  J. Clyde's was excellent.  How have I missed this place?

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Concert Choir,

I loved our discussion today. It started with me quoting some sentences from Choral Charisma, a truly great work on expressive singing:

"Often in a choral performance, the soul of the music doesn't make it to the soul of the audience . . . Why not? Because the most important "heart and soul connection" often hasn't been developed fully enough. Whose connection is that? That connection belongs solely to the singer. The collective audience can only be moved deeply if the singer's personal connection to the text is compelling and complete."

"When singers are vulnerable, they and everyone around them including the audience, experience their 'naked truth.' That truth is the stuff of great performances."

What's on your mind is on your face. If you are thinking of vocal technique, or getting the words right, that's what your face will say.

We then talked about our first three works in our upcoming performance:

"Alleluia"
"Lobet den Herrn"
"O Sacrum Convivium"

Without a doubt, Maegan Reid nailed it when we started to compare the fire of Alleluia, the intimacy of Lobet, and the eternal nature of O Sacrum with her invoking of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I wish I had thought of that . . . it was so profound and it's been staring all of us in the face for weeks . . . and Maegan revealed it to us today. Martin had some profound thoughts on O Sacrum about a year ago . . I invite you to read it here.

Let's find that personal connection to the text and to the music. Let's experience the power of emotion while we sing. It would be a shame to work this hard on the music and not experience it's joy.

Behavior Modification in Choral Methods Class

Behavior Modification

From: philipco, 1 minute ago

Behavior Modification

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: behavior modification)

Behavior Modification for the classroom, based on Cliff Madsen's excellent book "Teaching/Discipline: A Positive Approach for Educational Development."


SlideShare Link

A Tale of Two Searches

Google opened up their 2001 search index today so I compared searches for UAB Choir:

In 2001:

Today: