The Power of Truth

Many of us attended the funeral service of Madison Holler's mom today.

It was a powerful service for the mother of our beloved Madison.  I was prepared for a couple of the truths that I knew that I would face:

• Feeling the pain that Madison is going through - and reminded of similar pains that others have had in recent days.
• The strong parenting urge I felt - that I must be there for my children.
• The reminder that life is brief - that we all are subject to a certain fate.

I wasn't prepared to see and hear the UAB Choir - that took me by surprise.

I have seen members of the choir since our last moments together, but today was the first time that I saw you as a group and I wasn't ready for it.  I didn't realize that I would get so caught up in the strong emotions that I felt throughout the service - it was all there - empathy and love for Madi, a feeling of mortality, fatherhood.

And then I experienced the overwhelming specialness of the people I was fortunate to conduct and teach and mentor and love for a certain number of years.  There is a special feeling that comes from leading such a unique group of people - when you are gathered together there is a very present and invisible force that I felt very strongly.

As time has passed since our last time together, I have received numerous confirmations that I made the right decision to leave UAB . . .  it was the right time and I am in the place I need to be.

But as you sang today, I experienced one very clear and consuming truth:  that it was a privilege to have been a part of your lives - especially as your leader - for a brief time.

Tell me where is the road I can call my own,

That I left, that i lost, so long ago.

All these years I have wondered, oh when will I know,

There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home.

After wind, After rain, when the dark is done,

As i wake from a dream, in the gold of day,

Through the air there's a calling from far away,

There's a voice I can hear that will lead me home.

"Rise up, follow me, come away," is the call,

With the love in your heart as the only song;

There is no such beauty as where you belong,

Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.

Thank you for the time that we spent together - both today and for the last few years.

I miss you, and I love you very much.

plc

Friends HS

This would be the blog post about Friends High School getting straight superiors at State Festival.

Welcome, Brian Kittredge

Welcome, Brian Kittredge, as the Interim Director of Choral Activities at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

You have a great choir to work with and I am sure you will do an outstanding job.

And for the rest of us, a little about Mr. Kittredge:

Brian is a native of Binghamton, New York, but has lived in south Louisiana for the past four years. He is currently a doctoral student in the choral conducting program at LSU. Prior to LSU, Brian taught middle and high school general music, conducted three choirs, and directed the annual musical production at the Louise S. McGehee School in New Orleans. He holds a Bachelors of Music from Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA; and a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. In his spare time, Brian enjoys practicing yoga and attending LSU sporting events. 

strange sight

Strange to see my former position advertised:

There is already "buzz" about the position - what recent DMA graduate wouldn't want a position with a great choir that just performed at ACDA?

The New UAB Choirs are Tweeting

A great idea, whoever did this!

UAB Choirs are Tweeting.  I'll be watching close!

Congratulations, Charles!

Charles Henry was named the new director of choral music at Spain Park High School.  Needless to say, I am very proud.  As a student, Charles always did the "right thing."  He was hard-working, respectful, and thorough.  He's carried those qualities (and much more) into the early years of his career and he's done a fantastic job at Pinson High School for the past few years.  He was officially named as Spain Park High School's new choral director - and that speaks highly of several things:

• Charles' talent, ability, and personality
• His hard work at Pinson High School
• His excellent background in choral music with Carl Davis at Decatur High School
• His training in music and choral music education at UAB.

Congratulations, Charles.  

Notes from Technology Presentation, Podium 2010, Saskatoon, Canada

Here is the link for my Canadian friends.

It is official

It is official - I have resigned my position at UAB and will become a member of the Samford Music Faculty.

Things I want you to know:

• Directing the choirs at UAB was my greatest joy during my tenure at the university.  I will always value the nine wonderful years of music making and laughter we shared together.
• The relationships that I have with UAB students and faculty are important to me and I hope that they will continue. 

Why I chose to leave  . . . . There was nothing negative about my position at UAB that caused me to look for another job.  You will want to know why I made the decision, so I wanted to share some of the reasons.

Samford appealed to me because:

• The Samford faculty, like the UAB faculty, is outstanding.  There are four full-time voice teachers and one part-time. 
• Samford is an arts-centered university.  Presidents and provosts, along with scholarships and program budgets, support the choir and believe in its importance.
• International travel is funded in part by the university and encouraged every two years in the official description of the choir.
• UAB's urban campus was never a long-term career choice for me - the facilities and non-urban nature of the Samford campus is appealing.
• There are three separate outstanding performing spaces for choirs:  Brock Hall, Hodges Chapel, and Reid Chapel.  Two of those spaces have organs, allowing for exploration of the rich choral-organ literature.
• String faculty and string students allow for exploration of other types of choral literature.
• There is a tradition at Samford that I greatly admire - alumni frequently attend the concerts of the choir.
• My family and I are very happy in Birmingham for many reasons and Samford looks like a place I can spend the rest of my career.  After a certain amount of time, my children will be able to attend Samford and other similar institutions tuition free - a gift that is worth about $250,000 from what I know about current tuition costs.

I don't know if you want to know all that, but we have always shared honestly with each other and I want to honor that practice by communicating openly about my thinking.

I'm at O'Henry's nearly every morning - come see me if you want to talk.

philip l. copeland
former director of choral activities,
the university of alabama at birmingham

Miree family - with deepest gratitude

Choir,

On your behalf, I accepted a gift from Harry and his family today - a photo of our performance at Independent Presbyterian Church for Kyser Miree's memorial service on April 20, 2010.

It was a very meaningful gift that commemorated a very special day for us together:

and this:

Tuxedos and dresses due now

Choir,

It is past time for you to turn in your tuxedo or choir dress. If you don't have it in by this Friday, I'll have to put a hold on your account.

You need to turn in your dress in the hallway across from the choir room.

These pictures will help you know where to go.

Meaningful

Choir,

I found last night quite moving.

We celebrated the conclusion of our year with meaningful words, funny remembrances, and silly awards.

I'm still laughing!

Party @ O'Henrys

Choir,

Since we aren't in Paris for the party,

and since there hasn't been a better idea,

I've come up with the following plan for Thursday:

6:30 recording session @ Bluff Park Methodist Church

8:00 dinner on your own

9:00 fun at O'Henry's - coffee shop at Brookwood Mall beside Jos. A. Banks

Updates and Reminders

Updates and Reminders

1. Recording Session - Thursday, 6:30 @ Bluff Park (Bluff Park has now confirmed - 8:06 a.m.)

2. 8:00ish - End of the Year choir party is Thursday Night after the recording session. Place is still TBA - waiting for confirmation on place/food.

3. No recording session on Friday - you are free! We need to get all we can on Thursday night, so come ready to do your best.

I figured it out

I had a little trouble figuring out how the triplets saw where babies come from (the story I referenced in choir the other day).

Here was the sequence of events:

1. Teacher sends us a link to bear.org - a site with a bear cam.
2. They have archived video clips of the cam on YouTube.
3. One of the clips is to Lily the bear's birth.
4. In the *related* clips there is this video of some other baby lily birth.

Click this link to see how my babies saw pictures from a live birth. And why Caroline looked so disgusted.

No Choir on Monday

Neither choir will meet on Monday.

You've done a spectacular job this semester - I was very proud of the concert this past Friday night.  A great end to the year.

it was truly angelic . .

Dr. Copeland,

My name is Paul George and I serve as the Director of Development for the UAB School of Engineering. This is also my alma mater, as both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees came from UAB.

Yesterday I attended the memorial service for Kyser Miree. His parents are wonderful friends of the School of Engineering, and – like you – we are devastated at this senseless act of violence. The Miree family will remain in our prayers for peace and healing.

Before yesterday, I had never had the opportunity to hear The UAB Choir perform. That is a sad indictment of me…I love music, I lead worship at our church, and I am married to a Birmingham Southern alum who sang in the BSC Concert Choir under Dr. Hugh Thomas. I have always just been too busy and never sought out opportunities to hear our very own UAB Choir.

Although it was a tragic reason to hear the group, I hope you will pass along to them for me just what a beautiful, beautiful performance they offered. The range, the dynamics, the blend, the arrangements…it was truly angelic. I was touched deeply by their work, and I feel strongly that God used them in a mighty way yesterday. Thanks to you and to them for sharing your immense gifts.

I will not be remiss in finding other, happier opportunities to hear my UAB Choir. Thanks again to all for what you did.

Paul D. George
Director of Development and External Relations
UAB School of Engineering
Direct: (205) 934-8481
Mobile: (205) 482-7003

Harry's brother

Concert Choir,
I figure that you've heard by now about the tragic death of Harry Miree's brother this past weekend. (obituary here)

I contacted the family with the offer of our choir singing at the funeral and Harry's mother graciously accepted my offer. I'll find out later this morning about the details, but here is what I know now:

• the funeral is tuesday, april 20 at 3:00 p.m.
• it is at Independent Presbyterian Church (map here)
• we will meet there at the church at 2:00
  
• We will wear our tuxedos and dresses - avoid perfume, it will be warm in the choir loft
  
• I'm not sure what we will sing, but be ready for:

Esti dal
There will be rest
Abide with Me

Abide With Me (arr. Moses Hogan)
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

In life and death, O Lord, abide with me.

There Will Be Rest (Frank Ticheli)

There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.

I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind.
I shall find the crystal of peace,
– above me Stars I shall find.

--Sara Teasdale

Esti dal (Zoltan Kodaly)
Translation:
As I lay down for the night by the edge of the woods,
I pull my blanket up to my chin.
I put my hands together,
Thus imploring you, my good Lord

My Lord, grant me a place to stay,
For I’ve grown tired of wandering,
Of hiding,
Of living in a foreign land

My Lord, grant me a good night.
Send me your blessed angel
To give courage to the dreams in our hearts.

--

One more chance at recording (well really 2)

Our next time to record is during our exam time. I have James Bevelle holding afternoons and evenings on April 29 and 30. I would like to do evening recording sessions but need you to reserve that time now. If we can't do nights, plan on recording on both days at 2:00 pm. Perhaps we can record both evenings and have our end of the year party after the Friday session.

Recording session results

Hosted on what will eventually be my new website, philipcopeland.org!

Mate Saule

Regina Caeli
Pretty good recording, need better first chord. Individual voices coming out occasionally. Listen close and let's get it better.

Sourwood Mountain
2nd sopranos, listen to the end and you'll find the spot I can't fix. Can you help?
Some balance issues in a couple of sections, but pretty close to a fine recording.

Concert Choir - Spring 2010 Songs and Soloists

UAB CONCERT CHOIR

Mate Saule
Peteris Vasks, (b. 1946)

Regina Caeli
Cecilia McDowall, (b. 1951)

There Will Be Rest
Frank Ticheli, b. 1958

Sourwood Mountain
~arr. John Rutter, b. 1945
Lincoln Parrot, tenor
Tony Morse, bass

Black Sheep
arr. John Rutter, b. 1943
Sadie Mason-Smith, soprano

Roll, Chariot
Noble Cain, 1896 - 1977
Shane Bloemetjie, tenor

commandments

I found it here.

mf @ aso

Save the Date

We are considering a UAB Choir Retreat this fall.

Will and I talked about dates and $$ for the UAB Concert Choir to travel to Camp McDowall on either August 20-21 or August 27-28.

I think that August 27-28 makes more sense for the choir - it gives us more than a week to promote it to the new students.

For you - save the date. It is on the Google Choir Calendar now for the 27/28.

Catherine and the broken wrist

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Dresses

Dr. Reynolds says we have money for new dresses.

Let's get going on it!

• Look here and let me know what you think. I like Southeastern - they are an Alabama company and they have worked well with us in the past.
• Ms. Reynolds likes to cover arms and wants to get a dress that looks good on every body type. That leaves us with this if we go with Southeastern.
• We use this company with Birmingham Concert Chorale.
• One thing I saw with Conspirare that I really liked was their use of the pashmina to add color as well as unify the group. Look and see what you think. Different colors for each girl (or select from designated colors):

New Dresses

Dr. Reynolds says we have money for new dresses.

Let's get going on it!

Look here and let me know what you think. Ms. Reynolds likes to cover arms and wants to get a dress that looks good on every body type.

Recording sessions

Concert Choir,

Recording dates:

1. Tuesday, March 30 5:45 p.m. (after opera) (place TBA)
2. Friday, April 2 2:oo p.m. - during class time (place TBA)

Hierarchy of Choral Stupidity

I love this title.

SHPC organ news

look --

It made the front page of the religion page in Saturday's paper:

Must See, Religion »

Old Ensley Highlands Presbyterian organ reclaimed from empty church

By Greg Garrison -- The Birmingham News

March 20, 2010, 5:30AM

South Highland Presbyterian director of music Philip Copeland, left, organist Jamie McLemore and organ builder Robert Coulter discuss plans to install the organ in the chapel at South Highland Presbyterian Church. (The Birmingham News / Hal Yeager) The only sound echoing inside the sanctuary of the long dormant Ensley High­lands Presbyterian Church the past decade has been the sound of pieces of plas­ter falling on the red carpet and cushioned pews.

The elegant 1926 E.M. Skinner organ remained si­lent, unplayed.

The dilapidated sanctuary was buzzing with activity again on Wednesday as workers took down the 1,224 pipes of the 17-rank organ. Organ builder Robert Coulter will refurbish the pipes. "It'll be restored in our shop in Atlanta," Coulter said.

Smaller pipes from the 1926 E.M. Skinner organ at the defunct Ensley Highland Presbyterian Church are packed in boxes with bubble wrap in preparation for a move to the chapel at South Highland Presbyterian Church. (The Birmingham News / Hal Yeager) By next year, the organ could be rebuilt inside the chapel of the South High­land Presbyterian Church near Five Points South.

http://blog.al.com/living-news/2010/03/old_ensley_highlands_presbyter.html

Gawthrop praise

This surprised me:

Dan and I sometimes argue over the nature of copyright on ChoralNet - that's what he is referencing in the last line.

Such nice words!

Here it is on the ChoralNet site.

wishes

Wow

Unbelievable post:

http://paulcarey440.blogspot.com/2010/03/absolutely-great-performance-by-univ-of.html


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A little too far

Guys, thanks. But this is a little too far.

The Game

Will ponders:

"Would they have waited for me?"

All the details for you

Here is another link to all the information about our trip tomorrow.

Opera thrilling

The opera performance Friday night was thrilling - congrats to all involved.

Rooming list

Choir,

This is the rooming list that I have turned in to the hotel. If you want to make changes now, you will need to contact me.

Nick Recommends Hueys

Here is my next venture for Thursday lunch:

Menu here.

Rendezvous Fail

Abandoning Rendezvous attempt.  Too expensive, not open for lunch, etc.

Found out about the Rendevous

UPDATE: I was originally thinking about the Rendevous as an evening meal for us. However, the place is less than a mile down the street from the Cannon Center, and that is where we will have our morning warm-up as well as our afternoon concert viewing. I'm now thinking that we will travel as a group in the bus to the Rendevous, eat lunch there, and then head back as a group for the afternoon concert session.

Here's what I've discovered -

For us to eat at the Rendevous, it will cost us close to $28 per person.

If we got our number up to 50 (we are at 45 right now) we could move into a buffet style meal.

That price seems a bit steep for college students, it seems to me, so I'm going to continue looking around.

However, I wanted you to weigh in on the matter. The Rendevous is a famous place in Memphis - especially for the "dry ribs."

Here is some more news about the Rendevous.

Get all the latest plans from the Tour Worksheet here.

Tell me about your wishes in the comments.

Spring 2010 Exam Times

Here are the choir exam times:

Concert Choir:
1G: 4/30 1:30 - 4:00
2E: 4/29 1:30 - 4:00

Chamber Singers:
3A: 5/3 4:15 - 6:45

Broadtext?

UAB Concert Choir Members:

Sign up!

rooming list

Cute comments on the previous rooming list.

I'm ready to finalize it for the hotel. Here is the list.

Sectionals suspended

We are making good progress on everything. I'm now suspending sectionals for the time being - let me know if your sectional needs individual help.

plc

Much to learn

There is much we can learn from this choir and this performance:

Almighty and Everlasting God`

There is a problem with this video - do you know what it is?

Still - a great model and video.

Are we an ADD choir?

Just for the heck of it, I looked up the official symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. This is where I looked and this is what I found (verbatim):

Inattention symptoms:

Fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork

Difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play

Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly

Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace

Difficulty organizing tasks and activities

Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork)

Often loses toys, assignments, pencils, books, or tools needed for tasks or activities

Easily distracted

Often forgetful in daily activities

What do you think? Any of that ring true?

Droning about the drone

I found this little essay about singing chant against a drone line - and I really like it:

The Drone

Not all European chant was meant to be sung against a drone. A drone is a single note, usually the “base” note of the scale (the "do") or the fifth step up from the base note, held for the duration of the piece or until the mode changes.

Although you could sing Gregorian chant against a drone, it wasn’t really done that way. Hildegard’s chants (she lived from 1098-1179, by the way) are often sung against a drone. A lot of Celtic music (chants included) are performed against a drone.

Something amazing happens when you provide a drone. A drone builds a kind of foundation upon which the other notes depend. Sometimes the drone provides a rudimentary harmony, at other times a dissonance. But there is a kind of homing sensation about it. You feel the tension created by the changing notes and look forward to the resolution when the melody note matches the drone. The same thing continues to hold true in modern music; you wait for the root chord (the base note's chord) of the scale of the piece to know that the piece is finished.

As a singer, performing against a drone provides a real sense of time and space that I have never experienced with any other kind of music. I become more aware of the personal space that I occupy--my own size and shape--and the size and shape of the space or room in which I stand. I am more aware of my breathing, and of how much breath I spend when I sing, of the sounds coming from the room itself, of any sounds outside the room. I slow down, and really get the point of the chant, really feel it in my body, hear from the space when the notes should change to make the meaning clear. I become part of the chant, and the chant becomes part of me.

I had a conductor (David Babbitt of the San Francisco Bach Choir) who said that chant is like a garden hose. Since humans began to vocalize, someone somewhere has chanted. If you take a moment and breathe quietly in the space where you are, you can feel when it’s your turn to come in. Chant is passed along through time and space from person to person, like water through a garden hose. For me, the drone helps my hectic modern mind connect to the hose of history and the future and take my turn.

Program Notes - ACDA 2010 performance

I worked on program notes for our upcoming ACDA performance that you can look at here.

I was surprised that I was able to find Liber usualis chants hit our concert at the beginning, middle, and ending . . . that made me pretty happy.

I've also been corresponding with composer Cecilia McDowall today - we talked a little about the Regina caeli and I found the original plainchant in the Liber usualis and sent it to her after her first email.

Early email:

I remember looking at Regina caeli plainchant before writing the motet and something of that footprint stayed with me, only speeded up! The Alleluia’s seemed opportunities for contemplation after the faster passages and each harmonic shift downwards allowed for a return to the opening statement as the climax of the work without pushing the soprano line higher.

Later email:

Dear Philip,

Wow, you are most impressively on the case!

Thank you for the Liber usualis download. Looking back, I can’t be certain of how I thought about the writing of Regina caeli; nothing literal from the plainchant, more a feel of the stepwise shape of the chant phrasing, I think.

You raise an interesting point about the ending. A final, plangent conclusion could indeed bring the work to a resounding close and yet I wanted something which might be a little subtle, something which could melt into a big acoustic of, say, our larger cathedrals or College Chapels, something to slip away into the distance. Not an apologetic ending, more one that might just bring the listener back to a mood of meditation.

I worked some of her comments into the program notes. Let me know what you think.

Choir Cancelled. Snow induces mass hysteria.

Choir is canceled for Friday, February 12, 2009.

Snow has induced mass hysteria:

Snow Won't Stop Us

Snow won't stop rehearsal today unless it shuts down the University.

And President Carol Garrison doesn't sound like she will shut down the university.

Meet Catherine's Dad

We had "Donuts for Dad" in Catherine's class this morning. I was greeted with this picture of myself and a little information that Catherine supplied. If you look close at the bottom, you'll see that "the neatest thing we've ever done" was "haveing a dat with daddy."

How sweet is that?

Congrats to B. and L.

Congratulations to Brianna Moore for her first place award in the 2010 UAB Talent Search that was heldd Tuesday night at the Alys Stephens Center. I understand that her rendition of Etta James' "At Last" received thunderous applause and loud cheers.

And congrats also to Lindsay Warner for her 3rd place award in the same competition.

It's about time everyone realized where true beauty and talent resided on the UAB campus!

You Don't Know Anything About Technology

From my convocation this morning:

You Dont Know Anything About Technology

View more presentations from philipco.

Choir director needed

Got this email today:

May be some of UAB teachers or students will be
interesting.

OLA -catholic church /1728 Oxmoor Rd, Homewood. Cross
from the Homewood library/ have open position: Director of Adult
Choir. It's a good paying job for educated, talanted. dedicated,
responsible person. Need min. bachelors degree in choir conducting,
friendly personality, high spirited and motivated to do this job.

Please apply by sending your letter to SANSN234@gmail.com or call for
more imformation: 981-2773/533-4802, Alexandra Naylor -OLS music
director. Thank you!

Topic Sign Up

Class,

Here is the link to the topics we selected.

Here is the link to PBWorks.

I'll be adding the "individual" workers to the wiki.

Presentation from today:

the dawning of possibility in rehearsal

Presentation Notes 1/22/2010

This is for the presentation I gave in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 22, 2010.

Link to Google Document Handout

Tapscott interview

http://www.districtleaderspodcast.org/wordpress/2009/06/28/ep-41-don-tapscott-author-interview/

Room Sign up

No more than four to a room. (memphis trip)

Sign up here.

Regina caeli

Here is the link for the new sopranos - Regina caeli

Esti dal - Kodaly

Pronunciation help for Esti dal.  (i will find a way to fix the links soon)

Memphis trip details

I'm working on details for the Memphis trip.

Look here for my ideas.

Hotel Room Sign Up

We are staying at the Hampton Inn - Southaven on our trip to Memphis for the Southern ACDA Convention Performance.

Hampton Inn - Southaven
390 Goodman Road W, Southaven, Mississippi, USA 38671

Tel: +1 (662) 996-1512
Fax: +1 (662) 349-8866

We have 13 rooms - we will sign up here but I'll not open it up to make *reservations* until next Tuesday.

Talk about it with your friends and we'll make it official soon.

conviction

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

another possibility

Looking at William Byrd's Sacerdotes Domini.

Latin:
Sacerdotes Domini incensum et panes offerunt Deo: et ideo sancti erunt Deo suo et non polluent nomen eius. Alleluia.

Translation:
Then did priests make offering of incense and loaves of finest wheat to God and therefore shall they be holy to their Lord and shall not defile his most holy name. Aleluia.

Idea .. . .

Sacerdotes would come after Mate Saule, which has this translation:

Translation:
Morning is rising like kneaded bread dough.
Mother’s footsteps clatter on the clay floor.
And loaves, covered with maple leaves,
Travel on the peel into the mouth of the oven.

Which sort of works with this idea of Sacerdotes:

Then did priests make offering of incense and loaves of finest wheat to God and therefore shall they be holy to their Lord and shall not defile his most holy name. Aleluia.

And the piece works in key as well as length and mood.

Rethinking the ACDA Program

So here is my latest thought:


1. Spiritus Domini (chant) - 60 - 90 seconds
2. Mate Saule (Peteris Vasks) - 4:30 (5:30 - 6:00 total)
3. Spiritus Domini (William Byrd) - 90 seconds (7:30 total)
4. Regina Caeli (Cecilia McDowall) - 2:30 (10:00 total)
5. Death May Dissolve Me (Jaako Mantyjarvi) 4:30 (14:30 total)
6. Esti dal (Zoltan Kodaly) - 3:00 (17:30 total)
7. Nunc dimittis (Vytautas Miškinis) - 5:00 (23:30 total)

We have a 25 minute limit, so this works time wise.

Here is the textual breakdown:

1. Spiritus Domini (chant) - 60 - 90 seconds

The Latin:
Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, Alleluia.
Et hoc quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis. Alleluia.

Translation:
The Spirit of our Lord hath replenished the whole world, alleluia.
And that which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice. Alleluia.

2. Mate Saule (Peteris Vasks)

Translation:
Morning is rising like kneaded bread dough.
Mother’s footsteps clatter on the clay floor.
And loaves, covered with maple leaves,
Travel on the peel into the mouth of the oven.

Lambs still sleep with stars in their eyes
Ploughs still lie idle in men’s dreams,
But Mother Sun churns white butter –
Like eternity – on the threshold.

Time rolled by through the cold dew –
Three centuries or hours three.
When we awoke, the sun was already stepping
Up through the ash trees into the sky.

3. Spiritus Domini (William Byrd)

(see above)

4. Regina Caeli (Cecilia McDowall)

Translation:
Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
Has risen, as He said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.

5. Death may dissolve me (Jaako Mantyjarvi)

Death may dissolve my body now, And bear my spirit home;
Why do my minutes move so slow, Nor my salvation come?

With heavn’ly weapons I have fought The battles of the Lord,
Finished my course, and kept the faith, And wait the sure reward.

God has laid up in Heav’n for me A crown which cannot fade;
The righteous Judge at that great day Shall place it on my head.

Nor hat the King of Grace decreed This prize for me alone;
But all that love, and long to see Th’appearance of His Son.

Jesus, the Lord, shall guard me safe From ev’ry ill design;
And to his heav’nly Kingdom keep This feeble soul of mine.

God is my everlasting aid, And Hell shall rage in vain;
To Him be highest glory paid, And endless praise, Amen.

-William Billings – Isaac Watts

6. Esti dal (Zoltan Kodaly)

Translation:
As I lay down for the night by the edge of the woods,
I pull my blanket up to my chin.
I put my hands together,
Thus imploring you, my good Lord

My Lord, grant me a place to stay,
For I’ve grown tired of wandering,
Of hiding,
Of living in a foreign land

My Lord, grant me a good night.
Send me your blessed angel
To give courage to the dreams in our hearts.

7. Nunc dimittis (Vytautas Miškinis)

Translation:
LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace:
according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen: thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles:
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.

Os Justi OUT

Got this word last night:

Philip,

Another choir, Memphis Central HIgh School, has already programmed Os Justi. Is there another Bruckner piece you can add?

Brad

So I'm back to the drawing board. Right now I'm thinking we will begin with "Regina Caeli" and I'll start working that up again today.

I'm thinking of several pieces and haven't settled on anything yet.

Syllabus - Chamber Singers and Concert Choir

Chamber Singers Syllabus

Concert Choir Syllabus

Sopranos Lost, Sopranos Gained

In a very strange turn of events, we lost three sopranos over the break:

Lauren Nolen
Meredith Foster
Maegan Reid

We will miss these young women and wish them well.

And, thanks be to God, we are fortunate to be gaining four very talented sopranos for the first day of class:

Kristin Gordon
Katie Harris returns!
Ashleigh Nkashama
Lindsay Warner

We welcome these young women and look forward to incorporating them into our fine choir.

Spring 2010 Dates for Concert Choir

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Dates that we won't meet:
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010 (but we do have a performance the next day!)

January 30, 2010 UAB Honor Choir Concert

March 11-12, 2010 Trip to Memphis, TN for performance at the Southern ACDA Regiona Convention

April 23, 2010 UAB Spring Concert