my first performance in thirty years

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Jun 25 - 07:49 PM

Stilly, there will be a YouTube video, but it will have to be waited for patiently.
The conductor says it will be ready in five to six weeks' time.
They use multiple cameras and it will take some editing,
and the person doing the editing has got a day job which affords him little time.

We just had the performance today,
and I am a funny combination of tired and keyed up.
At least I just had a nice supper out with a friend who showed up to give moral support, and enjoyed the concert.
So I'm not hungry anymore, that's something.

It looked like we had a good turnout of people,
and the applause was warm and hearty, so I think they liked it.
This was not an easy piece to pull off,
and several of us made mistakes with entrances at different times.
We were comparing notes afterwards about coming in at the wrong times.
But it is beautiful music and rarely heard,
so we were privileged to participate in such a performance.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Helen
Date: 02 Jun 25 - 04:33 AM

Congratulations keberoxu! A great result built on creativity, musical capability, and working together with like-minded people. A win for all of you!

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 05 Jun 25 - 06:05 PM

Not to brag, but
all week long people have been coming up to me to say
how much they enjoyed the concert, which feels really good.

The chorus is now off for the summer, to resume in September.
Meanwhile we need a new place to rehearse every week.
For many years, the chorus would rehearse in the same church building.
But the church has come upon such hard times that
the building is all but falling down around our ears.
So we have had our last rehearsal there, after all this time.

The most likely place for us to resume rehearsals is
a rehearsal studio with a theater company one town over.
The theater company is in reasonable health and they take care of their property.
So hopefully we can resume there in September.
The chorus board looked around at other churches,
but nothing worked out.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: JennieG
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 02:48 AM

That's wonderful, keberoxu....positive feedback is very heartwarming!

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 07:50 PM

The chorus director says it may be August by the time the video of the performance comes out,
as a lot of editing is required, both visual and audible.
The director was complaining to me that
the mikes in some places picked up
the worst singers in their respective sections,
instead of the better singers in their sections.
It was funny to witness the director imitating the awful noises
that some of the choristers were making.
I know what he means because one of those choristers was directly behind me!
He was bawling in my ear from beginning to end.
Ah, the pleasures of an amateur community chorus.
But maybe my singing bothers someone else just as much, who knows?

I know that my second soprano section includes a singer whom I think of as "the mosquito,"
because her voice whines just like the pesky insect.
There are enough singers in each section who have a decent vocal quality
to support and somewhat mask the inadequate voices.
We are fortunate to have the balance in voices that produces a good overall sound.
And we have a director who is not only a good musician
but has a special gift for finding the best in people and getting along well with everybody,
which I think is somewhat rare.
I hate to think what would happen when the chorus loses the director,
and he is getting old enough to think about retiring one day.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Dec 25 - 07:02 PM

Update:
our new rehearsal space is a studio within a theatrical complex;
the studio has a decent piano so it works for the chorus.
We've been rehearsing there since September.

Tomorrow night we have our first holiday concert,
largely a cappella works with a few carols thrown in (keyboard for those).
It will be held in a large Catholic church with great acoustics.
Word has it that someone will videotape this concert
and it will be available online at some point next year.

Our repertoire includes the famous Randall Thompson "Alleluia"
which is closely associated with the Tanglewood festival in the summer.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Dec 25 - 07:37 PM

Good news! Please share a link when they finish processing it. (You keep those cards close to the vest - all of this rehearsing and not a peep about it!)

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Dec 25 - 07:22 PM

One concert down, two to go, for my choral group.
The weather is cold, but fair, so I hope it stays that way until we are done performing for the season.
We had a good turn-out of audience and a warm reception.
Even though there were a few flubbed moments in the performance...

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Dec 25 - 05:06 AM

congratulations to you & your fellow choristers

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Dec 25 - 01:33 PM

Two concerts down, one to go.
The second one left me very tired but it went well, good audience.

Our third concert will have some variety.
There will be other songs, mostly popular/secular;
and there will be a skit with Santa Claus and an overeager elf (an adult behaving like a little kid).
This concert is meant to be more family-friendly than the others,
it will be Saturday in the early evening.

Some chorus members will be absent because they are taking advantage of the weekend
to travel for the Christmas holidays the following week.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 25 - 02:52 PM

Chances are if the songs are more popular and secular, your audience will sing along and fill in any gaps for chorus voices.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 20 Dec 25 - 08:34 PM

Third performance done and dusted, over for the season.
We start rehearsing again the week after New Year's.
It was a tiring round of performances this year,
but I wouldn't have wanted to miss out.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 25 - 09:25 PM

Did the audience participate? And did you have enough of the chorus members there to still sound the way you hoped?

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Mar 26 - 12:58 PM

The videos at last are up for our June 1 concert last year.
If it works, this will link to the video for the opening piece.

Beethoven: Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 26 - 01:10 PM

keberoxu, that's wonderful! What a peaceful work to perform, and your hall seems to be well-filled with an appreciative audience.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 May 26 - 07:50 PM

It's the night before our big performance of the spring season:
my group, the Berkshire Lyric Chorus, tomorrow will perform
the St. Matthew Passion of Bach.

It won't be perfection, I can tell you that.
We have had too much to do and too little rehearsal time in which to do everything.
But a performance can have flaws and still be satisfying.
For one thing, we are blessed with professional, not amateur, soloists
who have been brought in to sing the parts of the Evangelist, Jesus, and to sing the big arias.
The young man singing Jesus is persevering in his assignment
in spite of the fact that he is on crutches with his foot in one of those boot things. Don't know what happened to him, but he is with us nonetheless.
These are all young American, English-speaking professional singers
and it is a wonder how well they sing in Bach's native German.
I wish the chorus's German was up to that standard,
but the German diction is one of the things that are full of little flaws.

With the one intermission, we will be performing for over three hours.
The rehearsals have been punishing, I come out of rehearsals with my voice fried.
We had our last rehearsal last night,
and today we have the day off to rest up for tomorrow.

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 26 - 08:31 PM

Even with the challenges it sounds like a great evening for everyone in attendance! Enjoy yourself!

Subject: RE: my first performance in thirty years
From: Helen
Date: 30 May 26 - 09:35 PM

Bach's St. Matthew Passion is beautiful. I wish I could be there.

I have a CD by Thijs Van Leer who played flute in a rock band called Focus. One of my favourite tracks is his interpretation of Erbarme Dich from 'St Matthew Passion' BWV 244 with the flute and a woman singing.

I hope it goes well, but that work is such a beautiful musical experience so I am sure everyone will love it.