NEW Thought:
(JS) I sent around an e-mail to all members (present and those on hiatus) about arranging a WORKSHOP in Koh Samui, Thailand, sometime in October. Perhaps people can comment herebelow, so we can reach a decision. Thanks! (PS, Genevieve, do you want to keep the present comments on, since they were written a year ago?)
SOME OTHER THOUGHTS
(JS) Formal Request : Genevieve, Could you kindly post what we are definitely singing this season - as confirmed, rather than tentative? Would like to rehearse before i travel, and take the right music with me. Thank you!
(JS)NEW THOUGHT - I just read this, although i realize you had written a while ago. I just posted a note on IDEAS, but i will post again 'under' point 2.
1. This is going to sound a little corny, but I am really appreciative of those who have been maintaining a positive attitude, and taking constructive action, and doing what I have been calling "maintaining the illusion". This style - believing we are fantastic will make us fantastic - is really quite useful and contributes fundamentally to improving our performance. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coue
2. The non-musical parts of the performance are certainly important as well. For everyone who did the individual song intros, well done and it sounded very natural. I like that format and wouldn't mind continuing it, but would like to hear your opinions. The venue was obviously a solid contributor to the performance too, and I don't see any reason why we should settle for acoustics any worse than that in the future.
(JS) I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US RELY LESS ON WATCHING THE DIRECTOR FOR EVERY MOVE AND BEAT, AND ONLY RELY ON ENTRANCES AND ENDINGS. I FEEL THIS WOULD RELEASE OUR FOCUS TO THINK MORE ABOUT HOW WE BLEND WITH EACH OTHER, HOW WE CAN INTERPRET THE SONG, AND HOW WE SMILE AND PRESENT TO THE AUDIENCE. I REALIZED WATCHING 'MACK THE KNIFE' ON YOUTUBE THAT WE USED TO DO THIS. AND WHILE MUSICALLY I FEEL WE ARE MUCH BETTER NOW, THERE WAS A CERTAIN 'LIFE' ABOUT US WHEN WE WERE FREE TO THINK A LITTLE ON OUR OWN. WE SMILED MORE TOO. ANYWAY…… food for thought.
3. We keep talking about adding dance moves etc. to what we have been doing. I would like to do this but so far I find that I'm barely getting through the musical part - and I'm not that willing to spend more rehearsal time on it. Also, I think that we should add these at a minimum as we are not a dance troupe. So I'm looking for volunteers to give some thought to this.
4. As mentioned, the performance was extremely solid. I was happy with the Xmas concert and I was happy with this one. But in both cases, I think we should have all learned our music earlier so that it wasn't quite so much "down to the wire". We took 4 months to learn 10 songs, and we can do it faster. I think those of us who can read music have to put a bit more effort into doing our homework, i.e. learning the notes all by ourselves, with piano, keyboard or whatever instrument you have on hand. Those of us who can't read music well enough to make it useful should really work on getting the recordings earlier, one way or another (don't wait for it to be rehearsed), and learn them outside of general rehearsal time. If anyone wants to sit with me and my piano I am definitely happy to do recordings any time. Likewise, if you need me to sit with you and write out the notes ("this is a D, this is an E") then ask me and I'm very happy to do it - but not during rehearsal.
- Having said all of that, this May 9th performance was a way to get us ready a little earlier than we would have been otherwise. I'm certain that had we not had this performance then we would all be worried about not being ready by May 23rd! :) So we are now in very very good shape for the rest of the month.
5. Finally: we are currently recruiting at least 1-2 new members (starting from the fall season) so spread the word (particularly within Nova). Sopranos 1-2 more urgently needed but I'll listen to any (female) part.
Look forward to hearing any more of your (constructive!) comments!
G.
