Hi all,
I have strep throat..... :(
Went in to Convenient Care this evening and tested positive for strep. I'll still be contagious through tomorrow so am staying home. If you need to get hold of me, call 343-0620.
I will be here Tuesday, and the concert in Memphis Tuesday night is still a "go"!
For Monday's classes -
Voice students: practice with Kathy.
Diction: we will be having some material on Germanic Latin pronunciation run off on Monday morning and placed on the choir room piano by Monday afternoon. Please read and review for class on Wednesday.
Lambuth Singers: no rehearsal - see you Tuesday.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Program with Alma College Choir Mar. 1
Hi all,
Just to recap schedule for next Tuesday’s program with Alma College (March 1):
Concert Choir -
Just to recap schedule for next Tuesday’s program with Alma College (March 1):
- Be on bus ready to go at 3:30 p.m. - load behind Wilder Union on Maple St.
- Bring formal attire with you
- We will grab dinner en route (you will be given money)
- Concert at Farmington Presbyterian in Germantown at 7:00 p.m.
- We should be back by 10 p.m.
Concert Choir -
- Bogoroditse Devo
- Standing on Holy Ground
- possibly Alma Mater
- Te Deum
- Languir me fais
- I Sat Down
- Let It Be, Here Comes the Sun
Monday, February 21, 2005
Great job at Ripley Lambuth Singers!
Lambuth Singers,
GREAT concert at Ripley! I know getting lost on the way there was stressful for some of you, and I really appreciate how you pulled together and put on a great performance!
Sorry to be gone today....I woke up at 5:00 a.m. with something irritating my eye and couldn't get it out...it was my bad eye, so I'm always a little paranoid when something else goes wrong with it. (For those of you that don't know, I have a silicone ring holding my right eye together. Ask me and I'll tell you the gruesome details!) I went in to the eye doctor at 7:30, and she found a small black speck of something under my eyelid, so she numbed the eye to swab it out. The eye is fine now; unfortunately, I also developed a nasty stomach bug this morning so stayed in bed most of the day. I'm feeling better now so should be my usual chipper self Tuesday. :)
Cheers,
Dr. B
GREAT concert at Ripley! I know getting lost on the way there was stressful for some of you, and I really appreciate how you pulled together and put on a great performance!
Sorry to be gone today....I woke up at 5:00 a.m. with something irritating my eye and couldn't get it out...it was my bad eye, so I'm always a little paranoid when something else goes wrong with it. (For those of you that don't know, I have a silicone ring holding my right eye together. Ask me and I'll tell you the gruesome details!) I went in to the eye doctor at 7:30, and she found a small black speck of something under my eyelid, so she numbed the eye to swab it out. The eye is fine now; unfortunately, I also developed a nasty stomach bug this morning so stayed in bed most of the day. I'm feeling better now so should be my usual chipper self Tuesday. :)
Cheers,
Dr. B
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Lambuth Singers - Monteverdi test Monday!
Lambuth Singers,
Don't forget, you need to have that first section of the Monteverdi Beatus Vir down SOLID on Monday! Get with your buddies, use the sound files online, whatever you need to do. Have a good weekend!
Dr. B
Don't forget, you need to have that first section of the Monteverdi Beatus Vir down SOLID on Monday! Get with your buddies, use the sound files online, whatever you need to do. Have a good weekend!
Dr. B
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Good rehearsals today! (Tues. 2/8)
Hey everybody,
Some really wonderful things happening in both choirs today! I was really pleased with how quickly you were picking up "Heilig" in Concert Choir. That will be a lot of fun when we put it together with the Alma College choir. Praises also to Steven Whitson and Kendal Campbell for nice auditions on the "Standing on Holy Ground" solo! Everybody who has sung it so far has sounded good.
Lambuth Singers....Languir me fais....wow....you really captured what I was looking for in terms of phrase shaping and text inflection! Let's retain that and continue to work on making that automatic. Really nice! Ain'a That Good News is starting to shape up nicely too...let's keep working on placement of final consonants. And we also need to continue to work on focusing the energy where it belongs...on making the group the best it can be.
I came out of rehearsal feeling energized and hope you did too. My right shoulder is killing me, though, so I'll quit typing and put on an ice pack. See you tomorrow!
RCB
Some really wonderful things happening in both choirs today! I was really pleased with how quickly you were picking up "Heilig" in Concert Choir. That will be a lot of fun when we put it together with the Alma College choir. Praises also to Steven Whitson and Kendal Campbell for nice auditions on the "Standing on Holy Ground" solo! Everybody who has sung it so far has sounded good.
Lambuth Singers....Languir me fais....wow....you really captured what I was looking for in terms of phrase shaping and text inflection! Let's retain that and continue to work on making that automatic. Really nice! Ain'a That Good News is starting to shape up nicely too...let's keep working on placement of final consonants. And we also need to continue to work on focusing the energy where it belongs...on making the group the best it can be.
I came out of rehearsal feeling energized and hope you did too. My right shoulder is killing me, though, so I'll quit typing and put on an ice pack. See you tomorrow!
RCB
Monday, February 07, 2005
Building a choral community - what choir means to me
Hey everyone!
I'm glad to be back home with family, students, and friends after a GREAT convention in L.A. I heard so many fabulous choirs from all over the country and overseas, from churches, high schools, and colleges, children's choirs, professional choirs, and community groups. It was really amazing to see how many people (thousands of directors and singers at the convention alone) are involved in choral music in the United States. Every choir was a little bit different in terms of interpretation of the music, but I came away with the sense that within each choir there was a sense of community, obvious teamwork, and aspiration toward a common goal.
Building community is, in my opinion, what choral music is all about. A group of individuals takes a piece of art and, through the process of rehearsing and polishing, becomes a cohesive ensemble musically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The ensemble then reaches out to the larger community of listeners and invites them to join in. In a truly great choral performance, the listener isn't just a passive observer; he/she is taken along on a musical journey with the performers.
As you all know, I'm not always the most demonstrative person in the world. Music (both performing and composing) has been an outlet for me to express thoughts and feelings I might not otherwise let out. Through music I feel more connected to other people, and so become more in touch with myself and with the greater whole that is God. Music-making can transform you! I know most (if not all) of you have experienced this...that's why you continue to sing.
Some of you have heard this story already, but the most magical musical moment (sorry for the alliteration!) in my life was one concert with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in summer 2002. We'd had a rough season (one soprano being a particular problem) and were feeling very depressed about our choir and our sound. Something happened that evening in Albuquerque...all of a sudden it was like a light switch being thrown on! All of us could feel the electricity of the music and felt completely connected to each other and our audience. I was never surer in my life that there is something greater than ourselves that binds us all together...and music was the language through which that Greater Whole spoke. It was one of those rare moments that made all the work and strife beforehand all worthwhile.
That's why I push you...why I'm thrilled when we succeed and disappointed/frustrated (like I was with the Monteverdi test in Lambuth Singers today) when we individually and collectively miss the mark. If we as a group can achieve even ONE of those moments in your time at Lambuth, it makes all the hard practice worth it. We owe that to ourselves and our audiences.
I want us to continue to work on building a sense of community and togetherness in the Concert Choir and Lambuth Singers. I want each of you to feel that you have a voice (both musical and non-musical) that's heard and valued, that you are cared about as an individual, that we share a common desire for excellence as a group, and are all determined to work together to reach that goal.
That's why this blog is here. It's a good forum for us to communicate with each other. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments about what "community" means to you and how we can enhance the choral community at LU. Feel free to post comments/thoughts/suggestions on the blog whenever you like. I only ask that you be polite and show respect for everyone in our choral community.
Glad to be back home making music with you all!
Cheers,
Dr. B
I'm glad to be back home with family, students, and friends after a GREAT convention in L.A. I heard so many fabulous choirs from all over the country and overseas, from churches, high schools, and colleges, children's choirs, professional choirs, and community groups. It was really amazing to see how many people (thousands of directors and singers at the convention alone) are involved in choral music in the United States. Every choir was a little bit different in terms of interpretation of the music, but I came away with the sense that within each choir there was a sense of community, obvious teamwork, and aspiration toward a common goal.
Building community is, in my opinion, what choral music is all about. A group of individuals takes a piece of art and, through the process of rehearsing and polishing, becomes a cohesive ensemble musically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The ensemble then reaches out to the larger community of listeners and invites them to join in. In a truly great choral performance, the listener isn't just a passive observer; he/she is taken along on a musical journey with the performers.
As you all know, I'm not always the most demonstrative person in the world. Music (both performing and composing) has been an outlet for me to express thoughts and feelings I might not otherwise let out. Through music I feel more connected to other people, and so become more in touch with myself and with the greater whole that is God. Music-making can transform you! I know most (if not all) of you have experienced this...that's why you continue to sing.
Some of you have heard this story already, but the most magical musical moment (sorry for the alliteration!) in my life was one concert with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in summer 2002. We'd had a rough season (one soprano being a particular problem) and were feeling very depressed about our choir and our sound. Something happened that evening in Albuquerque...all of a sudden it was like a light switch being thrown on! All of us could feel the electricity of the music and felt completely connected to each other and our audience. I was never surer in my life that there is something greater than ourselves that binds us all together...and music was the language through which that Greater Whole spoke. It was one of those rare moments that made all the work and strife beforehand all worthwhile.
That's why I push you...why I'm thrilled when we succeed and disappointed/frustrated (like I was with the Monteverdi test in Lambuth Singers today) when we individually and collectively miss the mark. If we as a group can achieve even ONE of those moments in your time at Lambuth, it makes all the hard practice worth it. We owe that to ourselves and our audiences.
I want us to continue to work on building a sense of community and togetherness in the Concert Choir and Lambuth Singers. I want each of you to feel that you have a voice (both musical and non-musical) that's heard and valued, that you are cared about as an individual, that we share a common desire for excellence as a group, and are all determined to work together to reach that goal.
That's why this blog is here. It's a good forum for us to communicate with each other. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments about what "community" means to you and how we can enhance the choral community at LU. Feel free to post comments/thoughts/suggestions on the blog whenever you like. I only ask that you be polite and show respect for everyone in our choral community.
Glad to be back home making music with you all!
Cheers,
Dr. B
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Welcome to the new blog!
Greetings everyone! This is a new "blog" created for the Lambuth University Choirs. For those of you unfamiliar with blogs (as I was until the Dan Rather memo scandal at CBS), the term is short for "weblog"--a place for people to publish their thoughts, research, insights, feelings, etc. on the Internet.
A choir-director friend of mine, Dr. Phil Copeland at UA-Birmingham, starting using a blog for his choirs at UAB to help pass along information to his singers and get feedback from them. He's found that it's been a real community-building outlet for his groups, and a place where everyone can contribute their ideas. In my philosophy of conducting/teaching/directing, building community--a sense of common understanding about what we do and why we do it--is vital to a successful choral program. I think we've done a lot together to do that, but new tools are always great. And you know me and technology.... :)
More later!
RCB
A choir-director friend of mine, Dr. Phil Copeland at UA-Birmingham, starting using a blog for his choirs at UAB to help pass along information to his singers and get feedback from them. He's found that it's been a real community-building outlet for his groups, and a place where everyone can contribute their ideas. In my philosophy of conducting/teaching/directing, building community--a sense of common understanding about what we do and why we do it--is vital to a successful choral program. I think we've done a lot together to do that, but new tools are always great. And you know me and technology.... :)
More later!
RCB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
