Congrats to the 2006-07 Lambuth Singers!

MANY, MANY thanks to those who auditioned for Lambuth Singers! The decision was EXTREMELY difficult this year since we had so many talented singers audition for the chamber ensemble.

The 2006-07 Lambuth Singers are:

Soprano
Ayers, Kristen
Gladney, Erica
Matlock, Elizabeth
O'Neil, Emily
Young, Mary Ruth

Alto
Autry, Lori
Ballard, Amber
Campbell, Kendal
Culbreath, Amy
Hall, Ariel
Hamilton, Caroline

Tenor
Collins, Matthew
Mathenia, Michael
Miller, Ben
Mullins, Dustin
Watson, Randy

Bass
Albart, Steven
Johnson, Adam
Rossetti, Reed
Wallace, John
Washington, John
Wells, John

Welcome! -- first assignment

Hey everybody!

Welcome to campus, new choir members - and welcome back to the veterans! We're going to have a great group of singers this year, and I'm excited about getting started!

This is the choir blog, a place where I can post messages, express thoughts, and ask opinions, and you can post back to let your voice be heard.

Three assignments for you:
1. Click HERE to go to the choir student info form
Fill it out, click "submit"
Please get this done before Thursday morning!

2. Post a comment to this message (click the comment link below the message) - introduce yourself to the choir, tell us where you're from, something interesting about yourself, what you did this summer. Keep it clean! :)

3. We are singing "Sky-Born Music" at opening convocation September 5th and only have two rehearsals! After first rehearsal, go to the Concert Choir web page to access study files for this piece - work on your part before second rehearsal!

Looking forward to a GREAT year!
RCB

Baccalaureate/graduation info

Hey gang,

Here's the time/place/attire info for baccalaureate and graduation tomorrow (Sunday, April 30):

Baccalaureate - Chapel - Lambuth Singers perform
meet at 9:45 a.m. on the risers
formal concert attire
service starts at 1:00 p.m.
music - "The Road Not Taken" from memory

Graduation - Gym - Concert Choir performs
meet at 12:45 p.m. in the gym
formal concert attire
we are sitting and performing in the NE corner
commencement at 1:00 p.m.
music - "The Awakening" from memory

IMPORTANT! - PLEASE BRING ALL YOUR CHOIR MUSIC WITH YOU TO HAND IN BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR THE SUMMER!

CDs ship tomorrow!

Hey everybody,

Just got an e-mail from our manufacturer that the CDs will be shipping tomorrow! So we should be seeing them here next week!

The poster is going into production today and it will take about a week to complete. If you'd like to see the poster, you can view it by clicking here.

I have the best job in the world!

Hey gang,

WOW! What a fabulous performance you put on last night! Your focus and energy were absolutely stellar! As we started the loud "no alleluia" section, I thought, "I have the best job anyone could possibly have!" It is such a rush to stand in front of that wall of sound!

You'll be amazed to see how much mileage we'll get out of that performance. Having an ensemble perform for the Methodist churches with that level of refinement draws attention to Lambuth like no other organization can. Maybe we'll get another check written to us!

Let's keep the momentum going. HOORAH!
RCB

Psalm 23 performed in Canada!

Hi everybody,

My "Psalm 23" is being performed by a professional chamber choir in Canada this coming Sunday! The Cantata Singers of Ottawa are including it on a program of psalm settings. You can see their program repertoire (plus a pic of yours truly) on their website at:

http://www.cantatasingers.ottawa.on.ca/programmes/2005-2006/2006-01-29.shtml

January blahs

Hi all,

John Wells posted a comment to my previous post, and since I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd insert it here to make sure you see it.

I was just thinking this afternoon and thought i'd share this....
It seemed to me that in the past two rehearsals everyone (myself included) was much less energetic, excited, and committed than usual...
Perhaps we're just getting back into the "groove of things" for the semester and it was like this at the beginning of last semester. i hope that's the case.. And hey, it could've been the snow!
At any rate, we set forth a precedence of excellence for ourselves last semester, and now must live up to it for ourselves, our university, and those that come in contact with it.

I've noticed the same thing and attribute it to two things:
1. Weather: It's amazing how gray, dreary days can affect your energy. I have major seasonal affect myself and don't enjoy cloudy days AT ALL! And then we come into a chapel sanctuary with walls painted like a gray, dreary day....double whammy! I try as hard as possible not to let that interfere with my work as a conductor, and I hope that my weather issues didn't influence your energy level negatively.

2. Recording: Recording sessions are much more energy-consuming than ordinary rehearsals or concerts. Take after take of the same chunk of music can be tedious and exhausting, and it's hard to get a sense of what the end product will be. Plus you've been singing this music since August!

While realizing the causes, we also realize that we have to work harder collectively to keep the same level of energy on these low-energy days that we have in concerts. The word is out that Lambuth has the best university choral program in the region, and we don't want our singing this semester to alter that conception.

'Nuff said....y'all are great...let's keep moving forward!

Lambuth Choir CD!

Hey gang,

Good news - we have approval to have a CD of the choirs professionally produced! I'm in the midst of acquiring mechanical license rights for the copyrighted songs and getting initial tracks together. We'll be selling them for $15 each. I picked the title "Raise the Lamp" from the Lambuth alma mater; that line refers to the lamp of knowledge, a symbol of academia that's found on the university seal. (I'd been toying with "Will Sing for Potluck" as a title but didn't think that would fly with the administration.) The front of the CD cover will look something like the image here.

The school is floating our choir budget a loan for the production costs, which we'll repay from sales income. If every choir members sells 3 (actually about 2.56, but it's hard to sell 56% of a CD!), the project will be paid for. All sales beyond that will be profit going to the choir. Once you sell your three, you'll receive a free CD with accompanying promotional poster.

We'll need to do some more recording next week to make sure we have really good takes of everything. Once we submit the final master to the company, turnaround is only 7-10 days, so we should be able to release the CD by the end of January.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Quote from Emerson

Hi all,

I was surfing the Web this holiday and came across a nice quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Though we travel the world to find the beautiful,
We must carry it with us or we find it not."

Applies to singing, doesn't it?

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! - RCB

What you have accomplished

Hi all,

I’ve been spending a good part of the weekend separating and editing tracks from our Thursday night concert, and several times I’ve had to quit working and just stop to listen...IN AWE of what you have accomplished this semester.

Folks, you have a sound that isn’t often heard in large music departments at major universities...and it’s almost never found at a college of only 800 students. And the difficulty of the literature, all memorized, and performed on tour 3 months ahead of other university choirs! I am SO PROUD of what you’ve achieved, and honored to have been a part of your music-making. The buzz is all over town! Lambuth faculty, high school students and directors, community big-wigs–all of them are hearing that the Lambuth choirs are THE THING to hear in West Tennessee!

I was thrilled with how many faculty came to our concert. Carrie Prewitt was blown away! Dr. Gene Davenport has taught at Lambuth since 1963, and he told me that this year’s choirs are BY FAR the best that Lambuth has had since he came here! Here’s what Derek Jones has to say:

I just wanted to say to everyone involved in last night's choral concert...OUTSTANDING JOB!!!! In my opinion, that was the best concert on this campus (instrumental or choral) in my six years here at Lambuth. The intonation, dynamics, and overall level of musicality was superb!

You are all to be commended for your hard work and dedication to the cause of the fine arts. Thank you for an absolutely wonderful evening!

You deserve all the words of praise we can muster! Accolades aren’t the only reason we work so hard, though. When we as a choir are truly are “together” (the literal meaning of “ensemble”), we get a glimpse into a Power greater than ourselves that connects all of us together and helps us understand one another on a deeper level. Many people go their whole lives and never find that connection. We have the opportunity to experience that time and time again, whenever we come together to sing, no matter if we have an audience or if we’re singing just for each other. I get SO MUCH from my connection with you...mentally, musically, and spiritually. And I’ll always work to have you get back as much or more from me.

If you’re interested in hearing some of the concert, RIGHT CLICK on the links below and save them to your computer. We’ll be making CDs for everyone, but I know you might be anxious to hear some of it. So here ya go!

A Boy and a Girl
Barbershop
Muie Rendera
Loch Lomond
The Awakening
Sing Unto God

Between Thursday night, Lakeland, and DeSoto, I think we have a really good take of everything on the program. We might do an extra take of a handful of things when we get back from Thanksgiving. We’ll also be learning a new Christmas piece or two for Candlelight, in addition to the pieces from our tour program that will be included (Hodie nobis de caelo, Sing Unto God/Lauda Sion, Magnificat/Nunc Dimittis, maybe 1 or 2 more).

Have a well-deserved Thanksgiving break! See you when we get back!

Kristen Ayers - flute part

Kristen,

You can get the flute part through this link:

http://lambuthmusic.rossbernhardt.com/thyme-flute.pdf

Directions to First United Methodist downtown

Hi all,

Reminder - rehearsal tomorrow (Thurs. Nov. 10) is at First United Methodist Church downtown. We'll be in Clayton Hall, which is the fellowship hall in the newer part of the church. I'd suggest that you carpool with buddies rather than everyone driving separately, since parking might be limited Thursday and definitely will be on Friday.

Directions to First UMC:

Go SOUTH (turn RIGHT if you're coming from campus) on Lambuth Blvd.
until it dead-ends at Airways
Turn LEFT on Airways
Airways curves to the right and becomes Main St.
Go past courthouse and turn RIGHT on Church St.
Turn LEFT on Baltimore - this street runs between St. Luke's Episcopal and First UMC
First UMC is on the right - just past the church is the parking lot (east side of church)
Park and come inside!

Concert Choir sings for chapel today (11/1/05)

Happy All-Saints Day!

Reminder - Concert Choir sings in chapel today (Nov. 1) at 1:00. Wear "dressy school clothes" - guys wear shirt and tie, gals wear skirt/dress/slacks and blouse, no blue jeans. We'll be singing "Sing Unto God". Meet in the choir room at 12:50. See you this afternoon! - RCB

The ideal university choir

In a nutshell, this is what I was talking about in Thursday’s rehearsal - my view of the ideal university choral rehearsal environment.

1. The atmosphere is relaxed but energized, with energy focused on the music.

2. Any talking in rehearsal is fleeting and non-distracting to the conductor, fellow singers, and/or themselves, so nothing ever needs to be said about it.

3. Nothing is ever said about posture or breath energy, because the singers have good singing habits so ingrained into their system that they occur without conscious effort.

4. The singers are able to “multitask”, maintaining focus and concentration on more than one aspect of rehearsal at a time.

5. Nothing is ever said about absence or tardiness, except to worry about the missing singer, since absence is so rare that it makes the choir afraid something bad has happened to them.

6. Motivation is internal, coming from the singer’s love of music and the desire to make the best musical performance they can achieve.

7. There is a sense of common goals, and the knowledge of what needs to happen in rehearsal to achieve those goals. The singers take on more responsibility for their share of the music-making. The conductor is not a dictator but a facilitator, working with the singers as fellow adults on a shared musical journey.

8. The conductor is thus free to deal with nothing in rehearsal besides making music. This in turn creates a more relaxed, open atmosphere that helps create tension-free but energized singing.

You have achieved SO MUCH this year, and you’ve realized most of these ideals already. But we can be more consistent with these, can’t we? And believe me, it’s MUCH more rewarding for both conductor and singers to work in an environment like this than in a high-school type environment where:
1. The atmosphere is rigid and controlled;
2. Behavior is strictly controlled by the conductor because the students can’t be trusted to control themselves;
3. Good singing habits need constant reinforcement;
4. Motivation is external, driven by awards, trophies, and/or fear of the teacher;
5. The conductor has to spend too much time dealing with peripheral issues and not on the music being sung.

The ideals listed above are what need to occur consistently if we’re going to produce what I know we can produce–the best choir in Lambuth’s history, one that will literally blow your audiences away and take them (and you) to a higher plane of musical experience. Let’s do it!

WOW...electric performance!

Hey gang,

I have heard SO MANY people say they were blown away by your performance Friday night! Thanks so much for sitting through all the speeches--yes, they were supposed to be shorter, but looks like only Huneycutt followed instructions! You were very poised and professional through the whole evening, and really impressed a group of people who are exactly the right ones to impress. Maybe someone will be inspired to give money to the music department...

Your tour is going to be phenomenal! Looking forward to making more music with you!

RCB

Tour itinerary

Hi all,

I still have a few things to work out on our fall itinerary, but it's 95% complete. If you'd like to look at it, click HERE.

Dr. B

Nice picture of Elise on the Lambuth web site

Hi all, I hadn't been on the official Lambuth web site in a while, logged on this evening and saw that they're using a photo taken of Elise Lobo in their opening screens. Here it is! Nice plug for us!

Nunc dimittis study files - updated edition

Alto 2 Singers:

I made a transcription error in one measure of your part when I was creating the MIDI study files. The corrected files are now on the website. Sorry! Hope this didn't cause you too much grief in working on your part!

RCB

Off-campus recital options

Hi music majors,

I just added another off-campus recital option to the online calendar. The Jackson Symphony Youth Orchestra is performing Oct.11 and it's FREE! Dr. Weimer's wife conducts the group, so it's a good opportunity to brown-nose your professor! :)

There are a couple of recitals in Nashville that I added to the calendar as well, and flyers for them are also tacked to the chapel bulletin board. I encourage all of you to get at least one off-campus recital out of the way early before we get into the busier season in November and December, when we have tour, Candlelight, fall concerts, and final projects/exams to deal with.