Good recording session Singers!

Singers,

What FINE, MUSICAL singing you guys did yesterday! I was really pleased with the intonation, the text shaping, and particularly the blend, which was the best I've heard so far this semester. Thanks to Dr. Goff for lugging his gear over to record us! It's too bad we couldn't solve the AC hiss problem yesterday. You learn something new every day about how the Lambuth buildings are put together! We'll talk with Maintenance to get it turned off for our Concert Choir session next Thursday--or we may record in the Chapel, where I know how to turn the AC off!

Dr. Goff will be using the stuff we recorded to teach his productions class how to splice and cross-fade recording takes next week. As soon as they have it done, I'll post it online so you can listen.

Have a good weekend!
RCB

More about Hugo Distler

As I mentioned in rehearsal, Hugo Distler's life ended tragically by his own hand. Here's a link to a brief Wikipedia article about him if you'd like to read more detail.

P.S. - Altos, I was really pleased with the progress on "Ye Shall Have a Song" yesterday. Your parts are the hardest because they jump octaves and criss-cross so much, but it sounds like we have things pretty solid now.

Resurrection of the Lambuth choir blog!

As one of my colleagues has noted, I've allowed this blog to "languish into obscurity" this past semester. I'm going to correct that and plan to log on MUCH more often this year to post announcements, talk about choir events, and muse about music and life in general. I encourage you to stop by frequently, read my posts, and add comments of your own!

You Having Walked This Earth

Hi everyone,

Our recording of "You Having Walked This Earth" is now featured on the composer's website! Go to www.stephensmusic.com and you'll see a link on the home page.

I'm still fighting my upper respiratory infection--the Zithromax pack doesn't seem to be doing the job. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by Monday.

RCB

Classical/popular crossovers

Hi all,

I subscribe to a Yahoo news feed that looks up any news articles about choral music. Follow the link to read an interesting article about popular artists who cross over into what they think is "classical music".

RCB

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a Merry Christmas - I'm looking forward to more music-making with you in the coming year!

RCB

Praises from composer of "You Having Walked This Earth"

Hi all,

This morning I sent an MP3 of our recording session from last week to Joseph Stephens, the composer of "You Having Walked This Earth". Here's his reply:

Dear Dr. Bernhardt and Choir,

A truly amazing performance of "You having walked..."!!! I was overjoyed to hear your recording. I will try to get it on my website and list you guys as the performers. That all depends on my internet provider. Anyway, thanks so much for doing my stuff. It was great to hear that piece in particular because it is one I believe in greatly.

Have a great holiday season and keep up the good work.

Joe Stephens

His website is www.stephensmusic.com. I'll check it periodically and let you know when you guys are listed.

Cheers!
RCB

Thanks everyone!

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your performance last night! You all sang extremely well--particularly the Prayer of St. Patrick, which was really quite stunning from where I stood. I received numerous compliments about the quality of your singing from folks in the congregation.

And thank you for a great semester! I've really enjoyed working with you and am SO PROUD of your musical accomplishments. You don't often hear choirs from colleges of our size that sing as well as you do. Keep up the good work!

A couple of final housekeeping notices:

(1) If you haven't handed in choir music yet, please bring it down to the choir room and place it on the long table so we can start filing things away.

(2) I will be in NYC performing with a professional choir at Carnegie Hall the first week of January, won't be here the first week of classes. I'll have one of the other music faculty take the first rehearsal, just to have you check in and receive music. Your first assignment will be to learn one of the easier pieces (or a portion of one) on your own with study files that will be placed on the website. Piece to be announced later.

(3) Be sure to check the departmental calendar on the website so you can clear any conflicts with our performance schedule.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

RCB

Some holiday cheer...

Hi gang,

Some really nice singing yesterday! I was pleased overall with how the recordings came out, particularly since we only did 1-2 takes of each.

I've edited the Concert Choir tracks and have put them online--click the links below if you want to hear them. (Right click to save them to your computer.)

Prayer of St. Patrick
'Tis You That Are the Music
You Having Walked This Earth

CHRISTMAS BONUS:
If you enjoyed hearing Kellye Cash singing "O Holy Night" at the Jackson Symphony pops concert, click here to hear one even more stunning! :)

See you Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Ballroom. Happy Holidays!
RCB

Great tour!

Hey gang,

Thank you SO MUCH for all your hard work on Leg 1 of our tour! I really appreciate your hard work, energy, and enthusiasm!

It's always so rewarding for me to see how much the tour program matures and takes on new life with each performance. While it's important to keep striving for improved performances, it's also important to look back, take stock of how far you've come, and realize what a high level of musicianship you've displayed. Several choir alums from 5-6 years ago were in attendance at last night's concert, and they were absolutely awestruck by your performance. I would never have attempted many of the pieces on this year's program 5 years ago.

It's EXTREMELY rare to hear choirs from a school of less than 1,000 students perform at the level you do. It just doesn't happen! You should feel proud that you can hold your own with schools that have 10 times the number of students (and more money and resources to boot).

Housekeeping announcements:

1. We will NOT have Lambuth Singers or Choral Methods today (Wed. 11/15).

2. We WILL have Concert Choir tomorrow (Thurs. 11/16), so we can get the "Many Moods" medley under our belts for the Jackson Symphony performance.

2. Friday--be ready to load the bus at 9:15! We'll eat lunch in Memphis at 11:00 and then spend a little time getting used to the Harding Academy auditorium while the All-SW students are at lunch. We perform at 1:30 for 20 minutes or so.

Thanks again, everyone! See you tomorrow afternoon!

Choir tour - miscellaneous announcements

Hey gang,

As I mentioned in rehearsal last week, the cost for the Space Center is $11 per person. I need that money by Friday of this week so I can deposit in the choir account.

Your lodging and meals are covered by our department. For the 4 meals not provided by churches or hotel, each of you will be given $30.00. Bring extra money if you want to eat more "upscale".

Since both high school gigs are on one day (Monday 11/13) and there isn't a church performance that evening, we're going to wear formal black concert attire at the high schools as well.

First Sopranos: Several of you forgot to come by to work with me on Friday! Pop by sometime tomorrow (Tuesday)--it will really help unify the section sound for tour!

RCB

Addition to calendar - Nov. 30

Hey everybody,

At the request of President Zuker, we have been asked to perform as part of a Christmas program that will be videotaped for broadcast on JEA's Eplus channel (local cable system). We will meet at Liberty Technological Magnet High School here in Jackson at 11:00 a.m. on November 30, and will be done by 11:45. I'll have more details (repertoire to be videotaped, directions, etc.) as we get closer to the date.

RCB

Wikipedia article on my hometown

I looked up my hometown on Wikipedia this morning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogersville,_Missouri

This is what one contributor has to say about the town:

Rogersville is home to many intelligent and forward-thinking children of all ages. They love Wikipedia. They don't love Rogersville. They feel trapped. They are high.

Funny, but also true. This shows, however, that you can't always trust Internet sources when researching your term papers!

Rooming and bus signup for tour

Hey gang,

I've posted signup sheets for the buses and housing on tour. They're located on the big departmental bulletin board right inside the west end doors of the Chapel. Could you stop by when you get a free moment and sign up? Thanks! - RCB

Thanks for homecoming weekend!

Thanks SO MUCH for all your performing over Homecoming weekend, and in Chapel on Tuesday. I've heard several glowing reports on your singing! I know that was a big chunk of time to give on Friday and Saturday, and I really appreciate your dedication and patience. Next year I'm going to see if we can move everything to the end of the Alumni Dinner--or at least break out the cheesecake for you while you wait!

I barely made it to my brother's wedding Saturday. My car broke down in the Missouri Bootheel, so I had to have the garage take me back over to Dyersburg on Saturday to rent a car. AARRGGHH! I made it just in time for the photos and ceremony, which was very nice. I got to see cousins and friends that I hadn't seen for years--we all had less hair and more wrinkles!

See you at rehearsal!
RCB

Concert Choir in Chapel today

Hi all,

Just a reminder that Concert Choir is singing in Chapel today at 1:00 p.m. Wear "presentable casual"--I have on khakis and a polo shirt if that helps define what I mean. We'll be singing "You Having Walked This Earth". See you this afternoon!

RCB

Rehearsal in Hamilton Room again today

Concert Choir will rehearse in the Hamilton Room in the Wilder College Union again today!

Creating room for silence

Hi all,

The minister at our church spoke this past Sunday about "Finding Time for Meaning". In his sermon, he quoted 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg on the importance of rests in music, and how that symbolizes the importance of silence in our lives.

It brought to mind another quote by Arvo Pärt, contemporary Estonian composer (and subject of my doctoral dissertation): "How can one fill the time with notes worthy of the preceding silence?" I play a short musical interlude between the sermon and time for joys & concerns, and was inspired to insert long pauses after each phrase. It was amazing how many people paid attention to silence in a portion of the service that's usually background "traveling music".

We have trouble as a society with handling silence. Think about all the things by which we're bomarded every day:

• background Muzak
• TV screens simultaneously filled with the current show and ads for upcoming ones
• speakers booming in cars driving down the street
• talking automated check-outs at Wal-Mart
• cell phones ringing in every room we enter

We hear so much every day, and yet I think that, as a culture, all of us have lost some of the ability to truly listen. I get invitations all the time from community organizations to have one of the choirs perform for them at a luncheon or other function where they want "entertainment", but I rarely accept, because we would be just another element of audio "background radiation". To really let choral music touch the soul, the audience has to be placed in an environment that allows for some silence to let the music seep through the spirit.

I encourage you to find some silent time in your busy lives. Have a great fall break!
RCB

Concert Choir in Ballroom today

Hey gang,

We'll be rehearsing in the Wilder Union again today. The Hamilton Room is set up for another function, so we'll use the Ballroom side of the room to rehearse. It's VERY "ringy" in there, so extraneous noise will really have to be kept to a bare minimum. See you at 3:25!

RCB

New Singers study files on website

Hi Lambuth Singers,

Just noticed that I hadn't uploaded the "Cloudburst" study files to the website. Sorry about that! They're now online. Spend time with them over the next week--we need to have all note problems squared away on it by next Thursday, Oct. 12.

I've also added a link to a pronunciation file streamed from musicanet.org for "Il Est Bel et Bon". Note especially the pronunciation on "pays" and "poulailles" - the Old French spelling threw me off so I taught those two words to you incorrectly. The main vowel on "pays" is eh, and on "poulailles" it's ah.