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Voices Newsletter
Thursday, October 24, 2024 |
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Rehearsal and Performance Schedule... |
Rehearsals begin at 7:00 PM sharp. Please try to be in your seat and ready to sing!
October 28
November 4, 11, 18, 25
December 2, 9
Dress Rehearsal - First Baptist Church, Friday, December 13, 7:00 PM
Concert - First Baptist Church, Sunday, December 15, 1:00 PM call for 3:00 PM concert
Special performances:
First Baptist Church - Sunday, October 27, 9:00 AM call
Unitarian Church - Sunday, November 17, 9:00 AM call
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I'm excited for our first "church gig" of the semester, and can't wait to see you there! Here are the details:
When: Sunday, 10/27, warm ups at 9:30am, service done ~11:00
Where: First Baptist Church in Ithaca
Songs: -Hey Ho and Gabi, Gabi
Attire: All black (get a scarf upon arrival)
Be sure to have your music in a black folder.
The more folks we have the better we sound, so thank you for making every effort to be there! (Note: due to a shortage of Tenors attending, I'd love for an alto or two to be ready to sing tenor for "Gabi, Gabi." Consider this as a possibility over the next day or two?).
Some folks have been asking about how to access the helpful videos I keep mentioning in rehearsals. They are available at a link on our website, located here.
Also, a reminder about the IHS "Chills and Thrills" collage concert on Wednesday, 10/30, 7:30pm. Come see our very own Anna in her element!
See you Monday!
-Ross
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Why do we perform at First Baptist?
This is old news for many of you, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that we sing at First Baptist as a way to say thanks for their very generous donation of our dress rehearsal and concert venue. If you know anything about concert rental costs in Ithaca, you know that is generous indeed! Please participate this Sunday if you can. The First Baptist congregation is very welcoming. It’s always a pleasure to perform there.
Vocal Assignments and Practice Tracks
Gibbons Music Scholarship... |
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Voices will be collecting funds for the Gibbons Scholarship for Youth at the next two rehearsals. The Gibbons Scholarship was established in 2001 by the Ithaca Community Choruses to honor the choruses' founding director, Paul Gibbons, and to provide a promising high school voice student with the means for musical training. We will be passing a jar around in which you can make a donation. The donation jar will be passed on to our other choruses in the coming weeks. Please feel free to donate what you can. You may also make a donation on our website at https://acithaca.org/help-keep-the-music-coming/
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A Book You Might Be Interested in Reading... |
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Singing has always been there for us, at the root of what it is to be a human being. Through personal anecdote and scientific fact-finding, this book celebrates the way song inspires and heals us, from the cradle to the grave, and in the process does for singing what The Well-Gardened Mind did for nature, and what Why We Eat did for our diets.
As a singing therapist, teacher and performer, Julia Hollander is in a unique position to consider singing's importance to our wellbeing, charting its extraordinary influence on all aspects of our spiritual, emotional and physical lives. Why do parents feel compelled to sing to their newborns, and how does it help their development? What is it about song that brings communities together in harmony but also in protest? How come an activity that helps to embed languages and maths formulae can also be used to rehabilitate Long Covid sufferers? And what magic is at work when people who have lost the power to speak are still able to sing? By delving into her own life experiences, and calling on those of her fellow singers, the author seeks to answer these questions, underpinning her findings with the latest scientific research. In so many walks of life, people of all ages and backgrounds are waking up to the joys of singing, its power to give hope and connection in a fragmented world. Song-making is available in an increasingly broad range of social and therapeutic contexts, prescribed by doctors and community services. This book offers explanations for why this should be, and inspiration to anyone who loves to sing.
Check your favorite book seller for purchase. |
Practice tracks (https://acithaca.org/groups/voices/music-files-for-practice/) by vocal part are available at the Voices website for all but one of our songs for the semester. Mistakes do creep in during the creation of these files, so please note any you find and communicate which song, track, and measure(s) need correction. If you can specify the correction (e.g., missing note tie, wrong note, etc.), even better. Send corrections to voicesmusic@acithaca.org
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As we learn and rehearse our songs each week, we will be given notes and corrections by the directors. You may lightly mark your scores with a pencil - not a pen, marker or highlighter. Keep the pencil in the pocket of your music folder so it does not get misplaced. |
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Voice Exercises and Warmups... |
Looking for a way to exercise your voice between rehearsals? Cyberbass is free website that has sizeable list of vocal warmups that play on your computer, smartphone or tablet. You can also purchase CD's with various exercises and warmups if you choose. Go to
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Nonconsensual Olfactory Overload... |
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Please remember to avoid wearing perfumes, colognes, essential oils or other scents to rehearsals and concerts. We sit close together and some members experience respiratory discomfort when exposed to those smells and chemicals.
Showering is encouraged, of course. 😁
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The Voices Newsletter is sent out every Thursday during the semester. Sometimes, it may be a day late depending on glitches and brain cramps. In normal times, it will appear in your email in-basket sometime during the day on Thursday. It will also be posted on the website - go HERE to go the that page.
If you have a question about Voices, a comment or suggestion about the newsletter, or if you have an item for the newsletter (items should be related to the chorus or the local musical community), send it to musicinfo@acithaca.org. PLEASE - if you have an item that you want to appear in the newsletter, send in in plain text completed form so we can copy and paste - we do not write material for you.
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