New Year's Music Notes

MUSIC PAST 

Here's noting the music making that we accomplished at BUF in 2020! Music helped our community keep body, mind and soul together throughout the upheaval of the year. A big thumbs up to the seventy or so who participated in a variety of ways. 

MUSIC FUTURE 

The next BUF choir rehearsal will be at 7pm, Wednesday, January 6, at 7pm via our regular choir Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/8419446253  

We will not be holding Outdoor Singing Pods in January or February. During the winter months we hope to create some musical support for the Interfaith Coalition, as well as music for our regular BUF services. 

The coming musical year is currently a blank slate. Please email me or any member of the choir committee your offerings, requests or suggestions for BUF music in 2021. The current committee members are Elie Friedlob, Carol Smith, Cindy Pfeiffer-Hoyt and Carl Nyblade. I and sometimes Melanie Rieck also attend committee meetings. 

May we all experience the happiness of making and enjoying music together in person as soon as possible, and via Zoom in the meantime. 

LOVE

Kevin Allen-Schmid, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Music kevin@buf.org

Preparing for Holiday Music Service

Hi BUF Choir! We have two more Wednesday evening Zoom rehearsals in the year 2020 - let's sing! This Wednesday, December 9, we'll master our parts for the Hallelujah Chorus, and next Wednesday, December 16, we'll make a Zoom video recording of ourselves singing it along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Our video will be the grand finale for the Holiday Music Service on Sunday morning, December 20. There will be no Zoom choir on Wednesdays, December 23 or 30. We will resume on Wednesday, January 6. PODS - we're back and we will meet in the big shelter at Whatcom Falls Park, no matter the weather. Please consult the choir blog schedule and confirm with your Pod leader that you will come. We are aiming to practice our holiday songs this week and video record them next week. See you Wednesday! Kevin

First week in December

Hi BUF singers, The BUF choir will meet VIA ZOOM as usual Wednesday, December 2. We will try again to break into sections to rehearse the Hallelujah Chorus. Section Leaders are: Soprano: Melanie Alto: RuthAnn Tenor: Karen F Bass: Kevin Due to the current virus surge and uncertainties, there will again be NO Outdoor Singing Pods this week, either Wednesday or Friday. Let's talk things over during choir Wednesday night. Thanks, Kevin

Thanksgiving Week, 2020

Hi BUF singers, The BUF choir will meet via Zoom as usual on Wednesday, November 25. Melanie will lead the group thru Sunday's hymns and a vocal warmup, then everybody will break into sections to rehearse the Hallelujah Chorus. Section Leaders are : Soprano: Melanie, Alto: RuthAnn, Tenor: Karen F, Bass: Lawrence. There will be no Outdoor Singing Pods this week unless your Pod leader specifically arranges it with you. Otherwise, please assume your pod is NOT meeting. Happy Thanksgiving! Kevin

Plans for Wednesday, Nov 18

Hi BUF Choir. I looking forward to our full meeting via Zoom this Wednesday, Nov 18 at 7pm. Please have a copy of the Hallelujah Chorus for the rehearsal. I emailed the score to everyone last week, and you can also download it from this site and get it printed at Fed Ex or Copy Source for curbside pickup. With rain in the forecast, the Outdoor Pods will meet in the shelter at Whatcom Falls Park this week. Please check the schedule to confirm your times. Carl's pod: I've moved you again, to 1pm now. Mark-no video recording this week. Please nots: there will be NO PODS NEXT WEEK, the week of Thanksgiving, unless your leader arranges it with you. If you don't hear from your leader, you may assume you're not meeting. Love, Kevin

Wednesday, Nov 11 Choir Pods and Evening Rehearsal

Hi BUF Choir, We are getting a nice collection of video recordings for service music and group sing-alongs. Thanks to those who have joined the Outdoor Singing Pods so far. We are welcoming newcomers. Please let me know if you're interested and I will help you find a pod. Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing. At Wednesday evening's full choir rehearsal we will be preparing Indian music for the Diwali service this Sunday, November 15, to be led by our own Debu majumdar. See you Wednesday, Kevin

BUF Choir plans for Wednesday, Nov 4

Hi BUFsters, Full Choir - This Wednesday, Nov 4, from 7-8pm, we are inviting the world to join us for a community building sing-along. I will be host together with Rena Ziegler from Congregation Beth Isrtael and Christopher Giffen from First Congregational. We are not using our regular choir Zoom link. Please go in advance to this address to register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUoc--pqj0rH9C7S5mBg1IkQDGaUAdJO4nz and you will immediately be sent a new link. Also, this Wednesday, the Outdoor Singing Pods will meet at their regular afternoon times, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE YET. Since it will probably be raining, we need to take cover. Perhaps we'll be in the covered play area at Silverbeach Elementary. I will email y'all with the final decision. Friday's OSPs need to regroup or confirm their desires and get back to me. I love singing with y'all, Kevin

Rehearsal Plan for Wednesday, Oct 28

Dear BUF Choir, The schedule on the blog for the Outdoor Singing Pods is correct, as far as I know. Several groups are recording this week, which is exciting. At the 7pm full choir zoom rehearsal, we will be preparing for the five upcoming Gatherings for Spiritual Refuge, running from Sat, Oct 31 thru Weds, Nov 4. Please see the flyer about them in the documents to the right. Kevin

Rehearsal plans for Wednesday, October 21

Hi BUF Songbirds, Unless you hear otherwise before then, the Outdoor Singing Pods will be the same this Wednesday as last. Full choir rehearsal for everybody will be via Zoom as usual from 7-8pm. Please email me if you will read one of these short poems to the choir: "Will there be singing?" by Juliana Spahr "The New Song" by W. S. Merwin If you get dibs, I'll email you the poem. You are invited to offer your own poems as well. Kevin kevin@buf.org

Choir Plan for Wednesday, October 14

Hi BUF choir members and friends, Outdoor Singing Pods will meet at BUF again this week, Wednesday, October 14. Please see the revised schedule on the blog. You may park in front and walk around, or park in the small lot just behind BUF. We'll spread out there under the overhang of the building and use the BUF canopy if it’s raining. We could use another canopy, so please let me know if you have a canopy to lend, or tell me the name of someone whom I might ask. We aren’t filming anything this week which makes it easier Regular choir will meet from 7-8pm using the regular link, passcode: BUF Thanks, Kevin

Outdoor Singing Pods Moving to BUF

 Hi BUF choir members and friends,

WCC has informed us that we are not allowed to hold our singing rehearsals on the WCC campus.

The choir committee has met to discuss various other options for us, and we have decided that, for this week at least, we will try using the back courtyard of BUF for the Wednesday, October 7 pods..You may park in front and walk around, or park in the small lot just behind BUF. We'll try spreading out there under the overhang of the building and using the BUF canopy. 

It seems that we may need one more canopy in order to be comfortably spaced out if it is raining. BUFsters, please let me know if you have a canopy to lend, or tell me the name of someone whom I might ask.

Thanks, and see ya,

Kevin

Outdoor Singing Pods, ReSOurces Event, Zoom Choir - Wednesday, Sept 30

Hi BUF Music Makers, 

Please subscribe to this blog (see the subscribe box in the right-hand column) to be notified whenever new info is posted (an email notice is sent at 4am after any day that something is posted). We have switched to posting choir communications here on the blog instead of sending out emails. You can check here anytime for recent posts and for all needed choir information, such as schedules, scores and documents. 

Outdoor Singing Pods (OSPs) continue this Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, September 30, and October 2 and 3. Read about them in the documents to the right. You are encouraged to participate in these Pods, if you feel comfortable. Please email me with your requests, questions or ideas. 

Note: there is room for one more singer in the Vaishnav Jan To pod at 3pm Wednesday. 

Please join the wider BUF Community in attending the exciting ReSources Event, which is also this Wednesday, September 30, at 5:30pm:  “From Crisis to Recovery: Forging a Collective Path Towards a More Just, Equitable and Green Future.”   You may register in advance at https://www.re-sources.org/ 

See you soon - Wednesday afternoon at WCC if you are scheduled for an OSP, at the ReSources event at 5:30pm, or at 7pm for the full choir meeting via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/203732613 password: BUF 

Regards, Kevin 

kevin@buf.org

 

BUF choir emails and info now to be posted here

Hi BUF Music Makers, 

 Please sign up on this blog (see the box in the right hand column) to be notified whenever new info is posted here (it seems an email goes out automatically about 4am after any day that something is posted). 

 If I post all our choir communications on this site, then you can come here anytime to find the things you used to get only via email and attachments. 

 Outdoor Singing Pods (OSPs) start this Wednesday, Sept 23. Read all about them in the documents listed in the right-hand column. If you have requests, ideas or feedback about the OSPs or anything else, please email me. What is posted here is just a draft and a start. You are welcome and expected to participate. The names that are here so far are only here because those people already emailed me their requests. 

 See you soon - Wednesday afternoon at WCC if you are scheduled for an OSP, or at 7pm for the full choir meeting via Zoom, using our regular link: https://zoom.us/j/203732613. Here's the password: BUF 

Regards, Kevin

kevin@buf.org

Rehearsal Notice 9-16-20

Announcing 9-16-20 BUF Choir Rehearsal 

 To any and all persons interested in BUF Music, or just a party, 

 All people everywhere are welcome to tune in to the BUF choir rehearsal/social gathering from 7-8pm tonight, Wednesday, September 16 via our regular Zoom link: 

 https://zoom.us/j/8419446253 

 Special features of this rehearsal: 

-sing "Side By Side" in two-part harmony, and learn how to sing a duet with yourself or somebody else using the Acapella app on your phone 

-spectacular photos of Amy Van Auker and Travis Kurtz’s wedding (with rainbow) 

-a devastatingly real poem called "One FIre, Quenched with Another", for 11 readers 

-an introduction to "Vaishna Jan To," a favorite song of Ghandi, which Debu Majumdar and his Outdoor Singing Pod may prepare for the November 15 service 

 See you tonight! Kevin

Rehearsal Notice 9-9-20

Singing in the BUF, Fall 2020 Dear Once and Future BUF Singers, Although we have enjoyed our spring and summer online music and poetry activities, we are all missing the heart connection of singing together in person. We’re also missing the chance to serve the BUF community by singing for services and other events. Our first choir rehearsal for Fall semester will be Wednesday, September 9, from 7-8pm, ONLINE ONLY, VIA ZOOM. This gathering is meant for anybody and everybody interested in serving BUF thru music making somehow in the coming months, whether affiliated with BUF yet or not, and living anywhere on the planet. Please join us by clicking the regular BUF choir Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/203732613 At this first rehearsal we will make a Zoom video of “We Are One.” We’re going to do this in a novel way, by singing along, while muted, to our September 2019 video recording of the song. I will visually record the gallery view of everybody in attendance. Then we will show that video for this Sunday’s “Ingathering/Water Communion” service. Hopefully - people watching the service will be hearing the 2019 choir, but seeing the 2020 choir. The other major thing we’ll be doing this evening is organizing our Outdoor Singing Pods, to start next Wednesday, September 16. Please attend tonight’s rehearsal to learn more about them, ask questions and to indicate your interest or readiness. Regards, Kevin Allen-Schmid BUF Music Director kevin@buf.org

ways to learn Bright Morning Stars & Baba Yetu

3 ways to learn Bright Morning Stars & Baba Yetu

• Sing along with Al’s tracks at  http://bufchoir.org/
• Sing along with the full recordings on YouTube
  Bright Morning Stars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIpNwKDVXYk
  Baba Yetu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or4IKVG2zAA
• Attend Ruth Ann's sectionals the next two Saturdays, January 11 and 18
  NOTE THE CHANGE OF ORDER
  9:00 - 9:45  --  Altos
  9:45 - 10:30 --  Sopranos
  10:30 - 11:15 -- Tenors
  11:15 - 12:00 -- Basses

Coming January music events at BUF and in Bellingham

Coming January music events at BUF and in Bellingham
Fri 17 - 6:30pm Coffeehouse at BUF
Fri 17 - 7:30pm Sweet Honey in the Rock at Mt Baker Theatre
Mon 20 - 7pm MLK event at BUF (see attached flyer)

BUF singers are especially encouraged to attend the Sweet Honey in the Rock concert at the Mt Baker Theater, 7:30pm, Friday, January 17. You have to buy your own tickets in advance, which range from $30-$60. Then meet up after the concert at “The Local Public House,” 1427 Railroad Ave (whether you attended the concert or not).