Christmas Eve Service

Just a reminder of the details for tomorrow night's Christmas Eve service.

• dress: black with red, green or gold accents
• 6:45: arrive and we will do a run through of all pieces, head downstairs
• 7:45: carols in sanctuary begin, choir will be in back of sanctuary until verse 2 of hymn #228, when we will file to the front and into our chairs

In the meantime, use the practice site [I think we all know what we need to work on], and listen to some of the YouTube videos if you haven't already.


See you tomorrow night!

why we sang with straws in our mouths on Wednesday...and other important information

Amber was helpful enough to pass along this info about the benefits of warming up with the help of straws:

• Recent voice science research has demonstrated the usefulness of straws for encouraging optimal breath flow and ease of phonation – and they can be terrific for warming up quietly backstage. Try doing some glides, scales and arpeggios or phrases of your song. See “Five Favorite Vocal Warmups” from the National Center for Voice and Speech at http://www.ncvs.org/e-learning/warmup.htmland this article on the use of straws http://www.ncvs.org/e-learning/nats-pdfs/2002_05_06.PDF

Other notes about our upcoming Christmas Eve service:

• Wednesday rehearsal: women, be prepared to possibly stay an extra 15 minutes after rehearsal to rehearse "I sing a Maiden".
• Use the online practice site! Especially for "O Holy Night" and "I Sing of a Maiden". Also, check the blog for the YouTube videos...there are quite a few up there now.
• The schedule for Christmas Eve: arrive at 6:45 to run all songs. After a run through and any last minute tune ups, head down stairs to prepare for procession while people arrive. Attire: TBD...we'll find out at Wednesday rehearsal.

Reminder for Saturday retreat / rehearsal!

We will be meeting downstairs in the BUF social hall on Saturday morning [Dec11] from 9:00 - 11:00.

Arrive shortly before 9:00 to get settled so we can begin rehearsing at 9:00 sharp. We'll have a short coffee break around 10:00. Bring your voices and your energy!

Choir singers needed for the BUF Winter Festival on December 4

Ann Stevenson is organizing carolers for the Winter Festival on Saturday, December 4th at BUF.  She needs singers from 2:00-3:00PM.  Music will be provided and Jan Condrin will accompany.  You might wear a muffler or hat or something seasonal for effect if you wish.  Please let Ann know if you can join in the fun at 738-7083 or astevens@bham.wednet.edu or let her know at choir on Wed. night.

Annual Choir Retreat

It’s time for the Annual Choir Retreat out at Kara’s on 12/11 

We do a breakfast and lunch and need setup, breakfast, breakfast cleanup, lunch, lunch cleanup.  It takes a little effort from the lot of us so we need to be thinking of which tasks we’ll each do.

We’ve got several people with different dietary preferences so you all should consider providing food so your needs are taken care of.  All food needs to be labeled.  Food included beverages, including tea, coffee, milk and juice.

I’ll have the lists at choir practice on 12/1 so be prepared with your pencils ready to sign up for a couple of jobs.  If you need child care, please arrange it with DeeDee.  It will be off site and BUF will provide it for your kids.  We need help to get chairs and the coffee pots from BUF to and from Kara’s that day.  Also needed are 3 keyboards, preferably with pedals.  I’m assuming that the BUF van will be available to haul it all out there.

Please contact Linda with any questions: wanna_sing@yahoo.com or 756-6648.

Choir is singing today!!

Hey Choristers,

As long as you can get to where you need to go safely today, we are planning on a normal (single service at 10:30) church service and a performance in the gym at Blodel-Donavan(1:30).

Fun FUn Fun

Andy

Classical Voices Concert is ON!!

Hi there Choristers and any one listening,

I just wanted to let you know that the concert tonight is going to happen as scheduled.

Bundle up, drive safe and we will see you there.

it is going to be gooooooood

thanks

Andy

Weather Update

Ho Ho Ho Choristers,

It is Friday night and the snow is coming down!

Keep your eyes on the blog for updates on our morning service and our gig Sunday afternoon.

Oh the weather outside is fright full.... (you finish the rest)

Andy

details for Sunday's Multi-Faith Alternative Holiday Market performance

Sunday's Multi-Faith Alternative Holiday Market at the Bloedel Donovan Community center will be open from 1:00 - 4:00pm. We will start singing at 1:30. Below should be everything you need to know!

• Arrive at 1:20
• Dress in black with Autumn accents
• Bring your choir folder with music - we will be singing: Thula Klizeo, We are One, Good Night, Dear Heart, Cornerstone, Siyahamba, The Fire of Commitment, Blue Boat Home & Bonse Aba and Chamber Choir will be singing Hallelujah Amen.

More info about the Holiday Market can be found here:  https://sites.google.com/site/multifaithmarket/

See you Sunday!

Most recent Performance and Upcoming events

Dear Choristers,

I really felt good about our performance last Sunday. You all put a lot of heart into it and it really came through in the performance. And I feel that we are finally learning how, as a group, to put our hearts into our performances in just the right way. This last Sunday was a fantastic example of what can happen in an authentic emotionally engaged performance. Not contrived or superficial but the real deal. That is the stuff that has the ability effect peoples lives in a powerful way. Who knows who's lives we may have changed with our performance on Sunday... we may never know. However I do know that when we put the work into our art to make it the best it can be, I know my life is changed... and I bet yours is too. Lets keep it up BUF choir.

We ARE having rehearsal on Wednesday. And yes I WAS confused after the service on Sunday. it is the following week that is cancelled.

I still have yet to get complete details for this coming Sunday. I will communicate with the event planner tomorrow for sure so that you can all make your plans as needed. If any of you have some special requests time wise please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate them.

That is all for now.

in Harmony

Andy

P.S. Keep spreading the word about the Classical Voices Concert this Saturday. We need to pack the house. It is going to be GOOOOOD.

Details for this Sunday [11.14]

Here are some reminders about Sunday's performance:

• TIME: arrive at 8:30 sharp
• DRESS: black with autumnal accents [orange, red, gold]
•  PREPARE: use the practice site [http://home.comcast.net/~aheezen/music/] - the more our heads are out of our music the better we'll sound and the more fun we'll have!

some new things to check out on Al's practice site and the blog!

Choirsters! Al has once again done an amazingly speedy job at getting new music up on his practice site. The site now has: 

• Dai Lanu
• Good Night, Dear Heart
• Joy Introit
• Lullay my Liking
• Rune of Hospitality

and for Chamber:

• Dance Today with JOY
• Hallelujah Amen

And the blog now has some YouTube videos of Good Night, Dear Heart and The Rune of Hospitality. Quality varies for these - but it's still fun to listen to. 

Check it all out - we have a lot of music!

SQHS Choir Concert Tonight!

Tonight is the Fall Choir Concert at Squalicum High School - directed by none other than our own Andy Marshall. It should be a really great concert full of fun music. Come if you can! Details are below.

Date: Tonight!! October 26th

Time:  7:00pm

Location: Squalicum High School - 3773 East McLeod Road [http://ow.ly/2ZFX0]

We need choir representation for "find your place at BUF" this Sunday!

We need choir representation at a table for the annual find your place at BUF this Sunday. Tables for teams, events and opportunities at BUF will be set up in the social hall for the grand coffee hour as well as after the second service.

Email Andy [andygmarshall@gmail.com] if you are able to stay for in-between service and/or after. It will be social and fun - and we do have a pretty cool sign to stand next to at our table.

Details for this Sunday's choir performances!

Just a few quick notes before we meet at 8:30 on Sunday.

To make sure we are all prepared for a short rehearsal on Sunday AM, we should all use the BUF choir practice site to nail down our parts on Gate Gate [see link below], and it wouldn't hurt to take a listen to the YouTube video posted on the blog [link is also posted below].

• Al Heezen's BUF Choir practice site: http://home.comcast.net/~aheezen/music/
• Gate Gate YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLTjjdmlSnA

Remember to be at BUF at 8:30 sharp to rehearse, dressed in black. And in the meantime...sing in the shower...clap in the shower...and we'll be ready to rock the house once again.

Details for this Sunday [10/10]

Following are the logistics for our song filled Sunday!

10:30 worship service [for those participating]:

• 9:30  rehearsal
• no special attire, come in your "street clothes"

4:00 building dedication service:

• 2:00 - 3:00 rehearsal
• 3:50 - assemble in old social hall for procession upstairs
• dress in all black - we'll wear stoles for the service

See you on Sunday!

check out the YouTube videos of Cornerstone and Gate Gate

Fellow choirsters - if you haven't checked out the YouTube videos posted on the blog - do! While I think we bring a different kind of energy to Cornerstone than the performing choir does [their performance is little stuffy, in my opinion], it's still helpful and kind of fun to hear some of their dynamics, especially at the end [Sporanos!].

Gate Gate is also posted...and should be helpful as we work on that more in the upcoming weeks.

SQHS at BUF

Hi Choristers,

SQHS Concert choir is haveing our retreat at BUF tomorrow (Saturday) and we will be working with the incredible Judy Filibeck. It just occured to me that If you would like to hear the result of our work, come on up to BUF around 3:00 tomorrow and we will be doing a little concert as a result of our work that day. Nothing fancy or any thing just fun and it would be nice to have an audiance.

in Harmony

Andy

Details for Sunday September 18th performance!

Hello choirsters! Below are some details for Sunday's performance.


Time: 8:30 sharp [we will be singing at the 9:15 and 11:15 service]

Dress: black pants or skirt, solid color top

Music: Thula Klizeo [#1056], Variety of UU kids songs [we will go upstairs with the children and sing as an intro to RE], Blue Boat Home [#1064]

Any new choir folks, make sure you bring a black binder or choir folder for your music. And don't forget that Thula Klizeo is on Al's BUF choir practice site.

Change in plans

Dear Choristers,

What a fantastic opening we had last Sunday! We really shook the foundation and got the year of with a bang.

I had originally wanted to perform Dai Lanu on the 19th which is next sunday. After some thought and some collaboration with Doug we both decided that to be really successful we would need to have more rehearsal on Dai lanu than we have time for right now, and to do something a bit easier. This is what we are going to do. Don't worry if you have been working hard getting the parts memorized and such, Al's hard work getting that song on the web will not go in vain. We will do it in the spring for sure.

This is the plan for next sunday

we open with Thula klizeo #1056 a rocking piece out of the blue hymnal.

then we will go upstairs with the children and sing several of the new children's songs with them as an intro to RE. (This will be super fun! and great for the kids.)

Then I have some harmony parts for Blue Boat home that we need to learn for when we come back and join the congregation for the last hymn.

This will give us some breathing room to work on Cornerstone for the Building dedication on the 10th and Gate Gate by Brian Tate which is our new piece for the 17th of September.

There we go. Still a steep agenda for the first 2 months but better than it was.

We have several new people coming in tomorrow night so lets be our normal welcoming and friendly selfs. I think we are in for some significant growth.

In other news Don't forget to bring Baked Goods to stock the freezer for Coffee hour on sundays, Also The choir Cleaning Team is the coolest church cleaning team on the planet and they are looking for a few good folk to help keep our new building clean. Consider joining.

Here is the new line-up:

Thula Klizeo #1056 - next sunday

Blue Boat Home#1064 - Next sunday

Bunch of UU kids songs - Next sunday (super easy)

Cornerstone - Oct 10th (Building Dedication)

Gate Gate - Oct 17th

Good night dear heart - Oct 14th

Lets Rock!!

Andy

First Post

Hey Choristers,

I sure had a great time with you on Wednesday night. The sound was big, unified, and full of emotion. Just like we never left! We are going to fill our new house with love and make a great showing on Sunday.

Logistics for Sunday:

Dress - Street / Church clothes

Time - 8:30 Be there on time please

We are there for both services so be ready for that.

New folks, If you don't have a black folder for your music already, make sure you have one.

Also Al has the new music up on his site. remember you have to download the plugin if you want to use it. I believe the instructions are there.

See ya tomorrow.

Andy

You guys should see this YOU TUBE of Eart Song

Tomorrows Rehearsal cancellation

Hey Choristers

Unfortunately I have a golf match tomorrow that is going to run much longer than I thought. (I am the Girls Golf Coach at Sqalicum High School in case you did not know) it is the first 18 hole match of the season and the only one that got scheduled on a wednesday. We have 4 more rehearsals until our finale on the 23 of may so we are in good shape time wise. I figure that if we have to take a day off this would be a good one.

FYI tomorrow night is the last community dinner night and crystal has something really cool up her sleeve so Don't Miss it.

I would like to offer a little help to the new folks if they feel that they need it next week, perhaps we could get together a bit early like 6:15 and go over a few things kind of slowly to help get you up to speed quicker.

So enjoy your wednesday night and get ready for a rocking rehearsal next week!

In Harmony

Marshall

PS if you missed the SQHS Concert Choir Cabaret, we are thinking about having an encore performance. If we did would any of you consider attending?

Great rehearsal

Hey Choristers,

We covered a lot of ground tonight gout and all.

here is the protocol for sunday,

When: be here at 8:30

Dress: All Black

We really have made some good music out of that Bartok stuff. I am looking forward to it on sunday.

Andy

PS thanks for the lovely birthday wishes! you are the best bunch of singers that I could ask for and that is the best present of all.

Hey Bufsters

I don't know about any of you but I have not been able to get the Hussar out of my head for a week now.

We are on target for a great Bartok performance. lets get those pieces polished on Wednesday and give it our best for this Sunday.

We had a bit of a low attendance last week and I know every one is busy but do your best to get there this week.

Hope you are doing well.

Take a deep breath and smile.

Andy

Friday with the Band

Hey Choristers,

this is just a heads up that we have an optional rehearsal on friday (5th) from 4:30 to 5:45 to work with the band and have a final tune up before the big day on the 7th. After one rehearsal with the band I am super excited to get them together with you on Wednesday. Wednesday's rehearsal will be partly with the band/ percussion ensemble and partly with us just tuning things up.

it should look like this:

7pm rehearsal starts (tardiness has been an issue lately. warmups will be short this week so be on time.)

-warm up

-morning has come#1001

-I know I can #1015

-Gloria: get the diction smoother, Make sure we are confident on our rhythms, work on our tone and blend to get those big major cords sounding powerful and authentic.

-8pm band shows up and we run the gloria mixing in the rhythms with the choir.

8:30 band runs Don't stop believn' with the chamber choir + volunteers

Again the Friday rehearsal is not mandatory but after wednesday I have a feeling that you will want to come just for the fun of it.

See ya on wednesday

Andy

Second service Booboo

Hey Choiristers,

I just wanted to appoligise for the crazy directing that happened during "All Creatures" in the second service. the Pages of my music go totally mixed up and when I turned from page 2 and saw page 7 I frantically tried to find the right page to no avail. I should have just looked up and smiled and let you do your thing and we would have been better off that me frantically looking for pages.

Any how I just wanted to say that considering the circumstances you did a great job getting through that piece. And if nothing else it does reassure me that you do actually need me on occasion. :)

I am looking forward to tomorrows rehearsal... we have a whole lot of music to tackle. Can't wait.

I have some YouTube of our pieces posted on the blog here.

check it out.

Andy

interfaith info

Hey Choristers,

If you are interested and available you will still be able to participate in the Interfaith choir festival in a couple of different ways. See Below for details.

Hi Andy,

If there are any of your choir members who will be in town on Feb. 20, please encourage them to participate in the combine choir. There also is an opportunity for men to join the Male Chorus at First Congregational Church (I believe I sent you an email on this). If there are members who wish to participate, please let me know how many there are and pass the below information on to them.

Thanks! Laura

Dear Choir Director:

Thank you for your interest in participating in the annual Interfaith Choir Festival to be held at the Assumption Catholic Church on Saturday, February 20. Attached is a form for you to return to indicate your individual choir selection.

Please pass the following information onto your choir members:

Saturday, Feb. 20 at Assumption Church

11:00 AM – Combined Choir Rehearsal in Sanctuary

Please arrive before 11am so that we can begin the rehearsal promptly.

12:30 PM – Break and lunch. Please bring a sack lunch. Water provided.

1:00 PM - Concert

Seating for choirs: Each church choir will have reserved seating in pews for the concert. During the rehearsal, choir members will be seated by voice (all sopranos together, etc.). After the break, choirs will go to their reserved pew.

Parking: As a courtesy to concert goers and disabled people, please have choir members use street parking and the Bellingham High School parking lots, particularly the north faculty lot on Kentucky Street.

Combined Choir Pieces: Ann MacDonald, artistic director of Bellingham Sings, will be the combined choir director. Wade Dingman, music director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, will be the accompanist. We encourage you to participate in the combined choir as well as individual performance. The music selections are: John Rutter’s “All Things Bright & Beautiful”. This music may be purchased from Piper Music. The other selection is Vivaldi’s "Gloria" movement I. The Vivaldi music mailed to you may be copied. Please ask your basses to sing the lower notes in splits if possible.

Offering: There will be an offering to benefit Interfaith Coalition programs. This offering will be after the individual choirs perform and before the combined choir pieces

Concert Promotion: Please promote the concert to members of your congregation. Below is an announcement:

You’re invited to the Interfaith Coalition Choir Fest

Our church choir will be performing with ten other choirs in an Interfaith Coalition Choir Festival on Saturday, February 20 at 1:00 pm. Individual performances by each choir will culminate in the performance of two compositions by a combined choir of more than 225 voices. This wonderful concert of inspirational music will be held at Assumption Catholic Church, 2116 Cornwall Avenuein Bellingham. An offering to support the Coalition’s programs, which assist local people in need, will be gratefully accepted.

We are looking forward to your participation! Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks, Laura

This sunday Jan 24

Hello choristers

remember we wanted to get an early start on this music for sunday so the call time is 8:20

Dress: Black

Have a look at the website to maximize our efficiency.

Thanks friends

Andy

Late tonight

Hey Choristers,

I have a conflict tonight that will cause me to be about 15 minutes late. Melanie has a plan and I am sure she will not dissapoint.

I have updated the Calendar on the blog and have added a few pieces. That being said there are still a few holes in our line up that I am looking to fill.

See you tonight.

Andy