BUF Choir Plan, Wednesday, April 28

 Hi BUFsters,

This is a reminder that this Wednesday, April 28, the "Stand By Me" vocal ensemble will be rehearsing in person at BUF from 7-8pm for the Sunday, May 2 performance, and there will be no Zoom choir rehearsal.

On Wednesdays May 5, 12 and 19 we will resume "regular" Zoom choir rehearsals from 7-8pm.

On Wednesdays May 26 and June 2, the "Turn the World Around" vocal ensemble will rehearse for their Sunday, June 6 performance. There is still room in this ensemble. Email me if you'd like to join it.

Thanks,

Kevin

BUF Music Plan April-June 2021

Dear BUFsters, 

Our music plan from now thru the Choir Finale on June 6 is now posted on the choir blog. 

Click on "BUF Music Plan April-June 2021"

There is no regular Zoom choir this Wednesday, April 21. Instead, an ensemble will rehearse the song "Stand By Me" (also posted on the blog) in person in the BUF sanctuary from 7-8pm. Please text or email me if you would like to be in this ensemble. We are capping the ensemble at 15 singers and I will reply to confirm whether you are in or not. 

All the info is in the plan that is posted. Please read it :)

Thanks,

Kevin.  kevin@buf.org.   406-858-0142

SIng Seal Lullaby along with the Eric Whitacre Singers this Wednesday

 Dear BUF Singers,

Responding to an invitation from Lummi Nation, BUF will mark Earth Day this coming Sunday, April 18, by holding a service called "Bring Tokitae Home."   Our service will feature songs, poems, prayers and words shared from the heart in a spiritual ceremony.

You may watch Lummi Nation's invitation in this one-minute video, with contributions from around the world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjeFrvloko0

Similarly to how we performed Handel's Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir last December, in this ceremony, BUFsters will sing  "Seal Lullaby" along with the Eric Whitacre Singers.  We will film ourselves singing it during our choir gathering, from 7-8pm this Wednesday, April 14. We'd like a full gallery of singers in our video, so please join us at our regular Zoom link:  https://zoom.us/j/203732613     (password: BUF)

You don't have to know the song well, in fact you can join in on Wednesday with NO preparation, but if you'd like to practice, please see the links below.

You just SING ALONG with the Whitacre singers, out loud, while muted, reading the music shown on the screen (in the first video listed below), during our Wednesday rehearsal, as I record us in gallery view on Zoom.  Then we will show the film on Sunday. The sound the congregation hears will be the Eric Whitacre SIngers, but the faces they will see - singing full throated and with expression - will be us!  This is how we did the Hallelujah Chorus, and it was fun.

I hope you join us this Wednesday, even if you haven't been with us much lately. The song is gorgeous. Singing it will make your whole week!

See ya, Kevin

YouTube links for Seal Lullaby

Sing along with the Eric Whitacre Singers, while reading the SATB score

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvXWzOXClM

(This is the video we will sing along with for our film, which includes the score. We won't use printed music.)

Sing along with Soprano part (learning track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BRlU41R-4E

 

Sing along with Alto part (learning track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHTmk1Zw2Gw

 

Sing along with Tenor part (learning track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucFtcHRvjRw

 

Sing along with Bass 1 part (learning track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knnjfwgzI5Q

 

Sing along with Bass 2 part (learning track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5_SkFiohA

 

Let's Create a Ceremony for Tokitae for Earth Day

 Hi BUFsters of a musical bent,

What a lovely Easter service! Thanks to Jayme Curley, Ann Stevenson, Lisa Heezen, Al Heezen and Barbara Gilday for joining me in the first ensemble to sing in the BUF sanctuary in over a year.

Lummi Nation is asking for support in their efforts to free the orca Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut (aka Tokitae) from the Miami Seaquarium. They are encouraging people to hold a ceremony on her behalf.  

Rev. Paul and I would like us at BUF to create a "Bring Tokitae Home" ceremony, to be the focus of the BUF Earth Day service on Sunday, April 18. As a choir, I'd like us to sing Whitacre's SATB version of "Seal Lullaby," in the same way that we sang the "Hallelujah Chorus" over Zoom in December.  We'll have sectionals on this song in the next two Wednesday rehearsals. You can find links to YouTube "Seal Lullaby" learning tracks posted in the choir blog. 

Before Wednesday, please watch this one-minute video to learn more and see excerpts of others performing ceremonies around the world:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjeFrvloko0

and read this announcement: 

   https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwLswMrxJRqvKdSgsqhStRCJqrW

Also, please put on your creativity caps to offer suggestions for other elements, musical or otherwise, that might be included in the Earth Day/Tokitae service.

See ya,

Kevin