The recording:
Note that we're doing this in a slightly different key. So the boys don't die.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Candide!
The wonderful show Candide (from which the song "Make Our Garden Grow" comes) is being performed for one night only at New England Conservatory the Monday following vacation. More details here.
It's a silly story about a young man (Candide) who is taught as a boy that things are "all for the best" no matter what happens. He then is beset by calamity after calamity and has exotic adventures everywhere from the Spanish Inquisition to South America. Finally, he figures out that maybe things aren't actually always so great after all, but (spoiler) we do our best anyway.
Including such fantastic songs as "Best of All Possible Worlds," "Auto-da-fey," "I Am So Easily Assimilated," and of course, "Make Our Garden Grow."
The dress rehearsal is free but, alas, closed to the public. I just found out. So ONE NIGHT ONLY, Monday, the 28th.
It's a silly story about a young man (Candide) who is taught as a boy that things are "all for the best" no matter what happens. He then is beset by calamity after calamity and has exotic adventures everywhere from the Spanish Inquisition to South America. Finally, he figures out that maybe things aren't actually always so great after all, but (spoiler) we do our best anyway.
Including such fantastic songs as "Best of All Possible Worlds," "Auto-da-fey," "I Am So Easily Assimilated," and of course, "Make Our Garden Grow."
The dress rehearsal is free but, alas, closed to the public. I just found out. So ONE NIGHT ONLY, Monday, the 28th.
Monday, February 14, 2011
6th Grade Chorus Extra Credit
(For 7th and 8th Graders too!)
We've been practicing our solfege- in minor (do re me (pronounced MAY)) and in major (do re mi (pronounced MEEE.)) The chorus of Rhythm of Life (which starts at the top of page 3, measure 23, and goes to the bottom of the page) is in A flat MAJOR. The first 3 notes are all A flats- which means the first 4 notes are all DO. The next note goes DOWN- what note is LOWER than DO, but right next to it? Think about our warmup- Do, Do ti do, do ti la ti do....)
Here's a great thing to help you:
Click on a note to hear it!
You can write the solfege in under the notes. What will it sound like? Can you sing it? Try to figure out the whole chorus section (pretty much all of the 3rd page.) Good luck!
Ms. A
We've been practicing our solfege- in minor (do re me (pronounced MAY)) and in major (do re mi (pronounced MEEE.)) The chorus of Rhythm of Life (which starts at the top of page 3, measure 23, and goes to the bottom of the page) is in A flat MAJOR. The first 3 notes are all A flats- which means the first 4 notes are all DO. The next note goes DOWN- what note is LOWER than DO, but right next to it? Think about our warmup- Do, Do ti do, do ti la ti do....)
Here's a great thing to help you:
Click on a note to hear it!
You can write the solfege in under the notes. What will it sound like? Can you sing it? Try to figure out the whole chorus section (pretty much all of the 3rd page.) Good luck!
Ms. A
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
One Day Late, Grow, Garden!
Whoops, I know I said this would be up yesterday. I'm going to plead "was getting caught up on Glee."
Make Our Garden Grow, as staged on Broadway with Patti Lupone and the ever-present Kristin Chenoweth:
And a VERY fancy choral version:
Make Our Garden Grow, as staged on Broadway with Patti Lupone and the ever-present Kristin Chenoweth:
And a VERY fancy choral version:
Friday, January 28, 2011
Concert Reflections
On Monday and Tuesday in chorus, we'll listen to the concert and write some reflections. But my community and I had a very good discussion today about the concert, and I want to address some concerns, in case I forget once I smell the pizza...
1. The Audience
A) Student reactions: Some students in the audience were there to do their music assignment. Of this, Peter couldn't have put it better, "If you go to Bigelow and care about chorus, you're in chorus, not the audience." Whatever their reaction to the concert, realize they were there for THEIR education, and to expand their minds, not because they're huge chorus fans (with some exceptions- hi, Claire and Henry!)
B) Student behavior: One of the best things about conducting is I don't have to watch the audience misbehave. Bummer for you guys, though. Many students who attend a middle school concert have NEVER attended a concert before. They have no idea how to behave. While it's a big part of the music AND drama curriculum I teach, even in class, ten seconds after we discuss the rules for watching a performance, kids forget. I will make a curtain speech at our concert to remind students of the rules, though. But you reminding your friends that it's distracting to YOU when they text/talk etc. is even more effective.
2) 6th Grade Chorus Behavior: 6th Graders, you sang beautifully. but when you weren't singing, a lot of you were talking. EVEN onstage. Guess what? The audience noticed. It looked bad.
3) Performance, Bad Cop
A lot of you felt terrible about your performance. That's good.
It wasn't awesome. We were not as prepared as anyone would have liked.
Some of that was due to factors we had no control over, like snow days. Some of it didn't actually show- the mistakes in J'entends and Kang Ding were not noticeable if you didn't know the piece.
But a lot of it was due to factors we did have control over. 7th/8th grade chorus has had almost no breaks this year, due to poor behavior. Alas, that extra 5 minutes of rehearsal can't make up for all the wasted time. 6th grade chorus had more than enough rehearsal time- but didn't look over their music in the days leadingup to the concert. 5 minutes of practice at home would have fixed all the 6th grade issues. 10 minutes a week of practice by the 7th/8th graders would have fixed many of the 7th/8th grade issues.
Students new to chorus, or to 7th/8th grade chorus, had some excuse. But now you don't. You've all been in chorus a half a year, minimum. If you aren't doing the work that's required, you know exactly how our spring concert will feel.
If you feel disappointed with how our concert went, that means you care, and that you're a good enough musician to recognize mistakes. And that's fantastic. It's 80% of the battle. Now act on it, and our chorus will, I promise, blow the roof off in the spring.
4) Performance, Good Cop
In truth, I was blown away by the concert itself. Largely, against all odds and efforts of Nature, you pulled it off. It wasn't flawless, but it was very good. J'entends was about the best we'd ever done it. Instructions was gorgeous. O Come, O Come was better than I'd even imagined. El Grillo was crickety. Everything was incredibly energetic and joyful. From all reports, the audience loved it. It was, as Molly's dad noted (now on his 5th chorus concert), far and away our most ambitious concert ever. We're gonna keep swinging for the fences, and I look forward to being continuously surprised, impressed and delighted by how high we soar.
With thanks and pride,
Ms. A
1. The Audience
A) Student reactions: Some students in the audience were there to do their music assignment. Of this, Peter couldn't have put it better, "If you go to Bigelow and care about chorus, you're in chorus, not the audience." Whatever their reaction to the concert, realize they were there for THEIR education, and to expand their minds, not because they're huge chorus fans (with some exceptions- hi, Claire and Henry!)
B) Student behavior: One of the best things about conducting is I don't have to watch the audience misbehave. Bummer for you guys, though. Many students who attend a middle school concert have NEVER attended a concert before. They have no idea how to behave. While it's a big part of the music AND drama curriculum I teach, even in class, ten seconds after we discuss the rules for watching a performance, kids forget. I will make a curtain speech at our concert to remind students of the rules, though. But you reminding your friends that it's distracting to YOU when they text/talk etc. is even more effective.
2) 6th Grade Chorus Behavior: 6th Graders, you sang beautifully. but when you weren't singing, a lot of you were talking. EVEN onstage. Guess what? The audience noticed. It looked bad.
3) Performance, Bad Cop
A lot of you felt terrible about your performance. That's good.
It wasn't awesome. We were not as prepared as anyone would have liked.
Some of that was due to factors we had no control over, like snow days. Some of it didn't actually show- the mistakes in J'entends and Kang Ding were not noticeable if you didn't know the piece.
But a lot of it was due to factors we did have control over. 7th/8th grade chorus has had almost no breaks this year, due to poor behavior. Alas, that extra 5 minutes of rehearsal can't make up for all the wasted time. 6th grade chorus had more than enough rehearsal time- but didn't look over their music in the days leadingup to the concert. 5 minutes of practice at home would have fixed all the 6th grade issues. 10 minutes a week of practice by the 7th/8th graders would have fixed many of the 7th/8th grade issues.
Students new to chorus, or to 7th/8th grade chorus, had some excuse. But now you don't. You've all been in chorus a half a year, minimum. If you aren't doing the work that's required, you know exactly how our spring concert will feel.
If you feel disappointed with how our concert went, that means you care, and that you're a good enough musician to recognize mistakes. And that's fantastic. It's 80% of the battle. Now act on it, and our chorus will, I promise, blow the roof off in the spring.
4) Performance, Good Cop
In truth, I was blown away by the concert itself. Largely, against all odds and efforts of Nature, you pulled it off. It wasn't flawless, but it was very good. J'entends was about the best we'd ever done it. Instructions was gorgeous. O Come, O Come was better than I'd even imagined. El Grillo was crickety. Everything was incredibly energetic and joyful. From all reports, the audience loved it. It was, as Molly's dad noted (now on his 5th chorus concert), far and away our most ambitious concert ever. We're gonna keep swinging for the fences, and I look forward to being continuously surprised, impressed and delighted by how high we soar.
With thanks and pride,
Ms. A
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Dress Rehearsal Postponed
Snow day!
It couldn't have timed out worse for us, huh.
ALL SINGERS: Dress Rehearsal will be 2-4 on TUESDAY, CONCERT DAY.
7th/8th Graders: If you don't spend a solid half hour to hour tomorrow practicing J'entends, we will be forced to cut it. Please practice.
Enjoy your day off!
It couldn't have timed out worse for us, huh.
ALL SINGERS: Dress Rehearsal will be 2-4 on TUESDAY, CONCERT DAY.
7th/8th Graders: If you don't spend a solid half hour to hour tomorrow practicing J'entends, we will be forced to cut it. Please practice.
Enjoy your day off!
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