Thursday, December 29, 2011

offline...

The combination of the holidays and a bad cold/cough (possibly bronchitis) are going to keep me offline until 2012. Enjoy the offerings of First Night, and here, have a lovely video of my father playing a tenor horn solo in the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol building.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Monday link

This article about being an opera singer is very interesting. The part about "never feeling done" and working every day will surely feel familiar to musicians of all types!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Friday cat post

Check out this website Louis vs. Rick. The story of a man who taught his cat to use instant messaging. All the episodes are worth reading, but try this one on for size to start out!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/15/11

The last big choral concert weekend of December! (Next weekend is for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services.) Don't forget to check the Messiah Sings list - there are still a lot of opportunities to sing the Messiah, although I only listed concerts below.

Also, the Christmas Revels in Sanders Theatre start on Friday! I will not list all the performances, as there are a billion, but go to their website to see times and buy tickets! If seeing this annual wonderful show is not part of your Christmas tradition, consider making it one this year.

Also, if you are on the South Shore, come to "Baroque Ornaments," a concert by the ensemble Saltarello at my very own church, First Parish Cohasset. With special guests Frances Fitch and Julia Steinbok, it's a concert I am very much looking forward to!

Friday:
Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own vocal event? Leave it in the comments!

Friday, December 09, 2011

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/8/11

'Tis the season...for a whole lotta choral concerts!

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own vocal or choral event? Leave it in the comments!

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Messiah sings 2011

Lift up your heads, and be ye lift up! It's time for the annual Messiah Sings post. These are all the Messiah sings in the area that I was able to find. If I missed one, or if you have further information about one of the sings listed, please leave a comment. I will edit the post to include updates; edits will appear in bold type. Note that this is sings only; for performances, keep your eye on the Weekend Concert Calendars to come.

Fri. 12/2: Messiah Sing to benefit Project Bread. 7:30 pm. At All Saints Parish, Brookline. Tickets $10. Scores provided, or bring your own.

Sat. 12/3: Cambridge Community Chorus Messiah Sing. 1:00 pm. At the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge. Tickets $10. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/4: St. Paul's Episcopal Church Messiah Sing. 5 pm. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline. More info here.

Thurs. 12/8: Annual Dunster House Messiah Sing. 8:00 pm (time not confirmed). At Dunster House, Harvard University. Free and open to the public. With soloists and orchestra. More info here.

Fri. 12/9: The Roxbury Latin School Messiah Sing. 7:30 pm. At Roxbury Latin School, West Roxbury. Free. With soloists. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sat. 12/10: Messiah Sing to benefit Healing Hands for Haiti. 4:00 pm. At St. John's Episcopal Church, Jamaica Plain. Tickets $10. With soloists and fortepiano accompaniment. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Sudbury Memorial Congregational Church Annual Messiah Sing. 3:00 pm. At Sudbury Memorial Congregational Church, Sudbury. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Carter Memorial United Methodist Church Messiah Sing. 3 pm. At the Carter Memorial United Methodist Church, Needham. With orchestra and soloists. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: Assabet Valley Mastersingers Messiah Sing. 3:30 pm. At Trinity Church in Northborough. With soloists. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/11: St. Peter's Church in Weston Messiah Sing. 4:00 pm. At St. Peter's Church, Weston. Free. With soloists. Limited scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Tues. 12/13: Brandeis University Messiah Sing. 4 pm. At the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium, Brandeis University. FREE! Scores available, or bring your own. With the Brandeis-Wellesley orchestra. More info here.

Wed. 12/14: Cathedral Church of St. Paul Annual Messiah Sing. 12:15 pm. At the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, downtown Boston. More info here.

Fri. 12/16: Masterworks Chorale 50th Annual Messiah Sing. (Also Saturday.) 8:00 pm. At Cary Hall, Lexington. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sat. 12/17: Masterworks Chorale 50th Annual Messiah Sing. (Also Friday.) 8:00 pm. At Cary Hall, Lexington. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Harvard Unitarian Church Messiah Sing. 5:00 pm. At the Harvard Unitarian Church in Harvard, MA. With soloists and orchestra. Scores available for purchase or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Belmont Open Sings Messiah Sing. 7:30 pm. (Weather make-up date is Tues. 12/20.) At the Payson Park Church, Belmont. Tickets $10. With soloists and orchestra. Scores provided, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/18: Nashoba Valley Chorale Messiah Sing. 3 pm. At the Congregational Church of Littleton. More info here.

Did I miss one? Should I add more details to one I've listed? Leave a message in the comments!

Monday, December 05, 2011

Small life update - Head Voice Mix

One of the kids in my college chorus was finding it really challenging to get up into her head voice last week. I asked her what she had been listening to lately, and she said, "Johnny Cash."

So I put her on a strict No-Johnny-Cash diet until the concert is over tomorrow, but to give her some good stuff to listen to, I also made her a head-voice mix, assembled out of the collective wisdom of my Facebook community. Here's what I ended up with:

1.) Samson by Regina Spektor
2.) Angel by Sarah McLachlan
3.) Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush
4.) Mushaboom by Feist
5.) Kiss the Flame by Jewel
6.) When You Say Nothing At All by Alison Krauss
7.) One Voice by The Wailin' Jennys
8.) Walk or Ride by The Ditty Bops
9.) Lovin' You by Minnie Riperton
10.) Heart of Glass by Blondie
11.) Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John
12.) Emotions by Mariah Carey

This was a very interesting project, as I hardly ever listen to most of these artists, but analyzing them from a vocal technique standpoint gave me a new appreciation for a lot of them. Especially Mariah Carey!

Monday link

Some good rules for choirs. I hope my choirs are paying attention! Via Danica Buckley.

Friday, December 02, 2011

Friday cat post

Two cat videos today, one from my mother (uplifting! cute!), the other from my father (hilarious! somewhat disturbing! cute!).

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Weekend Concert Calendar, 12/1/11

This is a big weekend - Cantilena, conducted by yours truly, is having their annual winter concert this Sunday at 3 pm! We are presenting "An American Christmas" with music and texts by American composers and poets. I am very proud of the program I assembled, which has a little bit of everything - some familiar tunes, some unfamiliar tunes, some contemporary music, some folk music, some gospel. We are particularly excited to be presenting a premiere by Ken Seitz (the director emeritus) written just for us. Details are as follows:

Cantilena: An American Christmas
Dec. 4, 3 pm
First Parish Arlington
630 Mass. Ave, Arlington Center
$20/$12 stu/sen

In addition to the concerts below, don't forget there are Messiah sings every day this weekend!

Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:

Did I miss anything? Want to advertise your own musical event? Leave it in the comments!

Messiah Sings post - preview!

The annual Messiah Sings post is coming, but while I am assembling it, here is a preview - I don't want you to miss anything coming up this weekend or next week. The first one is at All Saints Parish, and it's tomorrow!

First off, if you are tired of the Messiah and want to sing something else, the Zamir Chorale of Boston will oblige you! They are holding their annual open sing of Handel's Judas Maccabeus this Sunday, Dec. 4 from 4-6 pm at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill. The sing-along program will also feature synagogue classics. $10, but free admission for conductors or conducting students! Scores provided.

Fri. 12/2: Messiah Sing to benefit Project Bread. 7:30 pm. At All Saints Parish, Brookline. Tickets $10. Scores provided, or bring your own.

Sat. 12/3: Cambridge Community Chorus Messiah Sing. 1:00 pm. At the Dante Alighieri Society in Cambridge. Tickets $10. Scores available, or bring your own. More info here.

Sun. 12/4: St. Paul's Episcopal Church Messiah Sing. 5 pm. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline. More info here.

Thurs. 12/8: Annual Dunster House Messiah Sing. 8:00 pm (time not confirmed). At Dunster House, Harvard University. Free and open to the public. With soloists and orchestra. More info here.

Did I miss anything that's coming up in the next week? Let me know in the comments!