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| Welcome to the "Member Announcements" page, where we'll be posting updates, Director's Notes, and other LCS announcements. Please check back frequently, especially leading up to Concerts and other LCS Events! Remember to bookmark or add this page to your favorites for ease of access.
***IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM KATHY HULIN***
Dear LCS Friends,
I will not be singing at the upcoming concert with you, but I will be coordinating the ushering and ticket sales that day and will look forward to hearing you! Since there are several entrances to the FPC sanctuary, I will need some helpers at the doors. If you have a family member or friend who would be willing to assist me, would you please contact me within this coming week?
 From the Director MARCH 30, 2012 Dear singers, Just a short message to commend your excellent work at Monday's rehearsal and to provide these reminders: 1. Sat. morning call for all singers: 9:45 a.m. [Rehearsal is 10-12 noon] 2. If you're able, please be there, handy and helpful, to assist with breakdown after the rehearsal [a few people beforehand might be good too - but not as important]. 3. Call-time on Sunday is 1:30 p.m. 4. Concert attire is standard black [tuxedoes for men/long black for women] 5. Please pass the word and sell those tickets! This is an event to share.
I'm excited about this great music and hope you are too. See you on Saturday, -Larry
MARCH 22, 2012 Dear singers, What wonderful things lie ahead as we anticipate our LCS performance! I trust that you’re excited, well-prepared, and are selling tickets. These notes:
1. Monday’s rehearsal: We’re at First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, on Monday, in the sanctuary. [Just around the lake from Florida Southern] You need to arrive at the church by 6:45 p.m. in order to get situated. You will have new assigned seating and that will take time to adjust to. Please do not be late!! Too many people were tardy these last two weeks to blame on traffic or parking difficulties. Every minute with the instruments costs us $20 on Monday night – and rehearsal is over at 9 p.m. sharp. Our instrumentalists are pro’s. You need to be professionals too. 6:45!!
2. Calendar: You shouldn’t need this by now, but a reminder about dates/times: Monday, 3/26, [6:45p.m. call] 7-9 p.m. , at 1st Presbyterian Church; Sat., 3/31, [9:45 call] 10-12 a.m., final rehearsal at 1st Presbyterian Church; Sunday, 4/1, 1:30 p.m., chorus call-time; CONCERT: 3 p.m.
3. Entrances/transitions: To repeat: As you study your scores, pay extra attention to entrances. How do you find your pitch? Can you count the measures and beats before you start singing again? Can you come in with authority without depending on the singer next to you?
4. Online help: To repeat: If there are difficulties in your part, consult Cyberbass!!! [or other good resources] Please assume that responsibility so we don’t have to use our limited time together to check notes. The time has passed. I’m especially aware [and so are you] of our challenges in the last section of Mvt. 3, Gloria. Our 5/8 measures started to become 6/8 measures, because it seems so “natural” to allow that. [So we drag.] We’ve worked hard on that section, but it’s easy to regress. And, the tempo/meter changes in the ending section are very hard to accomplish. If you practice nothing else with the online helps, please rehearse this movement.
5. Set-up Crew: If you volunteered to be a helper, please be at the church by 6:30 p.m.
6. Tickets: Many good reports are coming in regarding your ticket sale successes! Please take a poster, talk it up, wow [or badger] your friends. Please help make this the best attended concert in LCS history.
7. Black folders: First half of the concert uses folders. After intermission, the Gloria will not have folders.
8. Attire reminder: As always for such events, formal [black] attire is standard: Long black for women and black tuxes for men.
9. Words: Please continue to say and sing the words in German and Latin until they’re natural to you. Be on guard for words that look like English words but are pronounced differently in other languages [“false friends”].
Thanks again for your singing and commitment. I look forward to a super Monday! Best,
Larry MARCH 15, 2012 Dear singers, As we approach our concert date, please be aware of the remaining loose ends that we still need to address. Our rehearsal on Monday [3/19] will be our last chance in the FSC choral room to fix notes, entrances, words, etc., before combining with the instrumental forces. Every moment we will have with the brass and percussion is precious, so there will no time to re-check parts that should be solid by now. We worked hard and accomplished much this past week, so I believe these great pieces will be ready if we all do our part. These notes:
1. Community Choirs Study: Cindy Selph will be observing rehearsal and polling our members on Monday. This is important work for her and for us, because it gives us more insight into our ensemble effectiveness as we continue to plan and grow. She will meet with the members who can take part in her study at 6:30 p.m., Monday night. [She estimates that her session can be completed in 20 minutes, and this allows a modest buffer between that and the start of rehearsal. Should be fun.] Thanks to all of you who indicated your availability.
2. Late arrivals: If you’re not part of the study group, please try your best to arrive promptly so we can begin at 7 p.m.! At 7 p.m., everyone should be in assigned seats, ready to go. Thanks.
3. Entrances/transitions: Much of our last rehearsal time was devoted to individual problematic sections – and now we have to put them together! As you study your scores, pay extra attention to entrances. How do you find your pitch? Can you count the measures and beats before you start singing again? Can you come in with authority without depending on the singer next to you?
4. Dynamics: In general, we know how to sing loud when indicated! But many of us still forget to sing piano and mezzo-forte when appropriate. Have you marked those dynamic changes? Can you sing beautifully when not very loud? Please remember that, on Monday, several attempts were necessary to get all singers down to reasonable mezzo-piano levels. That tells us how hard it is to remember our expressive potentials – but we must.
5. Calendar: You shouldn’t need this by now, but a reminder about dates: Monday, 3/26, 7-9 p.m. , at 1st Presbyterian Church; Sat., 3/31, 10-12 a.m., final rehearsal at 1st Presbyterian Church; Sunday, 4/1, 1:30 p.m., chorus call-time.
6. Online help: I’m not a believer in letting recordings or other electronic “help” substitute for being good and independent music readers. Dependency comes that way. But, these aids can be enormously beneficial when used wisely. If you missed notes at rehearsal this week, now is the time to consult Cyberbass!!! [or other good resources] Please assume that responsibility so we don’t have to use our limited time together to check notes. The time has passed. Thanks again for being a fine chorus. Working on this music with you has been a joy and glorious things await! See you on Monday! Best,
Larry ***IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM KATHY HULIN*** Dear LCS Friends, I will not be singing at the upcoming concert with you, but I will be coordinating the ushering and ticket sales that day and will look forward to hearing you! Since there are several entrances to the FPC sanctuary, I will need some helpers at the doors. If you have a family member or friend who would be willing to assist me, would you please contact me within this coming week?
Most Sincerely, Kathy Hulin (Soprano)
MARCH 1, 2012 Dear singers, Four Monday rehearsals before the Glorious Weekend! We’ve made good progress with each of our programmed pieces – and it’s becoming clearer which hurdles remain. Please take time before Monday to address your “personal hurdles,” whether pitches or rhythms or words or…..(?)… Your good study has paid off and I appreciate your commitment to our work together. These important house-keeping things:
1. Monday’s Rehearsal on March 5 (this week!!) is relocated to Grace Lutheran Church, 745 S. Ingraham Ave., Lakeland. The church is north of the NE corner of the FSC campus, about a block. (You can approach easily from campus or US 98 Bartow Hwy.)
2. Please continue to think of ways we can spread the word. More posters can easily be printed from the PDF on the LCS website – and you can easily send that link to businesses or individuals in the community so they can also have access to flyers.
3. If you missed getting tickets (or need more), we’ll have them for you on Monday. Please strive to sell at least 5 tickets, making this the best-attended concert in LCS history.
As always, please continue to look at sections that you know warrant extra attention. In lieu of specific tasks or “assignments,” these brief points for Monday:
1. As notes become more comfortable, our biggest challenge now is making music! We worked hard at the last rehearsal to make expressive, musical melodies from our individual parts. It made an enormous difference when the group was attentive to this issue, and I know you noticed. Strive to make your musicality a normal part of how you sing. Singing syllabically or full-blast (which is easy to do when becoming confident) isn’t sensitive performance, so be dedicated to discovering the artist within you.
2. Thanks to the 80% who are looking up! No further comment needed.
3. Your German pronunciation was generally very good, especially so soon. Please review those words and we’ll try to clear up confusions this coming week.
Thanks for making Glorious things happen. Have a great week!
FEBRUARY 22, 2012 Dear singers, Five Monday rehearsals before the Glorious Weekend! Every session has taken us closer to accomplishing this great music – and it’s truly exciting. We came close to meeting our Feb. 20 goal (having Gloria and Jubilate notes learned), and now we have to make music with those notes. And, of course, there are four other wonderful pieces that require our attention. Please note the following important things:
1. American Boychoir, this Sunday, 2/26, 4 p.m., 1st Presbyterian Church, Lakeland
2. Rehearsal on March 5 (not this week!!) is relocated to Grace Lutheran Church. More info to come next week.
3. Please keep in mind the continuing pre-concert need for publicity/donors/advertisers/ticket sales. Already, we’ve heard from singers who’ve pre-sold several tickets. Wow!! And we’ll be putting flyers out at the Race for the Arts. This is the sort of thing that we encourage from everyone. You can print more posters from the PDF on the LCS website – and you can easily send that link to businesses or individuals in the community so they can also post our news without your having to go to them personally.
4. Your tickets will be in your hands at Monday’s rehearsal. If it’s possible for you to arrive a little early, the ticket distribution will be a little easier. Every singer is challenged to sell at least 5 tickets, so be thinking about who your customers will be!! We want to have a full house on April 1.
As always, please look at sections that you know warrant extra attention. As I’m sure you noticed on Monday, even passages where we seemed comfortable with the notes were messy. That’s because we’re still “approximating” our parts much of the time. Precision is still to come. Every-singer-independence is still to come. In addition to the usual review, this week’s “Assignment”: 1. Rutter, Gloria: Pages 32 to the end, with web-page help. The meter changes are not straightforward, and we all need to become comfortable with them in the real tempo!! See if you can sing with the on-line versions.
2. Rutter, Gloria: Pages 4-11. This section had become stale and was obviously tentative last Monday. Please note syncopations and entrances.
3. Stroope, Rhapsody: All the notes, all the way through. It’s not difficult, but words can be a challenge, especially in tempo! We can have this all by Monday.
4. Liszt and Schütz pieces: All the notes, for sure. We’ll add the German to both works on Monday – and that will be difficult if you’re struggling with pitches or rhythms.
Thanks for your great commitment to our Glorious project. Have a great week! -Larry Sledge **From your friendly neighborhood webmaster: please visit our "contact us" page this week and send me any updates and announcements you'd like to see in our first LCS Newsletter, which will be published and available for dissemination at our first March rehearsal. Deadline for submission is by the evening of Monday, February 27! What exciting news do YOU have to share with your fellow singers? Let me know!!**
FEBRUARY 15, 2012 Dear singers, I sincerely hope you’re having a good week! I’m noticing that the music we’ve been working on is starting to become my “sound-track” for everyday activities – and that’s good! Having the Jubilate or Gloria bouncing around in my mind while raking (ever-more) oak leaves or brushing teeth is a pretty nice way to do things – and it probably means that I’m starting to internalize more of this wonderful music. I hope you’re starting to be possessed by it too. We accomplished much in Monday’s rehearsal: We conquered lots of new notes and we also learned that passages which we thought were easy can’t be taken for granted. In regard to our goal of notes learned by Feb. 20 (this coming rehearsal), this assessment:
1. The Jubilate is on-track to be note-accurate by Monday, if we build on our progress so far. (Please work it.)
2. The Gloria is less solid. Amazingly, we cope with some of the most difficult parts very well, but those (easier??) sections which challenge our harmonic/tonal sensibilities, or which require us to be alternately soft and loud while staying on pitch, are not yet conquered. While I encourage you to review all of the Rutter before Monday, please pay special attention to:
a. Intonation in mvt. 2, all! If you give even a hint of scooping into pitches, you’re probably taking us flat. Please work with the sound-files or recordings to become comfortable with the harmonic language. If you’re making a sound that’s not easy and buoyant, you won’t be in tune. pp.18-24 are important.
b. Pulse and meter in mvt. 3. We’re tending to “approximate” our rhythms, so there’s not much clarity yet. Please mark a (very short) lift after every “amen” on pp. 29 and 30, and then practice singing that way. You’ll notice that the Rutter recordings also do this – and it helps to separate ideas immensely.
If you didn’t get to hear the American Rhapsody sound-file yet, here is the link. Biggest issue may be the words, so see if you can keep up with them as you sing along!! You can probably get most of the notes this week. Our agenda for Monday’s rehearsal:
Jubilate- All the way through, no note problems [We can do this!!]
Gloria- All the way through, no note problems [Surprise me. I think you can do it!!]
American Rhapsody- We’ll start to put this together, if you’ve spent some good study time with it. Words!
Jauchzet - German text
Thanks for being a great chorus. Have a great week! -Larry Sledge
FEBRUARY 7, 2012 Two sets of Director’s Notes this week. Part 1, for everybody!! Dear LCS singers,
I sincerely hope that we’re still on track with note-learning, despite a week away from the Rutter, et.al. In last week’s Notes, I asked you to conquer notes in the last parts of both the Gloria and the Jubilate. [On-line help has been provided.] Try hard to make your parts in these two pieces [and everything else too!!] musical and expressive, not just accurate. This level of control will be so necessary if we’re to progress beyond the merely mechanical. I’m sure that you’ve been truly moved by some sections we’ve sung during the past couple of weeks. Me too! That’s what we want for every moment, and it can happen! Please add the American Rhapsody to your “Assignment” for the week. Remember that we’re doing the “non-Christmas” words – and that there’s a short skip in the middle of the score [pp. 22-23] to accommodate our version. This is fun and fairly easy, but please don’t take anything for granted. Here’s a sound-file link to that piece: Have a great week! -Larry Sledge Part 2, the “Sweetheart Choir” announcements from Guest Conductor Kelly:
Hello singers:
Thank you for all of your work last night - you'll sound great on Saturday! I wish the Cole Porter piece would have worked out, but I think it’s better to leave it out completely than perform something we are not confident about. That does, however, leave a sizeable hole in the program, which we will fill with pieces from last fall’s concert in Bartow. So, here’s what we will do:
A Red, Red, Rose (James Mulholland) - very nice reading last night!!
Richard Rogers in Concert (entire medley; arr. Mac Huff)
Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Thomas A. Dorsey, arr. Arnold Sevier)
Promised Land (arr. Johnie Dean)
Saints Bound for Heaven (arr. Mack Wilberg)
Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal (arr. Alice Parker & Robert Shaw)
Do I Hear a Waltz (medley; arr. John Purifoy)
Here's a review of the info for Saturday: Location: United Methodist Temple on South Florida, across from Southgate shopping center. If you are able, please park in the shopping center parking lot and walk across Florida Ave (at the stoplight, please).
Dress: Casual: black pants (or skirts if you'd rather) with red, white, or pink solid-color shirts. No ties.
Warm-up/Rehearsal: 5:00 [Please provide black folder.]
Dinner: 6:00
Perform: 6:45 - our program will last c. 35 minutes
Some YouTube examples: FEBRUARY 2, 2012 Dear LCS singers, This week’s rehearsal accomplished much, and I believe we’ll reach the goal of “Rutter and Gabrieli notes learned by February 20.” This goal is important if we’re going be accurate and comfortable on these 2 pieces and still have time to conquer the other works on the concert. Thanks for working hard as you continue your individual progress. Remember that we’re New and Different next week!! The Monday rehearsal [Feb. 6] will be romantic stuff [for you softies]. It’s entirely devoted to Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, etc….., for the Valentine’s program at United Methodist Temple on Sat., Feb. 11. It promises to be great fun – and we hope all of you can take part. However, if you’re unable to schedule the Saturday evening performance, this is a free night for you. Please continue your study with on-line resources, to the extent you find them helpful. If you found it clumsy to access movements 2 and 3 of the Rutter, here are somewhat easier links for you to use:
This week’s “assignment”:
Because of the Sweetheart music, less this time. But, please add the 3rd movement of the Gloria and the rest of the Jubilate to be prepared for the Feb. 13 rehearsal. And, of course, do review any other parts of these works that aren’t secure. I look forward to seeing you on Monday! -Larry Sledge
JANUARY 25, 2012
Dear LCS singers,
Now we know! We know that the music is challenging, rewarding, doable, beautiful. We also know that nothing in the music packet can be taken for granted, as we found out on Monday night. Even when we think that we have our parts learned well for a passage of music, there’s often a lot more to do to make the notes solid.
Therefore, if you encountered rough places in the music at this week’s rehearsal [and there were some!!], I hope you marked them and have started to review them. As was the case for our December concert, your individual study during the week is the way we manage music of this level. Thanks for being committed to being the very best! I’ve challenged you to have all of your notes for the Rutter and Gabrieli learned by Feb. 20. Pitches, rhythms, words, dynamics!
Remember to mark your rehearsal schedule. Mon., Feb. 6, rehearsal is entirely the music for the Sweetheart Banquet program [2/11]. Consequently, anyone unable to join us for the “Sweetheart” concert has the night of 2/6 free. But, everyone has to make sure to keep studying our other music too!
Please, please, consult the on-line resources at least once for each piece. Even if you’re pretty secure, they can help us all catch ‘silly’ errors, tighten up rhythms, remind us of intonation concerns. And in the Gloria and Jubilate Deo examples, there is beautiful singing that is good to emulate. Always practice out loud, with good healthy tone.
For this Monday [1/30], the “assignment”: Please have these notes learned so we can stay on track: From last week, review these if you had problems: Gloria, 1st movement Jubilate Deo, pp. 12-24 New for this week, still using the great web resources: Gloria, 2nd movement Jubilate Deo, pp. 24-33 If you're new to the pronunciation of sung Latin, be assured that it's not difficult. Unlike English or French, it's pretty consistent, so you can generally figure out even those words which are unfamiliar to you. [The big temptation is to pronounce the Latin words as English ones, if they look the same or similar - so be careful.] In the even you'd like some examples to model, here are some links to the Gloria words: http://www.patriciagray.net/Latin/MP3/mass2.mp3
http://www.patriciagray.net/Latin/MP3/mass3.mp3
http://www.patriciagray.net/Latin/MP3/mass4.mp3
http://www.patriciagray.net/Latin/MP3/mass5.mp3
http://www.patriciagray.net/Latin/MP3/mass6.mp3 There are good note-learning resources on-line. Among them:
For the Rutter Gloria: This youtube link scrolls the music by on the screen while Rutter and the Cambridge Singers perform for you [WOW!!!]:
For the Gabrieli, Jubilate Deo [very ‘MIDI’ sounding, but still good]. Also, take a look at the Choral Tracks page on YouTube- which has three separate videos for each voice part: 1) Your part "Predominant", or louder than the other parts, 2) Your part "Left", which means from within your section, only your subdivided voice part is played (ex: 'Soprano 1 Part Left' means that Soprano 2 cannot be heard in that video), and 3) Your part "Muted", which means you can sing along with all the other voice parts after you have mastered your vocal line. This youtube link also scrolls the music on the screen as the song is performed.
For the Schütz, Jauchzet [also MIDI voices, but helpful. Please learn the top chorus.] For the Bruckner, Ecce Sacerdos [on most computers, individual voices can be emphasized.] Thanks for your fine work in our first two rehearsals. This promises to be a wonderful concert. See you Monday! -Larry Sledge
JANUARY 19, 2012 LCS Singers, What a great joy it is to be underway with our current packet of music! You’ve made a fine start in our first two rehearsals – and I suspect you now have a pretty good idea about the shape and size of the project ahead. I assure you that each of the works programmed for the April Concert will reward you richly. We’ve called this the “Glorious” concert for a very good reason. I was hopeful that you would impress in our first rehearsals – and you have. This is especially important as we plan the rehearsal schedule. As announced on Monday, we are going to devote the Feb. 6 rehearsal entirely to the music for the Sweetheart Banquet program [2/11]. We thereby allow ourselves to immerse ourselves in that music; we’ll be better prepared for the performance on Saturday; we’ll have a bunch of fun.
Consequently, anyone unable to join us for the “Sweetheart” concert has the night of 2/6 free. Also, everyone has to make sure to stay on task for our other music too! There’s a lot to do. Except for one remaining piece [to arrive soon], we now have most of the April music in hand, so please try to learn the notes carefully and accurately before rehearsals, as time allows. I challenge you to have all of your notes for the Rutter and Gabrieli learned by Feb. 20. This means pitches, rhythms, words, dynamics! I’ll try to prescribe reasonable amounts for us to accomplish each week. And always practice with good healthy tone. For this Monday, the “assignment”: Please have these notes learned so we can stay on track: Gloria, 1st movement
Jubilate Deo, pp. 12-24
There are good note-learning resources on-line. Among them: For the Rutter Gloria: This youtube link scrolls the music by on the screen while Rutter and the Cambridge Singers perform for you [WOW!!!]:
For the Gabrieli, Jubilate Deo [very ‘MIDI’ sounding, but still good]. Also, take a look at the Choral Tracks page on YouTube- which has three separate videos for each voice part: 1) Your part "Predominant", or louder than the other parts, 2) Your part "Left", which means from within your section, only your subdivided voice part is played (ex: 'Soprano 1 Part Left' means that Soprano 2 cannot be heard in that video), and 3) Your part "Muted", which means you can sing along with all the other voice parts after you have mastered your vocal line. This youtube link also scrolls the music on the screen as the song is performed.
For the Schütz, Jauchzet [also MIDI voices, but helpful. Please learn the top chorus.] For the Bruckner, Ecce Sacerdos [on most computers, individual voices can be emphasized.] Thanks for your commitment to excellence. I’m confident that the April concert will be one of our most rewarding endeavors yet. I hope you’re excited. -Larry Sledge
JANUARY 13, 2012 LCS Singers,
Click on the Cyberbass link below, which will be instructive as you practice your parts in Rutter's Gloria. Rutter Gloria - Cyberbass Check back soon for more helpful practice tools, updated rehearsal schedules, Director's Notes and score markings, which will be available before our rehearsal on January 23, 2012! -Larry Sledge
JANUARY 1, 2012 LCS Singers,
Happiest of New Years!! Hopefully, your holidays have been filled with festivity, good fellowship, and many blessings of the season.
Please be reminded of our rehearsal calendar as we begin the new year: First rehearsal is Monday, January 9, at 7 p.m. All our music for the April 1 concert is composed for chorus with organ, and brass instruments and promises to lift your spirits with every note: Rutter, Gloria, Bruckner, Ecce Sacerdos, Gabrieli, Jubilate Deo, Schutz, Psalm 100.... What a Glorious experience lies ahead!
Congratulations again on the spendid Dec. concert with the ISO. I was extremely impressed with your fine work and have heard only the highest praise. And now, I look forward to an equally great "second half"! See you soon. -Larry Sledge
Bylaws After our regularly scheduled rehearsal on November 14, 2011, we held a special meeting and adopted the following revisions to our current Bylaws. | |
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