Chris Ryder directs Fredericksburg Singers, one of his three University of Mary Washington choirs. This was my second concert singing with them, and I was particularly pleased that it included Schubert’s Mass in G. The picture was from a prior concert in the same Dodd Auditorium with the same string players and many of the same singers.
Somehow our friend Jane managed to pick me out from a choir of 60 and orchestra of 15 during our Messiah concert December 3rd, Fredericksburg. Even Nick thought that looked like him on violin, but no, that’s a stand-in. Notice the trumpeter, biding his time, until the trumpet shall sound.
Same piece, same place, opposite direction, the night before the concert.
June 25th, Stafford Regional Choral Society’s light opera concert, “Let’s Drink”, led by Jason Michael. Program: A Capella Overture, arr Andy Beck (Fidelio, Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, Magic Flute, Figaro, William Tell); Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, from Nabucco; the Drinking Song from the Student Prince; Finale from the Gondoliers; Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly; Italian Street Song from Naughty Marietta; Polovetsian Maidens from Prince Igor; Soldiers’ Chorus from Gounod’s Faust; Anvil Chorus from Verdi’s Il Trouvatore; Stouthearted Men from New Moon. Concert stream may still be available on You-Tube below. Pictured above, front and center, director Jason Michael, and to his left, basses Ken Todd, William Schall, Arthur Les Johnson, Edwin Ridout, Jonathan Shell, then, in blue, accompanist Cathy Hoskins.
I sang with Fredericksburg Singers combined with two other choirs at University of Mary Washington. The main piece is Bob Chilcott’s setting of Native American poetry, accompanied by two pianos and percussion, about 40 minutes. Hear five minutes of another group’s recording below.
I enjoyed the great pleasure of singing with Fredericksburg Community Chorus’s two concerts Dec 3rd 2pm and 4th 7pm, with orchestra and eight soloists. The chorus did And the Glory, Purify, Oh Thou that Tellest, Unto Us, Glory to God, Lift Up, and Hallelujah followed immediately by the Great Amen. I had a good seat in the back row, next to David P the tallest bass.
First performance was Saturday June 25th 7pm at St Peters Lutheran. Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3qJWQCPC_M\u0026t=19s ; part 2: https://youtu.be/4BqmDEPNoE0. We repeated the concert 3pm Sunday at the Marine Corps Museum (not recorded).
Our run-through before the 50s gala: we were doing the Unchained Melody arrangement done by the Acoustix, whose performance can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REujbffsNQM.
A higher-priority item on my calendar this weekend — the Charlottesville Ten Miler — took place before the three musical events, but will have to be written up later.
Attended the U Mary Washington Philharmonic concert Saturday. Heard Itzhak Perlman play the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Terrific! And the orchestra sounded better than I’ve ever heard them.
Sunday, sang my second ever solo in church. (A few years ago, I sang If Thou Be Near, being enamoured of Kirsten Flagstad: If Thou Be Near) This time it was Wilt Thou Forgive, a John Donne poem. I listened many times to one done by a baritone to lute accompaniment (which I actually paid for), and really enjoyed. There’s one done by a boy soprano here: Connor Burrowes: Wilt Thou Forgive
Our choral society’s annual spring gala “Just Jazz” (dinner/concert) was held Sunday.
We sold 98 of the 100 tickets — I think there were ten tables with ten $75 seats, and I didn’t notice any vacant. Here’s what we did:
5:15 p.m. SET 1
5:45 ish SET 2
6:45 SET 3
7:35 SET 4
Sandy said the best small group number was the Don’t Mean a Thing mother and daughter duet. After the men’s Sweet Georgia Brown, I thought the men’s director’s wry grin hinted that we blew it. SoundCheck is the auditioned subgroup of our “y’all come” choir. Pass Me the Jazz was its most ambitious piece, evidently too ambitious for the whole group so it was done as a subgroup of the subgroup, so I was not in that.
Of the whole-group numbers, I think my favorite and the one I think we did the best was Ain’t Misbehavin’. Linus and Lucy went pretty well. It was a clear favorite of all those lovers of the cartoon characters, something I never could understand. The James Bond theme had a similar strangeness for me, until one of the altos mentioned Pierce Brosnan and I realized he must be the source of much of the bass lyrics, “baaaaaaaaaaaah, baaaaaaaaaaaah, baaaaaaaaaaaah.”
There may be a photo or two later.
A Baptism Hymn, Nicholas White, OUP, 2005.
Marked SATB, but we did it unison except where the sopranos have a descant.
Seemed to go quite well.
Charpentier, Marc-Antoine (French, 1643-1704, baroque):
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, arr Dale Grotenhuis.
We enjoyed practicing and singing this piece.
This publisher’s link contains an audio file:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Hallelujah-Praise-the-Lord-Charpentier/17322480 (You’ll have to click Listen, then scroll down then click the play button where it says sample audio.)