Another weekend and week has come and gone without so much as a hello. I hate that I've taken to doing one long post every 2 weeks instead of little posts bi weekly, but there are VERY few chances these days for me to sit down at a computer long enough to blog. I apologize to my few readers and ask that you bear with me, as I'm scrambling just to keep a record for myself of everything going on. Last Saturday morning at 9am I had SLCA Chamber Singers rehearsal until 11. When I got back I hurried and made a batch of cookies for my visiting teaching visits later, then Layne and I went to his company cook out at a co-worker's house. It is always interesting to meet people AFTER you've heard all about them because sometimes the mental picture you've created is WAY off and sometimes its scary how dead on it is. Layne has a knack for describing his co-workers using movie/TV characters which helps. One of his co-workers he described to me as Ricky from Better Off Dead and he was SPOT ON!
I nearly couldn't look at the guy without laughing, much less carry on a conversation with him without hearing in my head, "You would do well to do what mother says, Lane Meyer." We had a nice time and stayed until around 3. When we got back I made a visiting teaching stop. One of the sisters on my list lives in a tiny little attic above an auto shop. The gates close and lock every day at 5 and are closed on the weekends. In addition, Rose doesn't have any family, a telephone, a drivers license, most of her hearing, sight in one eye, heat or air conditioning and up until a few months ago, a door. What she does have is a VERY high energy flea infested dog that sheds like crazy, LOTS of flies and no shortage of cigarette smoke. She's the sweetest lady in the world who has had a very rough life, but she's the toughest person to visit that I've ever had, and the actual visiting isn't the hardest part.
I had to hike up a steep hill and scale a chain link fence to get in (while carrying a plate of cookies and a care basket). Once I got inside the perimeter I had to fend off her dog and just walk in unannounced since she can't hear. We visited for a bit and I threw the ball I brought for her dog, then I left. Unfortunately I couldn't get out the way I came in so it took me half an hour to go about 100 yards squeezing through the space between a concrete wall and a chain link fence about a foot and a half wide filled with spider webs and small trees. By the time I made it to my car my head and arms were bleeding and I was covered in all kinds of unmentionable ick including dog hair, twigs, spider webs, leaves, cigarette smoke, rust, dirt and bits of crumbled concrete. I felt like I was in that scene from The Shawshank Redemption.
I totally struck this pose when I made it out alive, but once again I suffered the tragedy of being clever and alone. I suppose if I can ever connect with my companion I should tell her not to bring her newborn with her on visits...
It amazes me that just a couple blocks away from me in Murray Utah there is a little old lady living in abject poverty. Being at her "house" really reminded me of being in some of the poorer areas of Brazil. It makes me realize just how blessed I am and that no matter where you live, there are people all around you suffering and in need of help. It also made me grateful for my visiting teaching sister's homes (past and present) that are easier to get into than community college.
After I got back and pulled all the "nature" out of my hair, Layne and I changed and went to the adult session of stake conference. Sunday morning at 8am was the youth session of conference followed by the main session at 10. While its a lot of meetings, my favorite part about stake conference weekend is Sunday AFTER church. I took a real nap for the first time in a long time! It was wonderful!
Monday was a long day as it was recording day for the Singers upcoming Christmas CD Carol of Joy. Our recording session in Gardner Hall was blocked out from 5pm-?. The "?" meant essentially, 'till we get it right', which it was anticipated would be 11pm at the earliest. We were all prepared for a LONG night. Once we got going however, we flew right along doing around 3-4 complete takes on each piece. It took some time to change mic arrangements and do sound checks to accommodate a classical guitarist on one piece and a guest Soprano soloist on another, but other than that it wasn't too bad at all. We sang really well, got through all the music, got all the takes we needed, and ended an hour and a half earlier than anticipated! Yay! Hopefully that means the additional Saturday recording session scheduled won't be necessary now. Here are a few pictures from the "choir camera" that the historian sent me from the evening.
Fruits & Veggies: The hungry singer's best friend.
Kiersten, Ashley and I bonding over Kiersten's generic wheat thins during break.
Marianne Mabey, lady of mystery.
Dr. Allred entertaining us with a little Simon & Garfunkel
Stephanie & I popping a squat on the risers between takes.
The amazing Tulley Cathey doing a mic check with his Spanish guitar. Soooo beautiful!Editorial Note: When I say digital voice recorder, I'm talking about my little Olympus pocket sized recorder meant for lectures, NOT concert hall choral singing. It was sitting in the front pocket of my backpack a couple rows back in the hall so please keep that in mind if you're going to listen. The mics we recorded with are the best available in the world today so it will be interesting to hear the drastic difference once the CD is actually released and I can post similar clips.
This first clip is of a piece called In Silent Night, which has quickly become one of my new favorite Christmas songs ever. The lyrics are especially beautiful. This is one that we have only sung through 2 or 3 times total. This is the last verse. Listen
Next we have a bit of El Rorro and its too bad that my recorder didn't pick up more of the guitar part because its the best part. Listen
Anyone familiar with the name John Rutter knows that this composer is King when it comes to beautiful choral Christmas music. We did multiple Rutter pieces. This clip is of Mary's Lullaby and it probably took the least amount of time of all the pieces to record. I think we did 2 takes. Listen
Yet another Rutter, Love Came Down At Christmas, is special to all of us because its sort of the piece that brought us all together. I mentioned before that when we came to callbacks, Dr. Allred pulled out an unfamiliar piece of music for us to sing through once, then sing in small groups to determine how quickly we could learn music and assimilate nuance. Well this was that piece. We're all in Singers because we learned this whole thing in 10 minutes. Listen
'Round the Glory Manger is a Christmas spiritual of sorts and our guest Soprano soloist is on the voice faculty here at the U. This run through wasn't great, but there you have it. Listen
Finally, Baby, What You Goin' To Be by composer Natalie Sleeth is a piece that you may have heard your ward choir or the MoTab do at Christmas, but I'm willing to bet you haven't heard it done this well before. :) We have 2 long time members of the MoTab in Singers who'd be willing to atest to that. Most people LOVE it and bawl their eyes out, but there are some who think its cheesy. I find the lyrics sweet and the music pretty, but I can see where people might find cheese. Listen
The rest of the week was less eventful but busy with rehearsal on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Last night Layne and I went to the mall so I could find a new pair of shoes that will go with my choir dress. The GAP was having a big sale on socks so I stocked up. I LOVE socks from GAP, especially socks on sale. Because I have to wear closed toed shoes every day I go through socks like a mad woman. It was nice to get out of the house and just be with Layne, especially since I won't see him much this weekend. Tomorrow morning at 8:45 Singers is doing an outdoor photo shoot in our casual concert attire. After the photo shoot we have dress rehearsal for a couple hours, then a concert tomorrow night. Here is the poster for the concert:
The University of Utah School of Music presents the Fall Choral Showcase, this Saturday, September 20, 7:30pm, featuring The University of Utah Singers and A Cappella choir under the direction of Dr. Brady Allred and The Women's Chorus under the direction of Dr. Jessica Napoles.Including music by Morten Lauridsen, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arvo Pärt and György Orbán, the University of Utah Singers will also offer a preview of repertoire from their new Christmas CD, Carol of Joy to be released late October.
Tickets are $3 for students and $7 for adults and are available at www.arttix.org, at the box office, or from any choir member.
Also, join us afterwards for a reception in the Thompson Chamber Music Hall and mingle with choir and audience members.
Visit http://www.uofusingers.
1 comments:
Wow- you go girl! What a dedicated VT you are! And those choir pieces are beautiful! "Baby What You Goin' To Be" is one of my all time favorites and I did it with our ward choir last year, and they want to make it a tradition now.
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