(Blogmeister note: this is the second of the pre-concert posts, info nugget #2 as it were. Sing thee well!) “Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert H. Schuller There are two answers to the question, “What’s happening on Friday?” if it’s posed to a member of the Windward Choral Society: “We have […]
(Blogmeister note: this is the first of two blog entries pertaining to this week’s concerts. Info nuggets to nibble on, especially if you’re new to this sort of insanity.) “If you’re nervous, that means you care and you want to give your best.” – Adriana Lima Whether you’ve been singing since Beethoven figured out which […]
(If you’re less than 40 years old, you might not get the reference in the title. Go ahead and ask someone over 40. You’ll like it.) We’ve all been there, I’m sure, that place where your voice slowly deteriorates from angelic singing to the sound a cat makes when it’s stuck in a trash can. […]
(Blogmeister note: No, this doesn’t have anything to do with choral singing, but it seemed we were due for a bit of silliness and this definitely qualifies. It never hurts to laugh a little, especially with a concert looming.) Like so many of us did back in the 70’s, I played in a garage band. […]
Sometimes the English language doesn’t make sense. As it evolved over the years, it’s taken some really weird turns. Take the word “run”. If I just say it alone, what do I mean? Beats me, it needs context. “I’m going outside to run.” “There’s a run in my stocking.” “Let the water run until it’s […]
1990 was a year of new stuff. The Hubble Telescope was launched. (It didn’t work, but they fixed it eventually.) The first web server was created and, with it, the World Wide Web. Smoking was banned on cross-country flights in the US (Yay!). The last official flight of the SR-71 Blackbird was a leisurely cruise […]
This bit of fun came up in conversation this week and I thought I’d toss it out to remind everyone of it. If you’re new to the Windward Choral Society (or just cruising the blog), this was the result of a donation from the Whole Foods Market in Kailua; they provided a bunch of cool […]
Pop quiz, what’s more difficult: singing really loud or singing really soft? If you answered “soft”, you get a gold star. If you didn’t, you go stand in the corner and think about what you did (spoken in my mother’s voice, of course). When you’re singing soft, you’re holding back a lot of the pressure […]
The Windward Choral Society June concert repertoire is in place and includes a truly beautiful rendition of “Oh Danny Boy” by Frederic Weatherly. To celebrate this wonderful tune I want to share a slightly…um…different version. For some (truly unfathomable) reason, my father had a 45 rpm* single of this tune and would break it out […]
“I don’t know if it is a spiritual, physiological or psychological phenomenon, but I believe now more than ever that singing is a universal, built-in mechanism designed to cultivate empathy and compassion.” – Eric Whitacre One of the missions of the Windward Choral Society is the exploration of the health benefits of choral singing. Many […]