If you’ve been a choral singer for any length of time, you’ve had it happen. A beautiful song is flowing from you and you’re deep within its meaning and it reaches out and climbs on in and sticks in your throat. There’s nothing you can do about it, the lump forms and you’re nearly brought […]
I just stumbled upon this little gem featuring our old friend Patti “Always Wearing a Look of Mischief” Amelotte. As always, she had managed to park herself in an unexpected place doing unexpected things wearing that sneaky little smile. If you thought playing Appalachian Christmas music in Hawaii was a stretch, how about Bluegrass in […]
According to the Guinness folks (the record-keepers, not the brewery), the longest continual vocal note was held for 1 minute, 43 seconds by Richard Fink IV. Wow. I can’t even hold my breath that long, I can’t imagine making noise too! Hawaii’s own Raiatea Helm can crank up a long note as well. If you’ve […]
So there I was, listening to a visiting choir, when somebody started playing a whistle. At least it sounded like a whistle, playing a melody line that complimented the piece being sung. Why is this significant? Nobody had a whistle. The technique that was being demonstrated is Polyphonic Overtone Singing. The “Poly” part refers to […]
If this doesn’t give you chicken skin, I don’t know what will. I found myself struggling not to cry (I didn’t do very well either). Amazing and inspiring. https://youtu.be/67WZN4JlInw
There seems to be a pattern of behavior in most large choirs that, over the years, has evolved into stereotypes associated with the different SATB voice parts. You’ve sung, I’m sure you’ve seen it. Basses – The pachyderms of the group, often need a little boost to catch up with the beat and would really […]
One of my favorite corners of the inter-web-thing is www.Librivox.org. It’s a site built and maintained by volunteers that has over 8,000 audio books that are free to stream or download (and they’re adding 100 or so every month). All are in the public domain and read by volunteers using texts from the Gutenberg Project, […]
Warning: rant ahead. I write the blog so give me a little leeway here. Imagine you were sitting in a beautiful venue listening to one of the Windward Choral Society’s semiannual major concerts. The sound surrounds you and you feel a great sense of wonder and peace. ..and next to you a family of four […]
Coming to a Windward Choral Society rehearsal always involves the same process: sign in, grab any new music that might be handed out, greet all the gang and settle in to make some music. There’s always a laugh or two and it’s dang near impossible to find someone who isn’t smiling. Try adding an internalized […]
How big is a “big” choir? At 100 voices or so, the Windward Choral Society is mighty large, especially considering the size of the community. At John McCreary’s memorial service there were hundreds singing together to honor his memory as Susie directed, though I don’t know if that could officially be considered a choir. (It […]