André's Rehearsal Notes for November 26th, 2025
Concert time Choral Evolution!
This week, we will practice with the choir risers.
We’ll practice entering, starting a few tunes, looking at some tricky moments and exiting.
Here is what might happen:
- 7:00 Warm up and Locus Iste –
- Practice Enter
- Sing the Winter Away
- Indian Summer - Letter F to end
- Solstice Carol - a Capella
- Away from the roll of the Sea - Exit choir
- Thank you - Places for small group.
- Exit
- 8:10 Break
- Enter
- Un Canadien Errant
- Christmas Trilogy –
- Exit to sing:
- Carol of the Bells
I will see you all at Sooke Community Hall dining room at 6:45 pm, Wednesday November 26th.
André ♪
About singing “high notes”
There is a physical element to singing that can’t be imagined or explained, it has to be experienced. When you sing higher pitches, the vocal chords tighten in order to vibrate faster. Your breathing system has to respond with more breath pressure in order to overcome this tightening. When singers and teachers talk about supporting the tone, this is what they are often referring to. You must blow more air with more force in order to get the high notes to speak. Conversely, your vocal chords must be strong enough to resist that higher breath pressure. Practicing and trying are the only way to learn this balancing act.
Once you get the hang of this, it becomes second nature and the 2 systems, vocal chords and breath work together in harmony. But you must try to sing out regularly to develop that coordination. Imagining or singing quietly in your car will not do, you must experience and practice the skill. You must find a big room and sing those rising phrases repeatedly, even if you fail. Eventually, the systems will balance themselves and you will develop strong high notes.
· Sing regularly in a large room. Sing high passages on “OO” at first, it will be easier, then move to an “AH” and then add the words without losing the feeling.
· Don’t worry about cracking or sounding bad, that is part of the process. Over time, strength and coordination will build and you will gain confidence when attempting higher passages.
· Sing those higher passages multiple times and return to them regularly. Sing a comfortable Mezzo Forte at first, then get softer for passages marked Piano.
· Use Locus Iste as a practice piece, there is lots of variety.
News
Two more sleeps until the dress rehearsal (at Sooke Community Hall at 6 pm) and then the show starts on Friday!!! Please make sure you are on stage, ready to sing at 6 pm. The Hall will be open at 5:30 to get the risers in place. You could come early and lend a hand! What an exciting time when all our hard work gets shown to the community. Have you people coming? Did you find 2 new people to ask to the show? It is always better to sing to a full house, so spread the word, email or phone call. The look of the choir on stage was great on Wednesday.... with a few exceptions. We want to look like the flag, so please make your red (sop and alto) or white (tenor and bass) a solid colour . Black on the bottom (pants, skirt). If you need help, please reach out. If you offered to bring "Canadiana" items for the show, please bring them with you on Friday and we will set up a vignette of Canada. I haven't heard of what is being brought, other than at the long rehearsal, but please remember to be sensitive about the items as to how the item's presence might land on someone else. Keep reviewing your music this week to solidify it in your head. If you haven't yet put it in concert order, check out Andre's blog to see the order it should be placed in. For those new to us, the elastics in the centre of your binder hold the middle of a piece of music; just slip the papers under one of the elastics and you are set. The new music tracks are up on the website; have a listen and we'll see you in January! Lots of cool music. See you TUESDAY! Sherry
If you are counting, you will know we have one more rehearsal, the dress rehearsal and then the shows! It is so close! I hope you are getting excited to present our show to friends, family and the community. During rehearsal, Andre makes comments/notes about some of the trickier spots. Make sure you document those and refer to them when rehearsing so it comes easily during rehearsal. My music is full of notes: tricky spots, when to breathe and when not to, HALL instead of HALLS, and things like that. If you are unsure, reach out to a fellow section member or your section lead to get the scoop. I am requesting that we all wear our colours this Wednesday at our Sooke rehearsal. Reminders: tenor and bass wear white shirt (button down or dressier shirt), black pants, socks, shoes. The alto and soprano will be in red dressier shirts (please stay as close to the colour red as you can, so no burgundy, wine or orange), black pants, socks, shoes. If you want to wear jewelry, keep it to gold and silver so colours don't clash. The idea is that we will look like the Canadian flag. As mentioned last Wednesday, our set will have Canadian memorabilia. We hope to put the items around the choir. If you have something to share, I would request that you send me an email and I will advise if it will work or not. I would request that those with cherished items be responsible for them. I will send out a list of what I have so far. As suggested last week, I'd like to continue to capture the names of our marvelous volunteers. Linda will once again look after our book lights, Mary M, Jacqueline and Emily will be setting up our pre-concert lawn signs, the riser team headed by John and Tony: Thibault, Sebastien, Caleb, Mary W and Jan, Sebastien is helping Andre with the lights and sound, Mary W, Maureen, Nicole, Joy and Gwen are helping with the set, Jan is overseeing the volunteers for front of house, and our front of house will be previous members: Mike, Sheila, Naseem, Christiana and Amanda. Anne and Evangelina will also be helping! And the list goes on! Everyone can also help by getting more people into the audience. If you haven't convinced 2 new people to come, get out there and start selling this show. We want to ensure we have a full house at each venue. An email will be shared soon with details about the show: when to be there, where to be, etc, so be watching for it. Thank you all for being such an amazing part of this organization. And we get to have fun singing, too! See you Wednesday in Sooke!
Director Notes
Crunch Time Choral Evolution! Our time is getting short. We have 2 more rehearsals before our dress rehearsal on December 2 nd and concerts December 5 and 6. It’s amazing how the time has flown by. Only a few months ago most of this music was a mystery to us, now we can't get the tunes out of our heads. You can each make an enormous difference in the quality of our performance in the coming weeks. Pay attention to your practice, really critique your knowledge of the music. Focus on passages that are fuzzier for you and clean them up. Listen and sing along with the recordings and do your best to sing out and commit to every entrance and cutoff. Please put your music in the following concert order: O Canada Sing the Winter Away Indian Summer (Echoes of Summer) All the Little Rivers Locus Iste Solstice Carol Away from the roll of the Sea Thank you Intermission Un Canadien Errant In the Early Mornin’ Rain Make and Break Harbour The Field Behind the Plow Christmas Trilogy Carol of the Bells Here are the arrangements we will work on Wednesday evening: 7:00 Warm up and Locus Iste – 7:30 Sing the Winter Away 7:50 Solstice Carol 8:10 Break 8:20 Un Canadien Errant 8:40 Early Mornin’ Rain 9:00 Christmas Trilogy – I will see you all at The Masonic Hall in Langford at 7 pm Wednesday November 19 th . André ♪ About singing “high notes” There is a physical element to singing that can’t be imagined or explained, it has to be experienced. When you sing higher pitches, the vocal chords tighten in order to vibrate faster. Your breathing system has to respond with more breath pressure in order to overcome this tightening. When singers and teachers talk about supporting the tone, this is what they are often referring to. You must blow more air with more force in order to get the high notes to speak. Conversely, your vocal chords must be strong enough to resist that higher breath pressure. Practicing and trying are the only way to learn this balancing act. Once you get the hang of this, it becomes second nature and the 2 systems, vocal chords and breath work together in harmony. But you must try to sing out regularly to develop that coordination. Imagining or singing quietly in your car will not do, you must experience and practice the skill. You must find a big room and sing those rising phrases repeatedly, even if you fail. Eventually, the systems will balance themselves and you will develop strong high notes. · Sing regularly in a large room. Sing high passages on “OO” at first, it will be easier, then move to an “AH” and then add the words without losing the feeling. · Don’t worry about cracking or sounding bad, that is part of the process. Over time, strength and coordination will build and you will gain confidence when attempting higher passages. · Sing those higher passages multiple times and return to them regularly. Sing a comfortable Mezzo Forte at first, then get softer for passages marked Piano. · Use Locus Iste as a practice piece, there is lots of variety.
Hey Choral Evolution! Isn't singing in a choir wonderful? So fulfilling when we get to this point in the process, eh? 😍 You really sounded amazing at times last night. We do have a Choral Evolution sound that is very compelling and engaging. I’m sure this will be a very enjoyable show for our devoted audience. Now it’s time to bear down on your practice. These last few weeks are crucial if we are to give a stellar performance. Don’t let up, use the music, keep singing every day! I will leave my thoughts on singing high notes at the bottom of this post. Here is the method for making those pesky French vowel sounds. Very good practice for English speakers. This you can practice in the car or in front of the TV. Pl eu rant, Malh eu reux, D’ eu x– make an oo sound, now say “ay” without moving the basic shape F u gitif, T u – Make an oo sound, now say "ee’ without moving the basic shape Un - your mouth is open and rounded. You should produce the sound “ah(n)”. You have to open the soft palate at the roof of the mouth which makes the sound slightly nasal. Here are some links I recommend you practice along with now that you know the arrangements. Locus Iste - VOCES8: 'Locus Iste' by Anton Bruckner Solstice Carol - Solstice Carol (Wyrd Sisters, Arr. Scott Reimer) Away from the roll of the Sea – Cape Breton Chorale - Away From the Roll of the Sea (MacGillivray) Sing the Winter Away - https://cypresschoral.com/composers/robbie-smith/sing-the-winter-away/ Un Canadien Errant – Here is the Edmonton base choir I told you about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02j5sGbIoFw&list=RD02j5sGbIoFw&start_radio=1 Early Mornin’ Rain –https://cypresschoral.com/composers/mark-sirett/in-the-early-morning-rain/ Christmas Trilogy – https://www.jwpepper.com/a-festive-christmas-trilogy-11564439-2200822/p The St. Olaf Choir - Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian Bell Carol) Make and break Harbour. https://cypresschoral.com/composers/ron-smail/make-and-break-harbour/ - only TTBB here, but Chor Leoni does a wonderful job of bringing out the text, making it conversational and meaningful. Tenors and Basses should pay close attention to the sound this choir makes, it’s smooth, perfectly warm and clear Thank you - Thank You (SATB Choir) - Arranged by Mac Huff Here’s the lineup for this Saturday’s Half Day retreat: 9:00 Warm up and Locus Iste – Warm up before rehearsal because you care about the sound. Sing the Winter Away Indian Summer Away from the roll of the Sea – All the Little Rivers – Un Canadien Errant – Early Mornin’ Rain – The Field Behind the Plow - Make and Break Harbour – try each with Guitar accompaniment Thank you – featuring the Dinos! I will see you all at St Rose of Lima church in Sooke at 9am Saturday November 15 th , André ♪ About singing “high notes” There is a physical element to singing that can’t be imagined or explained, it has to be experienced. When you sing higher pitches, the vocal chords tighten in order to vibrate faster. Your breathing system has to respond with more breath pressure in order to overcome this tightening. When singers and teachers talk about supporting the tone, this is what they are often referring to. You must blow more air with more force in order to get the high notes to speak. Conversely, your vocal chords must be strong enough to resist that higher breath pressure. Practicing and trying are the only way to learn this balancing act. Once you get the hang of this, it becomes second nature and the 2 systems, vocal chords and breath work together in harmony. But you must try to sing out regularly to develop that coordination. Imagining or singing quietly in your car will not do, you must experience and practice the skill. You must find a big room and sing those rising phrases repeatedly, even if you fail. Eventually, the systems will balance themselves and you will develop strong high notes. · Sing regularly in a large room. Sing high passages on “OO” at first, it will be easier, then move to an “AH” and then add the words without losing the feeling. · Don’t worry about cracking or sounding bad, that is part of the process. Over time, strength and coordination will build and you will gain confidence when attempting higher passages. · Sing those higher passages multiple times and return to them regularly. Sing a comfortable Mezzo Forte at first, then get softer for passages marked Piano. · Use Locus Iste as a practice piece, there is lots of variety.