Rehearsal Notes March 26th, 2025

Choir as mindfulness practice

I have colleagues who spend their time corralling unruly 10-year-olds in music class or after school choir. Kids who want to be anywhere else, doing anything other than a quiet focussed music lesson. It’s a living, as they say, and without their efforts working with children and adolescents we’d have no adult lovers of singing and music. I salute them, but I’m awfully glad not to be among them.

I’m fortunate to be working with a mature group of serious singers. Most of you have come to Choral Evolution to improve your skills and deepen your singing experience. Hopefully, you are all becoming better music readers, your pitch sense is improving, and your voice is growing in size, scope and beauty.

Concentration, mindfulness and a long attention span are some of the most sought-after skills and benefits musicians develop through their practice. Most pieces are at least 3 or 4 minutes in length and some are much longer. That is a long time to maintain focus. In our modern world of screens and social media, it’s an eternity. It’s easy to lapse into “singing along” and finding out too late that you’ve missed an important entry or fudged that rhythm you’ve been working on. That feeling of: “Oh this is me! I should be singing this” and then its gone.

Don’t beat yourself up about this: mindfulness is hard, distractions are many and it takes a lifetime of practice to develop a long attention span. Its one of those many musical practices that never ends.

As we all know, singing is about breathing. Vocal sounds are focused breath on pitch. Because you have to breathe to sing you can use the breath to build focus and ultimately control the mind. Let each breath bring you back to the present moment. Every new phrase is a chance to re-focus on the present, on what you are doing and why you are here. Use rehearsals as a chance to lengthen your musical attention span until it will fill an entire concert. You will have a much fuller concert experience if you can be truly present for the whole thing.

I want to take a moment to single out the Tenors in this light. They have undertaken to memorize most of the concert and the effect is startling. Every time I looked up during our run-through of Vincent, I saw all their eyes focused on the front, paying attention. It's a whole different experience for them and the audience. I encourage all of you to follow their leadership and memorize as much of the show as you can. I guarantee an enormous payoff for this effort, no one will regret it.

This week we will work on:

All The Diamonds

Texas Hold ‘Em

Big Yellow Taxi

Thinking out loud

Bohemian Rhapsody

I will see you all Wednesday, March 26^th at Christian Life Assembly, 6851 West Coast Rd, Sooke BC at 7 pm

André ♪

Reminders

· Come prepared to all rehearsals and commit to singing all the concerts. We count on you being there for us every week and we miss you when you are away.

· Be respectful of the process and your fellow singers by maintaining silence during rehearsals, put up your hand if you have a question and I will do my best to call on you.

· Keep track of the tunes we’ve rehearsed, make sure you keep running them regularly, so we don’t lose all the work we have done. I encourage you to try to sing your parts out loud regularly, in as big a room as you can find

· Be a beginner when you practice. Go slow, pay attention, check your pitch constantly, think about your breath, take nothing for granted, start to memorize lines so you can look up.

· Learn your music, practice at home, use the practice tracks, attend sectionals.

· Don’t be selective: you have to learn, practice and commit to every tune even if they aren’t your favourite. We all have to sing the whole show.

· Bring your music, a pencil and your water bottle to each rehearsal. Mark your parts lightly in pencil only.

·

musictheory.net is a free resource that will teach you all about how written music works. There are theory lessons and ear training for every level of musician. Click on the word “lessons” at the top left and do at least one lesson a day. Each lesson takes just a few minutes to complete. Click on the sentences at the bottom of the page to advance through the lesson. Spending a few minutes a day here will help you become more comfortable with written music.

Back

News

CE News 27 April 2025

By Sherry Walters • April 28, 2025

Woot! We are almost there! Just one rehearsal--yes, it is the dress rehearsal so please wear your costume so we can see how awesome you look and take pictures--on Tuesday at Sooke Community Hall. Sally will be sending out an email with details of when to be there. For those that haven't had dress rehearsal experience, it can be a long evening as we need to get the lights, sound and logistics accomplished so we are ready for Friday. Please check out Andre's blog for the running order and put your music in order; use the elastics to hold each piece in place by sliding the middle of the piece into a single elastic. You can also attach tab holders so you know the location of each piece. Andre has shared the dynamics for each piece and they should be marked on your music. Although we need to be watching Andre, please keep an eye on the dynamics so we know when to be quiet and when to let our voices soar. This is another new venue for us, so watch Andre as he will tell us if we are too soft or too loud. Besides, the audience really wants to see the expression on your faces, so don't hide behind your book! You are gorgeous and your expression sells the show. Reminder that our "after party" will be after the Sunday afternoon show. It will be a "potluck" of sorts as everyone is encouraged to bring appetizers and finger food. This will also be a BYOB/drinks. It will be a blast to end with a chance to relive some of the moments of the shows. I'm sure it will be a very successful run....make sure you are sharing about the shows so we can pack those seats. The room is large at the Hall, so lets fill it! You are doing an amazing job, and this will be a great show. Well done, everyone. Thank you Andre for leading us in a great group of songs....okay, even Texas has grown on me.... Sherry

CE News 20 April 25

By Sherry Walters • April 21, 2025

Hey everyone! We have only 1 rehearsal (at Centre Mountain Lellum school) , plus our dress rehearsal on Tuesday, 29 April at the Sooke Community Hall!!! Then it will be show time. Sally has shared the times we are expected for the dress rehearsal and for each show, and that will be sent by email with all the concert notes. We are so close to presenting our music to our audiences...did you listen to last week's rehearsal? Sounding good! Thanks Paul for sharing that. It is a very exciting crunch time, so work on your trouble spots and try to memorise your music; there are a couple of songs that go by so quickly that you can't read the music, like Paint it Black, Bohemian Rhapsody, Texas Hold 'Em, to name a few. I'd like to remind everyone that the audience would really like to see your face and the expressions that you have. In order to do that, you need to look up from your music and engage with the audience. It has a two-fold purpose as you can actually see Andre's direction when your face is up. Let's try to practice that for the next two rehearsals and see if Andre notices.... I'd like everyone to wear their concert attire on Wednesday so we can see what we will look like. Get those blue jeans on! Any solid colour blue top will work, and if you have a denim/denim-like jacket/shirt, throw that on top. Jewelry should be subtle so the focus is on you. Thank you to the riser helpers: John, Tony, Thibault, Keiran, and Dylyn and for Haley's dad's truck to move them about. We will need a team of people at the Sooke Community Hall to hang the black background and lights and create a bit of a set for us. This can't occur until Friday before we are ready to have our last sing-through. If you would like to help, please email Sherry at labtech1963@gmail.com. We are nothing without our volunteers so I would like to give a big shout out to everyone who has taken on a task, no matter how big or small. THANK YOU. We will be sharing our "thank yous" after the last show, so make sure you stick around. We also usually have a get together on the Friday night after the show and planning for that is in the works. So, pencil in Friday evening after the show. As a reminder, our AGM and get together will be held Wednesday, 7 May at the same time as rehearsal (7-9:15 pm), with the location to be announced. To that end, if you are interested in running for a position on the board, please submit your name and the position to choralevolution@gmail.com before Wednesday, 23 April (sorry, the time got away on me). We encourage everyone to be part of this amazing governance for Choral Evolution. If you have questions around any of the positions (President/Co-president, Treasure, Secretary, Directors at Large) please ask one of the current board.

Director Notes

Rehearsal Notes May 2nd 2025

By Andre Clouthier • May 1, 2025

Hello Choral Evolutioneers! Isn’t that Dress Rehearsal a Bitch! So many distractions and confusing new experiences. The big resonant venue, trouble hearing yourselves, the risers, those damn lights, the sound, musicians, all that standing and sore feet and singing tunes one after the other. So many questions to answer. Luckily, we answered loads of them, and we’ll answer the rest before the show on Friday night. If you can, do our warm up before you arrive so your pipes are ready to go. We’ll practice getting on and off the stage before the show so you’re comfortable with the process. We’ll line up in the Green room and make an orderly entrance. We’ll move the lights back some so they are less in your eyes and you’ll be lit more from the side We’ll start every tune before the show, so you get a feel for the room again. Between songs, while I’m reading notes, look at your scores, especially your 1 st couple of entrances, you have to sing every line in tempo. Focus on what you have to say, the emotional underpinning of the song. We’ll sing “By the Waters of Babylon” after “All the Diamonds” before “Texas Hold ‘Em” I will introduce you and the musicians after “Creep” and we’ll take our bows. I’ll let the audience know that our big finish will involve some movement so this is our curtain call. If you haven’t already done so, put your music down and out of the way at the start of “Aquarius”. The arm movements look great, keep up the energy. Start moving into the hall as soon as the band starts “Let the Sunshine In” Keep up the energy and the clapping till we finish. We’ll sing “Golden Slumbers” from our positions in the hall. When we finish the tune, the show is over, feel free to mix with the audience. Don’t forget to recover your music and return your booklight before you leave. See you Friday ready to go at 6 pm. André ♪

Rehearsal Notes April 29th 2025

By Andre Clouthier • April 24, 2025

Hello Choral Evolutioneers! As promised here is the order of our May Show “Soundtrack of our Lives” Memories Eternal Flame Thinking Out Loud All The Diamonds Texas Hold ‘Em Vincent Bohemian Rhapsody Intermission Big Yellow Taxi Paint It Black Wicked Game You Learn Creep Hair Golden Slumbers We will also sing “By the Waters of Babylon” in the 1 st half and encourage the audience to join in. Tough rehearsal last night in yet another new venue. We’ll be pros at working under new and difficult conditions, something that will come in handy on our concert weekend. Gabe and I will rehearse with Cheryl Dennett, our percussionist, this weekend and work out musical support so things go smoothly at the dress. I will see you all Tuesday April 29th evening. Keep your eyes peeled for an email with details about when and where to arrive for the rehearsal and shows. Keep running through your music and double checking your notes, practice every day and keep those pipes lubricated. André ♪