Monday, May 30
Memorial Day!
We didn't start rehearsals until 1. In the words of Misty Bermudez, “You tell a Seraphic Fire member that they have to sing before noon and I guarantee you that they will rebel.” So we started at 1. We arrived and we were seated AMONG THE SERAPHIC FIRE SINGERS! AAAAAH! It was terrifying to sit with them.
I sat by Emily Marvosh. May I just say, I knew that Seraphic Fire sounded stupendous...but then we sat WITH them and I could hear people’s voice individually. Emily has the most incredible voice. I was feeling pretty confident about singing and being in the choir and then I heard HER singing. Yeah, my voice just shut off. I couldn’t sing next to her. I was embarrassed for her to hear me. But I finally got up enough courage to sing a little. I was holding WAY back. She was very kind. She gave me some nice tips and things. One of the tips that she had to give me was to sing with more core. CORE. ME. Since when have I ever lacked core when singing ALTO? Oh my gosh, it was so silly. That just goes to show how truly scared I was to sing by her! She helped me so much in those few hours of rehearsal. She helped me with my diction, helped me with some placement, helped me sing with more breath support. We rehearsed for six hours as usual with a break in between. So we finished rehearsal at 9.
In between the rehearsals, Taliah and I went to Mel’s Hot Dogs with some of the USF kids. It was a completely classic place. Loved it. Apparently Dr. Bass worked there at some point. So there was a picture of him on the wall. It was vastly entertaining. Have I mentioned that Dr. Bass is the man? He is an INCREDIBLE conductor. He knows exactly how to pull the best sounds out of us as a choir. He has a remarkable ear. I don't know how he does it, but he does it every day.
He loves the Requiem even more than me. How is that possible? Thank you for the music, Brahms. It’s beautiful.
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Professional Choral Institute: Day 8
Sunday, May 29
NOTE: I love Taliah. She is the best. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that she is here with me and we are becoming such good friends. Oh man. She is awesome.
Taliah and I found a church to go to! We woke up early and walked to church that started at 9. It was a family ward really close to campus. We found a singles ward that met in the same building but they were meeting at 1 and that was when we began rehearsal. So we went to the family ward. SO interesting.
The world is a big place. California people and Florida people are very different. I can't really explain it to you. In sacrament meeting hey spoke on being prepared for hurricanes. I found this funny because in California we talk about emergency preparedness in regards to earthquakes. It’s not funny...but it kind is. Then we had Sunday School with this crazy man...if he wasn’t LDS, I would assume that he had way too many cups of coffee. Relief Society was taught by the awkward elders and there were crazy ladies everywhere. I love family wards. They are an endless source of entertainment.
It was absolutely hilarious. Taliah and I had quite a fascinating time. It was good to kind of get grounded in something totally familiar. To ground our spirit in the middle of the week. It was much needed.
Today was our first day that we got to meet Seraphic Fire! After church we got to go and observe the Seraphic Fire rehearsal of the Requiem. We observed from 1-4. Holy cow, Seraphic Fire is an incredible group. They sing so well together, you almost don't believe that it's possible. That’s what the singing in heaven is going to sound like. I just watched them sing in absolute awe. I also started gearing ourselves up for the fact that WE were going to have to rehearse with THEM in a number of hours. AAAAAH.
And this Requiem is so beautiful. I know I have said that a million times (and will say it a million more times). Altogether, I have sung this piece for 36 hours. So much time. And then I've worked on it and listened to it individually for even longer than that.
It's a spectacular piece. I am going to miss it so much after it's over. I am probably going to end up listening to it on the way home. Just you wait.
Please, World, Please let this recording be all that we are working for. We have worked so hard on becoming a choir. We have worked so hard on this piece. We have all worked so hard to make MUSIC together.
Music really does uplift people. Music speaks to people. Music is one of the things that makes us human. It speaks to our very soul. Our spirits.
I feel the spirit while singing this piece and even just talking about it. My heart kind of swells up with this inexplicable happiness.
It's incredible. I wish you all could be here.
NOTE: I love Taliah. She is the best. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that she is here with me and we are becoming such good friends. Oh man. She is awesome.
Taliah and I found a church to go to! We woke up early and walked to church that started at 9. It was a family ward really close to campus. We found a singles ward that met in the same building but they were meeting at 1 and that was when we began rehearsal. So we went to the family ward. SO interesting.
The world is a big place. California people and Florida people are very different. I can't really explain it to you. In sacrament meeting hey spoke on being prepared for hurricanes. I found this funny because in California we talk about emergency preparedness in regards to earthquakes. It’s not funny...but it kind is. Then we had Sunday School with this crazy man...if he wasn’t LDS, I would assume that he had way too many cups of coffee. Relief Society was taught by the awkward elders and there were crazy ladies everywhere. I love family wards. They are an endless source of entertainment.
It was absolutely hilarious. Taliah and I had quite a fascinating time. It was good to kind of get grounded in something totally familiar. To ground our spirit in the middle of the week. It was much needed.
Today was our first day that we got to meet Seraphic Fire! After church we got to go and observe the Seraphic Fire rehearsal of the Requiem. We observed from 1-4. Holy cow, Seraphic Fire is an incredible group. They sing so well together, you almost don't believe that it's possible. That’s what the singing in heaven is going to sound like. I just watched them sing in absolute awe. I also started gearing ourselves up for the fact that WE were going to have to rehearse with THEM in a number of hours. AAAAAH.
And this Requiem is so beautiful. I know I have said that a million times (and will say it a million more times). Altogether, I have sung this piece for 36 hours. So much time. And then I've worked on it and listened to it individually for even longer than that.
It's a spectacular piece. I am going to miss it so much after it's over. I am probably going to end up listening to it on the way home. Just you wait.
Please, World, Please let this recording be all that we are working for. We have worked so hard on becoming a choir. We have worked so hard on this piece. We have all worked so hard to make MUSIC together.
Music really does uplift people. Music speaks to people. Music is one of the things that makes us human. It speaks to our very soul. Our spirits.
I feel the spirit while singing this piece and even just talking about it. My heart kind of swells up with this inexplicable happiness.
It's incredible. I wish you all could be here.
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