Rehearsal Information - Women's Festival Chorus

Hello to the singers of the Women's Festival Chorus,

I am looking forward to working with you in Miami in a few weeks. Below are logistical details and notes about the music and recordings. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions or comments: scoffee@ecentral.com.

Overview:

The performance is part of the 25th anniversary celebration on Wednesday afternoon of the festival. The men's and mixed festival choruses will perform, as well as Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon. It will be in the Convention Center, which is large enough to hold all of the festival delegates at one time--we haven't had that situation for the last couple of festivals.

We are singing 3 pieces: Breaths, To Sing is To Fly, and I Am Willing. Cris Williamson will emcee our set, which is intended as a tribute to the women's music movement and its influence on the women's choruses. I've programmed fairly simply so that we can enjoy, polish, perhaps sing from memory, and have a very good time together with high-quality music-making.

Dress:

I'd like us to wear a mix of black and purple/blue. This feels like a simple way to look cohesive and classy, but with some color. I'd like people to be comfortable but also look as if we dressed up a bit for the performance.

Below the waist: black pants, capris, skirts, dresses as you wish; ideally not shorts.

Above the waist: black or any color in the blue-purple range of the spectrum, richer hues rather than lighter. Long or short-sleeve blouses or dressy T-shirts or tank tops; preferably not regular ol' cotton T-shirts or tank tops.

Options:You could also accessorize in the blue-purple spectrum with an all-black base, eg with a headband or scarf

Feet: black shoes or any color sandal; ideally not white sneakers. Memorization:

Let's definitely sing Breaths from memory, and the other two from memory if you are confident, and with music in a black music notebook if you prefer. Would you please bring a black music notebook for yourself if you plan to hold music?

Rehearsal schedule:

Sunday 7/13: 9:15-11:30 am, Hilton Hotel: Soprano
Monday 7/14: 8:45-10:45 am, Hilton Hotel: Soprano
Tuesday 7/15: 8:35-10:45 am, Hilton Hotel: Tenor
Wednesday 7/16: 9:00-10:45 am, Hyatt Hotel: Orchid and 11:00-11:20 tech in the convention center right next door to the Hyatt Performance is Wed. at 3:30 pm in the Convention Center, call time TBD.

Notes on the music/rehearsal recordings:

1. Breaths

In programming this song, I want to honor Ysaye's spectacular choral repertoire and also honor the deep inspiration of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Breaths is the first piece she wrote, and it is an absolute gem of a cappella writing--so extremely pleasing to sing and to hear.

Here are some lengthy notes, detailing all of the misprints and changes in the printed music. I hate to send all this because it makes it seem really complicated; it really is not. Let the recording be your primary guide; the piece can really be learned by ear more than by eye, anyway.

You can also find Sweet Honey singing Breaths on iTunes--it's essentially the same arrangement, just in a different key.

Parts are as follows:
Sop 1 sing Soprano part, starts at m. 13
Sop 2 sing Rhythm 3 part, starts at m. 9
Alto 1 sing Alto part, starts at m. 13
Alto 2 sing Rhythm 1 part, starts at m. 1
We'll also toss in some people on the Rhythm 2 part when we get together.

Key: we'll play with the key when we rehearse but we'll start with key of C, meaning the Alto 2 part comes up a major fifth and the other parts drop a fourth, so the arrangement is midrange for all. Note the recording is a half step higher than we will sing it.

Some misprints and changes: here are detailed notes for those who want clarity on the printed page. Ignore these and work with the recording if that works better for you, or mark these in if you like to have an accurate written score.

All: there is a chorus missing between p. 12 and 13, so after m. 92, go back to m. 53 (w/ pickup in S1 and A1) and sing through m. 72, then jump to m. 93.

All: m. 113-114 will be sung a total of three times.

S1 and Alto 1: misprint of words on p. 11-12. You don't sing "dead are not under the earth" on these pages. You sing "dead have a pact with the living."

S1 and A1: there are some changes in rhythms which will be heard on the recording:
-m. 23, 63, 101 and 102: "fire's voice": first note is a quarter, second is an eighth, as at m. 43
-m. 33 and 73: "those who have" will be a dotted quarter, quarter, eighth. Syncopated instead of straight.
-m. 85 and 87: "with us in" is syncopated, so first two notes are eighth-quarter instead of quarter-eighth.

Alto 1: m. 20: pitch change on "be-ings": change to G-F rather than F-F (written pitches).

S2 and A2 only: there are miscellaneous random misprints in your parts. Refer to the recording, please, and ignore anything on the page that contradicts the recording.

2. To Sing is To Fly:

I think the rehearsal recordings are complete and self-explanatory. I love this piece and this text and I think it speaks to the essential mission of the glbt choral movement brilliantly. It's short and simple, but requires good choral singing to carry the musical lines well. It is very characteristic of Gwyneth Walker's writing, and I'm guessing many of you have sung her music--the choral lines fit the voices very well and the piano parts are creative and playful.

The text of the song, by Joan Baez, is:
To sing is to love and affirm,
To fly and soar,
To coast into the hearts of people who listen,
To tell them that life is to live, that love is there,
That nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists,
and must be hunted for and found.

3. I Am Willing, by Holly Near.

This is a recent piece, 2003. I wanted to include Holly's music in this short set and liked programming a piece that most people are probably not yet familiar with. This is a strong, smart, grounded anthem. In programming this, I want to honor the ground-breakers of the whole world of "women's music." This arrangement is by Lindsey Stillinger, who sings in Sound Circle. It's got a bit of gospel influence in the style and builds throughout in a nice organic way. I think the rehearsal recordings are self-explanatory. They don't convey the full choral power and style of the piece; we used a quartet with one person on a part to create the recordings and then I'm singing along to bring out your particular line.

Text is as follows:

Chorus:
I am open and I am willing/For to be hopeless would seem so strange
It dishonors those who go before us/so lift me up to the light of change.

Verse 1, sung by A1 only:
There is a hurting in my family, there is sorrow in my town,
There is a panic all across the nation, there is a wailing the whole world round.

Verse 2: sung by A1 and S2 with echoes by A2 and S1:
May the children see more clearly, may the elders be more wise,
May the winds of change caress us even tough it burns our eyes.

Verse 3: sung by all:
Give me a mighty oak to hold my confusion, give me a desert to hold my fears,
Give me a sunset to hold my wonder, give me an ocean to hold my tears.

Thank you. See you in Miami.

Sue Coffee

Rehearsal Files - Women's Festival Chorus

To Sing Is To Fly

MP3 FILES:

To Sing Is To Fly - Alto 1
To Sing Is To Fly - Alto 2
To Sing Is To Fly - Sop 1
To Sing Is To Fly - Sop 2

Score: http://www.gwynethwalker.com/tosingis.html

I Am Willing

MP3 FILES:

I Am Willing - Alto 1
I Am Willing - Alto 2
I Am Willing - Sop 1
I Am Willing - Sop 2

Score: Click to Download

Breaths

MP3 FILES:

Breaths - Alto 1
Breaths - Alto 2
Breaths - Sop 1
Breaths - Sop 2

Score: Click to Download