Well, this is it... the last Notes before the concert... the night before! A quick read, but with lots of information, so make sure you've read it all.
What we did on Tuesday 29th November
O Come, All Ye Faithful was great, nothing to be said there. Well done on See Amid - I'd like to do this unaccompanied, but am more than happy to have James play with us, because the way you perform it when you feel confident with it is brilliant! Verses 3 & 4 were much better, and good work on the final page Sopranos; just keep the energy going. We looked at the Poston, with a strong focus on breathing and moving together in the tutti verses, then S/A did some work on this - keep the sound bright and think about high intervals... alto twos will keep us on the straight and narrow! Good work on The Three Kings. The T/B section was good, once we'd fixed a couple of minor tuning issues, and the full choir stuff was effective - Altos not too much at the end, and Sopranos don't forget we're very unlikely to drown out Charlie. Advent Moon was brilliant! The only thing we need to remember is to maintain the energy (particularly in the text) towards the end, from page 10 onwards. White Christmas sounded excellent, and will be a lovely way to end the concert. Basses, those slightly uncertain notes will be perfect tomorrow... and the ending was perfect! We ended with Hark! the Herald-Angels Sing, feeling what it'll be like to do it at the end of the concert.
Saturday 10th December - Concert Day
A detailed plan can be found below attached to this post, but the main points are:
Times
Rehearsal: 13:30 set up - rehearsal is 14:00 - 17:00.
Concert call time: 19:10 for a 19:30 concert.
Venue
St Margaret's Church, OX2 6RX
Parking
There is parking on the gravel driveway in front of the church, but not much. Please do not park on the tarmac driveway behind the church. There is some on-street parking for a limited time.
Set up/pack down
Many hands make light work! Please could we have as many people there as possible to help move furniture, instruments, put out chairs, etc. This is the same for after the concert, that way we can all get to the pub (The Anchor, down the road) quicker.
Music
After the concert, please hand your music back to Judy *in your folder* with all markings rubbed out. If I remember, I'll bring a big pack of rubbers for the interval and afterwards.
We had a few pieces go walkies last term, so please make sure everything is back in the folders correctly before handing them to Judy.
Concert Running Order
... has changed slightly, to incorporate some mixed-choir stuff:
O come, all ye faithful - Audience Participation
Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Here is the Little Door
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Meditation on Veni, Veni Emmanuel - Organ Only
A Hymn to the Virgin
Advent Moon
- Interval of 25 minutes -
O Little Town of Bethlehem
See amid the winter’s snow
Bethlehem Down
The Three Kings
Away in a manger
The Holy Boy - Organ Only
A Spotless Rose
Candlelight Carol
Hark! the Herald-Angels Sing - Audience Participation
White Christmas - Surprise Encore
* Pieces in Bold will be performed in mixed-choir formation.
Concert Dress and Folders
All black, so black shirts, trousers, jackets, jumpers, dresses, skirts, shoes and most importantly black socks or tights. We'll also have an optional splash of Christmas colour, so greens, reds, silvers, golds - think ties, scarves, cufflinks, etc.
Please see the very happy photo from last year's concert.
If anyone doesn't have a black folder, Sian will be bringing some spares, just in case.
Cherwell Singers
Our friends at the Cherwell Singers have their concert a day after ours. If you're free, go and support them.
See you on Concert Day!
- Ben