Rehearsing for the Proms concert

Well, it's Wednesday and we've just had our first rehearsal with conductor Kenneth Young and the Southern Sinfonia, for Friday and Saturday's Proms concerts. I really enjoyed Ken's sense of humour. I think it is a required skill of any conductor to have all kinds of tricks up his sleeve to entice the musicians to deliver of their best, the way he wants them to.

As a "for-instance", while rehearsing "Pomp and Circumstance" Ken tells the orchestra that they should not rush, this should be all pompous, besides, it's BRITISH! The British don't rush, they queue!

For the choir he had this bit of advice when he wanted us to BREATHE: Try this trick when you practice your breathing - put an empty toilet roll in your mouth, close your lips around it and INHALE and feel your lungs really fill up. That's how you should breathe.

All his little stories had the desired effect - the orchestra and the choir delivered the goods. And then of course there is Helen Medlyn - what an awesome voice! She does not need any little stories; she knows how to deliver. It's going to be a great concert.

For those who don't yet know the performances are:

Friday 27 February 2009, 7:30 pm, Dunedin Town Hall
Saturday 28 February 2009, 7:00 pm, Oamaru Opera House

Tea with Peggy

Peggy and Geoff Tompkins kindly invited everyone in the City of Dunedin Choir to an afternoon tea at their home on Sunday 22 February 2009. After a weekend of rain the weather cleared up nicely so that, besides the tea, coffee, mouth-watering delicacies and much chatting, we also enjoyed a walk in their lovely garden. Thank you Peggy and Geoff!

See more photos at this web album.

Toward the Unknown Region

http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=4802

If anyone wants to hear a recording of this work, this is a track you can download from classicsonline

City of Dunedin Choir on Facebook!

We've done it at last: City of Dunedin Choir have a group on Facebook.


What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social connection network. When you log on for the first time, before you know it you are catching up with Friends From the Dawne Of Tyme.

I logged on only a few weeks ago, and before I knew it I was getting friends requests from people I hadn't seen in twenty years. A bit scary, but also more than a bit wonderful.

I will admit that I was reminded of my orange punk haircut and piercings from the 80s, my even worse poodle perm and shoulder pads from the everyone-influenced-by-Kylie days (and you wondered why I dislike her?), and the various exploits I got up to at school (don't even ask). Fashion has a lot to answer for.

But Facebook is fun. So don't let my bad fashion sense put you off. Facebook is an excellent way of keeping in touch of what is going on socially in your neighbourhood - and in the world. Which is why we now have a City Of Dunedin Choir Facebook Group.

Why have a City Choir group on Facebook?

By having a group for a community such as ours, we can create "events" (e.g. The Proms), and invite online friends to the event who would not normally know that the event is happening. This can increase attendance at our concerts.

If you are like me, you invite the same two or three people to our concerts again and again, and forget the rest of your friends, who often don't even know that a concert is happening. This is a lot of potential attendees lost.

However, on Facebook you automatically have a long list of friends at your fingertips, and it is really easy to send invitations to them. The event is created by a member of the choir group, and all you have to do is click to invite someone to the concert. Too easy! Then your friend can select between "Attending", "Not attending" and "Maybe attending", depending on what they want to do. No pressure on them, and no work for you. All good.

We can also list social events for the choir. For example, a group of City Choir members is now beginning to meet after rehearsal for drinks on the Octagon, and we're thinking of listing the event regularly. There are some truly lovely people in choir, and I know that I would love to get to know them better. By listing an event like "drinks after choir" people can know it's on, where it is on, and attend if they wish (we'd love you to come!).

But more than anything, we can get to know a bit more about our fellow choristers through online forums like Facebook. It is up to you how much or how little information about yourself you choose to publish. I don't use my real last name, but friends manage to find me anyway. Being a rather gregarious person has its advantages, I suppose!

Privacy on Facebook

You can select the privacy level you want for your profile. I'd recommend the highest privacy settings for everyone. This means that when people are browsing through profiles, all they get is a name (whatever name you choose - even a nickname is fine), and a photo, if you choose to provide one.

Searchers may also be able to see your friends list if you choose - and this is useful in helping people figure out which "John Smith" you are, if you happen to have a common name (trust me, everyone's name is common on Facebook!). So I'd strongly recommend making your friends list visible, or friends searching for you will not know which "Cruella DeVille" you are from the twelve listed.

Don't feel for a moment that you have to fill in all the blanks when you create a profile for the first time - I don't list my marital status, religious views, year of birth, political views or any of that. Nor do I list my educational background and degrees. I did not give my phone number or list my email address. People who know me know all that - and it is not the business of those who don't know me.

It's up to you whether you'd like to join on to Facebook - I enjoy the social interaction, I like keeping in touch with friends old and new, and I find out about events that I otherwise wouldn't if I weren't on Facebook (for example, my old school is having a reunion next year overseas, which I wouldn't have heard about if not through Facebook). I think it's fun, and I'd like to see more of us on Facebook, getting to know each other and becoming a stronger community.

Finding the City Choir group on Facebook

If you do decide to join Facebook - or you already have a Facebook profile - I'd strongly recommend you join the City of Dunedin Choir group. You can find us by doing a Facebook search for "City of Dunedin Choir" - it's that easy.

By joining our group you'll be able to invite your friends on Facebook to listed choir concerts, thus increasing attendance, and you'll be able to get to know your fellow choristers better, which is always a good thing, as we're such wonderful people!

See you on Facebook!

"Leanne TheAussie"

February Sales Table

Thanks!

Every month we hold a Sales Table to raise funds for the choir. These are two views of the loaded, nay groaning table, full of baking, preserves, plants, and garden produce which are sold in the break in the rehearsal. Such is the nature of the generous donations, we made $240 in the 15minutes!

Upstairs we sell second-hand books, magazines, CDs, and hand-made cards. Alas I was too busy selling the produce downstairs to take piccies of the upstairs table. But here are some samples of the cards that Leta and I made on the weekend.

They are laid out in a corridor, drying after we had 'fixed' them.

Elizabeth Evans

You will be very sad to hear that Elizabeth Evans died on Tuesday 23rd December 2008 after a long period of ill-health. Elizabeth was a long standing member of the choir and very involved in the musical life of Dunedin. Her funeral was held on Thursday January 8th and was attended by many choir members. Tecwyn and Lisa thanked her "army of friends" for their love, care and support and many of these friends are current choir members.