Before Freedom….

Hi Choirbolical,

Firstly – what a fantastic effort at rehearsal on Tuesday night!!!! I’m really happy with, and thankful for the effort you’ve put into learning your repertoire outside of rehearsals. Please don’t stop!! We’re on the home stretch now and will just need one last push before our upcoming concerts.

We are apparently receiving the George Michael “Freedom” arrangement this week (supposedly tomorrow). As soon as I get this, I will obviously forward it to you all, and I will set about recording some rehearsal tracks ASAP so that you can learn it as quickly as possible.

However – with this extra piece, it just means we will have to dedicate valuable rehearsal time to learn it. Could I ask that you:

  1. Continue frequently listening and practicing along with “Sing Me To Heaven” and “Father Father”. These are 85% complete, so one last little push at home would be much appreciated.
  2. Make sure that you know “I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free”, and “Heyr Himna”, and “Red Hot” from memory – Sing along with them whenever you get the opportunity.
  3. Sing through “E Malama”, “E’we Thina”, and “Mother Earth”, and “Riu Riu” every now and then to keep them fresh in your mind.

I envision that for our last two rehearsals, I will have to spend essentially the entire next rehearsal on June 20th dedicated to learning “Freedom”. We will then use our final rehearsal on June 27th to sing through everything (hopefully twice). So you see, it would be great to have the other songs under your belt, ready to go.

HAPPIEST PRACTICING! IT IS ALL WORTH IT!
Thanks,

Astrid

What To Practice Now

Hi all!

Great job on the weekend – with every pop up performance the songs sounded better and better. A really productive day of singing and laughing!!!

As a few more concerts and the Festival of Voices approach us, I thought I should just reiterate again what I would like you to focus on when you find some time to practice. The following pieces are in order of importance:

  1. Father Father. Listen to the track, start to learn from memory.
  2. Sing Me To Heaven. As above.
  3. Listen to “90′ Freedom” by George Michael*****
  4. Red Hot.
  5. Riu, Riu Chiu. Sopranos especially!
  6. I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free. Sounds beautiful, just learn the words
  7. Heyr Himna. Also sounds beautiful, focus on words.
  8. E Malama
  9. Ewe’ Thina.

***** The festival has asked us to learn a George Michael Song to sing at the Bonfire opening ceremony in front of 5000 people. They originally wanted “Faith”, but have now changed it to “Freedom”. Paul Jarman has been commissioned to especially write out an arrangement to suit Choirbolical. This is HUGE! I am so excited. You should become very familiar with this song. Listen to it a number of times, get to know the rhythm of the lyrics, and sing along as often as you can so we know the song really well by the time we receive the arrangement.

Here’s a link to the youtube clip for your convenience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYAc7gB-0A

Cheers,

Astrid

Repertoire for Upcoming “First Coat” Performances

Dear Singers,

As our first public performance approaches, I am proposing the following list of repertoire to prepare for May 20th:

1. E Malama
2. E’we Thina
3. Heyr Himna Smidur
4. Riu Riu Chiu
5. They’re Red Hot
6. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
7. Mother Earth

We will move between pop-up locations, and sing 2 or 3 at each spot.

Please continue learning and listening to “Father, Father”, and “Sing Me To Heaven”, but we might give them a little more time to cook before May 20th.

Happy practicing!
Astrid

Ewe Thina Lyrics

Hi all, here are the lyrics for “Ewe Thina”, which we have learned by ear in rehearsals.

Basses:
Ewe Thina
Amadimoni

Tenor/Alto:
Ewe Thina
Nyathe amadimoni

Soprano:
Ewe Thina
Sizowa nyathe amadimoni
I am working on the practice recordings for “Heyr Himna” today, so check the website tomorrow and they will be ready. Don’t forget to keep listening to “Father Father”, “Sing Me to Heaven”, and “I Wish I Knew…”. We will look at these on Tuesday!

Cheers,

Astrid

Fundraiser Concert April 9th

Hi all,

Some information and a link to the flyer for a concert in Toowoomba this Sunday, April 9th, that might be of interest to you.  I’m honoured to have one of my own pieces included in the program!

Astrid

 

singing of stories flyer A4

Three women composers with Toowoomba connections will be featured in a special fund-raising concert on Sunday 9th April.

Well-known singer and performer, Elaine Coates, with Fay Miller on piano will be presenting “A Singing of Stories -Songs by Australian Women Composers” at St Stephens Church at 3pm.  As well as showcasing works by Australian women, the concert will raise funds for Elaine’s humanitarian aid trip to Uganda to work with children in slum schools and with the African Children’s Choir.

The featured composers are Astrid Jorgensen, musical director of Toowoomba group, Choirbolical; Shannon Gralow, currently starring in “Wicked” at the Empire Theatre and Sharney Russell, jazz icon.

Guest artist will be Sharon Matheson on harp.  

 Tickets are $20 waged and $15 unwaged and are available from Elaine by email or phone 4596 6381.

(Tickets for the Dalby (30th April) and Bundaberg (25th August) concerts will be available soon.)

 

Practice Parts

Hi team,

Please find below some practice parts for I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free. Listen, learn, learn to love! These recordings came with the purchase of the song. I believe simply clicking on a link should start it downloading – if not, try right-clicking on the link, and then selecting the ‘save target as’ option.
I wish I knew (Soprano learning track)

I wish I knew (Alto learning track)

I wish I knew (Tenor learning track)

I wish I knew (Bass learning track)

 

Here also is some help for Father Father. I don’t quite have the time to sing through each part, but I hope to do this some time soon. In the meantime, here are the notes. Not particularly beautiful, but hopefully can help to learn some pitches between rehearsals.

Father Father alto

Father Father bass

Father Father sop

Father Father tenor

Finally, here are some old rehearsal tracks I first recorded when we learned Sing Me To Heaven a few years ago. I cannot attest to the current quality, but it hopefully will help new folks with their parts!

Sing Me to Heaven – Alto
Sing Me to Heaven – Bass
Sing Me to Heaven – Soprano
Sing Me to Heaven – Tenor

Thanks,
Astrid

Extra Repertoire (from workshop)

Hi all,

Here are two pieces from our workshop last weekend. Please print them out and bring them to our next rehearsal. Also, the remaining 3 pieces will be scanned and posted before our next rehearsal – if you could make time to check the website on Tuesday before rehearsal, you should have 5 new pieces 🙂

Don’t forget that there are also the other pieces up on the website if you are yet to print a copy (Sing Me To Heaven, Father Father, Mother Earth, Heyr Himna Smidur)

Thanks,
Astrid.

All new music from the workshop is now available under the Repertoire tab. Use your Login to access it.  cheers, Marion

 

 

2015 Updates

Hi all,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great Christmas.

I have updated the Repertoire page to include nearly all of the repertoire that we will prepare for the Festival of Voices in July. You will need to sign into the website to access them. Please print out copies to bring to our first rehearsal on February 3rd. A few of the pieces have been performed in previous years by Choirbolical, so a few of you may already have copies of some of the music. I will work at having part recordings done before we begin rehearsals again.

In terms of the Tasmanian Festival of Voices, I have received 19 ‘yes’ responses, with singers from each of the parts, so we are definitely confirmed to attend the festival from July 9-12. WOOHOO! I’m really excited. A list of names is included below. There is always the possibility to have more join us, so spread the word (especially to male singers!). There also might be a couple more Choirbolical members who want to come, but who aren’t signed up to the website. We can confirm again once rehearsals start.

You are welcome to purchase flights/accommodation at any time if you find a great price, otherwise I will put together a sheet of information to distribute in rehearsals. I’ve just spoken to the Festival Director, who says that there is an accommodation deal that is yet to be publicly announced, but for any participants of the FOV, Travelodge Hobart is offering rooms for $90/night. These are in the very centre of the CBD, walking distance to the festival activities, and available at this rate only to Festival Participants. If you want to take advantage of this price, you should simply call Travelodge Hobart and request the price.

I might have mixed up some of the women’s parts, but just let me know if your name is missing completely.

Soprano

Ritamay
Chris
Dianne
Dinah
Alison
Maxine
Marion
Michelle

Alto

Debra (+John)
Margaret
Rebecca
Helen
Pam (+Rod)
Judy

Tenor

Kent
Joe

Bass

Brian
Rob
Andrew

To get you in the mood for Tasmania, here is a picture of the Aurora Australis that appeared in Hobart on Jan 7th, 2015.

aurora hobart

See you on Feb 3rd

Astrid