Message to Membership – April 21, 2022

From the Music Director …

Dear Hartford Chorale,

Thank you for your diligence and patience as we continue our “first pass” through the May 20 concert repertoire. As I have noted earlier, despite our 25-month hiatus, there are times when your sound is beyond glorious, being rich, full, and compelling. Thus far, issues of intonation are minimal. The long slog through Perkins movement #2 was tough but not anything other than what I had expected. Its challenges are many, but its impact is marvelous. The only way to “conquer” this is for everyone to continue to use the MP3 enhanced-voice-part recordings and the tutorial provided by Scott. It was very clear to me at Monday’s rehearsal that many of you are investing a great deal of “blood, sweat, and tears” (maybe not tears) in your preparation. I am grateful. In general, and very important: This masterpiece is a vehicle for its extraordinary texts, and we must all invest as much time in speaking a dramatic delivery of their message as in “getting the notes.”

I salute our tenor section for soldiering on in Monday’s rehearsal, despite one third of the section being absent. That was unfortunate and unexpected, but I am confident that this will be rectified for next week’s rehearsal.

Monday’s rehearsal plan has been slightly adapted to provide the women additional time on the Brahms, and the men will have a sectional on the Perkins second movement, the men’s four-part section of “I’m Going to Sing” (Shaw/Parker) and the Biebl. The bulk of the rehearsal will be spent on Perkins movements four and five; however, as always, do have all of your scores with you at every rehearsal.

All best,

Rick

From the Board President …

Dear Hartford Chorale,

It has been a busy week for the board. Our Reopening Committee, now the COVID Safety Committee, met on Tuesday. The Committee reviewed our safety protocols given the current state of the pandemic. Please be sure to look through our revised guidelines. Thank you to everyone for remaining masked and in good cheer. We want the most successful concert possible.

Speaking of successful concert, marketing is firing on all cylinders. Let us help them bring in program book ads, make group sales. Pease share our social media posts. Our 50th anniversary commission committee led by Dr. Rick Wilson is working hard as we prepare for exciting events in May. Stay tuned for details.

I can’t wait to rehearse the Perkins movements 4 and 5. I’ve got a lovely story to tell you about how the text of movement 5 came to be selected, and I will do that on Monday! Until I see you then, have a wonderful week and weekend.

Lalitha

Message from the COVID Safety Committee (formerly Reopening Committee)

The COVID Safety Committee met Tuesday evening to review the COVID safety protocols for Chorale rehearsals. First, thank you to everyone for conscientiously wearing masks during rehearsals. Due to increases in cases due to the highly contagious subvariant BA.2, please see below our current guidelines.

  • Masking for rehearsals will continue.
  • The Committee strongly recommends that all Chorale members wear the KN95 mask (or equivalent) because it gives the greatest protection against the movement of pathogens.
  • KN95 masks are widely available at a low cost, but if you do not have access to one, the Chorale will have a small supply available at the next rehearsal.
  • A decision has not yet been made about requiring masks for the concert on May 20. However, if masks are required for the concert, all members must wear a black mask.

Zoom streaming of rehearsal will continue until May 9 for members who are sick or are not feeling well. As a reminder, being physically absent from rehearsals, even if watching via zoom, is considered one of the two allowable absences permitted for this concert. During production week (starting May 16) all members who are “COVID-free” must be physically present for rehearsals.

From the Office …

Beethoven scores will be handed out by Jeanine Lovendale and Danielle Foint, our librarians, before rehearsal on Monday evening, April 25, between 6:15 and 7:00 pm, and during the break. For your convenience, the Beethoven edit masters are now posted and available on the Members page of the Chorale website. The password is Chorale21.

Reminder: Women Chorale Members. A few of you were asking about concert attire. Please contact our wonderful costumer, Mary Ann Haar, with questions. Her email is laylockcottage@gmail.com. This would also be a good time to bring out your concert attire for a post pandemic audit! The link to purchasing our concert attire can be found here.

We are actively looking for interns (high school juniors and seniors, and college students) to sing in the B9 concert. If you know of anyone, please reach out to Russ Hammond, our intern chief, at (internships@hartfordchorale.org).

Message from Susan Porta’s daughter

As you know, my mother, and chorale member, Susan Porta, passed away on December 2nd. God, she loved the Chorale. She was so proud of being a part of it. A memorial service for her will be held on May 7th at 11:00 am in the Memorial Garden at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford. I live in Pennsylvania, so contacting people who knew her is a bit of a challenge. Please feel free to share my email address (debby.merino@gmail.com) or phone number (570.401.3774) if you have any questions. Thank you bringing such joy to my mother when she was alive.

Debby Merino

From the Media Coordinator …

Dear Chorale,

We are providing a recurring Zoom link for rehearsals. If you are unable to attend rehearsal because of illness or an excused absence but still want to benefit from listening in, here’s your chance. Zoom link is below and will be the same for each week.

Hartford Chorale is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Hartford Chorale Rehearsal Zoom

Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83910415884?pwd=Syt4empsWjdCUElHTDRhRFkzSGYxUT09

Meeting ID: 839 1041 5884

Passcode: 478543

One tap mobile

+13017158592,,83910415884#,,,,*478543# US (Washington DC)

+13126266799,,83910415884#,,,,*478543# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

Meeting ID: 839 1041 5884

Passcode: 478543

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcetf0wFmN

From the Marketing Committee …

Concert Program Ads:

We sold a few concert program ads so far and several other ads are in process. Let’s sell out the ad space in our 50th Anniversary program! The sales form is attached to this email. I reached out to the Chorale members who sold ads for our prior self-produced concerts so that they can offer the historic rate to their previous ad customer. Let’s sell a lot of program ads!

Ticket Sales and Attendance:

 

We sold 198 tickets so far! Please reach out to all of your friends and family to purchase tickets to our wonderful concert. To ensure maximum ticket sales and attendance, we need your help. What I’m asking from you is multi-faceted:

Please complete this Group Sales Contact form with the names and contact information of groups (Senior Living Communities, Performance Arts schools, Church Choirs, Social groups or Clubs, etc.) that would be interested in purchasing tickets using our Group Sales discounts.

Group Sales discounts are:

  • 10 – 24 tickets receive a 15% discount
  • 25 or more tickets receive a 25% discount
  • Group tickets do not need to be purchased in a single section of Mortenson Hall, but
  • Group Sales tickets do need to be ordered at the same time in order to receive the discount.

Use this media contacts link to introduce us to radio and TV contacts you know so that we can arrange for coverage and interviews for Rick and Scott.

Send us the name and contact information of any local newspapers in your area so we can provide them press announcements.

Let’s sell this concert out!

Presidents’ College Course:

 

It is not too late to sign up for the Hartford University Presidents’ College course Alive Poems: Commissioning a Symphonic Choral Work around Stories of Our American Heritage. Members and friends of the Chorale are able to participate in this wonderful opportunity! The two-session course will be conducted in the Wilde Auditorium on May 5, 2022, and May 12, 2022 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. You can register for this course by clicking on the link above.

This course offers music lovers a rare opportunity to gain an insider’s view of the commissioning and creation of a new choral work. Dr. Aimee Pozorski, Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University, will lead the first session focused on the consideration of the poems at the heart of the text including “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus; “Soy un Amasamiento” by Gloria Anzaldua; “The Storyteller’s Escape” by Leslie Marmon Silko; “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou; and “Remember” by Joy Harjo. Dr. Perkins will join this session virtually to explore the setting of text to music.

Our own Maestro Richard Coffey will lead the second session, with Dr. Perkins chiming in virtually, to explore the complex commissioning process and the selection of texts, and to offer a sampling of the music. Course attendees are invited to a production week rehearsal led by Maestro Coffey with the participation of Scott Perkins.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity!

Thank you for all that you are doing for Hartford Chorale.

Fred Baker

Marketing Chair

#KEEPTHESONGSTRONG

From the Golf/Auction Committee …

Save the date on Monday, June 27, for our biggest fundraising event of the year – The Annual Hartford Chorale Classic Golf Tournament and Online Auction! Please see the attached flyer.

  • The Tournament will be played at Blackledge Country Club in Hebron, CT
  • Scramble Format
  • Registration at 9:00 AM and Shotgun start at 10:00AM
  • Price – $125 per player, lunch included.
  • After golf – join us for a Happy Hour where we can brag about our scores and take part in a Teacup raffle. Follow the link below to register your foursome.

 

Sign up to play in the Hartford Chorale Golf Tournament HERE!!!

 

Online Auction starts June 13th. More details to follow.

SPONSORS – Do you frequent or support a local business owner? Ask them if they would like a bit more exposure by sponsoring a Tee Box or a hole for our upcoming tournament. There is still time; please contact Joan Hultquist (jbhultquist@comcast.net), for more information.

AUCTION ITEMS TO DONATE – Do you have something you’d like to donate, or can you create a themed gift package or basket? Please contact Dawn Bauer (dbauer658@gmail.com)

From our Friends …

The Greater Middletown Chorale crowns its 45th season with Franz Joseph Haydn’s late-classical masterwork, The Creation. GMChorale will be joined by Alchemy vocal chamber ensemble, Elm City Girls’ Choir, Orchestra New England, and internationally renowned soloists Sherezade Panthaki, Dann Coakwell, and Mark Womack, for a monumental production not to be missed. A rarely performed choral masterwork, The Creation has enchanted audiences for generations since its premiere in Vienna in 1798. Inspired from the oratorio tradition of Handel, The Creation celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis, the Biblical Book of Psalms, and in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Audiences will be transformed by the brilliant tone-painting and monumental choruses of the work as they hear light emerge from darkness, the foaming billows of the seas, and Adam and Eve, the graceful consort and the spouse adored before the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Please visit www.gmchorale.org to learn more and purchase tickets.

Please note The Greater Middletown Chorale is extending to all Hartford Chorale members and staff a discount code: createCHORALfor $6.00 off any ticket category available for new advanced ticket sales.

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The Music Series at South Church welcomes the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Professional Ensemble on Sunday, May 15, at 4:00 pm, South Church, 90 Main Street in New Britain. Based at Wesleyan University, the Center preserves, teaches and promotes various styles of Japanese contemporary and traditional music, with a focus on the shinobue bamboo flutes and Japanese percussion, including the taiko drum. Their mission includes fostering a community of practitioners, scholars and admirers of Japanese performing arts. Come hear this innovative ensemble representing the best of the art form! A free-will donation will be accepted.