Message to Membership – December 14, 2023

Message from the Music Director

Dear Chorale,

I am so proud of the work you have done since we began this journey on October 30. There may be a few “loose ends” that can be fixed/addressed by each of you before our Dress Rehearsal next TUESDAY, but overall, we are in good shape heading into production week. Sopranos have already received some fabulous notes from one of their VSLs, and I would encourage each of you to take that extra time to make sure that as you turn each page within each work that nothing is surprising. I also find that practice to be a useful one because it usually reminds me of things that happened in rehearsal that I forgot to note in my score. Please be sure you have put in the Stand/Sit cues (attached).

For the Dress Rehearsal, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Be on time, no exceptions. The 6:30pm call time is to allow everyone to get in the building, find their seat on the seating chart, and actually be seated so that we can start at promptly at 7:00pm. Plan for traffic. Plan for difficulty parking. Being early is always better. Rehearsal will end at 9:30pm

The acoustics – While the overall sound of the orchestra and choir in the Cathedral will be stunning, it will also present us will an enormous challenge. You all will be further away from me than you are in rehearsal because of the orchestra between us and platforms/chairs. Therefore, the only way we will stay together as an ensemble is if you look at me more than you look at your music. I can’t stress that enough. In a reverberant space like this, you cannot rely on your ears to stay together. It must be your eyes.

The orchestra – I received the personnel list for the orchestra earlier this week. You will see many familiar faces from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, including Concert-master, Leonid Sigal. We have the best of the best with us in this concert. Just another reason to invite people to attend!

Masks – as always, any singer is welcome to wear a mask when singing. However, for the concert, it must be black.

Guest Singers – in addition to the 16-member Schola Cantorum who joined us this past Monday, there will be 30 singers from the AHCC Sanctuary Choir joining us ( I have been rehearsing them as well.) For the concert, our guests will be wearing all-black. We will be in our standard concert attire. Thank you in advance for being welcoming and hospitable.

Volunteers Needed – We are still in need of 8-10 volunteers to help pass out programs and greet the (sizeable) audience. Please let Emily know via email if you have someone who can help with this!

That’s all I have for. I am so looking forward to making music with you all next week, and bringing this “musical gift” to our beloved Hartford.

Jack

Message from the President

Dear Hartford Chorale,

We are almost at the ready! There is much excitement in the community about next week. Please do tell your friends and family all about how wonderful we sound. Let’s sing to a full house!

It’s astonishing to think this was an outlandish aspiration just a few short months ago. An anonymous donor gave us the courage and audacity to think a gift to our community was even possible.

From there, began an incredible fund raise, recruitment effort and arrangements for the concert. The board has worked incredibly hard to make all of this possible. My sincere thanks to them for all their work, and to you for preparing with the excellence that can only be the Hartford Chorale.

Please stay well and energized. All roads lead to Wednesday!

Lalitha

Message from the Executive Director

Dear Hartford Chorale,

I cannot believe that we are less than a week away from our concert! Thank you to everyone who has spread the message through word of mouth, flyers, social media, and more — our efforts are sure paying off! We are expecting over 1,000 people to attend this concert.

That being said, on the night of the performance — I highly encourage everyone to carpool to make parking less difficult.

For dress rehearsal, members are welcome to park in the Cathedral lot, however on the night of the performance we ask that you park in the back section of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church lot. Do NOT park in the Cathedral lot on performance night.

On the performance night, there will be several lots open to park. The Cathedral’s lot and the Asylum Hill Congregational Church lot will be open to guests, along with two lots from The Hartford Insurance Group, and street parking. Parking will be difficult so please advise attendees to plan accordingly.

Call time for Tuesday is 6:30PM, please arrive on time (or early) so that rehearsal can proceed on time.

We are still looking for about 10 more volunteers to be ushers for this event. If you know anyone who is interested, please have them fill out the form below or contact the admin email. Thank you!

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Have a good weekend!

Emily