Message to Membership – December 8, 2022

Message from the Music Director

Dear Chorale,

Thank you for your phenomenal work this week with Maestro Bjaland. He is very pleased! As always, I am grateful for your diligence in remembering what we had practiced, and implementing that when necessary. Last night was also a good example of being flexible (with tempos), and adjusting to whatever the person on the podium decides to do in that moment. It’s important to note that the reason last night’s rehearsal was listed as “orchestra, rehearsal“ on the schedule is because it was their first rehearsal. This is why there was a lot of extra time taken to figure out certain musical things with them. Thank you for your patience with regard to when rehearsal ended last night. It’s not what we were told. To that end, please plan on our rehearsal ending by 10:00pm on Friday night.

As has been mentioned many times, you need to work harder on the diction, especially as it relates to initial and final consonants (S, T, K, D). If you are doing it correctly, you will feel like you are overdoing it. This is most important in the middle of phrases, after you’ve been saying the same thing for a while.

A few quick reminders:

1. For Friday night, please be seated in the auditorium by call time for a few announcements from me, prior to a staggered seating call for the stage.

2. Our four soloists from the Yale opera program will be with us Friday night.

3. So that you may know what solo movements are being performed, attached is the full program. Reminder: do not follow the soloist’s music in your own score. Have your next page be the page a stand cue is on, or the start of the next movement.

4. We will not be doing any warm-ups Friday night, so please take care of that yourself in the car before you arrive. The same is true for SUNDAY in Litchfield.

5. Please review the detailed document from Emily Badger regarding where you need to be for Saturday and Sunday.

6. Take care of yourselves.

See you on stage!

Jack

Message from the President 
Dear Hartford Chorale,

As I write this, we are each preparing to motor over to our first orchestra rehearsal of the season. As we get ready to perform what is arguably the world’s most beloved of masterpieces, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your good cheer and camaraderie. Many thanks to the board of governors and to our formidable team – Jack Pott, Emily Badger, Sarah Chasse and Jim Barry – for getting us to this point. Have a wonderful Messiah experience. It has been four long years, and our moment has finally arrived. Hallelujah!
Lalitha.
Message from the Executive Director
 
Dear Hartford Chorale,
This morning, the WSO extended a discount code for the Chorale members and families for the NVCC performance of Messiah. Please visit their website to order tickets and use the code SING at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase.
Please see the attached document to review the information for our upcoming performances. If you are taking the bus, there will be an email going out later today with directions on how to get to the commuter lot.
Thank you all for your hard work! Last night sounded wonderful and I am looking forward to this weekend.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Emily