Tuesday, February 5, 2002

Save the Date! It's a 'go' for Sunday, May 19 at Corpus Christie Episcopal church in Oakland. (More specific details to follow).

Bella singers who like to talk on the phone... We are planning to have a phone drive to increase concert attendance and raise money. Let Erica know if you might be interested.

Marcelle takes the Easy Way Out by providing a quote for this week's Vocal Tips...

1. "The greater the singer's concentration on the complete sound image, the more relaxed his body seems to become."
2. "The more the singer tries to concentrate on the muscular activities involved in his singing, the more tense these very muscles he is trying to control may become."
3. "The more the singer's mind wanders during singing, appraising and analyzing the manner in which he is singing, the more self-conscious and tense he is likely to become."

On Studying Singing
Sergius Kagen

[so nice to read confirmation of that which I have been assailing my students all these years!]

Meet the composers: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) stands as one of the last great composers of the Renaissance and one of the first of the Baroque. He studied composition with the madrigalist Marc'Antonio Ingegneri in his home town of Cremora. When he took his first professional post in his mid twenties, he had already published six books of music and established himself as a leading madrigal writer. His surviving three operas, Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, have earned him an important place in the history of that genre. He also wrote sacred music; Vespro della Beata Vergine are breathtaking in their stylistic diversity. After moving to Venice in 1613, Monteverdi composed and conducted virtuosic sacred music for the choir of St. Mark's, the greatest church choir of the day.

In his madrigals of around 1600 Monteverdi adopted new harmonic and melodic modes of expression, earning him a scolding from his more conservative contemporaries and branding him for future generations as a revolutionary. But revolutions are about ideologies; Monteverdi's aim, whether following the rules or breaking them, was simply to express the text as convincingly as possible. In all his works Monteverdi's supreme achievement was a seamless union of words and music. Our understanding of Monteverdi's life and works is greatly enriched by his extraordinary surviving correspondence. With the exception of Orlande de Lassus (1532-94), no other composer before Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) left so many letters; they discuss in fascinating detail his compositional aims and musical ideals.

"Shameless Plugs"

San Francisco's Hawaiian Chorus presents a free concert on Sunday, February 10, 2002 at 3:00pm at Bethany United Methodist Church. 1268 Sanchez at Clipper in San Francisco. They will be singing in English & Hawaiian. For more information, see Greg (bass).

The Trinity Chamber Concert series presents: "aka Fweeter", a women's chamber chorus. Saturday, February 16, 8pm at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana Street (@ Durant) in Berkeley. Marcelle Dronkers, Director, featuring the following Bella associtated folks: Sally Blaker (baroque 'cello), Matthew Edwards (piano), Jody Ames, Catherine Chang, Erica Grevemeyer, Christiane Khan, Laura Glen Louis, Meryl Sacks, Alison Thomas, Cristin Williams. Music by Porpora, Monteverdi, Mendelssohn, Brahms & others. Admission by donation ($12 recommended).

Bella Musica is being represented in the "First Annual" Berkeley Choral Festival, "In Praise of Music". Tickets can be purchased at a 20% discount for you, friends & cohorts of performers ($12(student) $20/$30/$40). The concert is Monday, March 4, at Zellerbach Hall. Proceeds to benefit the Musiacians' Pension Fund. Ask for a form or visit www.berkeleysymphony.org for more details. We'd love to see you there!