Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Announcements

Welcome, Marcelle! Marcelle Dronkers, wonderful Bay Area soprano, music teacher, and "dieting diva" (ask her...) joins us tonight for a thorough workout of our vocal production skills. So breathe deeply, and listen closely – you may be amazed to learn just how fully you can sing!

Dress rehearsal. Our dress rehearsal has been set for 7 pm, Friday, December 9, upstairs in the church here at St. Mary Magdalen. Please don’t miss this if you can possibly make it!

Flyers & postcards. Keep sending ‘em out! Postcard stamps are available on the information table, if you need them. And don’t forget to post flyers at your local library, watering hole, workplace, etc.

Channel your inner author. Love history? Enjoy doing research and knowing where our music comes from, who wrote it, and what we’re singing about? Volunteer to contribute to the program notes! The short pieces only require a paragraph or so of information each, so this does not have to be an extensive commitment. Please contact Cristin if you would like to provide a brief write-up on any of the pieces and/or composers listed in the "music order" below.

Music Order:
First half:

Riu Riu Chiu (Spanish traditional)
Nun Ist der Winter Gar So Hart (Brandt)
Der Winter Kalt (Eccard)
La Nuict Froide et Sombre (Lassus)
El Desembre Congelat (Catalan traditional)
Gower Wassail (Welsh traditional)
Dadme Albricias, Hijos d’Eva (Spanish traditional)
Hoy Comamos y Bebamos (Encina)
So Trinken Wir Alle (Bruck)
Tourdion (Anonymous)
All Hayle to the Dayes (aka The Praise of Christmas, aka To Drive the Cold Winter Away) (English traditional)
Gaudete (Anonymous, from Piaes Canciones)
Kedusha (Rossi)

Second half:

O Magnum Mysterium – motet (Victoria)
O Magnum Mysterium – mass (Victoria)

Note: The program will also contain a couple of instrumental selections from The Gamba Group, which will be joining us on a couple of songs as well.

Shameless Plugs

♫ University of California Alumni Chorus (UCAC). A two-fer from the UC Alumni Chorus, performing Poulenc's Gloria AND Durufle's Requiem in the November concert. Sunday, November 20, 2005, 7 PM at Hertz Hall (UC campus). $15 general; $10 students, seniors, disabled; $6 UC Berkeley students. Contact Jody Ames for tickets: 528-4663 or jodya@ix.netcom.com (or just show up and hope there are still seats left). www.ucac.net

♫ Marcelle Dronkers, soprano, with Linda Schneider, piano, in recital. Works of Mozart, Rachmaninov, Schubert, Schumann, Verdi and Wolf. Friday, December 2 at 8 pm, at the Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Avenue, Berkeley (www.GiorgiGallery.com). For further details, contact Marcelle at 510-526-5425 or visit www.MADDIVA.com.

♫ Cantabile Chorale (formerly Baroque Choral Guild) presents Double Visions, a program of pieces for double chorus. Nov. 18, 8 pm, St. Gregory’s, DeHaro & Mariposa, San Francisco; Nov. 19, 8 pm, First United Methodist, Palo Alto; Nov. 20, 7:30 pm, First Congregational, Dana & Durant, Berkeley. Optional pre-concert lecture begins half an hour before concert times, with Robert Commanday, former SF Chronicle music critic, conductor/lecturer at UC Berkeley, and current senior editor of the SF Classical Voice. Schumann, Bach, Willan, Brahms, Hawley, Martin. Tickets are $25 (discounts available for seniors, students, or with advance purchase from a chorister). www.cantabile.org (650-424-1410).