No sightsinging class on November 20th

On November 20, at 6:00 at St Paul's, before rehearsal, Barbara Gilday and Maryanne Ward will give an account of their work in the West African country of Ghana. All are invited.

Barbara and Maryanne are the co-leaders of a team of Global Citizen Journey alums that is collaborating with a Ghanaian NGO, Western Heritage Home, in various projects in Axim, Ghana. Over the last year, they have each spent a couple of months in Ghana, with other members of their team. Together the North Americans and Ghanaians have built a combination Orphanage/Community Learning Center in the out-of-the-way fishing town of Axim. The team has also worked arranged for 21 orphans to attend school regularly. Members have worked with local leaders on HIV-AIDs and sanitation awareness, supplied the Manye Academy with extensive science materials, conducted Appreciative Inquiry training sessions with the WHH Board and in other venues in the country, collected the life stories of many Ghanaians, and in general continue to work with Ghanaians to improve life in Axim.

Barbara also revisited her Peace Corps roots, and spearheaded a project to provide about $20,000 worth of books to the new library at the school in Konongo, where she gave two years of her life as a teacher, in her earlier days.

Many of our fellow Whatcom Chorale singers have expressed an interest in our adventures! Rather than visit with each of you individually, we invite you to join us for an hour of slides, stories, and discussion.

Akwaaba!! (Welcome in Ghanaian languages)

Note Well: the concert times are 3:00 and 7:30. They are incorrect on the postcard. Please change them before you distribute the postcards. A fine point Sharpie pen or covering with a bit of self-adhesive label seems to work best to make the change. If you need help bring your postcards to rehearsal and Judy will give you a hand.

December 7th Ferry Terminal performance 7:30-8:00 p.m. Call at 7:15 p.m.

December 11th rehearsal 7-9:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church

December 15th Rehearsal 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Congregational Church

December 16th performances at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. call at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Please return your music after the evening performance in the envelope in which Ron distributed the music, or one like it!

Concert Dress
Women: Black floor length dress with long or ¾ sleeve, or comparable long skirt or pants and blouse that cover the midriff, black shoes and hosiery. Women's attire should match men in tuxedos for elegance and formality.

Men: White shirt, black tuxedo or very dark suit, black or red bow tie. Note: Red bow ties can be borrowed from Whatcom Chorale.

All: Black shoes and socks or hosiery; no perfume, cologne, scented hairspray or aftershave; no watch alarms, pagers or cell phones; small earrings and rings only may be worn.

Ticket Sales Begin November 20th

There are 90 singers and 800 seats to fill for our two concerts. Please plan to sell as many tickets as possible to make these concerts a financial as well as a musical success. This is a particularly good concert for families.

An anonymous donor will match donations from new donors up to $1000. This challenge ends on December 13th. Let's see if we can generate the full $1000. That would give us $2000 more for music, musicians, venues....

Our new singing session begins on January 8th with auditions for new singers and our first rehearsal. Auditions will only be held on that day so encourage prospective singers to contact Jessica Rodriguez for an appointment (jessrodriguez@netscape.com). We will all need a copy of John Rutter's Opera Choruses, available from Piper Music for $17.00 for the first rehearsal. We will have a few copies if you are unable to afford your own. Please talk to Ron Delbecq as soon as possible if that is the case.

Here is a partial list of Opera Choruses that I plan for us to sing next March. My plan is to have a representation of composers from several periods of music history such as, Baroque era 1600 - 1750; Classical era, 1750 - 1800; and the Romantic era, 1800 - about 1900. The next consideration is to select choruses that I believe that we can learn in the time frame of January - March 15th. The next consideration is that each chorus must be timed carefully to see what length will fill out an evening of music. There will be a description of each chorus to the audience to help them understand the context of the story from which the chorus comes.

So here is a partial list of choruses that I plan to use:
#3. Habanera (Carmen) Bizet

#21. Anvil Chorus (Il Trovatore) Verdi

#23. Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Nabucco) Verdi

#30. Bridal Chorus (Lohengrin) Wagner

#8. Chorus of enchanted islanders (Alcina) Handel

#12. Voyagers' Chorus (Idomeneo) Mozart

Women

#34. Spinning Chorus (Die Fleigende Holländer) Wagner  

Men

#11. Priests' Chorus (Die Zauberflöte) Mozart

 

Members pay an annual fee of $150 to sing with Whatcom Chorale. Singing is a full-season commitment, September to June. Singers commit to the full season to assure unity of sound and balance between sections. Yearly tuition can be paid in full by September 30th or in installments, by arrangement with the registrar, over the course of the singing year. Part of this fee is used to purchase music, which becomes a part of the Chorale library and the rest helps to fund concerts and rehearsal space; accompanist, assistant director and artistic director salaries.

. If illness or other significant life events interfere with singing the full year, the tuition for 2 quarters is $115. Single quarter singers would pay $60, but that rate is only available for those joining the Chorale in March.

The Board of Directors of Whatcom Chorale intends that no eligible member be turned away because of financial hardship. Partial scholarships are available and may be obtained by speaking privately with the registrar.