Hello Alumni Chorus Participants!
Thank you for agreeing to sing in our Alumni Chorus to celebrate the
50th anniversary of Walt Whitman High School. As of now, we have
over 100 choral alumni spanning from as far back as the late 60s
to just 2 years ago. This is truly going to be an event to remember for
all of us. I can’t wait!
This letter contains quite a bit of important information including:
-information on the schedule for June 22
-directions on printing your copy of the music
-divisi within sections
-accessing the practice mp3 recordings
-YouTube recording information to help you learn and enjoy the
music before we meet
-what to wear for the day and evening
Nuts and bolts
11:00 am We will all meet in the cafeteria for a continental breakfast
hosted by our parent booster club. This will give us all a chance
to see old friends and make new ones.
12:00-2:00 pm Sectionals and group rehearsal in B102 and surrounding
areas
6:00 pm Call time in B102 for warm up
7:00 pm Concert in auditorium
9:00 pm Reception in cafeteria sponsored by our amazing parent
boosters
The Music
As this is the first time we’ve done a project like this, I had a number of
choices on what pieces to select for the choral section of the concert.
One choice was to make the music super easy, so that everybody,
regardless of age or recent singing experience, would be comfortable.
I opted to go another route, as I wanted to make this experience as
musically rich and rewarding as I could, just like you remember when
you were in the Whitman Choirs. Therefore, the pieces I chose are all
stellar examples of the types of music we’ve performed over the years,
both musically and in regards to texts. This will make it a litter trickier
to pull together in the limited rehearsal time we will have together. But, I
have full faith that, like riding a bike, it will all come back to you, and this
will be a magnificent chorus. How could it not be, now that you are all
grown up? :-)
Divisi within sections
Much of the music has divisi within voice parts (soprano 1 or 2, alto 1
or 2, tenor 1 or 2, bass 1 or 2.) Many of you let me know when you
registered, many didn’t. If you didn’t, please let me know your
division by Friday June 7. I am putting together a chart by voice
part/division and height-this will save us time in rehearsal. You can email
me your decision at Jeffrey_H_Davidson@mcpsmd.org
Printing the music
Please print a copy of each of the 5 pieces attached to this email. All
you need to bring to the rehearsal is your music. I will provide pencils
and black concert folders.
Practice Recordings
In order for this to really work, it is very important that you try to learn
your part in each of the 5 pieces before we meet on June 22. It’s simple
to access the practice recordings. All you need to do is go to our website
www.waltwhitmanmusic.org and click on the tab for Alumni Information.
There you will find mp3 recordings of each part for everything except the
Benediction (which most of you already know.)
Youtube recordings
The following YouTube recordings are highly recommended as you
prepare for the big day. Even though we will not necessarily do the
music exactly the same way, they are very good models to hear, enjoy,
and sing along with once you learn your part.
Blue Skies Irving Berlin “Blue Skies” by World Youth Choir in China
2008 (That’s the arranger, Steve Zegree, conducting.)
ALSO!!! If you are interested in the improv solo bars
53-67, let me know-we will audition it at rehearsal.
Kyrie eleison St. Mary’s Varsity Ensemble (this is obviously the Men’s
Chorus version.) It will still give you a good idea of how
the whole piece works.
Sure On This Shining Night Morten Lauridsen-Vox Humana (Dallas)
(the one with the beautiful nature pictures :-) Most of us
in the choral world believe this is one of the most
magnificent choral settings written in the last 30 years.
It is definitely one of my all-time favorites.
The Road Home Stephen Paulus, Conspirare, (more pretty nature pics)
A beautiful American hymn with a great text.
Benediction WWHS Chamber Choir (green template) For those of you
pre-1984 folks, this is our signature song, which we end
each concert with in a circle around the audience.
Clothing/Concert Dress
For the day, please dress as comfortably as you’d like-shorts and t-shirts
may be best in case the A/C is challenged (those of you who have
graduated from the “new” building after 1992 will understand)
For the concert….
Ladies- All black dressy evening clothes (we call it New York black :-),
black shoes also please.
Gentlemen- Black long sleeve dress shirt, solid color (your choice) tie,
black dress pants, and black shoes.
I believe the instrumentalists are doing something else-that’s okay-we’re
going to do our own thing :-)
Can’t wait to see all of you! Until June 22, all the best,
Mr. D