From David Morales, Artistic Director, to the Cantare Chorale:
Here is a draft of our new season with rehearsals, concerts and repertoire for September.
We have four full concert programs ahead for us this season. The first performances are September 29 and 30, earlier than the mid-Oct date in past years. That means we will start rehearsals the last Tuesday of August, one week earlier than last year. We are hoping to give a Saturday night concert as well at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, but won't be able to confirm that until August 1. Lots of fun music.
The December concerts currently are Sunday, Dec 2 and Saturday, Dec 8. I'm working to get the Dec 8 moved to Dec 1 but won't know that until after July 30. We won't use full orchestra this year, but various instruments and organ to accompany a rich selection of repertoire.
In March, we will present Rachmaninoff's Vespers, all 15 of them. They are incredibly beautiful, a cappella, and most often in 8 or more parts. And our final performance of these will be in the new Cathedral of Christ the Light on Lake Merritt. Pretty great! We will give three performances of this concert, at Allen Temple Baptist, LOPC and the Cathedral.
In mid-May, it is an American music concert, including Hanson's Song of Democracy, Whitacre's little man in a hurray, several folk songs including all three American folk hymns by Kirchner.
Of course, I am hoping to have you in on all of these. That is the way I can build a great choir. If you know that won't work, then choose the ones that will. The season tuition is $330. It is $130 per series (fall, winter, spring). We do not have the website up to speed for payment online, but we hope to have that in place in another week or so. In the meantime, you can mail checks to the office starting today.
We need to get as many of you as possible to pay this month, July, and next month, August, as possible. That will help assure our cash flow status during these months when we have no other earned income. I hope you will help us on that front.
The rehearsal schedule will no doubt have some changes in it, but they will be minimal and I'll inform of them as I make them.
On the ticket sales end, we have reduced the prices on all our concerts this season, $35 max per concert and $25 for the Sept concert, and we will use various other marketing techniques to enable listeners to find their way into our concerts. We are also making some business cards for you to use in recruiting singers as well as inviting others to check us out.
I'll get more information to you later about a kick-of potluck as well as reflections on our Spain tour, which was a major success for us. But I wanted to get the new season to you and have you start confirming your singing and paying tuition in advance.
Looking forward to our being together again.
David
Unclouded Day
Sept 29, 7:30 pm, 2012, TBA
Sept 30, 2012, 4 pm Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church
Lerner & Lowe MedleyArr. Mac Huff
Summertimearr. Hayes
Modern Major GeneralSullivan
I Will Survive (women)arr. Huff
The Song That Goes Like ThisDu Prez/Huff
Not One SparrowHawley
Sure on This Shining NightLauridsen
Unclouded Day Kirchner
My RomanceRodgers/Brymer
My WishRobson, Lojeski
The RisingSpringsteen, arr. Taylor
Let it Be arr. Lojeski
Our Chorale season opener Unclouded Day is a sure winner for audiences of all ages. Included are Gershwin’s Summertime, Bernstein’s Tonight, and Gilbert and Sullivan’s hilarious Modern Major-General along with selections from Mame, Camelot and My Fair Lady along with fun-loving The Song That Goes Like This from Spamalot. Included are works by American composers William Hawley, Shawn Kirchner and Morton Lauridsen, followed with selections made popular by Bruce Springsteen and Rascal Flatts, ending with Paul McCartney’s Let It Be. We have this one priced especially for you including a family ticket discount. Did I mention there is free ice cream for everyone!!
