They’re calling it Snowquester.* We’re calling it March. You know, in like a lion, unpredictable, like the weather in general. As as a choir blessed with its own resident meteorologist, gotta say we have nothing but sympathy for the Capital Weather Gang, which seems to be updating its blog as much as possible, patiently answering people’s questions on their facebook page, and probably stocking up on coffee for the next couple of nights.
Us? We’re note-pounding like crazy! Snowquester’s snow part is likely to begin after we’re done with rehearsal tonight. Two weeks from Music of the Storms, rehearsal is a go, people!
You are coming, aren’t you?
7:30 pm, Saturday, March 16, 2013
UUCF (2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, 22124)
Students/Seniors $15, Adults $20, Families $35
Tickets are available online, plus we’ll have them at the door. If you have a friend at VCS, you can book tickets through them too.
Don’t wait though. We have a great program in store for you. As Jennifer Rogers Beach puts it, the concert is:
All over the map…many of them, in fact! Weather maps, geological maps, planetary maps, and a landscape of emotions. Each song has a connection to weather. We have three songs that were written in the wake of specific natural disasters. We have a couple that describe huge global events like famine and solar eclipse. We have some that sing about the glory and awe of the sun and the rain. And we have a little fun with it, as well.
In the many of the pieces, I invite you to listen for “sound-painting” – you can hear dappling sunlight and breezes, puddle-splashing, hard dry land and wind, haunting displays of light as it fades. Such beautiful writing!
Indeed, the songs have been so much fun to rehearse – Africa, We Sing of Golden Mornings, Louisiana 1927, Sunset, and Singing In The Rain. Some pieces made us catch our breath the first time we sight-read them – Singing For Rain, Requiem, After The Storm. All the music reminds us of why we focus on the weather and science education for this season’s Concert for a Cause. Again, Jennifer Rodgers Beach:
We chose a concert around music and weather because we had good connections to interesting programs and people. Then developed that content into a concert for disaster relief, innovation, and science education. We have a panel of partners ranging from international to right down the street, from rain measurement to on-the-scene disaster reporting, and from life-changing crisis to after-school innovation.
Indeed!
When you come in two weekends, you’ll have the opportunity to find out more about Ideaventions, the Red Cross (National Capital Region), and CoCoRaHS (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network).
And our program wouldn’t be nearly as good without participation from the National Science Foundation (Directorate of Geosciences) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The fun part? You’ll have to come and see for yourself. Because we’ll be helped out by none other than Jacqui Jeras of ABC7/WJLA-TV and News Channel 8! Ms. Jeras – whose coverage of Hurricane Katrina helped CNN win a Peabody award, and who has covered the E5 Joplin tornado we specifically sing about in one piece – has agreed to come and help us explain the weather, in which California is always sunny and mild.
We’d also like to send a big shout-out to a few friends – Anil Dewan, Linda Graham, Evann Grey, Bonnie Hughes, David Kleinbart, and Chuck Keenum – who have generously allowed us to use some of their images for this program. Just because they’re nice like that.
Thanks guys! As a largely volunteer-run organization with a tiny budget, we cannot thank you enough for helping us make the most of our vision to present this season’s concert for a cause.
* For those of you not in our immediate neighborhood, welcome to the DC-metro region, where nothing is untouched by the gubmint, including weather events.