carmina burana | Vienna Choral Society

Thank You For Coming Out To Carmina Burana!

May 22, 2016

What a night, what a show, what a season! That was a full house with so much energy to go with a big show. And what a show! Now you know what that big round thing behind the baritone was in some of our dress rehearsal photos. Speaking of which….

We have pictures galore of show night, dress rehearsal, and behind-the-stage scenes! Unfortunately, Day X of rains is throwing off our ability to upload a thing to the website. Pictures are up on our Facebook page, though – and publicly available. (In other words, you don’t have to be on the book of faces to see them.) Do enjoy!

Thank you for coming to Carmina Burana, for seeing us one more time, and one last time under the direction of Jennifer Rodgers. Last but not least, thank you for your support. You make it possible for us to do something like Carmina – starting with your participation with Friends of VCS each fall, and ending with your coming back every single concert. We are honored to have sung for you. We hope you’ll let us do it again next season.

Want to get word early of season tickets and Friends of VCS benefits? Email us! We’re at info@viennachoralsociety.org We’ll make sure you get first dibs. Until then, have a great summer!

Carmina Burana, Our Last Concert With Jennifer Rodgers

May 18, 2016

Photo by Jim King

We’ve told you all about Carmina Burana, and our prep for it. We’ve told you about how people showed up out of the woodwork to sing just this one concert with us. And we’ve told you about how it’s the biggest show we’ve done, ever. (Yes, we checked. We’ve done large works in the past, but never anything with this many people or large moving parts, from the music to the props.)

It’s been amazing and exciting. But we’ve been holding out on you. We haven’t shared how bittersweet these last few rehearsals have been. Because this is Maestra Jennifer Rodgers’ last concert with us.

After six and a half years with us, Ms. Rodgers is moving west. In the fall, she begins a new professional chapter in the DMA program of the University of Washington, Seattle. Needless to say, sad as we are to see her go, we are happy for the future Dr. Rodgers and wish her the very best.

The choir has enjoyed this time with her. Under her artistic leadership and vision, we have gone from a choir that nearly closed doors in 2009, to a thriving organization whose wall of sound has encouraged singers to dream big. And boy, are we ending this season, and our time with her, on a big bang! To paraphrase her a bit from program notes that you’ll see on show night, this is a “Cecille B. DeRodgers!” show.

We can’t tell you more about that. You’ll just have to see for yourself. Let’s just say this concert will be a feast for eyes and ears. And for those of you who want to learn a bit more about Carmina before we sing it, Ms. Rodgers will do a rare pre-concert talk.

Between all the players—especially the kids from Mosby Woods Elementary School’s choir—and their friends and family, we expect a very full house. We’ll have tickets at the door, but we encourage you to buy yours well ahead of time.

Tickets are available online until 11:30 pm, Friday, May 20, 2016. Tickets are $25/adults, $20/Seniors(65+) and Students (15-18). Youth aged 14 and younger attend for free if accompanied by a paying audience member. Tickets are also available through VCS singers.

The box office will open at 6:15 pm. Doors open for the pre-concert talk at 7:10 pm. We sing Carmina Burana at 7:30 pm, Saturday, May 21, 2016, Vienna Baptist Church (541 Marshall Road SW, Vienna, VA 22180).

Please come! You don’t want to miss this. And you don’t want to miss the energy in the room when we are directed by Ms. Rodgers one last time.

A Q&A With Sarah Jebian

May 11, 2016

Sarah Jebian

We’re counting down to Carmina. Next week will be show week. Which means that last week we began rehearsing in our venue space, and brought in some of the guest artists. You probably already saw the Q&A we did with Mike Wingo, who has come in several times to figure out the logistics of the percussionists’ cartage and set-up. But he hasn’t played with us yes, unlike last night. Because last night we got to *hear* one of our soloists.

Sarah Jebian is a well known name in the area. Many of us have heard her sing before. But still, you could hear the quiet gasps of pleasure from the choir loft when she did her thing and hit a couple of those lovely high notes. She took a few minutes to answer our questions.

Caveat: Chew and swallow before you read. We certainly snorted coffee at a couple of the responses!

VCS: I say Carmina, you say…?

SJ: Carmyna, Carmina, Carmyna, Carmina, carmyna, let’s call the whole thing off (Not Really!!!)

VCS: Carmina is about unrequited love. Oh, and drinking. Lots of drinking. To the point of being insensible. Basically, it’s angsty emo stuff. Really, if Carmina was a pop song today, it would be?

SJ: Just about anything by The Cure? Honestly, I’m the worst person to ask about current pop music. I stopped listening in the early 90s. Long live Journey!!!

[Read more…]

A Q&A With Mike Wingo – Pencils, Magic, And Pure Noise

May 10, 2016

And now, a Q&A with one of our percussionists — the very fabulous Mike Wingo. No drumsticks actually flew during the making of this interview.

VCS: 2 pianos, about 95 singers total, a full house! How do you feel about taking center stage?

MW: Isn’t that where percussion should always be?

[Read more…]

Carmina, When The Kids Show Up!

May 3, 2016

Remember how we said there would be kids on the stage with us? They will. A bunch of them! (The number varies, but work with us here…..) The Mosby Woods Elementary School’s Mustang Choir was utterly charming when they joined us a couple of years ago, and we look forward to singing with them again in less than three weeks. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, here’s a Q&A with their teacher – the amazing Camille Haberland.

Ms. Haberland asks the kids to “give her an ooooh!” during warm-up of our Lullabies/March 2014 concert

VCS: 2 pianos, 5 percussionists, 70 adult singers, a full house! How do the Mustang Singers feel about taking center stage? [Read more…]

Carmina, The Soap Opera Of The Classical World

April 28, 2016

Carmina_Flyer_0416 Here’s what happened when word got out about our plans to stage Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana: We had interest from singers, “Carmina groupies” one board member dubbed them, who wanted to join us in the last quarter of the season. Just to sing the masterwork.

Sample conversation:

VCS: You do realize you’ll still have to pay dues, buy the music, and the attire, and it’ll be just for this one concert, right?
Singer: Yes! OMG I just want to sing Carmina! Please can I join? Here, take my money!

And then there were the singers who came back from retirement and/or rearranged previous work conflicts that had dogged them all season, just so they too could sing Carmina.

What the heck is it about Orff’s masterwork that moves us so?

For the uninitiated, you may assume that Carmina Burana is your stereotypical classical work. Complete with soaring music, a text with Kyries and Glorias, and a stationary, oh-so-serious chorus of voices singing music that moves you, but you don’t know why. Between the sweeping phrases of Latin (and German!), the thunder of the timpani, and that vague recollection of an Old Spice or an Australian beer commercial (“It’s A Big Ad!”), you are ready to enthusiastically applaud at the end of the 40-50-60 minute stretch. [Read more…]

On To Carmina Burana!

March 16, 2016

Thank you so much for coming out to see us, and sing with us last weekend! You are the most sporting audience a choir can hope to have, and we loved both singing for you, and watching you sing with us.

And now, we dive right into rehearsals for our final concert of the season. We sing CARMINA BURANA, 7:30 pm, Saturday, May 21, 2016.

If it’s new to you, Carmina is an opera with lyrics from medieval Latin poetry, set to music by Carl Orff. I know, you stopped at Latin. But it’s us, VCS. So what you need to know is that it’s the coolest kind of opera.

Did we mention that the words (on very human themes of lust, greed, all the vices) were written by snarky clergy in satire of the Catholic Church? Or that they were rediscovered in the early 20th century by defrocked monks? Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

Here’s the other thing: We’ll sing Carmina with two pianos, ~~six~~ five percussionists, and the awesome kids from the Mosby Woods Mustang Chorus. (Yes, the very same who sang with us a couple of years ago at the Lullabies concert, under the direction of the fabulous Camille Haberland.)

Have you marked your calendar yet? Please do!

Cura, ut valets!*

(*The interwebs tells me that’s Latin for “Take care that you be well.”)

FYI – we expect a big crowd, and we’ll have information about tickets ASAP. But remember, you get first dibs if you’re on our mailing list. It’s easy! Subscribe in the box below.

There. You’re done.

Friends of VCS Fall 2015 – We’re A Third Of The Way There!

September 17, 2015

Every fall we invite you to join the Friends of VCS. Why? Very simply – the arts enrich our lives immeasurably. And you make it possible for us to enrich the community with more music.

Our playlists kick start start the party, calm us down in traffic, keep us going to deadline, and tell us who we are. No matter who we are – young, old, professional, amateur, listener, or performer – the music enriches our happiness, and says what we can’t when we don’t have the words.

We’re particularly cognizant of that last part.

We live busy, sometimes anxious lives in this neighborhood. Everyone pays some attention to the news. We here in the VCS community? We pay extra special attention to refugee crises, government shutdown talk, deployments, elections, and papal visits.

When we’re stuck in yet another Metro delay, or waiting on word of loved ones, the music in our ear buds are what keep us civilized. Sane, even. And when we’re overwhelmed by events, the music says everything we can’t, and gives our emotions somewhere to go. [Read more…]

Friends Are In For More Treats

September 2, 2015

We were so excited to kick off our 28th season last week. In addition to welcoming several new singers and some returning singers (many loud and happy reunions!), we are once again looking at a great set of concerts.

This season will once again feature the carefully, joyously, and fabulously programmed repertoire you’ve come to expect from maestra Jennifer Rodgers. The energy and momentum of this chorus, so largely reflected in and supported by your generosity through the Friends of VCS, has allowed us to invest in “upping our artistic game.” We have expanded our choral repertoire and singing opportunities, deepened our artistic partnerships, and prioritized time spent on our choral sound and technique. And we are ready to pour all of that into our 2015-2016 season.

We’re diving in with a Concert for a Cause right up front. Animal Crackers will be presented in partnership with HART (Homeless Animals Rescue Team) for our October concert. We’ll have cats, birds, panthers, cows and kookaburras at the show. Well, in the music… HART will likely stick to puppies. That’s right – puppies! [Read more…]

Thank You For Coming Out To Carmina Burana!

Carmina Burana, Our Last Concert With Jennifer Rodgers

A Q&A With Sarah Jebian

A Q&A With Mike Wingo – Pencils, Magic, And Pure Noise

Carmina, When The Kids Show Up!

Carmina, The Soap Opera Of The Classical World

On To Carmina Burana!

Friends of VCS Fall 2015 – We’re A Third Of The Way There!

Friends Are In For More Treats

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