Vienna Choral Society

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Snowzilla and Spirit

January 26, 2016

A note from our executive director:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I give you the funniest Snowzilla meme to hit my Facebook feed, courtesy of one Chrissy Mead, steampunk soprano and all around wag.

snowchoir

Have to say, it seemed particularly hilarious when I first looked at it. You know, as the snow came down sideways Saturday afternoon. But there is a point here: Amid what Petula Dvorak of the Post called “confused snowfall estimates, regrettable junk-food decisions, an incubating October baby boom and a lingering sense of dread for many parents,” you can be sure some of us were going over our music, and eager for rehearsal this week. (Still questionable at the time of writing.)*

VCS singers will give you lots of reasons why we schlep out to rehearsal every Tuesday—including tonight,** plows and roads willing.*** But the biggest and most consistent reason is joy, and our audience. We sing because it makes us happy—whether it’s in fellowship once a week with one another, or alone in our blanket forts while waiting on OPM to make a decision already. And we sing for you.

We hope you have your calendar marked for our next concert. ‘Til The Spirit Moves, 7:30 pm, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Vienna Baptist Church (Marshall Road, Vienna). [Read more…]

Tagged With: blanket fort, Petula Dvorak, rehearsal, snowzilla, spirit

Venue Change For 3/26/2013 Rehearsal

March 25, 2013

The UUCF sanctuary building in spring. Although clearly, not this week.

The UUCF sanctuary building in spring. Although clearly, not this week.

Second week of rehearsal! We’ll meet same time and day – tomorrow, Tuesday, 3/26/2013. However please note that we have a venue change. We’ll rehearse at UUCF in Oakton (in the main sanctuary).

As always, the first three rehearsals of every concert are open, so please do come by and visit and check us out!

If you’ve wondered what we’re like when we’re not in our dress clothes, not “on,” and such, this is a great opportunity for us to get to know each other.

If you’re already sure you want to sing with us, please fill out the membership and registration paperwork, bring it with you and ask to meet Jennifer Rodgers Beach. She’s our artistic and musical director and will do a quick voice placement. And that’s it!

See you soon!

Tagged With: opera for the people, rehearsal, uucf

Celtic Arts Festival – Here’s How We’re Sounding

February 23, 2012

VCS Celtic Fest Mini Image

VCS Celtic Arts Festival Small Poster Art (artwork by Steven Keen/Keen Method)

If you’ve been to our most recent concerts you know we’re no longer a “stand up on risers, sing, bow, and leave” kinda choir. Our performances have motion, and movement, and dance, and interactivity. And some of it comes from us when we sing in the round. Here’s a sneak peak and what’s in store at the Celtic Arts Festival, when it’s our turn up on the stage.

Choir Demo

As Karen Akers, President of VCS puts it, “Big thanks and huge shout-out to Marco Sabatini of Professional Recording Services for making us sound like we weren’t in rehearsal, and that we weren’t walking in a circle around the room as we sang!”

Tagged With: ceili, celtic arts festival, eammon carolan, in the round, irish breakfast band, irish fiddle, john hughes, katherine hughes, marco sabatini, rehearsal, rich follett, tinsmith, vienna elementary school, william hughes

Hallelujah – No, Not That One.

September 28, 2011

Between K.D. Lang and Jeff Buckley’s definitive versions of Hallelujah, we tend to forget that Leonard Cohen wrote some 80 verses over two years, and finally whittled them down to a mere 15. This means that although Lang and Buckley’s versions can make you sway, no matter how often you’ve heard them, what can really stop you cold is a cover that feature any of the other 12 verses. And so it is with the arrangement of Hallelujah VCS will perform as part of its season opener, Music From The Big Screen.

Therefore, here is a prayer after a run-through at last night’s rehearsal:

Dear performance and singing gods, it is so lovely when we sing this song in unison, so surprisingly moving. And it is so immediate in the bubble of the choir with every voice amplifying the unexpected sanctity of the music, that it moved me to tears. Please, I beg you, do not let me puddle up on show night. For that is bad for business.

Tagged With: choir, hallelujah, jeff buckley, k.d.lang, leonard cohen, rehearsal, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fairfax, vienna choral society

Stubborn, Bumpy, Slightly Ill-Mannered

May 12, 2011

There are pieces we rehearse that make me almost comically petulant.

This tempo’s too slow.

These words are too complicated.

That chord is icky.

Clearly, someone needs a nap.

But it’s like that. Some music is just so darn full of charm (however you define it), you can see pretty clearly that singing it is going to be a delight (however you define that). Other pieces are stubborn, bumpy, slightly ill-mannered, protective and don’t give themselves up easily. And I’ve learned that loving them precisely because they’re stubborn, bumpy, slightly ill-mannered, etc. brings about actual appreciation for the depth, the complexity, the subtleties that reveal themselves only after some hard work.

The charming songs are by definition delightful, but the challenging ones – big rewards to be had there.

Tagged With: choir, rehearsal, singing, vienna choral society

Trust

May 7, 2011

Amateur choral singing is a lovely exercise in trust. As we rehearse, we have to trust that we’ll find the notes (and that the notes will find us); we have to trust the support of those around us; we have to trust that the simultaneous-but-fragmented attacks on various passages in random pieces of music result in a concert. And it’s usually the concert – with an audience applauding in all the right places and the warm approbation afterward – that solidifies that trust, makes the base sturdier and the next set of rehearsals even more productive. And anticipating the fun of the next concert even . . . funner.

Especially interesting is the trust that builds between the choir and the conductor. My first concert season with VCS was also Jen’s first season as Artistic Director. She’d already firmly established herself as someone who does wonderful work, but nevertheless, she and the choir were still getting to know each other. While we gamely took direction from her, there was still an underlying sense of “Um. . . . OK. . . .” Acceptance goes a long way, but even then, trust must be built.

Flash forward three concerts, to the middle of a rehearsal to prepare for the season finale. We are marching diligently through a piece: the notes are there, the harmonies are there, we are increasingly mindful of the way our “r’s” sound. Jen stops us and begins to speak of . . . water. Of waves that are unceasing, but never sound the same way twice, of the rise and fall that is part of water’s natural rhythm, of fluidity, of sounds that ebb and surge. She asks us to start the piece over, and we sing again. The song is completely different and when we are through, some of us look at each other in astonishment.

Trust transforms.

Tagged With: choir, karen Akers, rehearsal, trust, vienna choral society

About

Welcome to VCS! We are a teaching, non-audition choir where all voices and skill levels are welcome. We invite you to learn more about who we are, what we do, and if there's a place for you in our choir.

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703-349-7150

1) PO Box 310, Vienna, VA 22183
2) ATTN: Vienna Choral Society,
374 Maple Avenue East, Suite 300,
Vienna, VA 22180
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