Vienna Choral Society

Counting Down – Two Weeks To Kick-Off, One Week To Workshop!

UPDATE: Please look at our Sing! page for the membership information and package. 

Have you missed singing? We sure have! Which is why we’re counting down.

We are now two weeks from our season kick-off, and we can’t wait! It is free to attend. We encourage you to drop by if you’ve been curious about us, and you are most welcome to bring a friend. What happens at kick-off, you ask? A few things. Here is what you can expect:

Kevin Warner (board member, bass) with Cynthia Cadden (former board member, current soprano section leader) at the joint rehearsal 4/15/2013

Kevin Warner (board member, bass) with Cynthia Cadden (former board member, second soprano).

[Read more…]

What Happens At Masterclass….

Two most common questions/reactions to our summer workshop series:

“What exactly happens during the workshops?” followed closely by “I have to do WHAT in a masterclass?!” 

Master Class John Norris Coaching Foto: Thomas Kunsch

Vocal workshops are about so much more than singing. (image by Judit fur Neue Stimmen)

So we decided to go straight to the source, and here is what our director Jennifer Rodgers Beach has to say: [Read more…]

When Masterclass Involves Wooing Mom’s Friends

Jennifer Rodgers Beach works with Masterclass 2012 student, John Ferri - by making him woo the ladies with his prepared piece of music (a medieval Italian love song).

Jennifer Rodgers Beach works with Masterclass 2012 student, John Ferri – by making him woo the ladies with his prepared piece of music (a medieval Italian love song).

Some of you asked about the young man pictured in our last post and above – that’s John Ferri.

In addition to being a baritone with the Oakton Madrigals, John is headed to the highly competitive Visual & Performing Arts segment of the Virginia Department of Education Governor’s School at Radford University camp this summer, for the the Vocal Performance Track.

John was also one of the more interesting Masterclass attendees last summer, for two reasons:  [Read more…]

Masterclass: From The Director’s Chair – with Jennifer Rodgers Beach

Jennifer Rodgers Beach works with Masterclass 2012 student, John Ferri - by making him woo the ladies with his prepared piece of music (a medieval Italian love song).

Jennifer Rodgers Beach works with Masterclass 2012 student, John Ferri – by making him woo the ladies with his prepared piece of music (a medieval Italian love song).

We’ve heard from former workshop attendees, including two Masterclass students. Seems only fair that we also hear from the directors, don’t you think? Up first, our own very Fearless Leader, Jennifer Rodgers Beach.  

VCS: How do you, the director, prepare for a workshop?  

JRB: I have a general outline of what I want to cover. Then I put my trust in what I know and being present to what is needed and how the participants respond.

VCS: The big(gest) mistake(s) singers make are _____________.

JRB: Apologetic/judgemental/critical thinking while they are trying to sing!

VCS: The big(gest) mistake(s) directors make are _____________. 

JRB: Using negative reinforcement – it just shuts singers down and makes them afraid to make mistakes!

VCS: What is your favorite exercise to improve technique? 

JRB: Sliding notes.

VCS: What is your favorite tricks to improve sight-reading?

JRB: Actually sight-reading! AND finding patterns and home-notes to refer to.

VCS: What is your favorite memory from a time you took a vocal workshop?

JRB: My favorite memories are from leading them – when students have taken a risk to try something they were sure they couldn’t do. And the times when very personal moments come up and let their emotions be in the room with us.

VCS: I say Masterclass, you think ______________ .

JRB: Interactive learning.

VCS: A student comes without a piece of music for Masterclass – what do you make him/her sing? 

JRB: Preferably anything (the National Anthem, Jingle Bells, whatever!) because the setting really works for a song rather than just vocalizing. FAR FAR preferable for masterclass participants to have a piece – even if they just starting to work on it!

VCS: Your Masterclass students will probably be a bit nervous. Will you be?

JRB: Nope!  I love love love the masterclass setting and I trust that anything that needs to happen will happen!

VCS: What do you do when you’re nervous – no, “find a bar” is not an acceptable answer.

JRB: Breathe and communicate.

Now ya know…why we adore Jen. She gets that it’s terrifying to stand in front of a crowd. And she will not judge if you need a tissue, or sing Jingle Bells. (Although please, don’t. It’s just …. wrong in June.)

Masterclass: Tell Me More, by Anonymous

Shy.

Image by Ollie Crafoord

Up next in our ongoing series about the upcoming vocal workshops, Anonymous responds to our questions. No not *that* Anonymous, just one of our regular singers who would like to stay unnamed, and we respect that.

We still have tickets available for the June workshop coming up this weekend, Saturday, June 29, 2013. 

VCS: What’s the difference between the Masterclass and the general class for you? 

A: For the Masterclass, we were instructed to prepare a song that we could work on for the class. I hadn’t realized that the Masterclass would be in front of the entire group and I was very nervous. After singing, Jen provided feedback and asked us about our own feelings about the experience and we sang parts of our song again with her instruction.

VCS: What did you get out of the Masterclass?  

A:  It gave me the experience of singing in front of a large audience.

VCS: Were you nervous?

A:  YES!

VCS:  What goes through your brain while Jen’s making you answer her questions? 

A:  I think Jen provided great feedback, as always, but I think I was so nervous that it was difficult to focus.

VCS: What was the audience like? 

A: The audience was very friendly.

VCS: Would you do it again? 

A: I think it was a worthwhile experience but I think if I hadn’t been so incredibly nervous than I could have gotten much more out of it. I think I would do it again, but it might be preferable to do in front of a smaller audience (e.g. the master class participants) rather than the entire group.

Stay tuned for more in this series, next up will be Jennifer Rodgers Beach – on nervousness. Because even directors get nervous.

 

The Alto Who Became A Soprano (One) Soloist

What summer vacation? We’re *busy* until we start singing again this fall!

Some of our busy-ness comes from summer vocal workshops. This year, we’re holding three. One in June, July, and August.

We happen to think the workshops are a great experience – no matter what your skill level. But don’t take it from us. Take it from one of our singers, Cherilyn Blumenthal (soprano one). Who by the way, wasn’t a member of the choir when she came to us last summer. So these are all her words.

(Although we *completely* agree that our director is amazingly talented.)

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Cherilyn Blumenthal, waiting before “Swing!” (Oct ’12) She was our scat singer for “A-Train.”

One day last summer, I noticed an advertisement for the VCS Vocal Workshop in our break room at work. I had been toying with the idea of taking voice lessons or finding a local choir to join, and seeing that advertisement felt like divine intervention!

Singing was an important part of my life when I was younger. It had social and academic meaning, and was an artistic connection I shared with my mother and grandmother. Over the years, I had let my vocal training fall to the wayside and found my talents largely relegated to the car.

When signing up for the workshop, my only expectation was to give my voice a good workout and determine if there was any magic left in my pipes, but I gained so much more. [Read more…]

“Face The Audience” And More Such Lessons

VCS all day vocal retreat group shot

Jennifer Rodgers Beach leads the vocal retreat – first thing, outdoors centering and breathing exercise.

We had a good crowd last weekend for the all-day vocal retreat with our artistic director, Jennifer Rodgers Beach. And everyone benefited even if they weren’t actively a master class participant, because you know what? The MCs performed their piece in front of everyone! Which means we all got to hear Jennifer coach, support, and guide singer through their hurdles – whether they were technical, creative, emotional, or highly personal. Particularly when she said, “This is a friendly audience….there is no better safe space than this, other than possibly, your shower.”

Master Class attendees (l to r) Joel, Jami, John, and Alexa

Master Class attendees (l to r) Joel, Jami, John, and Alexa in Q&A with Jennifer Rodger Beach (standing)

Some choice quotes and lessons from the day, in no particular order – paraphrased to make sense:

  • The audience also has a responsibility.
  • It’s always easier the second time. Trick yourself into thinking you’ve already been up there once, so you’re past the initial shock of being on stage.
  • Move out of the crook of the piano – that way you face the audience.
  • How you put yourself in front of the audience makes all the difference.
  • A relationship is important. Put communication first. You could sound technically perfect, but it helps you sing better, if you have a relationship — because after that beauty fades, we don’t stick around if the singer doesn’t have any thing to say anything to tell us.
  • Think of the person you love, focus, sing to them – it changes your voice, it changes everything.
  • Think of your rile-up issue – it gives you energy, power.
  • Take a better, freer breath, rather than a “bigger” one.
  • If necessary, run while singing, to loosen up! (You kinda had to be there for this one.)
  • “Being up here gives you gumption!” (From a non-master class participant who went to the piano to sing one unrehearsed phrase.
  • Shutting out the audience may feel like a blanket, but it’s added nervousness and you spend energy trying not to be nervous.
  • “In other words, stop being scared!”

(More photos of the retreat are at our facebook page.)

 

 

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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For Singers

Active choir members, find what you need here for rehearsal tracks, registration and dues, any membership updates, section leader information, Friends of VCS info, and more.

Contact

703-349-7150

PO Box 310, Vienna, VA 22183

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