Rehearsals begin on January 16th and new members are accepted during the first three weeks. Concerts will be held in late April to mid-May, exact dates TBA. Prospective members are welcome to try out a rehearsal before committing! Please email director@matsucommunitychorus.org with any questions. We look forward to singing with you!
Fall is in the air and that means it’s time to get ready to sing! The adult ensemble will begin rehearsals on Thursday, September 5th, and the Kids’ Chorus will start two weeks later on the 19th. We can’t wait to see you!
Hi folks! Here’s the song order so that you can get your music ready for tomorrow’s dress rehearsal:
(Kids sing first)
Gloria
Bleak Midwinter – small group
Ave Verum Corpus
Chanukah Blessing
The Light of Christmas Morn – small group
River Carol
Silver Bells – small group
Winter Wonderland
Intermission – remember to bring baked goods if you can!
My (Alaskan) Favorite Things – small group
That’s Christmas to Me – small group
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – small group
Wexford Carol – small group
Christmas Candles
White Christmas
Hallelujah Chorus
Peace, Peace
Please arrive at the Baptist church at 5:45 if you can help set up risers, or at 6:15 for warm-up. Thank you!
Hello singers! Please remember to bring your Sponsor-Your-Singer and Program Ad forms to chorus this Thursday. Ad artwork for the program can be emailed to me: amber@liberatedsong.com.
This Saturday we will be caroling at the Alaska Vintage Market at Raven Hall, on the fairgrounds. The performance space is in the middle of the hall, next to the Soda Jerk Booth. We will meet at 12:30 to warm up and will sing from 1pm to approximately 2pm. Wear something wintery or Christmasy. Kids are welcome to join us for caroling!
Join the Mat-Su Community Chorus or Mat-Su Kid’s Chorus for our Winter 2023 season!
The adult chorus is a non-auditioned ensemble open to all voices. High school students are welcome with director approval.
Our winter theme is Holiday Traditions, and we’ll be preparing a program that includes nostalgic carols and member favorites that are sure to bring back memories and create new ones.
Rehearsals are every Thursday from 7pm-9pm at Mat-Su Evangelical Covenant Church, 5201 E Mayflower Lane, Wasilla.
New members are accepted during the first three rehearsals of the season. Please arrive early at your first rehearsal to check in and receive music.
Semester dues for adults are $60, plus the cost of concert attire. More information about membership in the adult chorus can be found at www.matsucommunitychorus.org and questions can be sent to our director Amber Sumner at director@matsucommunitychorus.org.
The Mat-Su Kid’s Chorus is a new offering that provides an opportunity for younger singers across the valley to participate in a choral ensemble! This group will be open to children in first through eighth grade. Rehearsals are held from 7-8pm on Thursdays and childcare is available until 9pm for children whose parents are in the adult chorus. The semester fee is $80 and homeschool reimbursement is available for some programs. Please email matsukidschorus@yahoo.com for more information.
Hello everyone! I am working on the programming for the upcoming winter concert. The concert title will be “Holiday Traditions” and the program will be bookended by two classical pieces that have special meaning for me: Randol Alan Bass’s Gloria and the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. I am looking for ideas from all of you for pieces that carry special meaning or nostalgia from your own holiday traditions!
Please comment here or email me (amber@liberatedsong.com) with your ideas. I would like some, though not necessarily all, of your suggestions to be accompanied in the program with a few sentences of explanation of why they were chosen by our members or long-time supporters. If you have a specific arrangement in mind, please let me know so that I can do my best to find it!
My goal is to have the progam pieces finalized by the end of July. Thank you in advance for your input!
Both of our choruses have had their first meetings of the winter semester and we had a lot of fun! There’s lots of amazing music in store for this season and there is still plenty of room to join us!
Kid’s Chorus (age 5-13) meets Saturdays, 10:00-11:00am
Adult chorus (open to high school students) meets Thursdays, 7:00-9:00pm
Both groups rehearse at Mat-Su Evangelical Covenant Church, 5201 E Mayflower Lane, Wasilla. The Kid’s chorus is eligible for homeschool reimbursement. Send us an email (admin@matsucommunitychorus.org) for more info or simply show up and sing! We can’t wait to see you!
Get ready to join us for our first rehearsal of the 2022 Fall season next week on September 8th!
The chorus rehearses at Mat-Su Evangelical Covenant Church, 5201 E Mayflower Lane, Wasilla, on Thursdays from 7pm to 9pm. We meet in the sanctuary building, on the left side of the parking lot, and you will want to enter through the double doors on the porch at the rear of the building. Registration for the season will be open from 6:30 to 7:00 before the first three rehearsals on the 8th, 15th, and 22nd.
We welcome all adult voices and do not require an audition; however, if you are new to the chorus, I like to have a short interview to hear your voice, be sure you’re placed in the right voice part, and get a feel for your choral experience. Prospective members are welcome to attend three rehearsals before deciding to become a dues-paying member of the chorus.
A full syllabus will be provided, but you can plan for concerts on Thursday, December 8th and Sunday, December 11th, with a wrap-up meeting and carol sing on Thursday, December 15th. For this year I have planned a program of classic Christmas songs that focus on themes of peace and joy, and I think they’ll be a lot of fun to prepare.
For those with young ones interested in the Kid’s Chorus, rehearsals will also be at the church on Saturdays from 10:00-11:00am starting September 10th. Send an email to setheroux@gmail.com for more info.
I hope you will join us and I look forward to making music with you!
Get ready to sing!
Rehearsals for our fall season will begin on September 8th. Please arrive early to your first rehearsal to register and receive music; registration will be available starting at 6:30pm. Prospective members may attend our first three rehearsals before deciding to join.
Rehearsals are on Thursdays from 7:00pm – 9:00pm at Mat-Su Evangelical Covenant Church, 5201 E Mayflower Lane, Wasilla. Please enter through the porch at the rear of the church sanctuary building.
The Kid’s Chorus will also resume for the fall. Interested families should contact stheroux@gmail.com for details.
We look forward to seeing you in September!
If you missed any rehearsals or wish to review, here are rehearsal notes for Consider the Lilies movements I through VI.
Throughout this piece, be very careful of tall, open vowels, especially on the Latin sections. The movements each have a distinct feel and it is important to differentiate between the upbeat hymns and the more legato sections. Observe the dynamics marked throughout and watch carefully as there are tempo changes or fermatas in every movement!
I. A Parable
This piece should feel connected and reverent; imagine a boys choir in a cathedral
m. 35: no breath between eis and Domine
m. 37: breath after perpetua
m. 39: be sure to hold through soloist entrance to downbeat
m. 43: no breath between Ah and Christe
m. 45: breath after eleison
m. 47: Soprano & Tenor breath after eleison; Alto & Bass hold to downbeat of 48
m. 51: Alto & Bass breath after eleison
II. A Hymn
Contrast smooth, 4-measure phrases on refrains with more intense verses; lots of rubato, especially on last refrain
m. 10, 26, 42: no breath after beautiful
m. 12, 28, 44: breath after small
m. 14, 30, 46: no breath after wonderful (except SI descant)
m. 20: no breath after sings
m. 34: Soprano & Tenor no breath after all; Alto & Bass hold to downbeat
m. 37: Alto & Bass no breath after Almighty
m. 40: all lower voices change “well” to a quarter note followed by a quarter note rest; SI sings descant, SII on Soprano line
m. 50: big breath, stagger breathing to end
III. A Keen
This needs to feel like a lament, slow and mournful; all soloists sing until “Jesu” at m. 17
m. 13: breath after Jesu
m. 17: breath after credo
m. 21: no breath after Jesu
m. 25: Solo, Soprano, Alto hold through downbeat; Tenor & Bass breath before Oh
m. 29: breath after believe
m. 33: breath after belief; Bass cut off as though to breathe & come in on 3
m. 37: breath after believe; Alto cut off as though to breathe & come in on 3
m. 61: breath after believe
m. 65: breath after belief
m. 69: breath after believe
m. 76: Tenor & Bass no breath
IV. A Hymn
An upbeat, joyous march; keep it light but be careful not to be too staccato
m. 6: breath after soul
m. 10: breath after whole
m. 14: no breath after roll
m. 16: breath after Star
m. 31: breath after tow’r
m. 35: breath after pow’r
Both tow’r and pow’r, be careful to sustain the open “ah” vowel and close to the “wr” sound at the last moment
m. 37: no breath after worn
m. 39: breath after goal
m. 40: no breath after fermata on Valley; watch for beat 4 after fermata & continue on upbeat
m. 41: breath after Star
m. 42: no breath after thousand; careful with timing!
m. 54-58: Tenor & Bass careful with timing and cutoffs on short phrases
m. 57: Soprano & Alto breath after will
m. 59: slight lift after fear
m. 60: pronounce manna as “Mah-na”
m. 61: no breath after fill
m. 63: slight lift after face
m. 65: no breath after roll
m. 67: slight lift after Star
m. 68 & 69: breath after thousand both times
m. 71: no breath after thousand
V. A Prayer
Very simple, unison melodies that need careful vowel shaping and attention to precise pitches without sliding; except for m. 21 after “Domine,” breaths are at rests only. Be careful with close harmonies in last four measures.
VI. A Promise
Think smooth, warm, and inviting, with just a little punctuation at the sixteenth notes. “Eye” should always be sustained on an “ah” vowel. Be careful not to slide on ascending intervals.
m. 2 & 4: breath after fear
m. 5 & 6: no breath after assail you, slight lift after with you
m. 17: breath after eye
m. 18 & 19: as m. 5-6 above
pickup to m. 24 should be in the new key: D natural on “when” and G natural on “the”
m. 25 & 27: breath after fear (cut off as though to breath & go on even if not singing next phrase)
m. 28: Tenor & Bass no breath after asunder
m. 32: Lower voices stagger breathing until m. 39
m. 39: breath after eye
m. 40: no breath after asunder
m. 41: breath after care
m. 51: this modulates up another step to a new key, but there is no lead-in in the accompaniment. Practice anticipating the change in order to get the entrance note for the new key.
m. 52 & m. 55: breath after fear
m. 56: no breath after furnace
m. 57: breath after fermata on you
m. 58: no breath after fermata; watch for each eighth note to be directed separately on “do not”
m. 60: stagger breathing in Alto & Bass until m. 67
m. 68: breath after furnace
ending: carefully tuned unison on call & response; stagger breathing on last 5 measures