Choral Academy: Parts 2-6

Ok! Here's the rest of the week following Monday's adventures. This is going to be a long post. Hopefully it makes up a bit for my lack of posts the rest of the time. (I tried to split the week in half and post Monday through Wednesday as one and Thursday through Saturday as another but since I talk too much I barely managed to fit Monday in the first one.)

Tuesday

Tuesday was when my actual classes started and since check in was from 8-9, wrenched myself from bed at 7, got ready (which actually included showering, blow drying my hair and makeup astonishingly), and headed over there. When we got there they gave us folders with most of the stuff and information that we would be covering the next 4 days. This included a finalized schedule and when I looked at it, much to my horror, it had us starting at 9 (which wasn't the bad part) and ended at 8 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday!! Wow! (We got out early on Thursday for our special trip so that day didn't count and we got out at 5 on Friday since it was the last day) I had seen a tentative schedule online before I went and was anticipating getting out about 5 PM or so. As such it was a hard thing to see. Luckily though, it seems the last class was optional.

At 9 we started with everyone together and they (they being Ron Staheli and Rosalind Hall, who are professors at BYU) outlined what we would be doing for the course of the week. After that we split into different classes depending on how advanced you were. I went to the level 1 easy classes. The first one was "conducting class", where we proceeded to learn how to do the patterns in BYU style, which is similar, yet different from the patterns described in the back of the hymn books. We concentrated on learning the patterns and applying it to staccato/marcato pieces as well as legato. I was SO SORE after that class because he had us practice the 4-beat pattern in legato while he went around and looked at everyone individually. It had to have taken him a good 10-15 minutes to get around to everybody. And since I'm not used to walking very much, my calves were really sore from Monday, so I felt like I just ached all over my body.

After that class was the "Master Class" where a student who signed up specially (and paid $50) beforehand got to conduct the class in a song for 20 minutes and was critiqued by the teachers. Each Master Class was for an hour so 3 students per hour and there were 12 in total, 6 for each day and then they got to use what they learned and come back and we could see their improvements. They also got DVDs of their performances to see firsthand what they did wrong and also what they did right. I was amazed at how much it helped me just to watch this improvement process.

Then we had lunch after which we came back and separated into levels again, this time for Analysis class where we learned how to analyze music to make you know where you want a song to go, so you can effectively use your time later on in the process on directing your choir to sing with good phrasing so the piece comes together as a whole statement, not just fragments.

Following this class we had another Master Class with 3 more people. After this class they had Q&A time where anyone could ask about anything they learned that day or even to get tips or hints on what the teachers found to be best/most useful. Then came dinnertime. (My roommates went and got something but for some reason I didn't have a very big appetite the whole time I was there and so I was not hungry.) I had some of my leftovers from lunch for dinner a bit later. At 7 we had the option to go to another class which I decided I would go to. It was mainly the teachers directed us in some songs and we got to see how they did in our place. It was fun to sing the songs and see this new style in action like that, by people who know and use this style everyday.

That was Tuesday and that night I made plans with David to meet him on Wednesday so I could use a computer to blog my week thus far. That as you know probably wasn't the best idea. Ah well, hindsight and all.

Here is a picture of my roomies (taken the last day). I feel the need to break up my words with a little something. From left to right: Rebecca (who was in my room), Denise, Melanie and me.



Wednesday
Wednesday was a little different because we had a guest speaker come and teach about working with the female voice. We started the day off in Analysis class and then proceeded to Conducting class where we went over our HOMEWORK (Seriously!! How could they do that to me?! Though the analysis HW was more difficult than the conducting one.) and then proceeded to learn how to show you want breaths in your music and cut people off so there is precision. After that we had another 3 people conduct for the Master class and then broke for lunch.

After lunch we had our guest speaker, Jean Applonie, who outlined some vocal issues that females have in general and went through a bunch of warm up exercises and tips to help expand your singers' ranges and help to balance your choir even better. Then she used some of the women in the class to demonstrate them and they went through some songs to show how it helps. It was an interesting class but I can't say I remember very many of the exercises, unfortunately.

After her lecture we had another Master class (Rounding out the 12 students doing it) followed by another Q&A session, which then freed us for dinner. At 7 they had another optional "class" that I decided against going to as all they were going to do was watch some parts of a DVD that the professors had been working on that is like a course with 18 units to learn different parts of conducting. As I had seen some of these during lunch the 2 previous times and felt there was a good chance I'd buy them for the exceptionally good deal they were letting us buy them for, I didn't feel the need to go. I think I just ended up reading my book that I brought, which was fun for me.

(Here's a picture of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from the 2nd row in the Conference Center in SLC as a teaser for you.)



Thursday

Thursday was the big special day! We started the day off with Master class (this time we watched the people who first conducted and we saw big improvements) Then we had conducting classes where we focused on cutting off at endings and bringing everyone in. Very important stuff that I was not very good at before. (I'm still not the best but I have improved.) After this we watched the professors (Ron and Rosalind) go about how they plan rehearsals as they had invited a guest choir of their old students (not very old mind you) to come and sing for us later that afternoon.

We then broke for lunch and came back to continue on with another Master Class. After that Master Class we got the option to go and watch/listen to the rehearsal with the invited choir which was being held in the Harris Fine Arts Center in the Madsen Recital Hall (for anyone who knows where that is). They did 2 pieces and wow! I wish I had a choir like that. There were a ton of students who came, both guys and girls who were all trained and it was a nice treat.

We then had time to go and eat dinner before we got on the buses to head to the Conference Center in SLC to sit up and sing (optional) with the Mormon Tab. Choir! We were doing this to watch the conductor, but really, I can't say I learned anything from watching him except that I could never be in the choir just because I find him EXTREMELY hard to follow. He did all the stuff that they taught us this week NOT to do. But even if I didn't learn anything, it was a thrill to be up there with them and we got the chance to go behind the scenes, as it were, of the Conference Center. Also cool. I'm glad I brought my camera for this! I got a few pictures. Not the clearest stuff since I turned my flash off as I didn't think taking pictures up there with the flash on would go over very well. I was sitting on front of where the men were, behind the organist, and several others were interspersed within the choir itself. They were all very friendly (from what I could tell from those sitting near me.) We left there at about 10 and got back in at 11. And I learned quite a bit about the MT Choir as one of the men helping out with the Choral Academy was there on the buses and he has been in the choir for 12 years. He answered the questions we had about the choir and what we saw. It was very interesting and even though I never wanted to before, it makes me really not want to join the choir. FAR too much time is needed in it. No thanks!

(Here are pictures from behind the scenes and from on the stage. Way cool, in my opinion.)

Behind the stage:


Waiting in line to go up with the choir:


Up with the choir at last! The conductor and organist busy at work:


A shot of the choir from my seat:


Friday

The final day was here at last. And my SIL's will be pleased and disappointed to note that I blow-dried my hair and put makeup on every day while I was there. Pleased because I did that but disappointed because they know it will not continue after returning home.

We started the day off with Analysis class then proceeded to Conducting class where we touched base on using our left hand to control the dynamics of our music and putting everything together. Using left AND right hand makes everything much harder, I tell ya. Bleh, I did need to learn it though. I'm going to need to practice big time on that account. We then had Master class and then lunch.

After lunch we wad a section covering working with the accompanist and they went over some of the things we as conductors should expect of our accompanists and also what our accompanists should rightfully expect of us. Also something I need to do more. Get together with my accompanist and figure out what I want in terms of the music I want to do and what direction I want it to go. After this we had the final Master Class and then we went right in and had the Final Q&A session and Last Words from the professors. We finished up at about 5.

At about 6 I got a hold of David and made plans (to go to the library and "study" since he had work to do. I kinda figured we wouldn't get much done and kinda wanted to go have dinner or something since I've learned that spending time with David means no eating...::sigh:: My 2 roomies that were left, Rebecca and Denise (Melanie left right after it finished) invited me to dinner but I had already made plans and told them so. Here's where it gets funny. Denise, as she had done before exclaimed "Your ditching us again?!" Where Rebecca kindly interceded on my behalf and told her I was ditching them to hang out with a boy and that we were probably going to go study. (They did make a comment that they were doing the opposite, they were ditching their boys to go hang out with girls. Kinda funny.)

Denise then wanted to know the scoop. I said there was nothing there but she insisted on telling me all the good makeout spots she knows of from when she went to school there. Rebecca then gave me the tip of how she got her husband to kiss her the first time (which involved rubbing her nose on his neck, which even if I was with a boy, I don't think I would do). They said they would wait up for me to get the scoop and proceeded to tell me that I had better get a kiss out of him. Yeah right.

So then I headed over to the library and we got to "work". It generally starts out as work, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't last the whole time we're together. I was trying to help him figure out a topic he could write on for this project/paper he had to do for a class. The topic of World of Warcraft came up, unsurprisingly since it is the thing that links us most, and he discovered that he could write on a subject that is in WoW. The details of his subject I don't know but he was extremely stoked to find out that he could do that. But getting on the subject of WoW is a deadly, deadly thing for our concentration and we didn't really proceed any further even though we were there until 11:15 or so. (Quite a bit later than I wanted to be up that night since I had to get up early the next day. Oh well. We're talkers, what can I say.)

I then proceeded to the Creamery since I was told I HAD to get their ice cream and I hadn't had the chance before then. It Was very tasty. I got back in was got a call from David as he realized that perhaps he should have walked me back since it was so late and he wanted to check and see if I made it back ok. I talked with my roomies for a while and they were disappointed I didn't come back with my kiss and Denise told me I had better march over to David's apartment and kiss him. Uh huh. I was sure going to do that, even if I did know here he lived. Not. I got to bed about 12:45ish.

Saturday

I had to get up at 4:30, which luckily wasn't hard at the time, even when I went to bed so late. (I wanted to make sure I didn't get there late for the shuttle that was coming between 5:30 - 6:00 that morning. Turns out I was ready enough that I could have gotten up at 5 and been ok, but oh well, better to be early than late. So I sat outside for a while until the shuttle showed up. We then went around picking up several other people. We had a full van of 7 people being taken to the airport. Interestingly enough a boy on the shuttle who had been up there for EFY was going on the same flight as me. I can tell you I was SO COLD on that dang shuttle and it didn't help that I wasn't feeling all that good and was tired. I sorta dozed off on the shuttle but not too much as I was freezing and kinda nauseous. We got there in plenty of time for the plane and the flight was fine and I was dozing at first then I watched a bit of Zoolander which happened to be on TV at the time. I made it safely back (obviously) but it took forever for my luggage to arrive. Bleh. Oh well.

I played a little WoW when I got home, even though I probably could have done with a nap, and then later I went to Little Tokyo with my parents, C&D and their girls. It was fun and I got some good snacks and stuff.

All in all, I had a really fun week!