The sun always shines on the Cardinal Chorale and we definitely felt that it did yesterday! We started today with a buzzing and ecstatic breakfast filled with conversation and enjoyment. Yesterday we had pancakes, sausage, eggs, and had browns! It was a great way to start the morning off for another amazing day.
As we made our way to Walter Hall for a day full of rehearsals, there was discussion about our favorite songs. We talked about how excited we are to hear the music fully come together since we are only two days away from our concert. Matt helped us create a storm today with a full body, mind, and warm voice up. After a very stormy start to our warm up, Chad taught us another barbershop tag. One of the Chorale’s favorite things to do during workshop!
We then headed off to our sectional rehearsals. Today sectionals were exceptionally special. The T/B rehearsed with Chad for the first time and the S/A rehearsed with CRS. This was very special to do because these are the conductors who will be conducting us during the concert. We felt our songs started to come together and that we were doing more than just looking at notes and rhythms, we were making genuine, unified art.
After working hard, we were off to lunch, We had a fiesta bar with a make your own tacos. The Muskingum Dining staff has been hard at work all week making our meals and leaving our bellies full for all of our rehearsals. So the Chorale decided to sing “Thank You Very Much,” bringing bright smiles and some tears to the staff’s faces.
Yesterday was a very special day as we started our auditions for solos. These auditions are scary and sometimes very intimidating but Matt provided the Chorale with some works of wisdom. He said, “we aren’t picking the best soloist of the group, we are just picking the right crayon out of the crayon box.” We were all so supportive of each other, and that is another very special thing about the Chorale’s spirit
We wrapped up our seminars yesterday afternoon. It was very bittersweet, as the staff puts a lot of time and consideration into providing an educational stuff for us. Musicianship was crazy today as Matt played a recorded with his nose which was both disgusting yet impressive. Finally, we made it to our first full rehearsal of the day. We’ve gotten to the point of the rehearsal that we are starting to get diligent and detailed, and really are starting to make the music mean something.
Before we knew it was time for dinner and last night’s dinner groups were based on everyone’s favorite Little Debbie snack!! It was as always a fun time discussing our favorite snack as well as other topics that we as a group can connect on making “forced mingling” feel completely natural. We headed back to Walter to continue rehearsing as a full group. Even taking the time to showcase the S/A song “The New Girl In Town,” with our newly added movement and sassy attitude.
Our evening ended with another concert from our concert series and a very special one at that. Last night was the Len Thomas tribute concert. Len was a long time friend of the Chorale, and recently passed and we wanted to honor him for the night. It was truly a special experience. Matt took us through Lenny’s life from his birth to his final contributions to the Chorale and everything in between. We even got to listen to some songs he composed and arranged. Lens memory will forever be kept alive and his songs will live on. We are so grateful for his contributions to the Chorale and all he has done over the years. Making us laugh, cry, and smile. He truly represents everything amazing about the Cardinal Chorale.