• Rehearsals start January 24 at our usual location, St. Mary Magdalen.
• This season we are testing a somewhat more streamlined rehearsal format, from 7:30 – 10 pm (with a slightly shorter break). We’re hoping the later start time will make it easier for everyone to arrive on time. Expect more focused, faster-moving rehearsals!
• We are very pleased that Richard Mix has agreed to be our interim director for 2012. Also, Ben Malkevitch will be returning as accompanist and assistant conductor.
• For those who haven’t been in touch, Arlene Sagan is back home and doing much better. Cards and letters are very welcome, and we’ll be trying to arrange a group to visit and sing for her in the very near future.

A few more details are still being nailed down regarding the concert date. Those will be forthcoming soon.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to come back and sing.

Greetings, Bella Musica singers,

As most of you know, our chorus has a deep connection with our founder, Arlene Sagan. This connection has been so fundamental that many of us had expected to continue the chorus only as long as Arlene still wanted to be our director.

At this point in time, Arlene can no longer fully commit to continuing with us. However… late though the hour may be, some members have expressed a desire to continue, and some wonderful local musicians have expressed an interest in working with us as conductors. This interest is deeply gratifying, and attests to both the joy of making music and the value of the community we have shared for the past 15 years.

In order to make a decision about going forward, we on the board would like to hear from the *whole group* to get a feel for the level of interest. We have created a very brief survey to find out how many people would like to continue singing with Bella Musica, and to learn more about our interests as a choral community.

You can take the anonymous survey here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XG57DQC

Only the 4th question (Are you interested in continuing the chorus?) is actually required, but the other information would be helpful for planning purposes. The whole survey should not take more than about 5 minutes to answer.

The Bella Musica board will be meeting on Sunday, Dec. 4, and we’ll be very interested in any responses received by that time. However, the survey will continue to be available through Dec. 11.

Again, thank you all for your participation and support over the years.

Wishing you joy and much music,
Cristin

Also, if you haven’t seen them, all practice files are available for Peggy Hart’s hot-off-the-presses “Canticle of the Creatures.” Please take a look!

Also, back to our regular location for the Nov. 8 rehearsal. See you all there.

Coming soon: brand new carols from Peggy!

If you have any questions about the practice files, please contact Cristin.

Great work tonight on the “Fecit Potentiam” sections of the Bach and Victoria, plus more of the Childs “O Magnum Mysterium.” If you weren’t there, we missed you…

Also, a couple of extra “Shameless Plugs” that didn’t make the Nota:

• Brahms German Requiem: the Arlington Community Church Chorus presents this beloved and moving work in English on Sunday, October 9. 4:00 pm, Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free! (As an offering, you are invited to bring canned goods for the church’s food drive.) Reception afterward.
• Vladimir in Butterfly Country: a new opera by Ann Callaway. World premiere “concert version” at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Berkeley, Sunday Oct. 30, at 7:30 pm. With soprano Erina Newkirk and bass Richard Mix. Part of the “Sonic Harvest” annual celebration of new music by local composers.

Since some people are switching around on parts, the practice files are broken up into sections, so that you can “mix and match” to get the parts you want. For all the chorus2-only sections, files are for S, A, T, and B. For the chorus1-only sections, files are for S1, S2, A, and T. For the “double chorus” sections, files are labeled to match the voice part order in the sheet music: S1, S2, A(1), T(1)/S(3), A(2), T(2), B.

Please contact Cristin with any questions or errata.

Go to practice files

These files will play automatically in audio programs such as Windows Media, Quicktime, Itunes, etc., and can be easily copied onto a music player such as an iPod.

Go to practice files