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Senior Choir | Junior Choir | Bell Choir September 2008 The Sr. Choir started rehearsing on Thursday, August 28 in preparation for our Homecoming Sunday on September 7th . This choir is open to any willing and interested singers who are at least 14 years old. Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings from 7:30 – 9pm and are held in the church which is now accessible to all with the completion of the ground floor of our new Parish Hall building. The Sr. Choir sings at the 10am services every Sunday as well as at special services during Christmas and the Lenten and Easter seasons. There is no requirement to attend every rehearsal or sing every Sunday. Even choir members need some “down time”! So if you travel periodically or have other things that would cause you to miss some Sundays or some rehearsals, please don't think that you can't join the choir! The more members we have, the more easily we can accommodate members' absences and still do the music we'd like to do. Just let me know when you'll be away so we can plan accordingly! Have friends who would like to sing but aren't affiliated with a church for whatever reason or think they can't sing in a church choir because they aren't of that denomination or maybe aren't “believers” That shouldn't stop them from joining us, either. We don't require that members of the choir be Episcopalians, be Christians, or even believe in God. We don't question anyone's beliefs; we only ask that they want sing! Haven't sung since high school or college? We'll help you get your voice back! We start each rehearsal with vocal warm-ups and exercises which help us all get our voices ready to work. The most important thing to know about this group is that we are a family within our parish family. We welcome all new members into our family circle where we sing, laugh, celebrate each others joys and offer comfort when there's sadness. Come to a rehearsal and see what we are about! The Youth Choir sings at Christmas and at Easter. As part of their Christmas singing they participate in the “Nativity through the Arts” program held at the beginning of Advent in Port Morris United Methodist church, just up the road in the Stanhope area. This year the Nativity Through the Arts program will be held on Sunday, December 7, 2008. The singers get to the performance location around 1pm for a rehearsal and then are done by 3pm. They also sing at the Children's service in the afternoon of Christmas Eve and again at Easter. This choir is open to all young people ages 3 ½ years old to 12. The children memorize their music and words so they don't need to be able to read yet. We usually practice for 6-8 weeks prior to our singing dates. The rehearsals last for only 30 minutes to accommodate younger singers' attention spans. Think a 3 ½ year old can't memorize music and words? You'd be surprised! Not only do they do that but they learn some of the basic American Sign Language signs for their songs. We encourage the parents to learn the signs as well so they can help their young singer with the words and signs at home. The young singers have always been wonderfully successful when performing their pieces! Youth Choir rehearsals are held, in the Fall, on Wednesday evenings from 6 – 6:30pm in the church. The first rehearsal for the Youth Choir will be Wednesday, October 15, 2008 . As with our Sr. Choir, interested young people don't need to be members of St James so you are encouraged to bring your friends! July 2008 Thank you, thank you, thank you Thank you so much for remembering my fifth anniversary with St. James. The years have certainly sped past for me and I truly thank God for bringing me to St. James. I enjoy working with Cathy and Pam who allow me freedom in selecting preludes and postludes and who are most supportive of my musical efforts. The members of the Senior Choir and Bell Choir are all delightful to work with and I enjoy all the time that I spend with both groups. I hope that the worship experience for the congregation of St. James is enhanced by all of our efforts. I offer my talents to you for the glory of God. Thank you very much for the Organist pin and for the altar flowers. Louise Olshan May 25, 2008 Update on the Organ On May 1, two installers from Allen Organ Company moved the organ to one side of the loft. Dawn Modugno and Russ Worthington got involved and helped to feed wires and pull up boards as needed. I nervously watched and I think we were all amazed that the work went without a hitch. Many, many thanks to Ed Modugno, Sr. who moved the cables under the floor in anticipation of the move. In addition to moving the organ, the Allen employees fixed a few things on the organ and with one speaker. On May 15, the carpet installer arrived to place the new carpeting in the loft. There should no longer be the sound of footsteps heard by those sitting under the loft. With the help of Russ Worthington, the organ was gently rotated from its new position and the carpeting set in place. The organ was returned to its position and then the rest of the loft was carpeted. It looks wonderful in the loft now and the organ is not uneven as it was without the carpeting. On May 22, an Allen Organ Company technician arrived to correct one problem found after the carpet installation. That evening I practiced on the organ and it seems to be better than ever. Come see how beautiful the loft now looks. Thank you to Ed, Dawn and Russ for their assistance with this move. Louise Olshan
Rehearsals begin: Oct 17 Sunday, Dec. 2 - sing our Advent piece in church. Rehearse at 9am Rehearsals continue for Christmas piece: Dec. 5 Monday, Dec 24 - sing at 4:30 Christmas Eve service. Rehearsal at 3:45pm. No rehearsals until March. Rehearsals switch to Tuesdays then. |
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Updated:
August 27, 2008
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Created: 03/06/07 |