Cuesta Master Chorale

Concert Dress | Rehearsal Help | Section Leaders | Parking | Membership Forms | Materials Fee | Etiquette | Photos

Note: the chorale now has a bulletin board. Click on the "message board" link on the left to go to it. Register (it's easy and fast) to read the messages and to post messages yourself. Your registration has to be approved by the administrators of the board to eliminate spam, so you may not be able to use the board immediately.

Fall 2007 Rehearsal Schedule can be downloaded (pdf). Get it here!

Special:

Watch a video of James Holyfield, chorale tenor, performing for local senior citizens. Background music for the short video is the Mozart version of Handel's Messiah overture. The video is followed by a tribute to John Randolph and his wife, Sarah Cunningham, who had a large impact on James' life. You will need Quicktime or another video reading program to watch these. Because of some difficulties with Internet Explorer 7 in loading the Quicktime plugin, these files will download first, then be available to play.

Small version (2392 KB)

Larger version (15,324 KB) (larger picture size, better quality)

Largest version (71,058): largest yet, best quality

Concert Dress:

Women:

Skirt and top: order through our chorale costume guru: Kimberly Knowles Nico. Approx. cost: $85

Hose: Whatever kind of hose you prefer (knee-highs, thigh-highs, pantyhose), in BLACK, especially if you are in the front row. (not fishnets)

Shoes: Please choose a closed-toe style. And comfy too! Black.

Jewelry: Most of us in the past have worn some kind of jewelry. Just use your best judgement. Wear what you like, but you may want to save that tiara for the after party.

Men:

Black tuxedo, white tux shirt (or similar), black shoes and socks

Concert and Rehearsal Etiquette:

DON'T wear perfume or other scent; DO use unscented deodorant. If you SMOKE, please make sure your concert garments are freshly laundered and do not smell of smoke. Please refrain from smoking once you are dressed and if you MUST smoke at intermission, please take your jacket off before going outside to do so. Many people are extremely sensitive to the smoke smell, which may cause allergic reactions or asthma attacks, so PLEASE be sensitive to their plight and follow the above guidelines.

Also, the perfume/cologne rules apply for rehearsals as well. And if you can change your shirt and refrain from smoking before and during rehearsals, that would be helpful, too.

Please don't flip through (read along with) the score during soloist movements.

Rehearsal Help:

Parts for individual rehearsing are available at the following website:

http://www.cyberbass.com/

You CAN download the parts to a CD. From the FAQ on the cyberbass site:

Great News: Placing CyberBass files onto a CD has become a much easier process now that a program called iTunes developed by Apple will convert MIDI files directly to MP3 files. Here's the procedure.
1. Download the midi.
2. Open iTunes
3. Drag the midi file to iTunes.
4. Select the midi in the iTunes window (if it's not already selected).
5. Select "Convert Selection to...mp3 or AAC" in the Advanced Menu.
6. Put the resulting file in your CD playlist and burn it directly from iTunes.
Thanks to Jim Le Blanc, of the St. Joseph Catholic Choir in Columbia, South Carolina for providing this information. If you don't have iTunes, download it for free at www.itunes.com. For more information, see the CyberBass and MP3 Page.

Check out the latest version of Microsoft Media Player (Version 9). Click on 'View' in the top menu bar. A drop down menu will appear. Click on 'Enhancements'. A side menu will appear. Click on 'Play Speed Settings'. You will now see a tempo bar at the bottom of the Media Player Window. Slide the bar to the left to slow the playback tempo. Slide it to the right to speed up the tempo.

Materials Fee:

Q: Do I have to pay the $25 if I already have a score?

A: The $25 is a "Lab" fee. That money goes to cover the cost of our performance venue ($3k per performance), orchestra music rental (~$500-$1500), orchestra (~$2,000), soloists (~$800-$1600), publicity, etc. It also goes to cover the cost of music when needed. One recent concert cleared about $5k from ticket sales after fees for the concert hall, but when you subtract all of the other costs, we basically just about broke even. We get no funds from the college other than the $25 per student, so we are financed strictly on ticket sales, ad sales and donations. It is our hope that everyone in the Chorale feels as strongly as those of us on the Advisory Board about the success and continuation of the Chorale and won't begrudge the lab fee.

Section Leaders:

Contact your section leader, preferably by email, if you are not going to attend a rehearsal. If you miss three rehearsals you may be asked to drop the class. Be sure to cc tdavies@calpoly.edu

Sopranos:
   Jean Corey 464-0592 jcorey@cuesta.edu
   Katrin Colarmarino 286-7480 katrin@nicholasconsulting.net

Altos:
   Lydia Marzano: lhmarzano@yahoo.com 927 5829
   Chris Ferguson: chris.mello.c@gmail.com 782 0271 (assistant)

Tenors:
   Richard King: rking3468@aol.com 594 1255
   John Kelly: yewjay@aol.com 544 9197 (assistant)

Basses:
   Scott Chapman 541-4123 scott@salledefers.org
   Lloyd Needham 239-3085 xchppie@charter.net

Parking:

Members of the general public (that is, chorale members) may purchase evening quarter parking passes at Cal Poly. These permits are a significant savings over paying the daily fee. You can purchase the permits from Campus Police. Carpooling also cuts down on the cost.

Membership forms:

Chorale members: If you haven't filled out a membership form yet (for the member notebook), or if you need to revise it, you can download the form here (pdf format). Print it out, fill it in, get it to Carilyn Anderson.

Calendar:

Check the calendar for updates on rehearsals and performances.

Photos:

We can always use photos of the chorale and our orchestra in action. Check Cal Fernandez's photos of the Verdi rehearsals. If you have some photos you'd like to share, get them to Judy Lautner (judith@judithlautner.net).