Prague and Dresden 2009

DMNCHOIR! will be in Prague, Czech Republic and Dresden, Germany from 7-17 December 2009.

Competition's on 12 December, so do pray for us!

Love you much!

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Tour in 1 day!

DMNCHOIR! EUROPE TOUR 2009 IS IN ONE DAYYYYYY!

Without knowing what the songs we are singing mean, however much effort we put into singing it would be useless. Thus, I'm posting the English translations and the song's history!

Audete, Gaudete

Latin:

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Tempus adest gratiæ
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina lætitiæ
Devote reddamus.

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Deus homo factus est
Natura mirante,
Mundus renovatus est
A Christo regnante.

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Ezechielis porta
Clausa pertransitur,
Unde lux est orta
Salus invenitur.

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Ergo nostra contio
Psallat lam in lustro;
Benedicat Domino:
Salus Regi nostro.

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

English:
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

The time of grace has come
That we have desired;
Let us devoutly return
Joyful verses.

Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

God has become man,
And nature marvels;
The world has been renewed
By Christ who is King.

Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

The closed gate of Ezechiel
Has been passed through;
Whence the light is born,
Salvation is found.

Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

Therefore let our gathering
Now sing in brightness
Let it give praise to the Lord:
Greeting to our King.

Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!

History:

"Gaudete" (pronounced gow-DAE-tae, "rejoice" in Latin) is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in the Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.

The text, in Latin, is a typical song of praise, probably stemming from the Middle Ages. It follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary or the Saints of Christmas.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudete

O Magnum Mysterium

Latin:

O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.

English:

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!

History:

O Magnum Mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. A number of composers have reworked the chant into a contemporaneous setting; the settings by Byrd, Victoria, Gabrieli, Palestrina, Poulenc, Harbison, La Rocca, Messiaen, Mäntyjärvi, Pierre Villette and Lauridsen are notable.

Two upper voices begin a duet in reverential awe, imitating a "great" fall of a melodic fifth, and an intense half-step -- thus opens one of the most famous motets of the entire sixteenth century, Tomas Luis de Victoria's O magnum mysterium. And yet the young Spanish composer offers nothing truly revolutionary in the work; rather he demonstrates his traditional musical training in conservative Counter-Reformation Rome, which resulted in a characteristically intense attention to each minute detail of his composition. An overused, but still apt, comparison to the painting of the Spanish artist El Greco notes the similar attention both men placed on the emotional content of each brushstroke and how the totality of these individual strokes creates the complete affect. Victoria published this motet in his first musical anthology (the Motecta of 1572, published by Gardano in Venice), when he was only 24. Its inscription assigns it to the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, though the text actually comes from a responsory of the Christmas Matins service, and more appropriately matches the Christmas celebration. What a great mystery, cries the text, that the lowly animals may view the Messiah born in a manger and the blessed Virgin who bore Him. Alleluia. Victoria's setting moves from its long-breathed and reverential opening into a suave series of imitative passages, concluding with the text "laid in a manger." For the exclamation "O beata Virgo" ("O Blessed Virgin!"), a general pause sets up a hushed and mystical passage of homophony: the outer voices move in parallel, with relative immobility in the center blurring the rhythmic lines. This passage proved too extraordinary to feature at all in the mass which Victoria based upon this motet, though he did quote the gesture in a later motet, Vere languores. Two jubilant "Alleluia" sections (one in a dance-like triple time) close the motet and suggest necessary revision of the popular image of Victoria as merely a pale, brooding kind of Catholic.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Magnum_Mysterium and http://www.answers.com/topic/o-magnum-mysterium-motet-for-4-voices

Ping An Ye

Chinese:

平安夜里真平安
小小耶稣来世上
天国的消息他宣扬
人间的希望他点燃

振光阿已照亮
照亮在人心上
他的故事万人传
平安夜里真平安

平安， 平安，真平安

平安， 平安，真平安

平安， 平安，真平安

平安， 平安，真平安

平安夜里真平安
小小耶稣来世上
天国的消息他宣扬
人间的希望他点燃

振光阿已照亮
照亮在人心上
他的故事万人传
平安夜里真平安

平安夜里真平安

English：

The peaceful night was very peaceful

Baby Jesus came to the world

He spread the word of God

He lit up Man's hope for salvation

The light of the Lord has been lit

Lit in the hearts of multitudes of people

His story will be passed on by everyone

The peaceful night is very peaceful

Peace, peace, so peaceful

Peace, peace, so peaceful

Peace, peace, so peaceful

Peace, peace, so peaceful

The peaceful night was very peaceful

Baby Jesus came to the world

He spread the word of God

He lit up Man's hope for salvation

The light of the Lord has been lit

Lit in the hearts of multitudes of people

His story will be passed on by everyone

The peaceful night is very peaceful

The peaceful night is very peaceful

History:

This song is a popular Taiwanese Christmas carol.

Kasar Mie La Gaji

African Sahel:

Kasar mie la gaji

English:

The Earth is tired.

History:

Kasar mie la Gaji is Alberto Grau’s call for environmental awareness and responsiveness. This work was selected for review because it reflects Grau’s compositional techniques within a compact and concentrated form. It is composed for unaccompanied mixed chorus. “Kasar mie la Gaji” (“The Earth is Tired) is a phrase said by inhabitants of the African Sahel (shore), which is in the southern area of the Sahara desert. The desperation and weariness of the message is characterized by the repeating of only this text. The work is designed on repetition. It is an example of the quasi-minimalism that Alberto Grau mentions in his interview. There is a steady reiteration of text, melody, and various rhythmic devices. (Please click on the source link to read the full article. It is very very useful.)

Source: http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-3898:1

Hope you all now have a greater feeling about the songs!

All the best for Europe Tour 2009!

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PROJECT EDELWEISS.

DMNCHOIR!

Tomorrow, meet at AVT at 0630, IN THE MORNING NOT EVENING!
Come in RED CHOIR TEE, no need to wear any other shirt/blouse.

We are performing at around 0730, so we have just about one hour to do everything. Thus you can help by doing warmups on the way to school! :D

We will be performing Irish Blessing and Edelweiss. If you dunno how to sing Irish Blessing and don't wanna perform for some reason, tell me and your SL please.

Edelweiss- Julie Andrews


An Irish Blessing- The UST Singers


Tomorrow is our performance for our beloved principal who is leaving, so I'm sure all of you would wanna put in your 9999999999999999999% for this performance yea?

All the best!

Love,
Paul Mariah Carey.

P.S. CHOIR PRACTICE TOMORROW IS FROM 11am to 2pm AT AVT! REMEMBER TO BE EARLY OR ELSE PAY FINE ORH HOR!

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EXAMS TOMORROW!

ALL THE BEST!~

In about less than two weeks' time, the dreaded examinations shall end, and we shall all congregate to make music once again!

See yall!

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Exams!

Hey DMNCHOIR!

Exams are coming really soon, in about 2 weeks' time! Let's all work hard to not just pass, but to bag A1s with flying colors! If you put your mind into it, you can achieve almost anything!

Let's prove that we not only sing well, but score well for the exams!

Go DMNCHOIR!

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SYF'09 PERFORMANCE PICTURES.

CLICK!

If you love 'em and you know it shout kasar! KASAR!

^^V

Hard copies will be distributed by next week.

Love ya DMNCHOIR!

P.S. Today is 5 months since SYF! YAY!

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September holiday choir practice.

For the September holidays, there will only be one choir practice on Monday, 7 September 2009, at 2pm. Venue is to be confirmed; SLs will inform you. This practice is COMPULSORY for ALL choir members, regardless of whether or not you're going for the Europe tour.

There will be no more choir practice until after the End-of-Year Exams end.

Thanks.

P.S. Revise Kasar! We're revisiting it on Monday!

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Audete, Gaudete lyric translation.

Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!

(Bravely rejoice! Christ is born of the virgin Mary, rejoice!)

Tempus adest gratiæ
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina lætitiæ
Devote reddamus.

(The time of grace has come
That we have desired;
Let us devoutly return
Joyful verses.)

Deus homo factus est
Natura mirante,
Mundus renovatus est
A Christo regnante.

(God has become man,
And nature marvels;
The world has been renewed
By Christ who is King.)

Ezechielis porta
Clausa pertransitur,
Unde lux est orta
Salus invenitur.

(The closed gate of Ezechiel
Has been passed through;
Whence the light is born,
Salvation is found.)

Ergo nostra contio
Psallat iam in lustro;
Benedicat Domino:
Salus Regi nostro.

(Therefore let our gathering
Now sing in brightness
Let it give praise to the Lord:
Greeting to our King.)

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Happy Teachers' Day!

Happy Teachers' Day to our beloved teachers!

Thanks to...

Ms Hannah Yeo, Ms Chin Sock Huay, Mdm Ng Siau Ching and Mdm Fadillah, for guiding us and helping us with choir admin/behindthescenes stuff and being so supportive!

Mr Toh, for helping us grow so much musically and in other aspects as well, plus all your support and patience with us!

All other Dunman staff, for your support!

It is indisputable that all our teachers are elemental in helping us grow, so

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Choir Committee 2009-2010

Executive Committee
President: Teo Hweesze (3E) and Paul Maravillas Jerusalem (3C)
Welfare Officer-cum-Secretary: Doreen Soo Wei Shan (3E)
Logistics Officer: Marc Koo Wei Yen (3B)

Music Committee
Soprano Sectional Leaders: Poh Su Ern (3A), Brenda Lim (3C), Teo Hweesze (3E), Emmeline Koh Ming-Min (2A)
Alto Sectional Leaders: Lim Aunn Ning (3A), Sing Peikheng (3C), Ong Wanjing (3F)
Tenor Sectional Leaders: Paul Maravillas Jerusalem (3C), Cheryl Chong Jing Wen (3G), Bryan Loy (2D)
Bass Sectional Leaders: Marc Koo Wei Yen (3B), Dexter Choo Yun Zhang (2D), Long Jun An (2E)

Level Representatives
Sec 1: Lee Hong Hui (1A), Ang Jing Wei (1B)
Sec 2: Teresa Yeap Sin Peng (2A), Regan Lim Ming Lin (2C)

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Audete, Gaudete.

NEW SONG!



OMG, doesn't the song make you march?

Anyway, there will be choir on Friday after the National Day celebrations. Choir will start at 9.40am. Please make sure you are punctual so that choir won't be delayed.

Thanks.

Paul MJ.

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SYF@ National Library

Hey DMNCHOIR!

Good job for yesterday's performance! However, I'm sure we could all have done much better, yea?

Anyway I found this on Youtube! It's damn cool lah omg!

Eric Whitacre- Sleep



People all over the world recorded themselves singing the song, and everything was put together. The sound is still damn nice right!

This is cool cool cool omg.

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SYF Youth Signatures

DMNCHOIR will be performing for the Youth Signatures roadshow on Saturday, 25 July 2009 at the National Library (in Bras Basah btw). The event starts at about 5pm.

We will be singing Seasons of Love and Circle of Life.

Other performers include Jarod and Aijia from Campus Superstar, Cedar Girls Sec's Red Cross Youth, Chaoyang School's Bamboo Stick Dance troupe, Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)'s Bagpipes players, Springfield Sec's Malay Dance troupe and St. Anthony's Canossian Sec's Indian Dance troupe.

More info on the leaflet below.





We hope to see you there! :D

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Perf in 6 days yo!

Seasons of Love

Opening theme from RENT.

Circle of Life

As performed last year by DMNCHOIR on I Believe.

Performance in 6 days!

Let's work hard to put up a good show yea?

Love,
Paul MJ.

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Choir resumes, just like all the other CCAs.

If you saw the tag on the tagboard by "moh", please ignore it.

Contrary to what this prankster said, choir WILL resume as per normal.

Please note that if you post any nonsense on the Cbox, we will not hesitate to ban you.

Anyway I deleted all tags related to moe/moh/whoever. Sorry Cheryl, Jeanette and Ryan, if you feel insulted (?!).

Paul MJ.

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An announcement I'm really hesitant to make.

NO CHOIR PRACTICES FOR THIS WEEK.

Sigh.

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Recordings by tonight.

Please remember to send your recordings for O Magnum by 2359 tonight.

Send it to Mr Toh and your SLs, with the file name and email title as such: name-section-dmnchoir , e.g. paulmj-tenor-dmnchoir .

For those whom SLs have singled out, your recordings are dued on Tuesday. Don't care about this line if your SL didn't tell you about it.

Thanks.

Paul MJ.

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SYF2009 Photoprints.

This post concerns those involved in SYF 2009.

Remember this?



Of course you do!

Well, we're collecting orders for the photoprints.

The photoprint will look something like this:



Prices are as follows:

Super 6R [15 cm x 22 cm] = $ 12
Super 8R [20 cm x 30 cm] = $ 15
Super 12R [30 cm x 45 cm] = $ 60
Super 16R [40 cm x 60 cm] = $180

Please pay up BY Monday 29 June 2009. If you don't pay up on Monday, your order won't be processed. If you have problems paying up on Monday, please tell your SL so we'll pay for you first.

It is not compulsory to buy, but I'm sure you'd want to store this precious memory :D

P.S. More info here.

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SYF 2009 Choral Presentation

From Sing4Harmony...

"The SYF 2009 Choral Presentation will showcase performances by The Australian Voices and five outstanding local school choirs who have performed well at the SYF 2009 Central Judging of Choirs in April and May: Anglican High School, Commonwealth Secondary School, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Catholic Junior College and Victoria Junior College.

The choirs will present a wide array of repertoire from different eras and cultures. This year, there will also be a combined choir consisting of representatives from schools which have been awarded the Gold award at the SYF 2009 Central Judging of Choirs. The combined choir will present the SYF 2009 Set Piece, ‘White Horses’ under the baton of the composer, Mr Stephen Leek from Australia, as well as ‘Singaporean Medley’ under the baton of Dr Zechariah Goh from Singapore."

Mr Toh's CJChoir is performing!

Anyway, posted this as I thought maybe some of you would've wanted to go. If you want to go, go with friends and buy the tickets yourself here; there is no choir outing thanks to H1N1 precautions :(

Paul MJ.

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Recording tapes postponed.

Recording tapes are postponed to FRIDAY 3 JUNE 2009.

So you don't have an excuse for not being able to produce it by then now!

All the best!

Paul MJ.

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We now have a Youtube channel, baby!

http://www.youtube.com/user/DMNCHOIR

Uploaded are the Tour 2007 songs, O Magnum Mysterium, Cantate Domino, Ping An Ye and Sarba Pe Scaun.

Video quality pretty much sucks, though. What to do, everything was compressed from a few hundred MB per video to 30+ MB per video, on top of my suckish movie editor. Video quality doesn't suck so bad now! I shan't go into details about how I repeated the whole process -__-

Anyway, sound quality is still okay, so do enjoy! :D

O Magnum Mysterium- DMNCHOIR'07


Cantate Domino- DMNCHOIR'07


Ping An Ye- DMNCHOIR'07


Sarba Pe Scaun (Sarba Dance On A Chair)- DMNCHOIR'07

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O Magnum Mysterium BGM for recordings.

The background music for your O Magnum recordings have been emailed to you. If you haven't received it, or are unable to open the file, please get it from your SL or friend.

Thanks, and jiayou for your recordings!

Paul MJ.

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Cancellation of choir practice and sectionals.

GAHHHH, all sectionals and choir practices this week are cancelled, no prizes guessing why.

Okay actually, MOE rules that all school activities for the remaining week are cancelled, and this is happening in all schools in Singapore.

You are expected to study your scores and practise at home during this. Let it be a sabbatical to you (?!).

Paul MJ.

P.S. I hope you're as disappointed about it as I am! :(

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SYF2009 Photoprints!

Look at the preview!


From ClassPictures.

Haha I see Mark and Jeremiah up there!

Anyway the pic really brings back SYF memories, yea? All our months of practice together.

Oh dear I am tearing up.

Anyway, our choir may look messy and crammed up there, but have you noticed something?

The formation resembles arches that we draw on our score for O Magnum!

Golden ratio FTW!

And Jarrett and Syafiq have the honor of being the climax!

Okay I am lame :D

Paul MJ.

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Promised additions by end of holidays.

1. All your names up here, existing DMNChoristers!
2. New committee.
3. Teachers.

Hopefully the whole choir can take a pic together, all wearing the red Choir Tee 2009. Wouldn't having that as the header pic be great?

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NEW BLOGSKIN!

From this...


Awful, gaudy piece of shi*.

To this...


Unoriginal, taken from http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/

To THIS!


ULTIMATE RED AND GOLD BLOG!

Gold signifies GOLDWITHHONORS, duh. And red signifies blood. DMNCHOIR is one big family and I guess blood is thicker than water? Okay I'm talking rubbish.

Anyway, I really love the new design! It's so... undescribable!

Spent the entire afternoon+evening doing this up, with Hweesze as my consultant (hahaha) and Brenda for the header pic, which is also this year's choir tee front image, btw. Thanks Hweesze and Brenda!

I know you love this blogskin too!

I shall go reward myself with a nice cuppa now~

Paul MJ.

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AHS CONCERT 2009

From Sing4Harmony...

Date/Time: Tues, 30 Jun 09, 7.30 pm

Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall

Ticket Price: $20, $16 for students and above 55yrolds.

---Start of Extract---

Eric Whitacre
The Seal Lullaby
Sleep
Lux Aurumque

Nelson Kwei
Yu Chang (Male Chorus)
Maiden of Miao (Miao Jia Shao Nu)

Vytautas Miskinis
Ave Maria
Ave Regina coelorum (Female Chorus)

Bob Chilcott
Aesop’s Fables

Hear the choir explore different genres of music, in particular contemporary choral works.

Immerse yourself in Eric Whitacre’s intricate choral piece set to powerful literature and be transported to the rolling meadows and hills of a pastoral landscape with Nelson Kwei’s colourful arrangements of two Chinese folk melodies. Then, feel the soulful tug of Vytautas Miskini’s music, and hear the morality tales of Aesop in a new way with Bob Chilcott’s Aesop’s Fables.

---End of Extract---

Do go for the AHSconcert! They're a really good choir, and they've got the same passion and vibe for music as us!

More details here.

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Updates.

CHOIR RESUMES THIS FRIDAY, MAY 22nd 2009!

As usual, please be in the AVT by 1.30pm.

And, please keep yourselves free from 5-7 June (Fri-Sun), because we're gonna have choir camp!

:)

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GOLD WITH HONORS!

"Choir number thirty-seven: Dunman Secondary School. Gold with Honors!"

Congratulations, DMNCHOIR, for the GWH! Your hard work has reaped its rewards! Let's strive to be better musically as a choir!

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DMNCHOIR JIA YOU!

SYF TOMORROW!

Everyone, we can do it!

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13 days.

SYF IN THIRTEEN DAYS OMG OMG OMG.

Anyway, minutes of what Ms Yeo briefed on Friday.

TUESDAY 7 APRIL 2009
Prerequisites
SCORES MEMORIZED! (This should've been done donkey years ago.)
Have a filling breakfast.
Buy a bun just in case hanger pangs strike.
Bring a 1.5 litre bottle FILLED WITH WATER.
Before VCH
Sectionals from 0730 to 0815.
Report in AVT after assembly.
Change into full dress
Bus ride to VCH: do productive stuff.
Arrive VCH warmed up and ready to perform.
At VCH
Move silently and orderly.
No fooling around.
ORDER
1st round- perform
2nd round- rehearsal
3rd round- perform
Objective
Get used to senses of performing on stage.
After VCH
Lunch in school until 1440.
1445-1615 choir practice.

THURSDAY 9 APRIL 2009
Additional practice
1500-1830

FRIDAY 10 APRIL 2009
Good Friday
No choir practice
Therefore, REST!!!

SUNDAY 12 APRIL 2009
Easter Sunday
Additional choir practice. (Compulsory, of course.)
1530-1830

TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2009
Choir practice
1500-1900

WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2009
Tentative additional choir practice
1930-2130
If not up to standard on 14/4.

THURSDAY 16 APRIL 2009
Rest day
Go home straight after school
Revise scores
Rest well
Get more sleep

FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2009
SYF DAY!
Pre-requisites
Exercise upon waking for at least 5 minutes. Skipping recommended.
Bathe and brush teeth and make sure you're like normal people
Dress in full dress attire
BE IN SCHOOL BY 0615!

MISCELLANEOUS
Full dress attire
MALE
Maroon long-sleeved shirt
Black pants
Black blazer
Silver tie (for sec ones, the ties will be given. Don't panic!)
Black socks (Definitely black!)
Black shoes (FULLY BLACK high-class-looking shoes)
Hair at acceptable length, combed neatly; gelled if necessary
FEMALE
Choir gown
Court shoes (Black, shineeeee)
Hair bunned up (mandatory for bun-able hair)
Forbidden food
Anything that causes vocal imperfections.
The list goes on and on, but here are some of them:
Fried food
Spicy food (for the most obvious reasons)
Dairy products (yes, cheese and yoghurt are included)
Caffeinated stuff (soft drinks and coffee contain caffeine~)
Acidic food (citric food like oranges, and condiments like ketchup and chilli)
Sweets (or anything excessively sweet)
Chocolate~~~~~
Most delicacies (duh, since most are spicy, sweet or sour)
Try to avoid cold drinks as far as possible

13 days to V!

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Updates.

Hello all!

RJC concert yesterday was wonderful, yes? We shall strive to be like them, if not better!

So, updates.

SYF songs are probably as follows:

1. The White Horses (2009 set piece) by Stephen Leek.
2. Kasar Mie La Gaji (Western song choice) by Alberto Grau
3. Dravidian Dithyramb (Asian song choice) by Victor Paranjoti

Dravidian isn't really confirmed, but since it's only a month before SYF now, it's a probable choice.

Holiday practices:

1. 16 March, Monday. 2.30pm to 6.30pm
2. 18 March, Wednesday. 4.30pm to 7pm
3. 20 March, Friday. Meet in school at 4.10pm.

All other practices are as usual.

SYF Rehearsal: 7 April, Tuesday. 9am to 2pm. Victoria Concert Hall (meet in school). SYF team excused from classes from 9am. After rehearsal there's still choir practice in school.

Additional practice: either 10 April, Friday (Good Friday) or 12 April, Sunday. Both from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.



THE BIG DAY: 17 APRIL 2009, FRIDAY.


Remember, no unsuitable food until SYF. "Unsuitable food" includes mainly fried and spicy food. Other foods that will harm your voices are included. You know yourself.

Work hard, everyone! We can do it! Aim for a Gold with Honors! It's not impossible if you believe~~~

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8 Ways to Improve Your Singing!

I was searching for remedies to cure my tone-deaf self when I found this. Really relevant to everyone!

1. Open your mouth when you’re singing!

Singers who keep their mouths mostly closed are likely tense in the tongue and are far from achieving maximum quality of tone. I like the two finger rule. If you can fit two fingers between your teeth while singing (esp on open vowels like “ah” and “oh”), then you’re good. If not, open your mouth more.

2. Relax the tongue.

After years of giving voice lessons, I’m convinced that 65% - 85% of all vocal problems involve tension in the tongue. Worst part is most people aren’t even aware of it. Look in a mirror while singing. If the tip of your tongue isn’t dominantly resting on your bottom front teeth then you’ve got problems. Relaxing the tongue more forward in the mouth will help.

3. Don’t take in too much air.

If you breathe in too much air, then you create pressure under the folds that can easily hinder you ability to sing freely. It can prevent you from singing high notes and it almost always causes tension in your neck. To fix it, become aware of just how little is involved in regular breathing and try to mimic that sensation when singing.

4. Keep the larynx steady.

If you don’t know what the larynx is, it’s where your adam’s apple is (or where it would be ladies). If this area of your neck is raising or lowering while singing, then you’re throwing off your whole vocal mechanism leading to many different complications. Rest your hand on your larynx while singing and make sure it stays steady.

5. Open and relax the back of the mouth.

This is equally as important as allowing the front of the mouth to be open, if not more. If the back of the mouth is closed off, then the quality of the sound is shot (and I guarantee you’re tense). To get a feel for it, hold the “ng” sound of hung and feel how closed that is. Now say “ah” like you’re in a doctor’s office… that’s more open. Leaving the back of the mouth open like the “ah” sound can help create a beautiful resonance in the voice.

6. Sing with ENERGY.

I can’t express this enough. Singing is a very physical activity. You must be energized and excited about what you’re doing or else it lacks passion (and it’s flat!). Singing with energy helps you hit higher notes and helps keep the sound out of the throat. Allow yourself to get excited before singing… do some jumping jacks or walk around a bit before getting started and realize just how much it helps.

7. Believe what you’re singing.

I once read a quote that has stuck with me for years. It was something along the lines of, “that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” Music is a form of expression. It’s alive and has a great ability to influence listeners. But that’s only true when you believe what you’re singing. Try to connect to the song through some personal life experience and see how alive the music you’re singing becomes.

8. Get out of your own way.

Singing should feel like speaking. There should be no pressing, tension, straining, reaching, or grabbing when vocally active. These sensations usually happen when we try to force the sound out of us. If you’re not able to sing something, try to bring it back to speech first. You’d be surprised how easy that high “C” can be when you speak it.

From http://singingtipsblog.com/8-ways-to-sing-better-now-by-ken-taylor-%E2%80%93-singing-tips-blog/

Paul MJ.

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