Getting ready for Nov 25

Thank you again for your great rehearsing and your committed, sensitive read-through of Reverberations on Sunday. We have a very special show on our hands and we are so excited to work on this with you.

That being said, we still have LOTS of work to do!! Musically, the read-through was pretty rough and it's mostly because we were rusty on many of the pieces. Now is the time to kick our show preparation into high gear. By this Sunday the following pieces are supposed to be from memory:

• Wanting Memories
• Tree of Life
• Zai Itxoiten
• Les Angelus
• Da Pacem
• You Are the New Day
• Uraren Besotik

And by the following Sunday, we'll be adding In Autumn and Pen-Pen to that list! As Jordyn said on Facebook last week, Feb 1 may seem far away but it's not at all!!

So, for the rest of this week, please shore up your memorization and do global review of your music and be looking ahead to all the pieces that remain. Also, please read over the Reverberations script several times to get a sense of the overall narrative as well as your own characters and lines.

We also wanted to let you know that, for the next few weeks, some major blocking work is scheduled for each rehearsal. It is SO important to have everyone present each week. Please move heaven and earth to make sure you have no conflicts!

• Nov 25: Blocking the first half of Reverberations
• Dec 2: Reading through the script and blocking Wanting Memories
• Dec. 9: Blocking the second half of Reverberations

Finally, we wanted to remind you that our baby-sisters in Xara Youth Ensemble will be giving their premiere performance this weekend - Daughters of Fire. We hope that many of you will be able to make it out in support of them! They've worked really hard and are really excited to show the world what they've done! The performance is on Saturday, Nov 24, 7:30 p.m. at Bethany United Church.

Updated Memorization Schedule

Sept 16	Wanting Memories
Sept 30	Tree of Life
Oct 8	Zai Itxoiten (Thanksgiving Monday rehearsal)
Oct 21	Les Angelus (+ solo auditions for all pieces)
Nov 18	Da Pacem; You Are the New Day
Nov 25	Uraren Besotik;
Dec 2	In Autumn; Pen-Pen
Dec 9	One Voice (new version); Circle
Jan 5	Past Life Melodies; Nada te turbe; Two Strings; Little Birch Tree (Power Weekend & first rehearsal after Christmas break)

Notes for Sunday Nov 18

Hi everyone!

Bravo!!! Your performance on Sunday evening was stunning in terms of singing, storytelling, and communicating with the audience. Thank you for all your hard work to make our pieces so polished. We are so proud of all of you (and Claire loved singing with you again!!)

As of this week, we dive into Unraveled rehearsal BIG TIME! This Sunday, we will be working through the blocking for Pull, doing detailed music work on the pieces with piano, and (very exciting!) we will be doing a full read through/sing through of Reverberations. We will bring copies of the script for you this Sunday. This should help you get a full sense of the piece, all of the characters, and how everything fits together.

We also wanted to let you know the results of the solo auditions. Thank you to everyone who auditioned - we have sooo many talented singers that it is always hard to choose!

In Autumn - Kallie (sop) & Tenille (alto)
Circle - Shannon (sop) & Mackenzie (alto)
Uraren besotik - Shila

We have decided to re-audition for One Voice solos since we have several people in the choir who weren't at camp. If you're interested, take some time to look through the piece and we will be doing auditions for that in a couple of weeks time.

For this Sunday, it is non-negotiable that your eyes have touched every piece of music for Unraveled. We have spent lots of time on the four pieces for We Remember, but now is the time to stay on top of everything else. Listen to the Soundcloud recordings and make sure you have a solid feeling for all the pieces. Although we didn't get a chance to work on them on Nov 4th because we got caught up with We Remember prep, we are still expecting Da Pacem and You are the New Day to be memorized as per the memorization schedule published on Sept 25.

Here are the songs for Unraveled grouped into the three pieces to help you get a sense of the overall show. It's also helpful to group them in your folder in this order so you start to get used to it:

"Wanting Memories"
You Are the New Day
Wanting Memories
One Voice

"Pull"
Les Angelus
Uraren besotik
Da Pacem

"Reverberations"
Pen-pen
Zai Itxoiten
Past Life Melodies
In Autumn
Circle
Nada te Turbe
Two Strings, but One Voice
Little Birch Tree
Tree of Life

Thanks everyone!!! Have a great week and see you Sunday!!!

xoxox Claire & Christina

Details for We Remember!

Hi everyone!

Thank you to those who came to the CCC concert on Sunday afternoon. It meant so much to Christina and I to see your smiling faces in the audience! Just a few reminders about our concert on Sunday evening "We Remember".

Dress rehearsal is Saturday November 10 at St. Patricks Church from 10:30 am-12:15 pm. We will be working the Kontakion (the joint piece you received on Sunday evening) with the other three choirs first, and then we will will take a half hour break while the little girls' choir rehearses their set. We will then have 45 minutes in the space from 11:30-12:15 pm to rehearse our own program. Time is tight so we will need to start immediately once the girls' choir leaves the stage. For this rehearsal, you do not have to wear your Xara dress, comfortable clothing is fine.

Call time for the concert on Sunday evening is 6 pm. You need to arrived dressed in your Xara dress, black hose/socks, black shoes (either Xara shoes or black flats), hair and makeup done (hair can be up or down, but bangs etc need to be pinned off your face). We will wear black belts with the Xara poppy adornment (Robin will bring the poppies). If you don't have a black belt, please be in touch with her ASAP.

See you Saturday!!
Claire & Christina

Fundraising Update, October 29th, 2012

Hello Ladies!

   I find it hard to believe but it really is time to start selling wreaths! We have been doing well so far with our fundraising plan so lets keep it up! I will be sending out an email with the very official wreath order form (ha!).  It is simple enough, $20 per wreath, they are 16" in diameter, real and will be decorated by us! This decoration party will be on December 1st so please put that in your calendars

An added twist this year is the delivery/carolling option, which is $5 inside Halifax and $10 outside Halifax (meaning anything past Fairview/over the bridge/in bedford). It would be something we start once the decorating is finished, so hopefully around suppertime, and I would need a few girls for each drop off (so we have some parts). If the people you sell wreaths are not interested in that option, you are still responsible for dropping their wreaths off or letting them know they can pick them up at our decorating location (TBA).

We will also be setting up some times with the markets in Halifax to do some carolling so we will have songs prepared ahead of time. Right now I am looking at the 8th and the 15th of December, so once again try to keep some time on those days open.

I want to thank you all for being so proactive in our fundraising efforts. I couldn't do it without you so THANK YOU!

See you all on Sunday,
Tenille

Important Upcoming Dates and Times!

Hello everyone!

Some important dates and times to put in your calendar for the next few weeks:

Sun Oct 28
regular Xara rehearsal (1:15-4:45 pm at Fairview United)

Sun Nov 4 
Canadian Chamber Choir + Canta Mara Concert (3 pm at St Patrick's Church)
evening Xara rehearsal (5:30-8:30 pm at Fairview United)

Sat Nov 10
Dress rehearsal for We Remember (10:30 am-12:15 pm at St Patrick's Church)

Sun Nov 11
We Remember concert at 7:30 pm (call time TBA)


The CCC and Canta Mara concert is optional, but it would be wonderful to see lots of Xara ladies there! Christina sings with the CCC, Claire is directing a new choral theatre piece that will be performed by the CCC and a solo dancer, and Shannon is singing with Canta Mara, Nova Scotia's new adult provincial choir! There is a $5 discount for member choirs of the NSCF (that's us!)

Wail: Annapolis Royal CALL TIMES

Hi Wail Remount Singers!

Here is a reminder about call times for Wail in Annapolis Royal:

2:00 PM Rehearsal BEGINS (i.e. be there a bit before)
5:00 PM Supper Break (there are some nice little restaurants very nearby)
8:00 PM Show

You folks are responsible for organizing your rides but I think you've already started that!

The address for the King's Theatre is:
209 St. George St.
Annapolis Royal NSB0S 1A0


Don't forget your skirts, shirts, nets, base make-up, money for your driver, and anything else you can think that you'd need!