Xara Camp 2015 Details!

Hi everyone!

Only four more sleeps until Xara Camp! We are so excited to see you all this weekend!!! Here are some important details you'll need to know for our time together!

Schedule

Friday
Location: Women's Council House, 989 Young Avenue, Halifax

6:00  Welcome
6:30  Dinner
8:00  Group Bonding
9:30  Home

Saturday
Location: St. Anselm's Church, 7037, Highway 7, West Chezzetcook

9:30 Yoga

10:30 Break

10:40 Show Introduction

11:15 Music Session

12:15 Lunch Prep (altos)

12:30 Lunch (altos)

1:30 Music Session

3:30 Break

3:45 Movement Session

4:45 Show Rehearsal

5:30 Dinner Prep (sopranos)

5:45 Dinner (sopranos)

7:00 Show Rehearsal

8:00 Home

Sunday
Location: St. Matthew's United Church, 1479 Barrington St., Halifax

1:15 Physical Warm up

1:25 Vocal Warm up

1:35 Music

3:00 Break

3:15 Vocal/Movement Clinics

5:15 Closing

5:30 Home

Food

We will have three meals together. Friday evening's dinner is very graciously being provided by the Xara Board of Directors (thank you!!!!). The second two will be potlucks - Saturday lunch will be brought by the altos, and Saturday dinner will be brought by the sopranos. From past experience, this works best if you coordinate beforehand what everyone will bring - so use the Facebook group to your advantage! Please keep in mind that we have a variety of dietary needs (some vegetarian, one vegan, one peanut allergy, some gluten-free, some minimal/no dairy etc), so try to accommodate these as much as possible. There is a thread on the Facebook group for dietary considerations.

Drives

Please start organizing carpooling drives NOW for Saturday. Our Facebook group is a great place to take care of that!

To Bring:

Comfortable clothes for sessions - must be able to move freely

Sensible footwear - sneakers or shoes you can move in

Water bottle, pencils (a pencil case full of things is a great idea)

Music folder

Sunscreen for any outdoor activities

Yoga mat or large towel (for Saturday only)

Potluck item, as per schedule

Gas money for your driver

Any questions for this weekend, please let us know via email! We can't wait to be back together again and getting ready for what is going to be an amazing season!!!

Singer Schedule Now Posted!

Hi team,

Hope you are all having magical summers! We miss you all but are super excited to be back together in less than a month!

We wanted to help you get a jump start on your calendars for the fall. The Google Calendar is now updated with all known commitments for the fall (note that some events may be added or timeframes tweaked over the next couple months). You can find the Google Calendar just to the right of this post in the sidebar.

A couple of things to note:

• Xara Camp is the first weekend of September! Please do everything possible to book off these dates/times in your calendars. As previously mentioned, we will be in the city on Friday night, out of the city on Saturday, and then back in the city for Sunday's rehearsal. A more detailed blog post with a to bring list and potluck schedule will be up in a couple of weeks!
• Note that there is no rehearsal Thanksgiving Sunday, but the rehearsal has been pushed to the evening of Thanksgiving Monday.
• November 21-22 Weekend: This is a bit of an abnormality for us. We are going to have a long "power weekend" type rehearsal on Saturday November 21. This rehearsal is MANDATORY. The next morning (very early, I'm sorry!) we have secured a lucrative sold service singing at Maritime Travel's annual conference. As a result, we haven't scheduled a rehearsal that Sunday afternoon.
• November 25-28:  The tech week schedule for Tales of the Old North is now up in detail. These dates are, of course, completely mandatory.
• November 29: We have tentatively booked a three hour photo/video call for Tales of the Old North that afternoon. This date is to be confirmed by early September.
• December 5-6: We are in the process of negotiating a run-out of Tales of the Old North to the Astor Theatre in Liverpool this weekend. The performance could be either the Saturday evening or the Sunday afternoon. I blocked both days off in the calendar to be safe but it will either be one or the other. We will let you know as soon as we know once something is confirmed.

Thanks so much everyone! We are so excited about this fall and can't wait to start working on our amazing show together!

Keep an eye on the new Xara Facebook group as the updates will become more frequent as the summer goes on!

Love y'all!

June 26th Performance Details

Hi everyone!

Thanks to those of you who made it to the rehearsal last evening for the US Consulate Gig on Friday.  I wanted to post some notes here for those who couldn't make it + some details regarding logistics for the evening.

Music

The arrangement of "Star Spangled Banner" is already uploaded to the Facebook group (click "Files" at the top to see it). I will upload the version of "O Canada" as well. If you were not at rehearsal last night, you MUST go over the music before Friday. If you are singing a harmony part, it is not the kind of thing you can just sightread - the parts are a little tricky so PLEASE review.

Here's the divisi:

O Canada

• Descant - Hayley, Brianna, Kallie
• Melody - Claire, Leah, Sydney, Mackenzie, Shila, Zoe
• Alto - Sara, Robin, Jess

Star Spangled Banner

• Alto 1 (melody) - Hayley, Brianna, Kallie, Claire, Leah, Mackenzie, Shila, Zoe
• Alto 2 (harmony) - Sara, Robin, Jess, Sydney

Notes:

• In O Canada, we will observe all breath marks and carrys as marked
• In the Star Spangled Banner, we are cutting the following breath marks and performing them as carrys:
• mm 2
• mm 10
• mm 21
• mm 26
• In the Star Spangled Banner we are adding breath marks in the following places:
• mm 18 (after glare)
• mm 20 (after air)

Logistics for Friday

• Location: Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
• Call Time: 7:15 pm
• Performance Time: 8:00 pm, we should be all done by 8:15 or 8:20 pm
• Outfit: black Xara tunic, black leggings, black flats
• Hair/Makeup: A little bit of makeup, simple hair off the face
• Your name will be on a list at the door and you will be directed toward our green room
• We'll do a warmup and run through the pieces in the green room, then go to the main gallery for the ceremony

Next Season Update!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week and are looking forward to InstaChoir next Thursday night at the Company House! Keep spreading the word and inviting your friends!!!

Also a quick reminder to please fill out the Fatty Legs debrief form: http://goo.gl/forms/wIzwPaeOAu

Next Season!

We know that September feels far away, and we are certainly looking forward to a good rest after a busy and productive season! However as usual we are always planning ahead and with a second round of auditions coming up this month, we need to get a sense of who will be returning to Xara in the fall. We thought we'd fill you in on our upcoming projects to help you get a better sense of what to expect!

Tales of the Old North

This is the first production in what we are hoping will become our annual, hallmark, early winter show. Every year we hope to tell a spectacular, beautiful story that also connects to important themes of kindness and community. We are drawing from a beautiful collection of stories by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, illustrated by Kay Nielsen (you can read all the amazing stories and look at the gorgeous illustrations here). We are hoping to adapt a new story each year under the general title "Tales of the Old North." Next year's show is an adaptation of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." We are adapting it to tell the story of a young girl who goes adventuring with a giant white bear. The bear reveals that she is actually a princess from a far away land, who has been sentenced by the evil Queen to live in a different body. The bear disappears, and the little girl sets out on a journey to save her friend, encountering many magical beings along the way. This story is a beautiful and simple way to celebrate being accepted for who you are. This show will be a collaboration with XYE and VOX: A Choir for Social Change. The show dates are November 27-29, 2015 with a potential run out the following weekend. This show is going to have next-level visuals including costume design, sets, and as always, gorgeous lighting.

Development Term

Next spring we are embarking on the first "development term" in Xara's history. This term will include more time devoted to increased vocal development, music literacy, movement facility, and text work. It's exciting for us because it is a time to really gel as an ensemble and take our rehearsal and performance skills even further beyond what we've already been able to accomplish. During this time, we are also intending to increase our sold services so that rehearsals will be divided between development work, and preparing for high visibility gigs that will promote us as well as our album, Here on these Branches.

Fatty Legs

The success of the 2015 version of Fatty Legs was really remarkable, and we are so grateful for your incredible hard work and devotion to this project. We are now actively pursuing a national touring component for this show that we hope to be realized within the next 12-24 months. The exact scheduling will be dependent on funding sources (we are applying for major federal government funding as well as corporate and foundation revenue). The first phase of a national tour could happen as early as the end of next spring - we will know more by September in terms of exact time frames and will of course keep you updated.

SO! We need to know whether you will be returning to Xara next season. Please fill out our brief form and let us know no later than June 15, 2015. If you have any questions about the above projects, please feel free to get in touch with us at anytime. Here's the link to the form: http://goo.gl/forms/wkHfYvuxzM 

We love you all and are so excited for even more adventures together next season!!

Update! Fatty Legs Debrief, Instachoir, etc!

Hi everyone!

We miss you! To go from a super-intense time of being together every day to not seeing you at all is super strange. We are excited for the last couple of little events this season where we will get to reunite! To that end we wanted to update you on a few things:

Fatty Legs Debrief

As many of you know, debriefing the show experience with our singers is valuable to us. We always carefully consider your feedback, both positive and negative, when planning future projects. Please take a few minutes to fill out our Fatty Legs debrief form to help us get a fuller picture of the experience: http://goo.gl/forms/wIzwPaeOAu

Here I Stand - Xara Youth Ensemble

XYE's new show is premiering on June 6th at 7:30pm at Bethany United Church. Tickets for all Xara singers are only $10. We would love to have a great showing of Big Xara at the performance - XYE LOVES you and they would love to see you there. If you'd like tickets, let me (Claire) know!

Instachoir!

We are so excited for this super fun event! You have all been invited to the Facebook event - please share with your friends and encourage as many people as possible to come out! We are expecting excellent Xara attendance at this event because it is a fundraiser for our organization, as well as great visibility. Tickets are only $5 so they are super affordable, and we are going to sing two awesome songs and have a great night! June 11, 7:30 pm, The Company House, BE THERE!!

June 26 Event

As I posted on the Facebook yesterday, we have been asked to sing the Canadian and American national anthems at a July 4th party for the US Consulate on Friday June 26th from 7:30-8:30pm. The event is taking place at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Rehearsal will be 6:30-7:30pm on Tuesday, June 23 at St. Matthew's. Please respond to the poll to let us know if you can do the event. Participating performers must be 19+ and must fill out a form that I will circulate in advance to get you security clearance.

Music Collection

Please return your music. Leah B is collecting everyone's music at her apartment on Erin's behalf. I'm sure Erin would love to get a head start on sorting all of the music, so please make arrangement's with Leah to drop it off! She is centrally located just off Spring Garden Rd.

We'll be in touch next week with exciting details like plans for next season and other fun things! For now, you can put your focus toward spreading the word for June 11!!!!! See you soon! :)

Tech Week Info!

Hi everyone,

We wanted to fill you in on some more specific details for how tech week is going to work! Please let us know if you have any questions as we go forward! And keep spreading the word about show and invite lots of your friends, family, and contacts to come! This is one of those shows that LOTS of people need to see - we all know how much it changes your perspective and opens you up.

Homework Notes - This is our "Bring It" week! Your own music, movement, and expression needs to be flawless by Sunday. Christina would like to add an extra push on bringing out the dynamics and clean cut offs! :)

Sunday April 26
Location: Dalhousie Arts Centre, Rm 121
Time: 1:15-5:30 pm
Focus: Our big focus for this rehearsal is integrating everything with Sarain's work. We want to fine tune all those moments of connection between she and the singers, and to help her get an even more concrete sense of how she will be connected to the choir throughout the show. We will also spend time refining remaining text, music, and blocking details.
To Bring: your costume, your music, water, pencil
Snack Duty: Alto 1s!

Monday April 27
Location: St Matthews
Time: 5:00-10:00 pm
Focus: This rehearsal is all about the tech. We will be working cue to cue with our lighting designer Matt, and do a run to give him a chance to play with how the lights and show will interact.
To Bring: your costume, hair and makeup supplies, your music, water, pencil
Snack Duty: Alto 2s!

Tuesday April 28
Location: St Matthews
Time: 5:00-10:00 pm
Focus: Another rehearsal to refine technical details with Matt, and continue to run and refine the show.
To Bring: your costume, hair and makeup supplies, your music, water, pencil
Snack Duty: Sop 1s!

Wednesday April 29
Location: St Matthews
Time: 5:00-10:00 pm
Focus: Our final dress rehearsal. This will be with full tech, costumes, makeup, hair, and for the videographers/sound engineer to record the whole show. We may need to run small sections of it at the end if the video/audio guys need to see something again.
To Bring: your costume, hair and makeup supplies, your music, water, pencil
Snack Duty: Sop 2s!

Thursday April 30
Location: Dalhousie Arts Centre, Rm 121
Time: 7:00-9:00 pm
Focus: This is to fix any little sections that need some attention after Wednesday night's run, and to keep the show fresh in our minds before Friday night.

Friday May 1/Saturday May 2
Location: St Matthews
Time: 6:00 pm call, 8:00 pm show
This is it!!!!!!

Strike
Please note that after Saturday's show, we will have to strike all the gear out of the building. Everyone MUST stay to help this happen. No one is to leave following the show until the whole venue is clear. Erin and Matt will be assigning people jobs so you can look to Erin for instructions on what to do. There is not a huge set up for this show, so the strike should go quite quickly. We will give you time following the performance to chat with your friends and family in attendance (about 20 mins) and then we'll start the strike. You will not have to stay late on Friday night to do anything, but we do expect the green room to be perfectly clean when you leave both nights.

THIS IS THE BIG WEEK LADIES!!! It's all coming together!!! We are so excited and can't wait to give amazing performances. Please make sure you're getting some good rest and eating well, drinking lots of water, etc. Keep talking up the show to everyone you know - let's fill the church next weekend!!!

Tour Update

Hi everyone,

I've had a few requests for more information about the tour. While there are still a few things in flux, the basic plan is as follows:


Monday May 4 - Halifax (schools)
Tuesday May 5 - Sydney, Cape Breton (schools + public show)

Wednesday May 6 - Glace Bay, Cape Breton (schools)
Thursday May 7 - Saint John, NB (schools + public show)
Friday May 8 - Fredericton, NB (schools + public show)
Saturday May 9 - Georgetown, PEI (public show)
Sunday May 10 - off/drive home to NS
Monday May 11 - Wolfville (schools + public show)
Tuesday May 12 - Halifax (schools)
Wednesday May 13 - Halifax (schools)

Essentially everything is confirmed except for the Fredericton dates which we are still working on. Singers doing the tour from May 4-10 will be billeted overnight in communities. Breakfast will be provided from May 5-10 from your billets, but lunch and dinner will mostly be on your own. We'll be circulating a list of "things to bring" but you may want to start planning your road snacks/awesome road trip playlists.

For the Wolfville shows on May 11, we will drive to Wolfville in the morning and then back to Halifax after the evening show. On May 12 and 13 we will be done for the day around 3pm and have the evenings off.

Please fill out the form Erin has posted on the Facebook group ASAP which asks about dietary concerns, emergency contact info, and billets.

Last call reminder to let me know about any connections you have in Sydney, Saint John, Fredericton, or PEI who may be able to host some of us while we are on the road!!! I will need final info by the end of this week.

Thank you all so much! If you have any questions, please speak with me directly via email, Facebook, or text!!!