Wednesday, June 24, 2015

What a great concert we had on May 17 with Vocal Arts Academy, VAA and MCC alumni! A belated THANKS to everyone for your participation and support whether in person or in absentia!

Here is the program in case you would like to see the favorite songs performed. We'll be posting YouTube links soon.

Coming of Age program

Have a wonderful summer and keep in touch!

Emily Crocker
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Saturday, April 4, 2015

VAA & MCC Reunion Concert - #2

Dear Singers,

For those of you planning to come to our concert we have picked out a range of music that we hope will make you smile! If you were an “early” member of MCC you might see a few pieces that are unfamiliar, but hopefully you will have some time to practice. We'll also have a rehearsal on May 17 at 4:00 pm.

Here is the schedule:

“Coming of Age – 21 Years of Singing in Milwaukee”
Sunday, May 17
Pius XI High School Performing Arts Center
135 N. 76th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53226

Schedule
3:30 pm – check in and pickup your music folder
4:00 pm – VAA and MCC/VAA alumni rehearse on stage
5:00 pm – break
6:00 pm – concert
7:00 pm – reception

Planned songs include:
Can You Hear (Papoulis) – girls sing soprano/alto; guys sing baritone

For the Beauty of the Earth (Rutter) – this is also our virtual choir song. See previous blog post from April 1 for instructions on submitting a video. We'll also sing live at the concert.

God Bless the Master (Vaughan Williams) – everyone sing unison; soprano 1 on descant at the end.

How Can I Keep from Singing (arr. Crocker), girls sing SA, guys sing B
The Irish Blessing

Laudate Dominum (Mozart)

MLK (U2/arr. Chilcott)
MLK - music

Papageno/Papagena Duet (Mozart) – girls sing soprano (Papagena), boys sing alto (Papageno)

The Path to the Moon (Thiman)

Praise His Holy Name (Hampton)

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day (Rutter) – This is a change from what was posted previously. All girls sing S1. All guys sing S2 down an octave. We will not sing the alto part on this concert.
Dancing Day - music
Dancing Day mp3

When I Close My Eyes (Papoulis) – girls sing soprano; boys sing alto; soprano 1 sing descant

I'll be posting additional audio & YouTube links over the next few weeks so you can brush up! Since we now have tenors & basses, I've noted a few adaptations to the treble chorus music for changed voices.

We will have music folders for you on May 17. Even if you don't know a song too well, we still want your smiling face onstage!

We will have a reception after the concert in the lobby. Any other “meet-ups” you want to schedule with your old pals – go for it!

Spread the word – let's have a reunion to remember!

Emily Crocker
ecrocker(a)halleonard.com
414-852-7297
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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

VAA & MCC Reunion Concert - #1


Dear VAA Members, Alumni, and MCC Alumni,

We had a wonderful concert! I am so grateful to those of you who came - what a great turn-out and how wonderful you sounded!

The music may be over, but you can still contribute YOUR voice to the "virtual choir" - just sing along to "For the Beauty of the Earth" and record yourself on video.

The process is simple. You can access your music online and then download at least one of the tracks.

“demo" - this has a demo choir singing the song.

"instrumental only" - just the instruments

Part learning tracks also available if you need a brush-up.
"Soprano" Soprano track
"Alto" Alto track
"Tenor" Tenor track
"Bass" Bass track

After you have practiced and feel like you are ready, play the track through one device, like a computer and listen with headphones. Sing into another device, like a video camera or smartphone. Try to choose a place that is quiet and has a good acoustic. You can submit more than one recording and you can record more than one part if you want to, like soprano and alto, etc. Save your file at the best quality you can and label like this:

ForTheBeauty_MyNameSoprano

Upload to this dropbox folder:

Don't be too critical of yourself - all the parts will be expertly mixed together for a wonderful result.

Love to you all,

Emily Crocker xoxo
(414) 852-7297

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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Greetings, all!

Happy spring! It didn't feel like it today, but I'm hopeful that we start to feel spring a little more every day!

Hope to see you all tomorrow night at Pius HS! I'd like to start work on the Mozart Laudate Dominum, a very cool piece that was a popular work performed by both MCC and VAA in the past. But...we need a full house to rehearse it and learn it!

Tomorrow night is our last rehearsal before Spring Break. There will be no rehearsal on March 30 and April 6, so please be there tomorrow!

Emily Crocker



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Sunday, March 15, 2015

Hope to see you Monday!

Hello all,

I hope you enjoyed your week. It's fun to see the ground again! (My Texas friends will not understand that statement!)

We had a small & sweet turn-out last week. Hope to see all of you there tomorrow night - we have only a few weeks to pull together some fun music.

Plus, I love getting to hang with my favorite Milwaukee peeps!

See you at Pius at 7:00 PM Monday! And Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Emily Crocker
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Sunday, March 8, 2015

Thanks and congrats!

Dear VAA singers,

Thank you for a wonderful concert! It really came together and you performed beautifully this afternoon!

Our next concert is going to be a retrospective on music that I have performed with MCC and VAA through the years, leading up to our final concert on May 17 in which we invite the old boys & girls back to perform with us.

I think you will have a lot of fun learning and performing this music.

Our upcoming schedule includes

Monday, March 9, 16, 23 - regular rehearsals at Pius

Monday, March 30, April 6 - no rehearsal, spring break

Monday, April 13 - rehearsals resume

We'll see you tomorrow at 7:00 for rehearsal and some post-concert goodies!

Emily Crocker
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Sunday, March 1, 2015

I Have a Song To Sing

At last!

I'm back in Milwaukee to stay for a while! And just in time to hear the wonderful singing of VAA!

Here is our schedule for the week leading up to our concert on Sunday, March 8 "I Have a Song To Sing."

Monday, March 1 - regular rehearsal at Pius HS. Bel Canto Boy Choir will join us that night.

Thursday, March 5 - 6:15-7:30 extra rehearsal with Bel Canto Boy Choir at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.

Sunday, March 8 - 3:00 PM, Concert at Pius HS, Call time 2:15.

Please make this week a priority for VAA and we'll have a fantastic week of music.

See you tomorrow at Pius!

Emily Crocker
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