Choir Camp 2016 details

Hello fellow choristers!

We hope that all of you are having a great time in choir so far :) Choir camp is just round the corner and we believe all of you of you are excited for the camp!

These are some important things to take note:

• Please report at your assigned classrooms to drop your belongings by 7.25AM on Wednesday (16 March)
• Bring your HANDPHONES and WALLETS and/or any other VALUABLES down to the bamboo courtyard which we will safe keep.
• All are expected to be at Bamboo Courtyard by 7.30AM SHARP in your PE attire
• Choristers are dismissed on Thursday (17 March) at 5:30pm

Respective classrooms to deposit your belongings:

SEC 1s : 2H

SEC 2s : 2I

Sec 3s : 2D

SEC 4s : 2T

Packing list :

Items to pack	Quantity
PE shirt	3
MGS PE shorts	3
Set of night wear (school based shirt and school shorts/track pants)	1
Socks	3 pairs
Jacket/Windbreaker	1 (monochrome colours)
Undergarments	As necessary
Towel	1
Toiletries	1 set (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, hair ties, tissue)
Slipper/sandals	1
Things needed for rehearsal	Choir file, scores, choir journal, Stationery
Plastic bag for dirty clothes	2
Personal medication	If necessary
Sanitary materials	If necessary
Sleeping bag (Pillow - optional)	1
Water bottle	1
Torch light (compulsory) *handphones cannot be used as flashlight	1
Bible (optional)	1
Deodorant (optional)	1
Handphone	Will be collected at beginning of camp
Happiness	Abundant :)
Yourself (compulsory)	1

If you have other enquiries feel free to contact your section leaders. This camp will serve as a time to bond with your fellow choristers as well as improve on your vocal technique!

We hope all of you will enjoy yourselves and have a wonderful time:)

Sincerely,

Faith Yip and Elizabeth Loke

MGchoir Secretaries

Welcome to Mgchoir !

Welcome to Choir!

Hello fellow MG Choristers!

This blog has just been restarted after a really long hiatus, and soon, it will become the main source of your choir information! For example, we will be uploading posts containing important information and videos very often so be sure to check it out at least once a day.

A very warm welcome to the Secondary Ones joining choir this year! The choir is both educational and enjoyable, and is definitely not for the faint hearted. To guide you through your Secondary one choir journey, here are some important things to note!

What does the MG Choir do?

• We make music together to the best of our ability, and have fun doing it!
• We have practice twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3pm-5.30pm and 3pm-6pm respectively.
• Report at 2.55pm in PE Attire at the Bamboo courtyard before practice starts.
• We have our runs before choir practice on both days. Runs take place from 3pm-3.30pm, where we play ball games or run around the school.. (Runs is compulsory unless you have a Permanent Medical Certificate)

What do individual Choristers have to do?

• Have a good attitude towards learning
• Attend practices and runs regularly
• Individual learning and taking responsibility in your learning
• Listen attentively to the conductors, Mr Albert Tay and Ms Ellissa during practice.
• Sing every piece of music to the best of your ability
• Always ask for help from your buddies or Section Leaders when necessary (They will be happy to help!)

Skipping choir practice for valid reasons:

• Inform your Section Leader if you have a valid reason for missing choir and hand in your MC or Parents Letter to your Section Leader during the next practice.
• If you have remedial or VIA please attend choir after your session ends.
• Tuition is not a VR and 0 attendance would be given.

Choir requirements:

• Attend at least three Choral concerts a year with fellow choristers.

• Have a black file for your scores, a water bottle and a pencil in hand during practice. Also, choristers are expected to get a choir journal to take down important dates or notes.

Important Events of the Year

• January :  - We welcome the Secondary Ones!

                            - Performance for the Supreme Judges at Fullerton Hotel

• March:  Choir Camp, 16th -17th (YAY!)

• April: - Collaboration with St Andrews Secondary school, 8th April

                     - Collaboration with Mg Strings for strings concert, 9th April

• June: Cantabile, 25th June (Our annual choir concert)

• July:  - Orientale Concentus Competition, 1st to 4th July

                     - Founder’s Day Ceremony

                     - Prefect’s Installation

• July onwards: Preparation for Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) for 2017.

We hope that your first choir practice has been fruitful and fun!

Always remember that the choir is one big family, and everyone plays an important role so perform to the best of your ability! Do not be afraid to ask questions when in doubt!

That’s all for now,  if you have any other questions that need any clarification, feel free to ask your seniors.

We are sure that all of you will have a great time through this amazing choir journey.

Managers of this blog:

Elizabeth Loke and Faith Yip

MGCHOIR secretaries

All about logistics for choir performances

Hi choir! :) This is post is about the logistics that is to be done before a choir performance. For your information, this was also a workshop-ish session conducted by Mr Tay for the choir. Happy reading! 

Logistics for choir performances

- everything must be done at least 2 weeks before the actual performance!

1. Attire

• ensure availability of spares (e.g. brooches, organza)
• gown check to be conducted as well: gown is not too tight, organza is not torn or burnt, properly, silver ballet flats looks okay (i.e. no parts of the flats should be peeling off)
• if one's attire is less than perfect, one will not be allowed on stage

2. Folders

• black ring files are to be used as performance folders
• folder should be non-glossy, should not reflect light
• it should be in plain back colour, without any markings or the rings popping out
• files check to be conducted before performance

3. Emcees

• assign 2 or more, preferably from different sections
• emcees are to be coached by teachers first
• script are to be vetted by teachers (on language and other stuff) and the conductors (on music stuff) at least 1 month in advance for proof-reading and checking

4. Stage logistics

• must be rehearsed by student leaders and teachers
• stage logistics include walking in and out, positioning on stage, stage manager to cue for starts (usually by teachers)
• sound control room on video and audio recording, and stage lightning
• preparation of tokens of appreciation
• Self-visualization by each choir member (sequence of songs, walking in and out)

5. Musical readiness

• Auditions to be held for pianists, soloists and octets
• Appoint more than 1 soloist, in case the original soloist is unable to perform on that day
• Octets: everybody in the octet should be able to sing the whole section by her own voice

Hope you find this helpful! :) For more information, please check your choir booklet and view Ankita's post (She's our ex-treasurer) on how to put on makeup, and Anthea's post on performance etiquette (She's our ex-secretary) (Thank you Ankita and Anthea! :) ) that's all for today. See you all soon! :)

-Wen Yi

Expectations of the MgChoir

Hello Choir! :) So these are the expectations of Mr Tay on us. Read them through and print a copy of this, or copy them into your choir journal (if you haven't done so) if you think that you might forget everything after you leave this webpage. Enjoy! :)

MGS Choir Expectations (Quality of a good choir)

1.Each and every choir member must have musical independence and good discipline:

• do the right thing even though nobody is around you
• open your mind and no judging on arts (music pieces, in this case)
• "Excellence is a habit. You can't switch it on and off" - Mr Tay

2. Remember the choir mission and values at all time.

3. All performances put up by the choir must be of high standards regardless of 

• the magnitude of the performance (i.e. be it an overseas choral festival competition or performing for our school's prefects' installation, we must maintain the same standard)  
• the circumstances you are performing in (i.e. even if the performance venue is very noisy and nobody is paying attention to us, e.g. in a pasar malam, we must perform to the best of our ability)
• who the conductor is  

4. Quality of a good performance

• professional behavior
• good characters: strong, powerful, confident, introspective, reflective
• visual aspects: body language (this shows the character of the musicians (us), hence showing how professional our behaviors are), facial expressions, mood

5. Sound-wise, take note of... (the aural aspects)

• diction (text pronunciation)
• prosody (rhythm, stress and intensity of words)
• dynamics
• coming in on time/ cutting off on time
• rhythm (keeping in time) 
• awareness and sensibility to others (following the conductor's gesture well)
• expression of music and phrasing (comes with understanding of text)
• projection of voice (vocal production)
• balance (balance of volume among the four sections)

6. Musicality-wise, take note of...

• intonation
• phrasing
• articulation

7. Technically...

• precision (entries and cut-offs must be together and accurate)
• resonance 
• spatial distribution
• positioning on stage (make sure that everybody has a window)

8. As for internalization and memorization...

• memorization should be done immediately after you have learnt the piece during choir session, without waiting for student leaders or conductors telling you to do so
• internalization should be done regardless of hoe foreign the language is, how difficult and piece is or how much you like/dislike the piece
• we should all exercise individual responsibility by self-revising old pieces and self-learning new pieces without being told to do so 

9. Ways to exercise individual musical independence

• from an individual level: soloists, pianists, and every choir members should know their stuff well enough to perform as a soloist 
• as a group: octets and main choir should possess the ability to self-run without conductors or student leaders around
• in terms of note-taking: notes taken must be detailed, systematic, and in pencils, not pens  

10. Last but not least, improve your vocal techniques!

• it is highly recommended to go for outside vocal technique lessons, especially so for members whose voices are not tall enough
• members' voice range should remain consistent and flexible at all times

Quote of the day: "think from other's perspectives, be considerate for people around you" - Mr Tay

So that's all for today. Also, do take the above listed expectations seriously, as the choir members, teachers-in-charge and the conductors are actually working as a team, hence the choir will only progresses well when we, the choir members, who make up the largest proportion in this team, exercise our individual responsibility as a good choir member. Quoting from Mr Tay (again), "a choir is only as strong as its weakest member", so let's live up to the expectations of our teachers and conductors and maximize our potential as a better choir! Yayy! :D

Love, Wen Yi

Types of Warm-ups by Mr Tay

Hey choir! :) This workshop on "warm-ups-that-we-can-do-as-a-choir-before-actual-choir-session-with-conductors" was conducted by Mr Tay too! 

Types of Warm-ups (vocal and Physical)

      ---------------it is unwise to sprint too much without proper warm-ups--------------

1. Rhythmic exercises on 'ta's,'ti's,'te's, etc.

for example: 

ta     ta     ti-ti      ta     ti-ti     ti-ti     ta-a

                   tim-te           ta             tim-te        tim-te        tim-te        tim-te     ta        ta

                   ti m-m ti       ti m-m ti      ta ti-ti       m ti m ti     ti m ti m-   -m-m-m ti                      

                            ti-ti-ti-ti  ti-ti-ti-ti     tre-o-la tre-o-la tre-o-la tre-o-la

2. Numbers warm-up

example: one, one-two-one, one-two-three-two-one, one-two-three-four-three-two-one, etc. on 'do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do-ti-la-so-fa-mi-re-do.

alternatives: 

• doted notes
• augmentation and diminuation
• metric transformation
• chance procedures
• the jigsaw puzzle (rearrange all the notes)

3. Back-slapping warm-up

• effective for waking up people
• tension=relaxation!

4. IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

the standard way to start warm-ups: start with the 'e' vowel, then the 'a' vowel, and finally the 'o' vowel.

(from the less resonant vowels to the more resonant vowels)

• e.g. by singing 'yah-yoh-yah-yoh-yah'

5. Be mindful of the compass of notes

compass of notes = range of notes suitable for warm-ups

• e.g. "m----" (like humming) helps to find the correct placement and resonance in our voice. 

For example, singing "mi-me-ma-mo-mu" helps us with our diction, and is able to exercise our mouth.

6. Placement of voice

it is important to find the format in a singer's voice too! 

7. Tessitura

this means the range where most of the notes are within the instrument's (in this case, our body) register.

• the ideal tessitura to warm-up is to start from the middle low range, then to the high range, and finally the low range.

Yup, so that's all for today. See you again soon! :)

-Wen Yi

Rehearsal Technique Workshop by Mr Tay

Workshop by Mr Tay

Hi guys! :) Sorry it took me so long to put this up... Anyway, here's the summary of the choral workshop Mr Tay conducted for us in January!

Rehearsal Planning and Rehearsal Technique for conductors

              --------Everybody in the choir can be a conductor------

1. Effective conductors must... 

• be perceptive assessors
• have clear objectives
• plan suitable (warm-ups) activities
• have good time management

2. Functions of rehearsal are to

• introduce/revise skills and techniques learned in the previous sessions
• learn music
• rehearse the technical and logistics stuff, e.g. acoustic check in the performance venue, walking in and out, "windows-finding")
• combination of any of the above

3. Stages of music preparation

• 1st stage: SIGHT-READING; get a taste of the music; read the music 1 line by 1 line; do not go into the details yet.
• 2nd stage: FAMILIARIZATION; must ensure that musical elements e.g. notes, text, dynamics have been inserted, and are well learnt.
• 3rd stage: POLISHING: look into the details; activate higher musical elements e.g. stage presence, expression, ensemble, intonation, tuning.

4. Suitable activities to be conducted by music leaders

• physical preparation e.g. stretching, vocal warm-ups
• mental preparation/musicianship training e.g. focusing games, literacy skills, intonation
• music familiarization/polishing

* do take care of percentage time spent on each activity! :)

5. Rehearsal planning

• Assess state of preparation
• Have clear objective
• Plan suitable activities
• Time allocation

* this can be done by constructing a table as shown below.

6. Rehearsal techniques

    There are two ultimate sets of rehearsal techniques that conductors can use flexibly, in     no particular order. Presenting the 'Yin's and 'Yang's of choir rehearsal techniques!  

  THE YINs

• visit the easier section(s) first
• visit the section(s) with repeating musical patterns first
• sweat out the details painstakingly
• progressively add layers
• avoid over reliance on the piano
• sing the piece faster than its actual tempo

  THE YANGs

• visit the challenging section(s) first
• visit the section(s) with a lot of variations first
• sweep the details under the carpet: get the big picture of the music first
• be ambitious and demand it all
• use more piano
• sing the piece slower than the actual tempo

7. Tips for conductors

• be demanding
• be kind
• develop senses and sensibility (be a trouble-shooting machine)
• be succinct and clear with your communication (e.g. visual cues, verbal communication)
• Voice your opinions and feedback aloud to the choir (state what was good, who/what could have been better, how can the choir get better, etc.)
• Insist on rehearsal discipline
• Be prepared for challenges and difficulties
• Always question self before others (e.g. was it my fault? Am I the one who caused this problem? Was I unclear in giving instructions? etc.)

Last but not least,

"Repetito est mater studiorum(Lat.)=Repetition is the mother of study (Eng.)"

So there you go! :) See y'all next time.
Love, 
Wen Yi

German Translation

Hi everyone! Abby Lee translated this for us:):) Pls take a look!

 

Lyn:)

 

Romanzen für Frauenstimmen mit willkürlicher Begleitung des Pianoforte

Schwirrend Tamburin, dich swing(e) ich, doch mein Herz ist weit von hier.

Whirring tambourine, I swing you, but my heart is far from here.

 

1. Tamburin, ach könnt(e)st du wissen, wie mein Herz von Schmerz zerrissen, deine Klänge würden müssen weinen um mein Leid mit mir. 

Tambourine, oh can you know, how my heart is torn by grief, thy sounds must have been crying with me over my suffering.

 

Schwirrend Tamburin, dich swing(e) ich, doch mein Herz ist weit von hier.

Whirring tambourine, I swing you, but my heart is far from here.

 

2. Weil das Herz mir will zerspringen, lass(e) ich hell die Schellen klingen, die Gedanken zu versingen aus des Herzens Grunde mir

Because my heart wants to burst, let me ring the bright bells, the thoughts to sing from the bottom of his heart to me

 

3. Schöne Herren, tief in Herzen fühle ich immer neu die Schmerzen, wie ein Angst ruf ist mein Scherzen, den mein Herz ist weit von hier

Handsome sir, deep in my heart I feel the pain again and again, as fear calls my pain, my heart is far from here.

 

Klosterfräulein

Ich armes Klosterfräulein, o Mutter! Was hast du gemacht! 

My poor miss monastery, O Mother! What have you done!

 

Lenz ging am Gitter vorüber, hat mir kein Blümlein gebracht.  

Lenz went over the fence, brought me no little flowers. 

 

2.  Ach wie weit, wie weit dort unten zwei Schäflein gehen im Thal! 

Oh, how far, how far down there do the two sheep go in the valley! 

 

viel Glück, ihr Schäflein, ihr sahet den Frühling zum erstmal! 

Good luck, their sheep, (sth sth) the spring for the first time!

 

3. Vöglein fliegen in Ruh! Viel Glück, ihr Vöglein, ihr fliegt der besseren Heimath zu! 

Bird flying alone! Good luck, you birds, you're flying home for the better!

 

Meerfey (‘Meer’ means sea, ‘fey’... well, in English it means fairylike)

 

Still bei Nacht fährt manches Schiff, Meerfey kämmt ihr Haar am Riff, hebt von Inseln an zusingen, die im Meer dort unter gingen

Still goes many a ship at night, Meerfey combing her hair on the reef, raises from islands to sing, went down there under the sea

 

Pupurroth, smarag den grün sieht’s der Schiffer unten blühen, silberne Paläste blinken, holde Frauenmienen winken.

Purple-red emerald green sees the skipper bloom below, flashing silver palaces, lovely faces waving.

 

Wann die Morgenwinde wehen, ist nicht Riff noch Fey zu sehen, und das Schiff lein ist versunken, und der Schiffer ist ertrunken!

 

When the morning winds blow, Fey is still not to be seen on the reef, and the ship is sunk, and the boatman is drowned!