Kicking it off!

We're back in full swing! Last week, Seattle Pro Musica had our first rehearsal with our new recruits - and oh my goodness, was the bar ever raised! We sightread repertoire for our Celtic Christmas concert with a higher level of success than ever before; we auditioned a crop of fabulous vocalists for our small ensembles, Madrigalia and Schola; we shook hands, introduced ourselves, and had a generally vibrant evening together!

Christina, Teddy, Richard and Madeline -
(trio) lexicon - perform at our kickoff party..

Then, this past weekend, we had our traditional annual kick-off party; our singers, their families, and our Sterling Circle donors are invited to an open house, hosted by intrepid Artistic Director and Conductor Karen P. Thomas. Wine and conversation flowed freely, and we all enjoyed a wonderful performance by (trio) lexicon.*

This week, we had our first Schola rehearsal, a Schola photoshoot, AND our first Madrigalia rehearsal. And here in the office, we're planning for the annual retreat, taking inventory of our CDs, and putting the finishing touches an exciting new collaborative project (more details to come soon)!

Awesome new alto Lauren helps Emma to
inventory our critically-acclaimed CDs!
(visit seattlepromusica.org to buy one!)

And so: I need a nap, but we've too much to do - so instead, I will have another coffee and get back on it. I just wanted to check in and let y'all know that we haven't forgotten this blog; in fact, we're working to schedule guest posters from Pro Musica and our constituents.  If you're interested in sharing something in this forum, shoot me an email and let me know - katie@seattlepromusica.org. I'll check in again soon!

*(trio) lexicon - musicians Christina Bach, Madeline Bersamina and Richard Bersamina presented a series of reflections on childhood and growing. Alternately hilariously funny and touching, and always musically top-notch.  Read here for more information, and contact Christina Bach if you're interested in having (trio) lexicon perform at your next event!

Our 2011-12 Schola! 
(Photo by Daniel Sheehan)

September Song

Hello! Well, I’m nothing short of thrilled to be back at Pro Musica and honored to be given the blogging reins for an afternoon. What a lovely afternoon it is! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Katie and I are busily preparing for a fantastic season ahead of us.

All of the music Katie was so excited about in her last post is about to be catalogued and added to our library. I can also verify Mark Falstein’s comment: It does smell like applause.

Auditions went well and we’re extremely pleased to announce we are welcoming 14 new members to Seattle Pro Musica! I’m looking forward to seeing new faces and hearing a new blend of voices. It occurs to me that with each new year, there is a different combination of singers. SPM possesses an ever-changing, unique sound. Though I’m sad to see some singers will not be joining us this year, I can appreciate the metaphor. It’s beautiful! SPM is like a living organism peppered with all the pain and joy associated with growth and change.

In other news, we tied for second place for the American Prize in Choral Performance, Community Chorus. This is HUGE people! The American Prize is a national competition. SPM was vying for a prize along with other choral groups from all over the country. The spotlight shines brightly on the Pacific Northwest as we share success with the first prize winners, Pacific Lutheran University Choral Union. Job well done Puget Sound area choristers! See the below links for more information on our latest success:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2016083802_choralawards.html

http://theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2011/07/winner-in-choral-performanceconducting.html

I know I’ve already said it, but I am so excited to be back! These precious September days I’ll spend with you, Seattle Pro Musica.

 

Emma is back in the office!



Emma Ashbrook serves as Administrative Assistant at Seattle Pro Musica.  She enjoys campfires, a good book, hot tea, and playing rock music on her bassoon in her free time. 

The August Rush

A groan for the cheesy post title reference, I know.  But it's truth!  Lots of things are coming to the foreground, now that the start of the season is imminent, and this has been an extremely productive day.  

KO efficiently and effectively deals with our donor records - with a smile!.

We've got auditions in less than a week, with only a few open spots left - very exciting!  We're getting our donor database in good solid working order, the better to recognize our constant and wonderful supporters for their generosity, thanks to the concerted efforts of board Vice President Katie Oman. We've received our first shipment of new music for the 2011-12 season, and it's beautifully clean and smells of fresh paper and ink - there's so much possibility in new music.  (As chorister Mark Falstein commented on our Facebook post, "It smells like... applause!")

Our various board committees are establishing tactics to accomplish our season's goals, and we're sure to have good luck this year - a dragonfly spent the majority of the afternoon in the office with us, and even alighted on my hand.  That's got to be good news!


Our season brochures have gone out, and it seems that our audience members are as excited about the coming concerts as we are. If you expected to receive a brochure and didn't, please contact us - we try very hard to keep our mailing lists up to date.  


More to come soon - enjoy the sunshine and these excellent photos, and throw on a Seattle Pro Musica CD.  Nothing goes better with a beautiful Seattle afternoon than a world of choral beauty...!
 

KS is pretty excited about new scores.  A whole box of Bach!

This guy spent the whole day with us - dragonflies are good luck, and he floated around for hours, checking out everything BUT the open window.

Summer Activities

Today's blog comes from our wonderful sun-loving and rule-breaking Artistic Director and Conductor, Karen P. Thomas.

August - and the sun is actually shining in Seattle! This means I get to spend some time gardening and hiking, two of my favorite activities... after conducting, of course.

 

Karen, ignoring the signs in the Tetons -
National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY

August is also a time for planning and preparing for the start of Seattle Pro Musica's season. The concerts have been planned and repertoire selected and ordered. The rehearsal schedule is in place for the year, and the season brochure has been mailed. I'm in the midst of hearing soloists for our performances of Bach's "St. John Passion" in March 2012, and the end of the month will bring auditions for new choir members.

Another summer activity for me is to spend many hours listening to our recordings of last season's concerts, and selecting the very best ones to be uploaded to iTunes and Amazon. We are also uploading some videos on our YouTube page - a new one every week this month, check them out!  (Below is a selection from the Rheinberger Mass for Double Choir (Cantus Missae, Op. 109) - performed in St. James Cathedral in May, 2011.)

 

 

High fashion hat-modeling
at Yellowstone National Park

This week we are working on putting together diction recordings for the choir, for use in preparing our December concert - "Celtic Christmas." We will be singing in Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic (in addition to English and Latin), and mastering the pronunciation of those languages takes a little extra work for the choir. Thankfully, we have some wonderful coaches and native speakers to help out! 

My favorite piece for the Celtic Christmas concert is the Magnificat for double choir by C.V. Stanford, who is from Ireland. It's a little bit Bach-inspired, and a real tour-de-force for the choir. You can see a great video of the Trinity College Choir of Cambridge performing this piece on YouTube, here.

My second-favorite piece - the Welsh lullaby 'Suo gan' in a beautiful arrangement for the men of the choir. Most people will recognize this as the piece used in the soundtrack for the film, 'Empire of the Sun.'

Speaking of the sun... it's calling...

 

What do you want to know about Seattle Pro Musica? Send us an email here: admin@seattlepromusica.org - and ask us your burning questions!

 

No rest for the weary!

Summer is finally here in Seattle, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard some variation on "So, you finally get some time off...!"  Hardly, friends - summer is practically as busy as the standard season around here, but without the motivating press of weekly rehearsals, events and concerts.  Add the lure of the outdoors, and it's downright difficult to stay productive, even though there are eighty things to do on any given day!

During the season, big, unwieldy, or secondary support projects get 'summer status' - we expect that we'll have more TIME to organize X or sort Y or analyze Z.  But it seems we've conveniently forgotten that summer is when we formulate the budget for the following year; revisit our strategic planning documents; turn in multiple grant applications; structure our digital and print marketing strategies for the upcoming season; and countless other things! 

Karen and our beautiful brochures.

For example: we work with our fabulous graphic designer, David Owen Hastings, to create print materials that represent Seattle Pro Musica in the best light.  First, Karen creates concert descriptions and a letter from the conductor; I take that content and administrative necessities, like adjustments to the order form or the donor perks.  Then, we send it off to David so he can work his magic.  Then, David, Karen, Carole (the head of the Marketing committee and an excellent designer in her own right) and I meet to evaluate color concepts, new elements, and changes.  Eventually the whole project is shipped to our printer, and subsequently proofed, printed, and sent back to us so we can send it along to you.

A major step up from handwritten slips!

I spent some time researching new strategies for the coming year's season subscription and single pass sales, which are now available through a locally owned and operated company, Brown Paper Tickets.  While we're making changes, we're seriously considering using Square for at-the-door sales and transactions. I would love to simplify our box office procedures!

Ready for pickup or delivery.

We work to fulfill our promises to our choristers - Seattle Pro Musica singers receive a professionally recorded and digitally remastered copy of each of our concerts. Karen spends hours listening to the master recordings, selecting the best tracks from multiple performances and identifying coughs and other aural pollution that Bill Levey of Via Audio, audio engineer extraordinaire, can eliminate.  When the master is complete, I create a beautiful insert and label, and volunteers (in this case, sopranos Lillian and Lyn) assemble the final project.  

Brahms rocks.

And, of course, there are musical things, too!  Karen is conducting the Brahms Requiem for the first of Seattle Symphony Chorale's annual Summer Sings events tonight, so we've been listening here in the office.  Soon, I'll be prepping excerpts to send to potential singers for the 2011-12 season - as we're now taking audition appointments.

Next I'm back to work on strategic planning documents for a meeting tomorrow night, and working with Salesforce to finalize the entry fields for updates to our donor database.  When that's done, I'll send out our season press release, update the website again with new downloadable content and maybe - eventually - get to work on my favorite thing of all, filing. (Flargh.)

Summer's lovely, but there's no real break in the workload - just different work.  I bet this is true for every non-profit arts organization - just because we're not rehearsing doesn't mean we're not working behind the scenes to prepare for what comes next!

Back in town!

Happy Conference!  Note the lovely pink badge.

Hi, all! Katie Skovholt, Seattle Pro Musica's  General Manager here.

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to attend the 34th Annual Chorus America Conference in San Francisco.  It was my first national conference as non-student, non-performing attendee.  It was great!  I wandered around with a pink 'first time attendee' ribbon on my name card, which was a ticket to friendly interactions with all sorts of people -- though choral folk are a pretty pleasant group, so I'm sure all the pink did was give a starting point for a conversation. But it was an effective little flash of color, that's for certain!

Karen P. Thomas, the Artistic Director and Conductor of Seattle Pro Musica, presented on two sessions - a panel on 'Killer Programming' which recognized her mighty mighty skills as as an innovative concert-creator, and another called 'Hidden Gems' where she shared a beautiful piece by composer John Muehleisen - Da Pacem for women's choir and soprano solo. (Seattle Pro Musica commissioned and premiered the piece in March 2008, and included it on our American Masterpieces CD - which you can order via our website, or you can download just that song via iTunes, if you're so inclined!)

The opening reception - quite a nice affair.

The San Francisco Girls' Chorus - one of the co-hosts of the event - presented a truly amazing concert the first night. I spent about five years singing with the Tahoma Girls Choir before graduating out of the program and serving on the board for a while, and I haven't seen a really solid, extraordinary girls' group in quite a while; it was a treat! 

In fact, almost everything about the conference was a treat.  The Chorus America folks know how to throw a party, and they know how to craft a professional conference that provides valuable resources to attendees.  It was a great first conference, and I'm looking forward to seeing the colleagues I met in San Francisco again next year in Minneapolis.  And now I'll hand the blogging reins off to the Maestra and go back to the rest of my to-do list -- have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Karen P. Thomas, my boss and Chorus America conference guide.

KPT says: 

The Chorus America Conference was fabulous, as usual. The staff do such a tremendous job of organizing and running a smooth conference - finding compelling speakers, and selecting the finest area choirs to perform. Concert highlights for me were the San Francisco Girl's Chorus (one of the best children's chorus programs in the country) and Chanticleer - interesting programs and absolutely stellar performances by both those groups!  Ragnar Bohlin (Director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus) gave a fascinating presentation on contemporary choral music from Scandinavia and the Baltics - some wonderful repertoire ideas there!

As always, the Chorus America Conference is a great time for connecting with new colleagues and catching up with old friends. I was very happy to see Barlow Bradford and the Utah Chamber Artists receive the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award to commission a new piece by Tarik O’Regan - this wonderful group deserves the recognition!

All in all, a great conference, and I return to Seattle with plenty of new and exciting ideas!

Why SPM?

 Today's blog is by guest writer Jill Kimball, who just finished her first year as a soprano with Seattle Pro Musica.

Finding a great choir can be as difficult as finding the perfect Seattle apartment. There are a lot of factors to weigh: location, size, community feel. Last summer, I’d just finished college in Oregon and was in search of both as I prepared to move to the Emerald City.

I thought I couldn’t get any luckier when I scored an apartment in Lower Queen Anne with sweeping rooftop views.  But then, two months later, I found Seattle Pro Musica.

The myriad choices for singing groups in the Puget Sound area overwhelmed me at first, and I had to solicit a friend’s advice to narrow down a very long list of possibilities. But after a successful audition with Karen P. Thomas and just a few weeks of rehearsals, I discarded my list: it was clear SPM and I would be together for many years to come.

Why do I love SPM? Let me count the reasons…

1.     The conductor. The entire choral world seems to know and love Karen P. Thomas, SPM’s fearless leader. Why? Because she’s funny, intelligent and personable. Because she’s not afraid to challenge us and push boundaries. Because she values our input and takes our criticism seriously. Karen quickly tears down the wall that usually exists between conductors and singers, welcoming new members into her home for parties, inviting them on weekend outings and taking a genuine interest in their lives outside of choir.

2.     The great company. I’m generally a quiet person and have always been a bit of a social outcast. Luckily, in SPM, left-of-center tendencies are par for the course. I’ve geeked out with fellow choir members discussing nineteenth-century poetry, an obscure 1960s cult television show, and the extent to which Arvo Part’s music is accessible—and that was just last month. No matter how weird or far-flung your hobbies and passions might be, chances are you’ll find a fellow SPM member who wants to discuss them. With company like this, it’s no wonder I find it easy to come out of my shell at rehearsals and concerts.

3.     The concerts. SPM is a resident choir at St. James Cathedral, arguably the best concert space for choral music in Seattle. Pair that with our conductor’s always-amazing repertoire choices, and add an astoundingly dedicated following of community members in the audience…and it’s easy to see why I got choked up in the cathedral’s east apse as we closed our last concert of the season in May.

4.     The challenge. I don’t just sing in the three major concerts we prepare each season. I’m also part of Madrigalia and Schola, two smaller choirs within SPM that sing in smaller concerts all over the Puget Sound area throughout the year. Even though singing in these smaller ensembles means more repertoire to learn, more rehearsals to attend and more at-home practice time, I welcome the challenge: it reminds me that even after 10 years of choral singing, I still have so much more to learn.

5.     The bonding. SPM takes a break from rehearsals and concerts in the summer, but that doesn’t mean we singers take a break from socializing with each other! I already have plans to hike, barbecue and celebrate holidays and birthdays with my fellow singers during the warm months. After just one year in the choir, I already feel like I’ve made lifelong friends.

How do I love thee, Seattle Pro Musica? Let me count the ways! I had a fantastic inaugural season and I suspect I’ll have even more fun in future years.

Jill Kimball, Seattle Pro Musica’s youngest member, is a Santa Cruz, California native and a recent University of Oregon graduate. She moved to Seattle last year for a summer reporting internship with The Seattle Times. She currently works for Expedia, guzzles gallons of coffee daily, pretends to know things about modern art and fine wine, and blogs about life in the big city here.

Enjoying a cup of wassail at a Seattle Pro Musica party following the December 2010 concert series, NOWELL. 
From left, Peter Cornell, Ginger Ellingson, Jill Kimball, Madeline Bersamina.

At the annual auction, Casino Royale. 
From left, Anna Thelen, Ian Bishop, Jill Kimball, Ashlyn Gehrett.