July 28, 1993
Dear Friends,
I'd like to start off this letter by extending my heartfelt thanks to all of you who participated in the Beethoven Ninth last month. The performance was outstanding and Maestro Zimmermann was very pleased. Many of you were aware that he had scheduled a luncheon meeting with me to discuss future projects, so I thought I would write to report on that and other key items facing us in the coming months.
I met with Maestro Zimmermann over lunch on July ninth in his office over ham and cheese subs and chips that we had sent in from a local deli. I was a bit taken aback by his easy going nature and open manner of discussion. He asked me repeatedly to extend his compliments to everyone in the group for a job well done and that he was anxious to make arrangements for future performances. We kicked around a variety of possibilities and came up with the following proposals. They are as follows:
JUNE 1994, SUMMERFEST SERIES - All Mozart Program
1994-95 concert series - Carmina Burana at the Cary Community Center and in Chapel Hill. Tentative until the symphony can secure funding.
JUNE 1995 - SUMMERFEST SERIES - Rodgers & Hammerstein program
1996? - VERDI REQUIEM. He would like us to combine forces with another area chorus to form a 175 voice group to perform this work. Very sketchy. Details to follow when I get them.
All of this of course is dependent on our ability to maintain our standards of quality and a growing and enthusiastic membership. We need to count on your return so that the balanced chorus of 100+ that showed up on June 19 is a commonplace event.
Now that the symphony is firmly woven into our future, I also want to relate our plans for our own 1993-94 season. We will put all of our effort into this year's Christmas concert which will take place on Saturday, December 18 at St.Andrew's Roman Catholic Church in Apex and be called "A Baroque Christmas". The program will feature the Gloria of J.S. Bach's Mass in b Minor , Christmas carols, The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah and 18 members of The NC Symphony. Please see the enclosed schedule for this first event. The second concert is called "The Music of the Great English Cathedrals" and will take place late March or early April featuring a brass octet and percussion that will be provided by the symphony. Our final project of the year will be the All Mozart program with the N.C. Symphony at Summerfest in June under Gerhardt Zimmerman's direction.
As before, all members are required to reaudition each year so that I may become better acquainted with each voice and each member has the opportunity to show ability or progress that may not have come across before. Auditions will be held on Monday, August 23, Tuesday, August 24, and Tuesday, September 7 from 6:30 - 9:30 at White Plains UMC, 313 S.E. Maynard Rd. in Cary. An accompanist will be provided. Bring a hymn, song or aria. It need not be from memory, but we ask that you bring an extra copy of the music for the accompanist if you are reading from a score. Please note the location change from previous years. It is now nearly impossible to reserve the Community Center for multiple nights and I felt it best to have all of the auditions in one place.
There will be one extra bit of information required in this year's audition. You will be asked if you are interested in performing in a small group or ensemble that will serve as a group for hire as Cary Singers have in the past year. Money earned goes to The Concert Singers and is treated like a fund raising project. The Cary Singers will cease to exist and we will form a group of whatever configuration is required by the sponsor. Just as we do with the Concert Singers, a group will be formed, a rehearsal schedule will be agreed to and a program prepared. It may be a mixed group of 20, a womens ensemble, a revue with choreography or even a soloist. We will assemble a list of interested talent and draw from it to fit the needs and wants of the sponsor, rather than rehearsing a group and then trying to sell it as we did with The Cary Singers. Members of Cary Singers who gave their best efforts to get the group going over the past year will be given the first shot at projects. Those that can dance will get the dancing jobbs and those who prefer to sing from a stationary position will do concert work. This system will also enable us to involve more people and accept more paying work if the need arises. Conversely, if we go three months without a project, we won't ask you to spend precious time rehearsing.
I want to thank everyone who has participated in the Walnut Creek fund raisers. I am well aware that this has been a very frustrating experience for you due to Walnut Creek offering minimal dates at the last minute. We are hopeful that our patience will pay off. Our continued dedication should produce more profitable and frequent dates that are given further in advance. If it does not, we will have to reexamine our involvement. In either case, hang in as best you can and the frustration will end one way or another.
We will be looking at our concert dress for this season with an eye toward eventually wearing a full performance outfit. Liz Vanderhoof is working on this and she will provide information when we start up in the fall. Chances are, we'll start out with color coordinated accessories like bows and ties that will fit in with our current arrangement. We can then incorporate them into a full outfit when we are able.
One final note. I asked the producers of our wonderful new newsletter to incorporate a section or bulletin board that would feature news about upcoming choral events in the community. This section could be the basis of a choral arts network where we gain unity and strength by supporting the choral art wherever it takes place. Many of you who love singing might attend a performance if you only knew when and where it is taking place. All groups from church or community are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to publicize choral events in a publication that is mailed to lovers of choral music.
Well, here endeth the epistle. Like the rest of you, I'm wondering what happened to the first half of summer. I am sure that three weeks from now, your smiling faces will be a refreshingly cool sight from the summer heat. Until then stay well and stay cool!
Warmly, (95 degrees)
Larry.
Updated 17 July 2003 |