THE PME BLOG

Acacia Quien, Alto

I was already a huge Beatles fan by age eleven, so when PME did a rendition of “A Day in the Life” in 1994, the choir earned major cool points in my mind. See, I have been attending the Jazz & Pop concerts since I was a little girl. My father discovered PME in the late 80s, and every year since then and until I left for college, my parents & I have been going to this consistently enjoyable spring show.

When I auditioned for PME at the dawn of the J&P season, I recognized at least half of the choir immediately. I could put names to the faces of the repeat arrangers and soloists, so to me it felt like these folks were either quasi-celebrities or adults from my childhood whom I already knew but who didn’t recognize me yet. Crazy, I know. I half expected Jim Hale or Kathy Longinotti to approach me and ask if I was indeed that scrawny girl in the audience every year in the 80s and 90s, all grown up. Yeah, that never happened.

From the first rehearsal I knew that this choir was no joke. These guys were serious about music, and they were good! Coming from the band world—a nebulous world of dimly lit, noisy bars, smoky casinos, and cocky horn players (singing along side 10 horn players can often feel like a competition), this was a new awakening. No one taking cigarette breaks? No musicians jiving each other, or the singer? No glasses breaking or obnoxious drunks? I knew that my ten year hiatus from choirs was officially over. I had finally found my musical happy home!

I also realized that my choir game was a bit down after all these years, and I needed to stand next to certain people (Polly, Kim–yeah ladies!) to get my sight reading and harmonic mojo back. PME moves fast, and, unlike the choir directors of my youth, Lynne Morrow doesn’t take time out of rehearsal to teach sections their respective parts. We are expected to know our stuff upon arrival, which means a combination of great sight reading skills and a bit of homework. I was officially in the land of real adults and it was intimidating.

However, I had never met a more friendly and supportive group of musical people in my life. Really! PME is unusual in its lack of snake-pit vibe that I’ve seen in other musical groups—the environment is so positive and encouraging, it’s extraordinary. The Pajaro retreat was awesome (see Kate’s blog), and I really dug that such hard work was accompanied by an abundance of quality food and drink. Great singers are great eaters, that’s for sure.

We finished our final concert on Sunday.  I was unfortunate enough to acquire a nasty cold for the first show, so although I sounded a bit like Janis Joplin after a doing some damage to a fifth of whiskey, I rose to the occasion as best I could and made it through without passing out. The versatility in the musical selection and styles of arrangement is amazing—each song is unique and beautiful in its own way. Because there is such a collective support system for risk taking, I am already considering arranging my own tunes for next season.

So I’m finally old (and mature) enough to be singing with my choir idols, and it feels fabulous! I have a feeling that I will be a PEEMER for a very long time, and I hope to see more young adults hope on the bandwagon and join this talented, disciplined choir full of awesome, supportive folk. So where my young choir dorks at?

Acacia Quien
Alto

“We are here to play! Just have a good time!”

- Bobby McFerrin, just before the 4/10/10 show at the Masonic Auditorium

PME Rehearsing with Bobby McFerrin

And with that, we were off!

The Bobby McFerrin “ride” was amazing, frustrating, rewarding, scary, thrilling, and worth every moment of at-home practice, sectionals, rehearsals and hand-wringing! Talk about a learning experience! I’m still glowing from the knowledge that we were onstage for more than 90 minutes contributing to the success of an almost sold-out house at a Bobby McFerrin concert! When Bobby came out to the adoration of the fans, you knew there was a magical connection that had been established long ago and was just being tended to by the master. He didn’t disappoint.

Bobby McFerrin

When we were introduced to him, McFerrin exuded kindness and love in his face and looked genuinely pleased with us and our valiant effort to put his music “out there.” And when he was onstage, the whole “Bobby McFerrin mystique” was like watching a beautiful butterfly. He would fly–then land, and settle briefly, only to then suddenly and silently leave one musical flower, fly to another and dance delicately there, finding that certain balance, center– elusive “thing” that just “feels right,” and then begin the whole process again. And that’s just McFerrin!

Also on stage with us were another three of the tip-toppest musicians I’ve ever seen! Roger Treece’s boundless energy and enthusiasm were infectious, leaving us wanting to show him a YES, WE CAN! attitude and performance. He was awesome and Bobby is lucky to have him alongside. His interpretation of the “groove” helped make sense of the complicated McFerrin licks and made them more singable.

Jan Zovickian

As someone new to PME, I am not used to having these kinds of experiences! Need I say I’m glad I stayed aboard for the ride instead of giving in to my insecurities. (Thanks to Lynne, Antonia, Peggy and Kathryn for that!) The key word, like in “Little Match Girl” is PATIENCE! I await the next challenge with enthusiasm and a little bit of breathlessness. (Whew!) This group is not for the faint of heart.

Thanks all for the terrific group experience–singing our hearts out and making it happen!

In the PME spirit, (almost 30 years young!)

- Alto Jan Zovickian

Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin?  We’re going to sing with Bobby McFerrin?  It was thrilling to hear this news a few months back and now we are less a week away from the concert which will be Saturday, April 10, 8:00 pm at the Nob Hill Masonic Center in San Francisco, part of the SFJazz series (Bobby McFerrin presents VOCABuLaries).  We are working hard on our four numbers and excitement is growing.

I remember when I first heard Bobby McFerrin before “Don’t worry, be happy” at San Jose State in the early 80’s.  In a small way he made a profound impact on me. The vocal training I had had up until that point was oriented towards using lots of vibrato. His sound was so clean and instrumental and when he sang Bach I knew I wanted to try that, too.  His exploration of vocal sounds opened up creative experimentation for a new generation of singers.   Thanks, Bobby.  I wonder what other Peemers have to say about how he has influenced them?

Now we get to sing with “the master”.  The music is challenging so I am a little worried but I’m mostly happy, really happy.

- Lorna Baird, Soprano

It was so worth it! Pacific Mozart Ensemble should feel proud and humble. Yesterday we accomplished a very rewarding and equally challenging concert program. It was the final concert of “The Little Match Girl”. I took today off because I am so exhausted. Granted, I have extenuating circumstances that made my weekend even more tiring, but this concert was just plain demanding.

The program was well thought out, with intelligent and beautiful music. It featured compositions about women, one a pulitzer prize winner, and also some young composers. It was refreshing to be singing about women and feminine energy during the holiday season, when choral concerts are usually exclusively oriented towards Christmas. It is especially gratifying to perform the work of someone who is developing as a composer. There is a special responsibility to deliver the piece in a way that he or she can experience the realization of their ideas in a live situation. I can only imagine how that informs their process.

Especially gorgeous was Michael Roberts’ “Cast Thy Bread Upon the Waters”. It was my favorite, for personal reasons. It explored the same space as Match Girl, where pain and joy merge, in a musical vocabulary that is perhaps more accessible. Michael was there, and I hope he was pleased. When he stood up to be acknowldged, I felt so humbled to think that he had etrusted us with his music.

Actually, it is hard to say that any one piece was more beautiful than another. They were all wonderful. I had friends in the audience who said that every piece was great. I was surprised that the carols we sang with the audience at the end were what had me crying. Watching the joy in the audience as all 200 people joined us was overwhelming. Also I think I was working too hard to feel much emotion until then.

I wonder if the audience knows that the conductor and singers have their attention on dozens of technical details at every moment to create an experience for them. I stand in the back row, where it is difficult to hear much more than the people on either side of me, so I don’t get the experience of hearing the ensemble the way they do. Also, I am listening specifically for mistakes in the alto section, so we can fix them. The altos had three extra sectional rehearsals to prepare for the concert, which is perhaps a record for us. Modern music is often deceptive. Transitions from one section to the next are unexpected. Tempos change often. Voices alternate between leading and background in unusual and dramatic ways. Tuning can be challenging, as are tone clusters. And then there is just learning the piece, spending whatever time you personally need to be able to stand in the group and hold your own.

David Lang’s “Little Match Girl” is a special challenge with its polyrhythmic and range challenges and the pristine silences. You don’t want to “step in the hole” as we say, that is to sing into a silence, and this piece is built around the silences. It is like racing your bicycle along a street that is filled with potholes and rocks. You might avoid the big potholes but the little rock at the edge of the road makes you wobble or even crash. If you do, you must get right back on the bike and back into the peleton. Not quite, but you get the picture.

The honor of performing David Lang’s “Little Match Girl” was one that no one took lightly. This piece won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for music, an honor shared by the likes of Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson, Gian-Carlo Menotti, Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis. We gave its West Coast premiere. Talk about pressure. It was gratifying that KQED’s Cy Musiker gave the concert a plug. Those who were there were so lucky. Lang’s piece gave them a unique experience. Everyone I spoke to indicated in words or just with gestures that “Match Girl” opened a wide, wide space in their heart. Often they didn’t have words for what it did, always the best response, if you ask me.

I have been wondering how many man-hours this concert took to produce. This is off the cuff but for me it was perhaps 28 hours of regular and dress rehearsal and 6 hours of sectional rehearsal. Another 20 hours of personal practice, say 6 hours preparing for sectional responsibilities, 3 hours talking with others about our process, 12 hours travel time, 2 hours communicating about the concert with potential audience and dealing with my friends” ticket concerns, 2 hours shopping for ways to better organize my music, 10 hours on the two concert days. I can safely say that I spent the equivalent of two work weeks. Please don’t imgine that I am complaining. Doing this is my great joy. However, multiply that by 50 and add the work of our conductor, administrator, board members, marketer, webmaster, program creator, sound and lighting technicians, hosts, stage manager, volunteer coordinator and volunteers who man the door and sell the albums,… I am sure that I am forgetting plenty of folks…it is an impressive commitment of time all spent to give our audience a brief experience that will move their soul and hopefully open their heart. I am convinced that humans need music and story as much as we need food and shelter.

So today I am a dishrag. The last two weeks I felt tight with worry, lost sleep, and fretted over not finding enough time to squeeze in extra practice so I could NAIL every moment. Was it worth it? You bet!

-Peggy Rock, Alto Section Leader

Technorati : Dave Brubeck, David Lang, Little Matchgirl Passion