THE PME BLOG

It’s coming. Soon. The always-entertaining, uniquely wonderful Jazz & Pop à la PME. You loyal readers of past blogs may recall that the first step in putting the show together involves finding new and existing arrangements, finding members of the group to sing them with you, and finding time in otherwise super-busy lives to rehearse them like mad. Then you audition said arrangements for a friendly crowd of your peers and hold your breath overnight while you await the results. The next morning we have a List of Songs.

The List, which generally runs the stylistic gamut, then has to undergo another kind of scrutiny. This takes place at the always entertaining, uniquely wonderful J&P Retreat, held at the always picturesque, uniquely inspirational Pajaro Dunes vacation spot near Monterey. We’ve been going there for years and love it. For reasons we can’t fathom, they keep letting us come back.

This is not your average I-am-reliving-my-college-spring-break moment. No, indeed. Real work is involved. We sing for hours in our small groups and with the whole ensemble, for our super coach/directors, Lynne and Dick, and for a hired gun, the spectacularly talented and breathlessly energetic Kerry Marsh. They nit. They pick. They fix the broken stuff and pat us on the head when we do it well. We make Progress.

While all this work is going, we’re bonding. This is an essential part of ensemble singing, not some I’m reliving-my-last-encounter-at-Green-Gulch moment. Plus, we don’t have to sit still while we do it.

This is good because we wouldn’t be able to get up and consume large quantities of noshes, which is an essential part of singing as any Peemer will tell you. As loyal readers of this blog will tell you, eating goes hand in hand with singing. Just ask us. Heck, ask Shakespeare (see title of this blog). Clever, huh?

On Saturday night, the bonding, singing and food components come together in a fabulous feast for the senses. We wax rhapsodically about 1) how great the food is (no lie - it’s GREAT); 2) how great the coaching was (and to prove it, we sometimes sing our tunes for each other); 3) the great selection of wines, which most certainly impacts how GREAT we sounded in item 2; 4) how much we enjoy each other in a really GREAT way; and 5) how GREAT this concert is going to be.

You can see all the pictures from the weekend here:
2009 Pajaro Retreat
(Thanks to Dick, Steve and Doug)

But hey, don’t take my word for it. I certainly wouldn’t. Come see/hear/taste for yourself at the upcoming concerts!

Sunday June 7, 2009 at 5 pm
Berkeley City Club
2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley

Friday June 12, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The Green Room, War Memorial Veterans Building
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

Saturday June 13, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Finnish Brotherhood Hall
1970 Chestnut at University, Berkeley

- Kate Berenson, Soprano

Technorati : A Cappella, Jazz & Pop, Kerry Marsh