In the summer of 2008, the Oregon Chorale toured Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The best party of the trip was the banquet at Bunratty Castle, with dining, drinking, and singing together.
Continue reading The Oregon Chorale on Tour in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and ScotlandTag Archives: Singing
At it Again, in Guys and Dolls
In June and July of 2001, we were back on the boards, in Stage One’s production of Guys and Dolls, as a fundraiser for Hillsboro (Oregon) area high schools’ performing arts departments. It was so much fun to perform together, and with such a talented cast!
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The Co-Presidents Reuinite in Fiddler On the Roof
In June and July 2000, the Co-Presidents were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years (too long!): Linda played Golde, Tevye’s wife, and Brad played Lazar Wolf, the butcher, in Stage One’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. Stage One is a fundraising organization for the Hillsboro area high schools’ performing arts departments.
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What Exactly is Singing “In Tune”?
I’ve sung most of my life, yet only recently have I started to ask the question “How do unaccompanied vocalists stay in tune?” The process sounds simple enough at first: vocalists stay in tune because they have good relative or absolute pitch memory — they remember what the 5th of the scale sounds like, and can sing it whenever they like. This explanation works at some level, but a few nagging questions remain.
Continue reading What Exactly is Singing “In Tune”?Elvis Has Left the Building
Sure, everybody claims to have seen Elvis…but how many people get to be Elvis?
It all started early in 1998 when Silverna McCall, the Drama director at HilHi, enigmatically asked me “How’s your Elvis impression?” Little did I know that she was producing the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and that, although she had assembled from HilHi’s student body the most amazing collection of singers and actors, she was short one adult baritone to play the part of the Pharaoh. Not quite knowing what to expect, I said “yes”.
Continue reading Elvis Has Left the BuildingThe Oregon Chorale On Tour in Scandanavia
In June of 1998, the Washington County (Oregon) Chorale spent 19 days touring Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Gunnar Serrander of Scan Travel Center in Sweden, we had an unforgettable tour and sang to enthusiastic, packed houses in spectacular sites.
Here are just a few photos from the trip. Sorry for the low resolution – this was the previous century!
Continue reading The Oregon Chorale On Tour in ScandanaviaThe Needhamian National Anthem
(I apologize for the MIDI format of the anthem, which you need to download to play.)
Land of the Townsend’s Mole – the Needhamian National Anthem
(all rise)
The Oregon Chorale On Tour in Britain
In the summer of 1993, the Washington County Chorale toured England, Scotland, and Wales. We sang at (among other spots), Bath Abbey, Westminster Cathedral (not the well-known Abbey, the less-well-known Cathedral), and the Pittville Pump Room. Since England is swarming with American choirs on vacation, the most common response we heard from our audience members was “If we’d known you were this good, we would have brought our friends!”
Continue reading The Oregon Chorale On Tour in BritainThe Oregon Chorale on Tour in Austria and Germany
In the summer of 1989 the Washington County Chorale toured Germany (our director’s birthplace) & Austria. The most amazing place we saw was the Berchtesgaden Salt Mines, a sort of cross between Disneyland and a working museum. It was quite an adventure to dress in miner’s overclothes and careen into the heart of the mountain on picnic-bench-cum-cable-car, dodging rock walls as the bench veered left and right. “Back to the salt mines”, indeed!
Continue reading The Oregon Chorale on Tour in Austria and Germany