The Concert Scoop

Since this is my first year with the Twin Cities Women's Choir, this is my first time doing the spring concert. The winter concert is one of those deals where you sit and we stand and you listen to us sing. The spring concert is a bit more fun. Folks sit at tables and we serve desserts and coffee and whatnot. Literally, we serve them. We head off stage at intermission, pass right through the kitchen, and come back out again with plates and carafes.

We had a folk theme going for this show. Folks songs from different cultures. A bluegrass band which I was skeptical about but which worked out fantastically. (We're talking folks you've heard on NPR. Folks that you have Heard Of if you're into folk music at all. At least local folk music.) And then there were a few songs from the 10th Anniversary CD as well.

This is our big fundraising concert. There's a silent auction and we collect donations for two memorial funds. One helps pay for our music. The other is for commissioning songs.

So anyway. Friday night is the night to get the jitters out, but I think both nights went pretty well. The audience seemed to be a bit more into it on Saturday. Some songs we did better on Friday. Some we did better on Saturday. Folks were nervous about remembering the words to the Czech songs, but it all came out just fine. I wasn't really nervous at all, surprisingly.

And I looked pretty damn good. I wore a skirt, people. Seriously. I was hot. Literally and figuratively, actually. It was warm in there, standing under the lights. (I didn't get a picture of myself, before anybody asks.)

The 2s (Alto II and Soprano II) had clean up duty on Friday night, so we had to clear the tables and wash all the dishes. The 1s (Alto I and Soprano I) got stuck with Saturday night clean up. We (Alto 2s and friends) headed to a house nearby to party. By the time folks finally all got over there and the singing started (because we hadn't done enough of that over the last four days), I was totally pooped. It was a fine time sitting around the fire, but it was a tad chilly and I wasn't quite bundled up enough.

A couple of my co-workers were going to come on Friday night but couldn't make it on account of a family emergency. Unfortunate. But their tickets ended up going to Ann Bancroft, so I guess it worked out. Good thing, because we dedicated a song to her. Word is she cried through the whole thing. The song, not the whole show. Our director announced that bit of news right before we sang the song on Saturday night, and it choked me up a little. I really like that song, though, so it's cool. Can't wait to get the CD recording.

So that's the climax of our spring season. We'll have rehearsal on Wednesday in which we debrief the concert and practice a few songs for next Sunday when we'll do some Mother's Day stuff. Then we're done for the summer, save the Twins game in June that we're doing the national anthem for. Time to relax.