Hello Siskiyou Singers,
Looks like we have a nice number of quality singers with us this term including several new ones! Be sure to introduce yourself to anyone you either haven’t seen before or just don’t know in general. Because we don’t have much time to socialize before or after our rehearsals nor during our 10 minute break, a big reason for attending the workshop is to get to know the new singers and learn more about the ones you already know. Good food, excellent company, fun and lots of singing are also high on the list of reasons. 👏🏻
Locked Doors Policy for Rehearsals
If you’ve ever experienced the frustration of showing up for a Tuesday evening rehearsal only to find you’re locked out and can’t get anyones’ attention to come let you in, here’s the reason and what to do about it. Our rehearsals are scheduled to be singing from 7 PM to 9:30 PM with a 10 minute break somewhere in the middle. Mark is very punctual about this because he respects everyone’s time. This means you should plan to arrive at the door by 6:55 PM at the latest, be at your place, have your music and be ready to sing starting at 7 PM. Arriving at the door at 7 PM is not “being on time”.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances to your planned arrival on time, I stand at the door and wait to lock it at 7:10 PM. This is to provide some measure of flexibility for these hopefully infrequent times. I ask that you please don’t routinely abuse it.
You may think, but why even lock the doors at all? The reason is to prevent the public from entering the building without permission. Siskiyou Singers is liable for any damage, theft or other adverse events that may occur due to unlocked doors while we are renting the space for our rehearsals. We contract to leave the premises in the condition we found it before rehearsal.
If you know you are running late and won’t be able to arrive on time, we ask that you text your section leader to give them advance notice of what time you expect to be at the door. They will watch for you at that time and let you in. Because we ask that all devices be silenced during rehearsals, it is best to text before rehearsal begins and not try to call your section leader when you are at the door.
Spring Term Choir Workshop
Mark wrote about the details of what’s happening at our Spring Workshop (see Mark’s email Feb, 21) so I’ll just put a reminder of the date, time and location here.
Saturday, March 8th, 9 AM to 3 PM, Wesley Hall (next to and up the hill from the sanctuary we rehearse in on Tuesdays)
Sectional Rehearsals
Your section leaders will be organizing a special rehearsal (with Mark at the helm) for just your section in the near future. Sally Peterson has already organized the alto sectional rehearsal! Yay Sally 🤗 These rehearsals are very valuable to participate in. They give us a chance to ask Mark to help us practice sections of our music that are particularly difficult. Mark will also have identified places where he feels we need some extra attention. So, as you do your practicing homework, be sure to make a note of the places you would like to spend some time on during your sectional rehearsal. Most likely several other people will identify the same passages.
Siskiyou Singers Website and Members Page
As Mark has already mentioned, our website siskiyousingers.org has a wealth of information for the public and especially for member singers. To access important materials related to our music, rehearsals, contact information for your section leader, help with the online program called Bandlab, video links to the music we are performing done by other choirs and much more, click on the “Members” tab and provide a username of your choice and then the password silentnight (one word and all lowercase).
On the Members page there is also a very important document. It’s called “Choir Members’ Handbook (Spring 2025)“. I ask everyone to please review this so you know what it contains, such as, “Concert Dress Guidelines” which will be discussed with the choir as we approach our concert dates. It’s a good idea to look at that now so you know what clothing items you will need when the time comes and have time to acquire them before the last minute. Also, let your section leader or me know if you need assistance in obtaining any particular items. We can help you out.
Please keep your bright green schedule/information sheet handy for frequent reference (you should have received one with your music). If you have any questions, concerns or need help with something, your section leaders and their contact information are listed on the green sheet.
Bandlab
At our last Tuesday rehearsal, Mark talked about Bandlab which is a tool that can be used to help with learning our music parts. Some singers find it very helpful with practicing while others find it too difficult, technically challenging and frustrating and so, don’t use it. It’s important that you all understand that it is not mandatory to use. I happen to like combining using it along with playing my part on a piano or a keyboard and singing along with some of the YouTube videos of other choirs performing the same piece (links are provided on our Members page). So, please use whatever method is comfortable and works for you with or without Bandlab. By the way, there is an excellent instructional tutorial on our website on the Members page (created by Michael Zuzel) for helping to learn how Bandlab works and how to use it for practicing. Thank You Michael 🙏
See you Tuesday evening,
Steve Thomas
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Please add Director@SiskiyouSingers.org and President@SiskiyouSingers.org to your contacts to ensure you receive important choir updates and to help improve our email domain reputation.
Director: Mark Reppert || Director@SiskiyouSingers.org
President: Steve Thomas || President@SiskiyouSingers.org
Website: https://siskiyousingers.org
Members Section: https://siskiyousingers.org/members-only-2/
Group Inbox: https://groups.google.com/a/siskiyousingers.org/g/choir
🎶 Thank you for being a valued member of the Siskiyou Singers! 🎶