We received the following note from Christine Oberc regarding our gift in remembrance of her mom.

"To all the great members of the Big Apple Chorus,

I want to thank you all for the generous donation to "The American Cancer Society" in memory of my Mom. I know my mother would be very happy with your kind gift.

Sincerely,

Christine and the Teixeira family

PS You guys did a great job last night. I look forward to seeing the show.

First Dance, LLC
(914)-835-3440 NY
(860)-354-4120 CT

The faithful gathered in the cafeteria last night to work on the details of the Elvis medley and Love Me Tender. Following a little shake-out led by Steve Adams, who filled in nicely for the late and unlamented (except by your embarrassed scribe) Mr. Davis, and a nice warm-up by Mark Paul, we broke for sectionals to work on the Elvis medley. After a half hour spent cleaning up details, the result was a much cleaner performance. We are blessed on two counts: we have great section leaders and singers who are willing to make the effort to improve. Both were very much in evidence, and the result brought smiles of approval from the guys up front. Move sheets will be forthcoming directly, as will the tag, which will probably be one arranged by our own Marty Israel.

The auditorium became available, so we moved there for the rest of the evening, which was devoted to Love me Tender, first in sectionals and then as ensemble. A few points to remember: we're doing the first four measures as a single unit. At the end of measure eight, harmony parts sing into the lead pickup on the word "I", but don't step on it. In measure 13, note that the bass and bari hold on the word "love" while the upper parts sing "Oh", and in the following measure the upper parts hold while the lower two have a little duet. This is not obvious on the learning tape. In measure 22, basses need to hear the tenor/bari swipe on "so" before stating the run-up to measure 23. Joe pointed out that we could all benefit from listening to the learning tapes for correct tuning and breath management.

The ballad will continue to evolve, and holds the promise of being a really moving performance in the show, and beyond.

Monday we'll pin down the riser choreo, and auditions for the mini chorus will be held in quartet format following rehearsal. Pat Kelly, who's been working with the group and whipping it (figuratively) into shape, will direct their performance in the show.

I have four volunteers to look over the risers. A couple more would make the job go much faster, and prudence dictates that we get the job done before moving them to Alice Tully.

Mark your calendars for the weekend of May 5-7, which is the Northern Division contest in New Brunswick. The BAC will perform on the jamboree that Saturday evening. We have no other responsibilities, but as the premiere chapter in the division, we have an obligation to participate. And, it's another chance to get ourselves even more prepared for Indy in July.

Jon

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