Music Committee Meeting 2009
Music Committee Meeting March 18th, 2009
The first part of the meeting was used to review songs that had potential to be used in our next ACT III, which should be ready to go by March of 2010. This would be our Civic Center presentation and would also be inserted into our Concert Package as Act III in our show that would be in place in 2011.
We reviewed three different versions of Aura Lee/Love me Tender and selected the Gentry arrangement. We also reviewed Hello Mary Lou, In my room and Yes Sir, That’s My Baby. It was agreed that Hello Mary Lou and Yes Sir That’s My Baby were worthy of becoming part of our program. Unless any of these songs prove to be more difficult then we believe at this point they will become part of our show.
We will begin next Tuesday. We have the music for both songs. We will order the Tom Gentry arrangement of Aura Lee/Love me Tender and also will make arrangements to get copies of the sheet music for the barbershop arrangement of “In the Still of the Night” If we cannot get the music in time to pass out before the last practice session we will Email copies to all those with computers.
Other songs under consideration are: Come Fly with Me, The Lion Sleeps tonight, Banana Boat song, 16 Tons, Smoke Get’s In your Eyes and others as they come to our attention.
Director Don Lewis has contacted the quartet named “The Convertibles” who specialize in Doo Wop music In barbershop style and asked them to send us any Doo Wop arrangements that they can. More on that as it becomes available.
Meeting chaired by Bob Lemkuil.
Minutes by Don Lewis
Music Committee Meeting Feb 27, 2009
We have been advised that all four of the Music Groups are willing to participate in the Combined Concert at the Civic Center in March of 2010. Assuming that the Board of Directors approves, the Chorus must prepare a new 20-minute act for the Civic Center performance, which will become Act III in the Men of A-Chord program in 2011.
We will be putting music together to support a new show roughly entitled “Back to the Fifties”. We will do it in costume (to be decided later) and two of the songs will most likely be “Hello Mary Lou” and “Love Me Tender”. We plan to use “Sittin on Top of the World” as one of the five songs and that leaves two songs to select and learn (or polish if we already have one or both in our repertoire) by March of 2010. There will be some songs that will have stage moves and choreography. We will be looking for men who can perform in these efforts. We plan to have them in the second row and move them out to the front when the action is to take place.
It was noted that the Board of Directors has determined that we will rehearse through the end of March this year.
Quartets that perform in our Park Concerts must be members of the Chorus and attend rehearsals on a regular basis. The Music Committee highly recommends that the song selection be Bright, Spirited, four-part harmony throughout and one that the audience will recognize. Quartets wishing to perform at our concert must be signed up with our Quartet coordinator Jack Fritsch (or his designate) as of the Rehearsal preceding the Concert. Only pre-scheduled Quartets can be sure of a spot on the program.
We are looking for assistant section leaders who can help with the learning of new songs and perform in our show intro (The Old Songs) where dialogue is required.
New men need help to learn the songs and have an idea of what is expected during a performance. We will videotape several performances and make those videos available to the new men in the DVD format. If the men can see and hear just what it is that we do it should be a big help. It is also recognized that we don't rehearse some of the songs that we sing in the show because we know them so well. We will have these DVDs available ASAP.
Lastly the Director asked that he receive a copy of the Board of Directors meeting. This will help us coordinate our efforts and keep us moving in the same direction.
In Attendance: Jay Springfield, Dennis Bush, Bob Lemkuil and Don Lewis. Chairman: Bob Lemkuil. Acting Secretary - Don Lewis
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