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RCS 2016/2017 Concert Season - Mark Your Calendars!
December 3, 2016 -
Holiday Concert with the Rockbridge Youth Chorale
Lexington Presbyterian Church
January 22, 2017 - Vivaldi:
Gloria;
Charpentier:
Messe de Minuit
Lexington Presbyterian Church
April 2, 2017 - Rachmaninoff:
Vespers, aka, All-Night Vigil
Washington and Lee University, venue to be announced.
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Well, It Wasn't Just Me After All
You know when you are just minding your own business, getting ready to unload your car load of stuff, and you are stopped in one of those public radio driveway moments? Well, here's one for you. The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are almost over. As the US Team's share of gold medals piles up from the pool to the track, the Star Spangled Banner is getting a work-out. But, is it just me? It just sounds off somehow. Well, turns out, it is, says musical theatre teacher, Jason DeBord of the University of Michigan. He's been listening and hearing something "off" with the Olympic version of our national anthem for a few years now. He says the basic melody is the same, but what's underneath it, the harmonics if you will, have given this version a hollow, maybe even melancholy sound. The subtle, but noticeable, chord changes are evident at key points throughout the anthem, and in his estimation, the end result was not entirely uplifting. It bugged him and he ended up muting or turning down the sound and just watching the medal ceremonies. It wasn't about the music after all. It was about achievement.
If you heard the difference in the versions but didn't understand how those chord changes were affecting how that anthem made you feel, go and listen to this 3 minute story. Thanks to NPR's
All Things Considered
once again for proving we're not crazy.
Check here
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Daylight is getting ever so much shorter, and, as always, rehearsal is under way for our December Holiday concert. Our young singers will be joining us again this year, and there are rumors about grandma and a reindeer, some Russian, and a Nigerian Christmas song,
Betelehemu.
If the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can do it, so can the RCS! This song has been on our director's wish list for a long time, and this is the year. We're gonna need a rhythm section.
Check it out.
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Web Update
Our website has been re-vamped. We hope you find it's an improvement. We've been having some hosting ups and downs this summer, but we are getting the kinks worked out. So for the time being, make sure you enter the URL in your browser as
www.rcs.org and go have a look.
We are on Facebook. If you are too, please like our Facebook page.
Check it out here. or just enter Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society in the Facebook search bar. This is a great way to stay up to date. We thank soprano and Friends board member Melanie Griffis-Hooper for being our Facebook guru. If you have RCS related info or photos to share, please let Melanie know. She'll be singing with us most Monday nights. If you send a message from the Friends Facebook page, Melanie will get it.
Alla-Breve On-Line is our e-newsletter. If you are reading this, you are on the subscriber's list. If you think someone you know would like to keep up with what we are doing and other fun music related stuff, please share with your friends and family. Just click on the link at the bottom of the newsletter to put them in the loop. Opting out is just as easy. There's a link for that too, but we hope you won't use it!
Supporting the RCS and Youth Chorale through the Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society could not be easier. Make your donation securely, using your credit or debit card, via the website. We are grateful for all gifts!
Happy Surfing!
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Friends of the Rockbridge Choral Society
Rockbridge Choral Society
PO Box 965
Lexington, VA 24450
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