Choir songs ... DIY challenge development. Vocal techniques in a choir.

I joined a choir with a conductor who is part of an opera company.  Once a week, we sing for 3hrs.

We learn warm ups, singing to a score sheet, enunciation, dynamics, expressions and breath control.

In Choir singing, its about merging a voice into a massive collective voice in unison.  You merge, you dont stick out unlike solo singing, where the soloist must stand out w special colors and brightness to be the focus of the song.

Here in a choir, its about merging accurately in rhythm, in dynamics, in pitch in one main big picture of sounds.

Diy singing experiment incorporating choir training.  Choir trains choir singing requirements unlike solo singing.  

Choir songs this week.

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"Mère" texte et mise en scène Wajdi Mouawad, **** 19 nov-30 déc2021

 I have written a long post, just disappeared! More later. V moving v gd. I see it is displayed next to the first photo. Ok, so here it is, more elaborations later.

"Mère" Théatre de la Colline. texte et mise en scène Wajdi Mouawad, **** 19 nov-30 déc

V gd piece. Moving. As I watched, I see all the mother's with each their own daily responsibilities, love, sense of social morality, old culture inserted grown in new adopted culture, the second generation are not there to fulfill the mother's dreams, they have their own lives and battle to live... Christine Ockrent coming into the lives of those who watched her on tv is a stroke of genius. She answers the viewers ( in the piece, her public) and answers in her general way... After all even if she was in real life in the families home, her replies, reactions could only be done in this way, addressing responding at a level that is applicable in general and not specific. Reminds me of all media public personalities, the response will always be a general response, not a specific communication. ( The person on tv saying i love you, is not specific to you, not the same as a mother saying to the son... Where are you? Come back ... Oh my god, put on your shoes... It's Dallas time...). I think in today's media loaded age, you probably have to rely on public personality consolation because in real life, up close, you have more details, all the cracks are showing. . But it's still love. Public and private - all love. Standing ovation, music images all v gd, minimum stage set, clean and just as needed. The mother character reminds me of all the mother figures I have seen in a lot of families. More later... See less

Christine Ockrent character playing herself is a stroke of genius. He has successfully brought an iconic personality in a recent history of television international news reporting into an everyday family home. We see Christine doesnt really cook much, and she answers questions cordially like a grande dame, etc etc. We see immediately whats on tv and when inserted into real life, the layering of messages, how information is transferred and interpreted by ordinary - immigrant - folks. They dont want to hear about this news that news, they want to know about their home country, Lebanon. And the music, singing are so good too. The images from famous tv shows, the real image of the writers mother. We see in real life, and could relate to how people live, from one generation to another. There is no other way. If the mother "wins" her plans for her children, in fact the children have failed their own destiny. If the children goes after their own destiny, with the givens of the conditions around them, then, for sure, it will not align with the mothers dreams - this is the story of all families from one generation to the next - if, if and only if the scenario, the big picture has a huge change between the mothers generation to the childrens generation. If they had not moved, and stayed in their cozy home city; everything stable, there would be much less issues. After all, you can only work with the information the culture around you, you cannot work with what you dont have. :)

DIY singing QYN challenge, Day44a+b 15dec2021 AutumnAir 秋意濃 StPete I love you acapellish 4+5 5m57

Day44b-15dec2021 AutumnAir- 秋意濃 StPete I love you acapellaish4  

https://youtu.be/-P25wI1ap_A 

notes:  the entry/attack - would like to be a soft gradual entry, air needs to be continous, dynamics smooth, tone crystalline smooth and ethereal, maintaining steadiness  (how about leaving some blank milliseconds?  like in calligraphy brush strokes - sometimes - as the voice takes it flow and movements?)

Otherwise, the voice is better, no longer shaky trembling like v old frail person... maybe the voice as we get older breaks down, our body desintegrates, muscles lose tones... how long could a person physically sing?  How long could a professional singer remain active?

  

Day43a 14dec2021 AutumnAir 秋意濃 StPete I love you music mini template acapella3 5m57

https://youtu.be/DPDrgxDExcU

Day 42a 13dec2021 AutumnAir 秋意濃 StPete I love you no template 5mn57

 

Afghan portraits by Steve McCurry, and other Portraits at Musée Maillol, Paris. 9 Dec 2021 - 29 May 2022

Afghan portraits by Steve McCurry, 

and other Portraits at Musée Maillol, Paris.  Dec 2021 - 

Steve McCurry, an easily approachable photographer, world famous for the Afghan young girl's portrait with piercing eyes; and many years later today and all the photos in between are at the Musée Maillol.

These are people photos with vibrant colors and very pretty, graphic compositions.  Steve started out to be photo journalist, and later converted his raison d'être to be artist.  His photos are artistically oriented, he could color change, maybe even adjust the compositions by using photoshop - just like everyone and all these softwares available today for anyone to get that perfect vision for self expressions via photos.

If we understand that its not a documentary, not photo journalism, then what's wrong with that?

As viewers, if photographers re-frame, re-align their vision and focus, why not?  

A body of prize winning creative photography work by Steve over the long career of 40+ years has been opened yesterday and will be on for a few months at Musée Maillol.  

Exposition "Le monde de Steve McCurry" | Musée Maillol

Découvrez l'exposition "Le monde de Steve McCurry" consacrée au photographe américain du 9 décembre 2021 au 29 mai 2022 au Musée Maillol.

"The Smell of Us", film by Larry Clark 2015 ***half

"The Smell of Us", film by Larry Clark 2015 ***half.

I heard about this film a long time ago, and came across it at a discount store. Young people and their way of life in Paris. Docu-fiction. I feel I am a kind of voyeur. Dont understand how people - young, good looking, how they came into this way of life, selling their bodies. One of the main character, a v pretty boy, shown near the end of the film has his mother visiting him - a v stylish woman, seemed twisted, he feeds his sleeping son, the mother is the perverse one, she takes off her dress, and tries to debauch him! The pretty boy is now the normal one, he orders her out of his space, get away he says. She wanted him to have a go with her... The subject has been covered in many films by different directors - and novels - all with specific story lines, however this one is composed of moments of actions. I guess i just dont understand how they ended up doing what they do - "like in the films", one of the girls said.

The interview

The interview of how the film was made is v interesting. Clark talks about the difficulties, how the french folks goes on strike on his film! He has never heard of that, but it happened. And a lot of details - v interesting, more interesting than the film itself.

"Parallel Mothers", director: Almodovar ****

 New Almodovar film, "Parallel Mothers", v gd. ****

"Parallel Mothers", director: Almodovar ****

I know some people dont like Almodovar. This one has a slightly older Almodovar feel. What beautiful sets, apt design inside, curtains, ash trays, all details warm and rambling with ease, these everyday objects, clothings, its all creative fun-chic style wrapped around serious contemporary issues of the past and the present in Spain - and not limited to Spain. Young peoples orientations, womens sufferings under a general accepted "norms" of male dominant society, and many other unspoken - but v explicit narrations through images, for me, that is a film worthy of a re-watch. Will watch it a second time.

More detail review to come after second viewing

"Sur le motif Peindre en plein air ,1780-1870" . At Fondation Custodia, Until 3 Apr 2022. Kleinburg, Canada

Wonderful exhibition of landscape painted in open air. Often done on paper then mounted on canvas.

"Sur le motif Peindre en plein air ,1780-1870" . At Fondation Custodia. Until 3 Apr 2022.

Was at a press conference for this special show on PleinAir painting at Foundation Custodia, it is v amazing how people paint in open air, they dont lug all this stuff around, its on v small format sheets of paper - v thin eye lashes like paint strokes... :) 

Since i participated at Kleinburg raised my curiosity about this show and discovered a whole new world, the old world - still zero news on and of the Kleinburg event no info on their web site - its a curious thing, who are the (shortlisted) participants?  anyway. 

Here are the old masters from the exhibition, beautiful catalogue

Shuen-git 

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Here is my en plein air painting done over a few hours at Kleinburg. Canada for the Kleinburg En Plein Air exhibition, rule is, you must paint in open air on their grounds.

So I saw a few people with v high tech beautiful easels, little wagons with equipments, backpacks etc  With my minium equipment, it was already very good to have a friend with me.

V beautiful site.  Contemporary Open air painting. 

 I did not take many pictures because sometimes something being taken a picture of changes the state of the work and the work itself.  

It is a first time for me to paint directly on site, and it raised my curiosity of open air painting.

I had mainly painted inside my studio.  I first take a lot of photos from a site, then i choose from the photos the ones that incites some feelings of the site, and i paint from there on.

But i always ask students to draw and paint after real life, not from the imagination. And always paint only what you see, what you have observed and not some graphics/comic book idea of what you see.

Here is the pine tree that i have painted from the Kleinburg site.  Quick sketches