For the WVC Members
One more rehearsal until show time!!
Rehearsal times are now 7:15 - 9:45 pm on Tuesdays.
See the post in the Warwick Advertiser about WVC's upcoming concert series: Click here.
New => Email from Zoey Savale, Monday, Dec. 2:
"Hi everyone -
This week's WVC rehearsal will be held in the Fellowship Hall, not the Sanctuary. Please remember to arrive by 7:15 and plan to stay until 9:45, since this is our last rehearsal before our first concert on Sunday in Goshen!
The soloists will already be practicing there when you arrive, so please be aware of that (and try not to distract them).
See you then - Zoey"
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New => WVC singers going to a local nursing home on Dec. 28. See Gail's note below.
New => The order of the music program for the December concerts is listed here.
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New => The concert on Dec. 15 at St. Stephen RC Church will be streamed live. The link for viewing this concert will be posted here.
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Click here for YouTube videos matching the set of Ron's arrangements of opera and Broadway choruses. An excellent set of aides for practicing the pronunciation of the French, German, and Italian pieces.
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The Warwick Valley Chorale is proud to sponsor The Stanley Curtis Memorial Scholarship for students aspiring to major in vocal studies at the college level. Click here for pertinent information and the application form.
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Chorus-call times*:
(*Time to be at the venue ready to line up and tune up for the concert.)
Sunday, Dec. 8: 2:00 pm
Friday, Dec. 13: 6:00 pm
Sunday, Dec. 15: 2:00 pm
(To print the flyer, download it from the Documents box, below.)
Click here for maps and directions to the concert venues.
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Men’s dress for our Winter concerts is black tuxedo or black sport jacket and slacks with white shirt (black bow tie, black socks & shoes; jackets should be buttoned).
For women, a floor-length black dress (or skirt and blouse); long- or ¾ - length sleeves; black stockings, comfortable black shoes, no eye-catching jewelry or anything else that would draw the audience’s attention to you.
Place your music in a black music binder or folder.
Is it okay to wear cologne to rehearsals or performances?
Please, no! We have members with a variety of allergies, so please don’t wear cologne, perfume, strong aftershave, scented hairspray, or anything else that might make a singer standing/sitting near you wheeze or sneeze. Deodorant, however, is recommended.
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This Season's Music Program
Click here for the listing of the music program for WVC's Fall 2024 season and for links to the practice tracks, recordings of WVC's 2012 performance and YouTube videos of Vivaldi's Gloria.
Practice tracks for this season's music program can be found here.
A great series of YouTube videos for learning and practicing the notes and pronunciation in Vivaldi's Gloria can be found at the pages for the sectional (e.g. Alto, Bass, Soprano, or Tenor) practice tracks here.
Click here for YouTube videos corresponding to the set of Ron's arrangements of opera and Broadway choruses. An excellent set of aides for practicing the pronunciation of the French, German, and Italian pieces.
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We’re excited to be presenting a one-hour sampler of our holiday music at Warwick’s Albert Wisner Public Library (AWPL). We will be singing from 2:30 - 3:30 on Sunday, December 1.
Where: Albert Wisner Library, One McFarland Drive, Warwick, NY 10990.
When: Sunday, December 1, 2024. Call time for singers 1:30; concert begins 2:30.
What: A tba selection of music from our Fall 2024 program.
Dress: White on top, black on the bottom, display something colorful, e.g. scarf, neck tie, decoration, ascot.
Click here for a map and directions to the library.
This library offers a very popular free live music series called “Music on McFarland,” with performances in their 100-seat Community Room. With that size limitation in mind, however, we will have to take a reduced number of singers, perhaps 30 to 40. Of course we still want to have a nice, balanced sound. Signup list is available at rehearsals. It’s unusual for us to limit the number of singers, but this time it’s necessary.
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Caroling in Sugarloaf: Saturday, Dec. 14 at 1:00pm. Meet in front of the Sugarloaf Methodist Church, 1387 Kings Hwy, Sugar Loaf, NY 10981. More details coming.
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WVC Ceili, Dec 17th, 6:30 - 9:00 pm at Silvio's Italian Villa on Rt. 94S (a mile and a half south of Warwick Shoprite.)
Buffet dinner. Cash bar. $50 per person. Everyone will be seated in a single large room with a performance area at one end of the room.
Signup list is available at rehearsals, and reservations will be closed on Tuesday Dec. 3. More info at rehearsals.
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New => Email from Gail Johnson, Dec. 2.: WVC visits to local nursing homes:
"Glen Arden contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I'd be bringing members of WVC to perform for their residents this season. Here's what we decided:
Saturday, December 28, 2024
1:15 - 1:45 Glen Arden Healthcare Center (upstairs - meet at 1:00)
214 Harriman Drive, Goshen
Perform in Lobby
2:00 - 2:30 Glen Arden Independent Living (downstairs - walk from upstairs)
214 Harriman Drive, Goshen
Rhinebeck Room - with white baby grand
Ron will conduct and we'll let you know the order of the program on 12/15.
You may park in the front or the back. If you park in the front, do NOT park up against the building, but on the opposite side of the parking lot. Take the Legoland exit from Rte 17."
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Documents for WVC's Fall 2024 Season:
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Stay tuned to this web site as well as WVC's Facebook page for further details which will be posted as soon as they are announced.
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The Warwick Valley Chorale welcomes new members!
No auditions required.
If you are interested in joining us and would like to share our love of music and singing, please send an email to Zoey Savale: savazoo@hotmail.com
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Warwick Valley Chorale is on facebook: Like us here!
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Show your support, donate and become a sponsor of the Warwick Valley Chorale.
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A look back at WVC's Spring 2024 Season
You can replay the May 10th concert at the Goshen CR Church: click here.
(The concert begins at about the 8-minute mark.)
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WVC performing at Grace Episcopal Church, Middletown, NY, on May 17, 2024.
Photo by Donald G. Wilson
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Documents for WVC's Spring 2024 Season:
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On Saturday, Feb 24, 2024, an ensemble of singers from the Warwick Valley Chorale (below) participated in a performance of Gustav Holst's The Planets at Middletown's historic Paramount Theater. The SUNY Orange Community Orchestra performed the piece with the WVC ensemble led by Ron De Fesi singing the ethereal vocal lines in movement VII - Neptune, the Mystic.
Photo by Van Pisarri.
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A look back at WVC's Fall 2023 Season.
See the box below to download this WVC Christmas flier so you can print it and/or email to friends and relatives.
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See the notices in local newspapers about WVC's Dec. 2023 concerts:
Warwick Vallley Dispatch, Nov. 23
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The concert at the Goshen Church on Dec 8, can be viewed here: click here.
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The center piece of the Fall 2023 program was John Rutter's Magnificat.
John Rutter discusses the genesis of his 'Magnificat': an invaluable resource for all singers preparing the work for performance.
The WVC performed this work in Orange County in 2011 and 2023, at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center in June 2013, and again at Carnegie Hall in December 2023.
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Photos from the Magnificat concert at Carnegie Hall: Photographer Michael Vialogo took many, many photos during the Magnificat performance at CH on Dec 19, 2023. These photos can be found here! (Password is diatonic1.) One can purchase selected photos through this web site.
WVC singers at the entrance to Carnegie Hall and getting ready to perform Rutter's Magnificat, Dec. 19, 2023.
Important documents for WVC's Fall 2023 season:
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Here's a thought:
"A gentle reminder: The purpose of a rehearsal is to learn everyone else’s part… never your own! Your own preparation is your welcoming gift to your colleagues." -- Hilarie Clark Moore: composer, conductor, professor, musician and friend of the Warwick Valley Chorale.
Caroling during the Fall 2023 season:
Carol down the main streets of the villages, from store to store.
Caroling at Sugar Loaf: Saturday, Dec. 9.
WVC carolers making merry in Warwick on Nov. 26, 2023:
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1 in 6 Americans sings in a choir
— and they're healthier for it
Click here to find out why.
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Your Brain and Singing:
Why Singing in a Choir Makes You Happier
Click here to check out this article.
Thank you to Eloise Ham for bringing this article to our attention.
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One of WVC's favorite composers, John Rutter, on "the Importance of Choir"
The WVC has performed many of Mr. Rutter's works in our concerts in Orange County. Also many members of the WVC were privileged to have been conducted by John Rutter at Carnegie Hall in 2006.
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To celebrate their 75th anniversary, the WVC commissioned America's favorite composer, Gwyneth Walker, for this arrangement of Down to the River to Pray, which was premiered at their December 2015 concerts.
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We practiced and made it back - May 2010, May 2016, April 2018, June 2019 and Dec 2023!!
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Click Here and take a look back at the WVC's last several seasons.
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Please send any questions, comments, corrections, new photos and/or suggestions for this web page to your friendly webmeister.
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