“Messiah” 2011

We’re well into January and it’s only now that we’re recovering from our incredibly successful Christmas season. You’ve heard about Brian Stokes Mitchell and the NJSO; you’ve heard about our special Christmas performances of Haydn and Resphigi; and now it’s time to review our 2011 Messiah performances.

And what performances they were.

This was my first year singing Handel’s Messiah, my first Christmas with Masterwork, and my first time singing in Carnegie Hall. I keep telling everyone it was the best Christmas I’ve ever had, and for good reason.

We did two Messiahs this season – one at Drew University and one at Carnegie. The Drew University Dorothy Young Auditorium is small, very intimate and incredibly cold. Yes that’s right – for some reason, the hall could not get the temperature right. Sitting on stage I could see most people in the audience dressed like they were watching the Ice Capades rather than the Masterwork Chorus:

Now personally, I was fine. It must have been the ridiculous amounts of adrenaline coursing through my veins that was keeping me warm, but the poor altos on either side of me were shivering. The musicians were cold, too, and our first trumpet player felt the bite especially. Not the ideal environment for making music. Still a very special evening though.

However – Mr Carnegie QUITE made up for this on the 23^rd. The gods (and goddesses) blessed us with a near-perfect mix of good weather, no transit strikes and a great date which made for a great concert day. December 23^rd happened to fall on a Friday, which seemed to be ideal for audiences who were in town (the biggest town, NYC) for the holidays and wanted something special before Christmas weekend. We almost sold out the house (2800 seats!). A full house gives great energy, and when we took our places on stage the good vibes hit us in waves.

It was a truly special feeling, walking onto that stage:

And what an auditorium:

And what an audience. They were attentive, enthusiastic, and almost no one left after the “Hallelujah Chorus”! (For the uninitiated, it’s a common practice for people to leave after the second part out of three which ends with Handel’s most famous piece, because Messiah is all of three hours long).

The orchestra absolutely rocked the house. We are so lucky to be able to sing with such world class (literally) musicians. Andrew couldn’t stop singing the praises of our incredibly talented concertmistress Nancy Wilson. As one chorus member said, the principal cellist Allen Whear truly looked enraptured by the soloists – as if it were the first time he were hearing the music. I personally noticed Mark Zaki, violinist, playing with such generosity and patience. It seems an odd thing to say of a musician – patience – but his face really communicated a sense of calm paired with experience that I’ve never seen before. What a pleasure to see two women playing the double bass, something I’ve never seen before. Deb Spohnheimer and Motomi Igarishi really thrilled me with their bow work.

Finally, and certainly not the least of them, is Terry Szor. His “The Trumpet Shall Sound” sent chills up, down and through me – and I wasn’t the only one. A lot of chorus members told me over and over, “If you think he was good tonight, you should have HEARD him in *insert year of choice here*.” They speak of him like a god: his playing is truly incendiary. No words can really describe what he did that night. Thank you Terry.

During the “Hallelujah Chorus”, the audience typically stands. This was the moment that brought me to tears, because I couldn’t help but focus on one elderly woman all the way to my right. She has been paying rapt attention throughout the performance. When we began the HC she couldn’t stand – but she looked absolutely thrilled. When we were finished, she applauded – and it took great effort for her to do so. She was determined, though, to show her appreciation. But I wished at that moment she could feel my appreciation for her very obvious pleasure with what we were doing on stage. This is why we do what we do.

Masterwork and Brian Stokes Mitchell!

I apologize for not updating our loyal readers with how the Haydn and Resphigi special Christmas concerts went – but they went very well, thank you! The Camarata pieces went well and received many compliments, and two audience members said of the Resphigi: “It was like being in a dream” – “It was like velvet.” Thank you St Rose’s and St Elizabeth’s for sharing those two wonderful evenings with us.

On December 9th and 10th, Masterwork had the unbelievable privilege of singing with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Brian Stokes Mitchell in their “Home for the Holidays” concert. We were also joined by the New Jersey Youth Chorus who floored us with their professionalism and gorgeous singing.

Got billing? Why yes, yes we do.

The week was crazy, to say the least. Weary from our own two Christmas concerts, we soldiered on, rehearsing the challenging pieces for the NJSO concert. There was an arrangement of the openeing sequence of La Boheme, “Operatic Christmas Overture”; there was “This Christmaside”; a favorite of BSM’s, “Grateful”; and a special arrangement of some traditional Hannukah songs. They were challenging in that they were not the usual types of songs Masterwork is used to singing, and that they added a lot of music to learn to our already packed season. However – Sun Min was key in bringing us together and making sure we knew what a great opportunity this was for our chorus. And we made it. Boy, did we make it.

Thursday was our first rehearsal with the Orchestra and Brian. And let me tell you, I was acting like quite the groupie – I mean, come one, Brian Stokes Mitchell is…well, he’s quite a handsome man. And his VOICE – well, let me tell you, his voice sends a thrill up your spine (especially if your spine happens to be female). So there I was, sitting backstage chatting on the phone with my sister when Brian walks in and bruhes my knees as he passes by. I was squealing into the phone (not sure how he didn’t hear me – or maybe he did) and my sister was telling me to stop acting like a tween, when suddenly it was time to go on stage.

Being on stage was great – we were sitting behind the 100 piece, professional orchestra. Singing with them was such an honor. Constantine Kitsopolous was the conductor, and he had such a generosity and warmth to him. He was very subtle, and it was amazing seeing how he controlled the masses before him with just a glance and a turn of the wrist.

Then Brian came on! He didn’t sing much at rehearsal, but it was great seeing him anyway. It was kind of good that he didn’t really sing during rehearsal because when we finally got to hear him in full voice during the performance, the effect was THAT much more awesome.

On Friday at the State Theater, things went along swimmingly. At the end of the first act, Brian announced “The Impossible Dream” and there were audible gasps of “YES!” from the audience. I could barely contain my cheers myself. The music started – the snare drum kept rhythm – and when he opened his mouth and sang the first line, the audience couldn’t keep quiet anymore. They applauded him into the song, and by the end of the number it was all I could do to not leap to my feet and cheer along with the rest of them. He brought the house down.

The next night, Saturday, was at the NJPAC – I’d never been there, and the Prudential Theater was stunningly beautiful. How great was it that we were on THIS end of the view?  Our Director Andrew Megill was in the audience this time, and I spotted him all the way to the far right. I hope we made him (and Sun Min) proud!

At the end of this performance, the conductor graciously waited backstage and shook everyone’s hand. It was an honor to sing under his baton.

Brian gave some people hugs, but alas – I was ill fated that night and wasn’t lucky enough to get one. Next time!

I cannot say thank you to Sun Min enough – her patience is boundless, and her talent is humbling. So, from all of us at Masterwork, THANK YOU SUN MIN for your guidance.

Interview with Peter Tamburro – Making his Masterwork Solo Debut this Christmas Season

For how long have you been involved with music? Did you study an instrument, voice, etc? Have there been any musical inspirations that inspired you to stick with it?

I’ve been involved with music for as long as I can remember.  At first, it wasn’t by choice.  My family has an incredible knack for finding a song for every mundane event usually not worthy of fanfare.  So my early career in music, probably until the age of eight or nine, was to yell “no more songing [sic]!” when my parents and grandparents got out of hand.  Alas, the third grade rolled around, I was offered a solo in a chorus concert, and I’ve been the one in my family “songing” ever since.  Since then, I did a few grade school musicals, always opted for chorus rather than general music, and eventually found my niche in high school.  By then I was making it into honors choirs such as New Jersey Region and All-State, had joined all the available groups in school: Mixed Chorus, Concert Choir, and The Noteworthys (my high school’s men’s a cappella group), and had started taking music theory and piano classes.  It was probably the end of my Junior year of high school when I first contemplated continuing with music in college.  My parents, always my biggest supporters and fans, were thrilled to see me find my passion so clearly and so early.  So I went off and earned a degree in Music Education from Millersville University and have been in and out of the Music Masters program at Montclair State.  I can’t say that along the way I had one person in particular that inspired me to do what I did.  What I do know is that I had a steady stream of amazing mentors starting with Mr. Finella in 3rd grade; Mrs. Lagomarsino and Mrs. Wysocki in middle school; my high school chorus teacher, and the man who I can probably most blame for finding my passion: Masterwork’s very own Vinny Rufino; and my college advisor, professor, director, and friend, Dr. Buddy James, who took a rough work in progress and smoothed out the edges.  Without a single one of those people, and their constant support and encouragement, the chain may have been broken and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do today, that much is certain.  Ultimately, however, I know that I was given a wonderful gift, and I feel empty when I can’t share that gift with others.  I love singing, and I love choral music.  That in itself is my inspiration.

What other performances have you been a part of in the past?

Being a choral singer throughout all those years, and having majored in music in college, the performances I’ve been a part of are countless – I mean, unless I sat down and counted them.  But let me list a few significant highlights.  I think I’ll go chronologically:

1989 – Solo/Duet with Henry Huang in 3rd Grade Chorus

1990 – Lead in the 4th Grade musical The Gloid

1993 – 7th grade, the only soprano Tin Man ever in The Wizard of Oz

1994 – 8th grade, the only alto Riff ever in West Side Story

1994 – 9th grade, my first time singing Messiah, with the WMC Mixed Chorus and Orchestra

1997 – West Morris Central HS, Duet, “O Death, Where is Thy Sting,” Messiah

1998 – Roxbury Choir Festival, Noteworthys, finalists for Jazz Choir which we were not. They gave us 2nd place just so we could be in the showcase.  It brought the house down.

2002 – Millersville University Choir tour, Baritone Soloist, Requiem in D minor, Faure

2009 – Peapack Reformed Church choir, Bass Soloist, German Requiem, Brahms

2009 – Masterwork Chorus, my first Messiah and Carnegie Hall experience

2010 – Peapack Reformed Church choir, Bass Soloist, Mass in E-flat major, Schubert

2011 – Peapack Reformed Church Choir, Bass Soloist, St. Cecilia Mass, Gounod

2011 – Kinnara Ensemble, “Home” concert series

2011 – Masterwork Camerata, Soloist, Go Lovely Rose, Quilter

2011 – Masterwork Chorus, Baritone Soloist, Laud to the Nativity, Respighi

How long have you been with Masterwork? How did you get started with the chorus, and what are your favorite aspects of being a part of it?

I’ve been with Masterwork since 2009.  I was invited to audition by Vinny Rufino, my high school choir director, mentor, colleague, and friend.  It has been an absolute joy working with Andrew, JD, Sun Min, and everyone in the chorus.  My favorite thing about the chorus is learning and absorbing as much as I possibly can from all of our directors, but especially Andrew.  It is easy to forget how blessed we all are to work with such an amazing director, musician, and person.  I tell everyone I know that even though it’s a bit tight at the beginning of the year when I have to shell out those dues, it’s still the cheapest graduate level class I’ll ever take.  And by the end of the year, there is never a doubt that it was worth every single penny.  Carnegie Hall is pretty neat, too…

Is there anything else about you that we may find interesting, surprising or that you would like to share?

I think after being in Masterwork for over two years, now, no one is surprised by anything I do or say.  I guess one thing that could be a bit mind-boggling is that with all the singing I do with Masterwork, as well as the other ensembles I belong to and for which I do as-needed “ringer” work (I’m already up to six different groups for this concert season), my actual 9-to-5 job is as a paralegal at a law firm.  But I’m pretty sure everyone knows that, too.

 

Hear Pete sing at our special Christmas Concert Series:

Ottorino Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity
Michael Haydn’s Missa Sancti Heironymi

Friday, December 2 — 8:00 pm
St. Rose of Lima Church, Short Hills, NJ

Sunday, December 4 — 2:30 pm
Holy Family Chapel, Campus of Saint Elizabeth

For more info, visit our website at www.masterwork.org

Masterwork Camarata: Auditioning From a New Member’s Perspective

Part of the Camarata 2010-2011 during their Spring 2011 concert

Camarata is like a baby-Masterwork-Chorus, a little nugget from the mother-choir, its size making it more portable. This year, I decided to audition for it.

I am an alto. I was nervous – the alto section in Masterwork is really, really solid (if I do say so myself) and I knew I would be up against some stiff competition. The audition was scheduled for a Saturday, a Saturday on which the whole chorus would be doing a day-long rehearsal workshop. We had to prepare one song of our own that is less than 2 minutes, learn a folk song that Andrew assigned (“She Moved Through the Fair”), sing pages 5-9 from Resphigi’s Laud to the Nativity, a piece the chorus has been rehearsing for a Christmas concert, and finally do a piece of sight-reading (gulp). I learned of all this on a Wednesday, and the rehearsal was that same Saturday – 3 days later, with a realistic 2 days to prepare.

So I do. I prepare. I agonize over what to sing, and my sister (who is in the military) suggests “Laudate Dominum”. I listen to it, and accuse her of trying to make me sing a soprano song and sabotage my audition. She says, “Oh just lower the key.” I rebut with “I think it’s frowned upon in musical society to lower the key of a classical song just to suit your range.” Her response: “Years of singing in my base’s choir has clearly made me mad ghetto.” I decide to find something else to sing.

It dawns on me that there have to be some short contralto solos in my Messiah score which I had just purchased for our performances this year. I crack it open, and with some help from youtube* I settle on “He shall Feed His Flock,” the contralto section of which is conveniently just short of 2 minutes. I practice, the phrasing seems easy enough, and I make up some dynamics that seem logical.

The folk song I had sung before. However, the timing of the way it is written on the sheet Andrew gives us is really strange. It’s in 6/4 and the phrases make no sense whatsoever – but I go with it. And because I wanted to be super prepared, I typed up all the lyrics and cut out the bars of music and pasted them on a sheet to make them easier to read and sing at the same time.

I listened to Andrew’s recorded Italian to make sure I had all the Resphigi pronunciations correct. I sang it over and over again to get it note perfect.

I did some practice sight reading and basically resigned to the fact that there was nothing more I could do to really ensure the sight reading wouldn’t end in absolute nervous panic.

I buy pineapple juice because someone on Google said it helps to moisten the throat during a performance. I fight with my room mate about leaving the apartment windows open – “The cold air is going to ruin my voice!” I say. “You’re a diva,” he says.

And the day arrives. Andrew lets us know that the audition will take place in the afternoon – basically after a whole day of rehearsal, when our voices would be “warmed up” (read: worn out).  Joy, one of our best altos and shoo-in for the Camarata (it’s not her first year in it), threatened to poison my drink while I wasn’t looking. I accused her her of putting a curse on me when I randomly got a nose-bleed. Did I mention the alto competition was stiff?

I am the first person to sign up to audition – I like to go first and get things over with. Sun Min and Andrew will be hearing us. I’m waiting outside the door – the trepidation almost killing me – and they finally call me in. The first thing Andrew asks for is the prepared song. As I open my score, Andrew smiles as he knows it well. He plays for me, and as soon as I start to sing I realize that it doesn’t matter how much you prepare – when you’re in the audition room and you’re that nervous, your lungs forget to breath and your heart behaves as if it’s hooked up to a car battery. I vaguely remember singing it, and clearly I finished it, but I do remember almost dying from oxygen deprivation. But  – phase one complete.

Phase two – the folk song. He tells me to sing it a cappella, and when he looks at my elaborately organized glued-together score, he tells me – Oh we just wanted one verse, we should have mentioned that. Thanks Andrew! The song is so familiar to me that I got through it vaguely decently. Phase two complete.

Then he pulls out the Resphigi. He says “you know, you can do this a cappella as well.” I was so nervous that when I opened my mouth to sing, literally no sound comes out. I ask if I could start again, and Sun Min told me to “Relaaaax.” In that moment I was ridiculously grateful for Andrew’s Italian demonstration recording and for how great a teacher he is, because I hammered that out as well with no issue without the accompaniment. Oh, except for the lungs not cooperating thing, because those darn things just didn’t want to fill with air. I’m lucky I didn’t keel over. And Sun Min said “Now I feel like singing with you!” which I chose to take as a compliment. Phase three complete.

Finally the sight reading. The dread. The nemesis no one ever wants to face, but has to over and over. Sun Min hands it to me – and it’s in 4/4 in C Major! I send up thanks to the music gods, get through it decently well, and I’m done! As I stumble out of the room in a daze, sending in Mike after me, I run down all the things expected of us to the others waiting outside for which I hope they were grateful. I felt like a warrior from the front lines reporting back to the second wave troops. I was done!

2 weeks later having not heard anything, I figured I hadn’t gotten in and Joy’s voodoo curse had worked. But Wednesday just before rehearsal, I see an email from Andrew asking me to join and if I would consider singing soprano. Joining the dark side is a small price to pay for the joy of singing, I said to myself, and with a a whistful glance backwards at my alto compadres, I stepped over the line to join the sops. I almost laughed in the first rehearsal when Sun Min told me I was not only singing soprano, but soprano 1 – but hey. The price you pay.

*Here is a gorgeous version of “He Shall Feed His Flock” sung by Bejun Mehta and Cornelia Horak. I couldn’t get enough of the unique staging and the beautiful clarity of the voices. 

An Update from JD Burnett, Associate Conductor Emeritus

JD conducting whilst his best friend tries to get his attention

JD Burnett was the Associate Conductor for Masterwork Chorus for three years. He moved to Dallas, TX this past summer to pursue his PhD.

Hello Masterwork friends!

I think of Masterwork just about every Wednesday evening.  I hope you’re all doing well and that this Fall season (or October winter????!!!!) has been a good one.  I know you’re working on Respighi and Haydn, and it sounds as though you’ll be quite busy in December!  I will too – the Dallas Symphony Chorus does 16 performances of its Christmas Celebration.  They will own me for the month of December, I fear.  But I’m enjoying my work with them.  School is going well too…I have good teachers, classmates, and friends here.  My partner Chris (who many of you know from his singing/playing in Masterwork) is enjoying teaching middle school choir in Plano, and is adjusting to the craziness of Texas school music programs.  He gave a wonderful Fall concert and is on to holiday music now.

I was excited to learn that Sun Min Lee is with you all now.  She is a delight in every way!  I know you’re learning a ton from her (as I did!).

I will be back in NJ in January for two performances with Kinnara on January 14 and 15 in Princeton and East Windsor.  I hope that I might see many of you there.  Details will be posted to our website (www.kinnaraensemble.org) in the near future.

Best wishes for a wonderful concert season.  I miss you all.

JD

Saturday Workshop

Don’t be TOO encouraged by today – Andrew

It’s a long, hard road toward Christmas this year, with the end point being Haydn’s Missi Sancti Hieronymi, Resphigi’s Laud to the Nativity and Handel’s Messiah. Oh, and we’re singing with the NJ Symphony Orchestra too. All this and only around 3 months to rehearse – but we’re pros, we can do it, right?

Today was the second of our 2 day-long Fall workshops. We sang every note of the Haydn and ran through the Resphigi, which I was shocked to see is coming along very well. I say I was shocked because that music is HARD. I mean, on two of the pages the time signature changes three times, and whilst we usually find ourselves scrambling to catch up, today we sailed along reasonably well. We were on the ball as opposed to being rolled over by it.

Here’s how excited Andrew was at the beginning of the day*. He’s telling the sopranos to BE EXCITED about some note they were singing. SO excited! To quote one of the sops, “Yay!”

Meanwhile in sectionals, us altos were told that we were a “mess.” Well, that only means a lot more homework for us, and we’d better get down to it.

The tenors were only four strong, and they sounded amazing – kudos, tenors! The men in general are always at a ratio of 1:5 to the women, but they always manage to sound strong.

Although Andrew told us not to be too encouraged at the end of the day, he meant it with love. We’ve got to whip ourselves into shape so we can share this gorgeous music with our audiences at Christmas.

* I apologize for the bad photo quality, I didn’t want to use flash and distract everyone.