Songs for Saturday, November 16, 2013

This Saturday is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We had a visiting priest last Saturday in Father Charlie's absence -- he requested we play a patriotic song due to Veteran's Day, so we created a sped-up arrangement of 'America the Beautiful' as our warm-up song.

Additionally, Father Charlie unexpectedly switched us from using Eucharistic Acclamation 'When We Eat This Bread' to 'Save Us, Savior of the World'. We'll be using 'Save Us' for the remainder of Ordinary Time (this week and next) before switching to Mass of Joy & Peace in December.

Songs for Saturday, November 9, 2013

This Saturday is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Last week, we practiced after mass to review the music for November. We also crashed through Mass of Joy & Peace to re-familiarize ourselves, since we'll be using that setting throughout Advent and Christmas.

Starting this week, we're back to having regular, weekly practices, although the dinner situation is still up-in-the-air (Jim has it covered this week, though). Please stick around if you can (we've been averaging an 8:30 finish time). We'll focus on our Advent/Christmas music and Mass of Joy & Peace for the remainder of this year, before resuming several uncompleted projects in January.

Songs for Saturday, November 2, 2013

This Saturday is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We should be at full staff this week with Barry, Jonathan, and Karina all being back.

We decided to push back our usual end-of-month practice to this week -- please stick around after mass if you can. Jonathan will be bringing dinner this time, but it would be good to discuss how we want to handle future practices and meals going into winter.

Songs for Saturday, October 26, 2013

This coming Saturday is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Karina should be back this week. On the other hand, Jonathan won't be available until next Saturday, 11/2. Barry is also out this week.

The music for November has been sent out. Please take a look and let me know if you have any issues or objections. If everyone's up to it, I'd like to practice after mass this week to review those tunes (please let me know if you can stay).

Songs for Saturday, October 19, 2013

This Saturday is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Both Jonathan and Karina are out again this week, but should be back next week (10/26). Also, Ginny may or may not make it due to a party; if she does, it won't be until right before mass.

This week, I'm working on putting together our music for November. I should have it ready shortly so you guys will have a chance to look it over before the end of the month.

Songs for Saturday, October 12, 2013

This Saturday is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Karina is out this week and next (10/12 & 10/19) due to other commitments. Jonathan is also out the next two weeks in a brief extension of his summer music tour. They should both be back on the 26th.

Songs for Saturday, October 5, 2013

This Saturday is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Ginny, Jim, Emily, Lisa K., and I practiced the music for October after mass last week. It's essentially the music we did three years ago with a few minor tweaks. Changes had to be made to this week's music since it's a Baptism, and several Psalms were switched for the rest of the month. I'll plan to cover music selection for November.

Songs for Saturday, September 28, 2013

This Saturday is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Karina and I, as well as quite a few others, were not at mass last week. Sources tell me that Jonathan found some rather creative solutions for the lack of instruments, and huge thanks to Paul once more for filling in.

Also last Saturday, I got a message from Chip (I didn't see it in time due to the party we were hosting) saying that he and Kay wouldn't be attending because Kay fell and hurt her foot to the point of not being able to walk. Please keep Kay in your prayers this week.

Songs for Saturday, September 21, 2013

This Saturday is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Karina and I will not be at mass this week (due to Karina's birthday party) and Barry is also out. Additionally, Karina is out the following Saturday, 9/28, due to a BEAHS event.

Jim has volunteered to cover music selection for the month of October, so we should be good-to-go there. I'd like to tentatively plan to rehearse music for October after mass on the 28th.

Speaking of that, at some point, would we like to resume weekly or bi-weekly practices now that summer is coming to a close? I think we could all benefit from the extra practice time so we're not constantly scrambling to pull things together before mass. Thoughts?

Songs for Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013

This Saturday is the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

It was really nice to finally be at full strength last week with both Jim and Barry back! Barry won't be with us this week, though.

Just another reminder that Karina and I won't be at mass next Saturday, Sept. 21st, due to Karina's birthday party (Yup, you heard right, Barry). Karina will also be out the following week, 9/28, due to a BEAHS event.

For anyone who missed the email, Lisa L. let us know that she won't be able to play an active role in the Choir for the next few months due to other commitments. She may be available, though, to fill-in if needed. Lisa also sends her compliments on mass last week -- nice work, all!

Also, do we have any volunteers to cover music selection for October? We're only a month out at this point, and to my knowledge, nothing's been picked yet...

Songs for Saturday, September 7, 2013

This coming Saturday is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jim was out last week, but should be back this week. Jonathan and Paul were present to cover, though (Barry, do you know when you're planning to be back?).

Once again, I don't have much in the way of news this week. First, we begin Barry's music selections for September (anyone know who's planning to pick for October?). Second, don't forget to review the harmony for verse 4 of 'Behold the Cross', which we learned from Jonathan two weeks ago (verse 3 also has harmony if anyone feels energetic :-). Third, the Psalm we're doing as a group, something we haven't done in quite a while.

Songs for Saturday, August 31, 2013

This week is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

For those of you who are unaware (I was asked to keep this need-to-know last week), Jonathan is back in town and joined us for the first time since the beginning of Summer. His schedule is in flux for the next month, though, so we'll play it by ear.

Jim was also back this week, but will be out next week. After that, he should be with us regularly for the remainder of the year. Barry should also be back starting in September.

We also rehearsed after mass to go over Barry's music for September -- I know it's a week early, but I wanted to do this while Jim and Jonathan were available. We learned written harmonies for several pieces (the recordings I sent out yesterday). We also have cantors for both the Psalms and Alleluias assigned through the end of September.

Songs for Saturday, August 24, 2013

Note: starting this week, I'll be sending these blog posts out via email as well as putting them up on the website. This way, we can reduce the number of 'update' emails that go out during the week.

This Saturday is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Michaela's piano-playing on the Alleluia went very smoothly last Saturday, a big improvement over the previous week -- keep up the good work! Also, Luke L. sends his compliments on an exceptionally good mass overall :-)

Thanks to Ginny and Lisa K. for joining us at the ground-breaking vespers service Sunday. Considering the three choirs rarely come together as one, I think we sounded quite good, and I enjoyed the opportunity to cantor for so many people (there are plenty of photos up on Facebook if you missed the event). A new chapter begins in the history of the Parish, and I'm happy we were able to be part of it. Also check out the article in today's CDT.

Songs for Saturday, August 17, 2013

This Saturday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Last Saturday, Zach showed up unexpectedly and we found out it was his last night playing with us before heading off to college. Since we didn't have time to plan anything (we had talked about throwing a party or something), I ended up just saying a few words at the end of mass. Huge thanks to Zach for all his contributions to the group over the past several years, and we wish him well in his future endeavors. It's been fun and a pleasure working with him, and Zach's bass guitar playing has added a truly unique flare to our music.

Also last Saturday, Michaela played piano for us for the first time on the Alleluia. It ended up being a bit rocky, but considering it was her first time playing 'with people', it was a good start. Nice work, Michaela!

Songs for Saturday, August 10, 2013

This coming Saturday is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jim is out this week and next and Barry will be gone the remainder of the month. I believe Paul is planning to help us out in their absence, though.

Our Gathering song (GC 320) this week is a new one. It's a bit traditional for us, but fairly easy to learn. Sped up, it should work fine as an opening song. Our Psalm (GC 97) is also an unfamiliar one, but Karina has volunteered to learn (and cantor) it.

Songs for Saturday, August 3, 2013

This Saturday is the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We begin Ginny's music selections this week, which were slightly revised last Saturday at rehearsal. All Psalms this month have been covered, but we need cantors for the Alleluia as well four more Communion Meditations (Jim has this week covered). If you're interested in any of these, let me know.

Songs for Saturday, July 27, 2013

Sorry for the late post, folks -- VBS has been eating up all my time (huge thanks to Joe for lending us a whole bunch of Western items!). This week is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

First of all, really nice work to the folks who were at mass last week! We were definitely thin on people, but thanks to a few non-regulars who jumped in and Barry's leadership, we managed to do pretty well. Our entrances were very much improved from last week, and there weren't nearly as many mistakes. I had fun despite filling in for no less than three people, and got plenty of compliments on how we sounded. Thankfully, we should (almost) be back to full strength this Saturday with both Jim and Karina returning (Barry will be out-of-town).

Songs for Saturday, July 20, 2013

This week is the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

Jim and Karina are out this week, leaving Barry and I in charge. They both should be back next Saturday, July 27th. I'd suggest a rehearsal after mass next week to go over Ginny's music for August. No one is scheduled to pick music for September, but with Jonathan returning soon, we'll hold off until we know how he wants to handle that.

I ended up picking some less-familiar tunes for this week, so things may be a little tricky with only one instrument to carry melody (besides guitars). I may try to reach out to Mike Lannagan (violin) to see if he'd be able to come and help us out. He's worked with us in the past, but it's been quite a while since I've seen him.

Songs for Saturday, July 13, 2013

This week is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jim (and possibly Karina) will be out this week. Because of this, Barry has made another minor revision to our program, replacing 'Where Charity and Love Prevail' with 'All That We Have'. The ladder is a fairly new song for us, having only done it a few times previously.

In addition, Ginny has suggested squeezing Killoren's 'We Are the People' somewhere into mass since we'll be celebrating our parish Birthday on Sunday. It might make a good prelude/practice song before mass if Father is willing. Barry is not familiar with this particular tune, though, so I'm not sure if we'll do it or not.

Songs for Saturday, July 6, 2013

This week is the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.We're starting a new cycle of music for July, and Ginny already has the songs for August selected. By that time, Jonathan should be back so he'll probably take over song selection.

Father has already made revisions (for the whole month!) and I also made some changes based on what we discussed at rehearsal last week. We have Psalm cantors for all four masses and there's one Baptism next week, July 13th. Finally, Jim will be out on the 13th and 20th due to vacation.