Hello, Voices of North Georgia!
I hope this email/letter finds you and your family enjoying the summer weather–when it isn’t too hot. When Connie and I left in late June for Missouri to visit our daughter, Clare, and my sister and her family, we thought it would get a little cooler as we drove northwest – no such luck! Hot everywhere. We did escape the heat this last week when we were lucky enough to spend a week with a high school buddy in Anchorage, AK, where the high was maybe 68 at the most. Aaaahhhh. Having made it back from the frozen lands without a bear attack, I am writing to you now about something even more exciting to me, and that is our new season. It will be a season of some of our favorite themed performances and repertoire.
I hope to hear about any travels you might have made since our past season ended at our Season Kickoff Party which will be Monday evening, August 14th in the Fellowship Hall at St. Paul UMC. The address of the church is 404 Washington Street. This is the same fellowship hall that we rehearsed in during the second half of our last season while the new music suite at First Baptist Church was being completed.
Please recruit for your community chorus over the next few weeks and see if you can bring with you a possible new member. We are in special need of more tenors and basses. Our 2023-2024 season will continue the week after the recruitment/reunion event on Monday evening, August 21, in the new music suite at First Baptist Church. I will send out specific directions to this new location prior to the first rehearsal. Please arrive early to ensure that you have time to take in our new rehearsal location, pay any dues owed, pick up your scores, find your seat, and have some time to visit with other members.
Our 2023-2024 Season begins with our fall concert, Celtic Airs, on Friday and Saturday, October 20 and 21, in the Banquet Hall at First Baptist Church. The theme of this concert is the music of the Celtic lands of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I am sure you will agree with me that some of the prettiest melodies around have been written by composers from these lands. You will be accompanied by a small ensemble of string and percussion for this concert. If anyone knows of a local bagpipe player, please let me know. Don’t worry. We won’t sing anything with bagpipe accompaniment!
Voices of North Georgia will present Christmas Voices, our annual Christmas concerts, on Friday and Saturday evenings, December 1 and 2, in the main sanctuary at St. Paul United Methodist Church. This year’s performances will feature the Christmas portion of Handel’s greatest oratorio, Messiah. It has been four years since we’ve been able to present this wonderful composition. We will need a good result from our annual ad campaign and other fund raisers to pay the orchestra, but the board believes we can do it this year. Adding to these performances will be holiday favorites, both sacred and secular, plus an enjoyable sing-along with our audiences.
In 2024, our rehearsals will start back up on Monday evening, January 8, as we prepare for our mid-season gala and our spring concert performances. The musical theme of our gala this year will be the incredible music of the Beatles and the composer Burt Bacharach. Beatles to Bacharach: A Gala, will be on Saturday, March 2, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Banquet Hall of First Baptist Church. Our gala will feature tunes from the 60s and 70s during the high-tide period for both the band and the composer. I believe most of us can name at least ten to twenty songs written by John Lennon and Paul MacCartney of the Beatles but may not know that many by Bacharach. Between now and our reunion, do a search on your phone for Bacharach tunes. I believe you will be surprised and happy with the results of your search. Burt Bacharach has been called by many the most influential pop composer of the 60s and 70s. We will be accompanied by a rhythm section for this single performance. The chorus membership and our audience have such fun at this event, and the audience continues to grow each year.
Give My Regards to Broadway, Voices of North Georgia’s final concert of the 2023-2024 season, will feature a varied mixture of standards and new compositions from the Broadway stage. VNG has considerable music of this category already in our library. I will add selections from the more recent musical hits to the classic standards. We will present a good mix of what makes this type of music so enjoyable to hear and see being presented. These concerts will be held in the Fellowship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville on Friday evening, April 26, at 7:30 P.M. and Sunday afternoon, April 28, at 3:00 P.M. We will make full use of the various multi-media resources from a recent renovation of the hall, which will add even more to the performances. Between now and April our board will be coming up with a better way to stand comfortably for these performances. If anyone knows of a local institution that might own a set of standing or seated risers we could borrow or rent for these performances, please let us know.
I hope as you’ve read through this letter you’ve seen that your chorus has much to look forward to throughout the season. As I mentioned earlier, please be on the lookout for any possible new members. This season would be ideal for getting someone who hasn’t been singing regularly back in the habit. Please forward contact information of any possible new additions to Mrs. Betsy Hopkins, membership chair (770-680-0993).
If you would like to go ahead and send in your registration and dues for this upcoming season, please see the attached membership form. Please remember that the completed forms need to be sent this year to Ms. Elizabeth Smith, our corresponding secretary. Her mailing address is included on the membership form. I look forward to seeing you on the 14th at St. Paul UMC for our tailgate party to kick off the season.
Sincerely,
Bruce Nunley
Artistic Director/Conductor
Voices of North Georgia