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If you love to sing, come join us! |
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The HP Choir was established in 1978 by several employees who had a strong interest in vocal music and in sharing that music with others. Since then, the Choir has grown considerably. Today, it has approximately thirty members and gives eight concerts per year at various HP sites in Cupertino and Palo Alto. David Herberg is the musical director, and Matt Matthews is assistant director. If for some reason David cannot attend a rehearsal, Matt steps in to keep the music going. Membership in the choir is open to current and former HP employees and friends who are able to commit the time necessary to attend rehearsals and learn the music. Auditions are not required, nor are prior experience reading music, singing, or performing. However, because the choir does not hold printed music during performances, each singer is required to memorize the selections to be performed. While not a difficult task, this does require that the singer spend some time practicing outside of rehearsals. Rehearsals for the spring concerts, given in June, begin in March. The winter rehearsals begin in September culminating in the Holiday concert series in early December. Rehearsals are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon until 1 pm at a location on the Cupertino site, usually the Oak Room in building 48. On Tuesdays, the full Choir meets, with Thursdays reserved for sectionals (Sopranos/Altos meeting one week, and Tenors/Basses the other.) Each singer attends three rehearsals every two weeks. Choir business and policy is carried out by the volunteer Choir Committee, a board consisting of two representatives elected from each of the sections and the music director. This committee selects the music to be performed, the concert schedule and locations, concert attire, and so forth. Other volunteers help create the decorations for the concerts in Cupertino, supply food for the evening concert, create the concert programs, distribute publicity posters, and perform many other tasks that contribute to a smooth-running, professional operation. In order to make learning the music as easy as possible, a small group of singers (known as "the tapers") chosen from each section meets for about two months before the main rehearsals start. This group learns the music and then records all of it on CDs which are distributed to the membership at the first rehearsal for each season. The songs are recorded so that the singer's own part (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, or Bass) is isolated on the left channel, with the remaining parts on the right channel. This allows the singer to hear her or his part in isolation, and also to practice singing against only the remaining three parts. The choir also offers the opportunity for individuals or small groups to perform numbers of their own selection at its concerts. Soloists must be current members of the choir; groups must include at least one current choir member. These performances are selected by audition. Typically, a concert consists of nine songs performed by the whole choir, and four to six ensemble or solo numbers.
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