Last Thursday evening, I got to take part in a little bit of history in the making. At our EVMCO rehearsal, this video was played for us:
If you'd like to show your support for the Consolari Concert Hall & music education in the Phoenix area, please complete the survey HERE.
Our organization's name has been changed to East Valley Millennial Choirs & Orchestras and a third concert has been added to the line-up for this weekend. If you'd like to attend a concert, please go HERE for more information. If you want tickets for a sold-out show, please let me know and I can probably help you find some.
Newspaper article about the concert hall can be found HERE.
It's concert week!! Yesterday I practiced my violin for 4 hours. Today I could only get in two hours ... my brain was somewhat dead. My Turkey is practicing standing still in concert position for 15-minutes a day ... a very hard task for my wiggly boy. My Penguin is gearing up for a little solo part that she will perform (in Hebrew!) in front of 1000's of people Friday night. And Peacock is ready to go! We are all super excited for our Friday night concert and we hope you'll grab one of the few remaining tickets to come see us perform!!
If you love the classics of the masters and Broadway tunes, this is the concert for you! We will be performing everything from Rachmaninoff to Mozart and Les Mis to Sound of Music.
The 8pm concert is currently sold-out (but keep your eyes peeled because sometimes seats might pop up if tickets are sold back to the arts center) and the 5pm concert has limited seats, so if you are interested in attending, get online and buy your tickets now! If anyone is interested, I have one ticket for the 8pm concert.
Here are a couple songs that I'm looking forward to performing ...
If you'd like to get rid of some Halloween candy today (ours is currently locked in the garage!), you can trade in some of your candy for cash at Higley Park Dental. See flyer for details.
If you're ready to get into the Christmas spirit, try this free MP3!
HAPPY Owl-O-Ween!! I hope you have a super day loaded with lots of cute costumes and yummy things to eat!
Today is an extra special day at our house ... it's my Peacock's birthday!!
She was a busy baker on Saturday with her Bushka.
Lollipop Ghosts ~
Nutter-Butter Ghosts ~
R.I.P. Tombstone-Candy Corn-Pumpkin Cake:
Peacock has been counting down the days to her birthday for at least a month and she honestly believes that the world celebrates her birthday by going trick-or-treating.
This morning she got up and helped me start a crock-pot of applesauce ... it's already starting to smell like sweet apples in my house.
This evening the kiddies will enjoy some trick-or-treating and then we plan to stop by Bushka's house for some homemade doughnuts!
The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization has been working hard since August to prepare for our upcoming Christmas concert. I've been meaning to blog about the concert for a while now and I hope I'm not too late for some of my faithful concert-goers because both concerts are almost sold-out. As of right now, there are some "limited view", back-row seats, and a few other odds & ends left for both nights.
If you want to purchase tickets online go HERE. I recommend the Saturday night performance and seats that are at least 10 rows back from the stage.
The concert will knock your socks off, but I don't think I have to do much talkin' cause the fact that about 3000 seats have already sold for a concert that's more than a month away speaks for itself! Don't miss out!!!
I will be performing in the symphony for Lamb of God on September 9 & 10 at Gammage in Tempe, AZ. Both shows start at 7:30pm. You can not afford to miss this and you should be able to get tickets for less than the cost of going to a movie. This will be uplifting and you will get to enjoy the talents of a great choir, incredible soloists, and a professional-level symphony ... that's hard to find at the movie theater! You will not be sorry for making the effort to be there.
No matter your religion, please come and partake of this amazing music.
Learn more about Lamb of God and the composer Rob Gardner HERE.
If you've been debating the upcoming East Valley Mormon Choral Organization's patriotic concert, now is the time to get your tickets. Last night, all remaining tickets were reduced in price. Tickets were $15-35, but arenow$10-25 ... that's a nice savings! They've never done anything like this before! We want community members to come & feel uplifted by the power of music. **This is the LAST patriotic concert that the EVMCO will be performing for a number of years, so please don't miss-out on this opportunity.
Come see an all-volunteer, full symphony performing on a professional level!
Come hear the sweet children (starting at age 4) sing with voices like bells!
And the adult choir is outstanding!!
I promise that you will not leave this concert feeling uplifted and proud to be an American!!
I posted this on my previous post, but HERE is a video promo for the concert.
Just to get you excited, we will be performing this song ... bagpipes & all!
I hope that's it's OK to share this ... it is a comment that was left on my blog about a year ago after our May 2010 patriotic concert:
"Such an amazing concert! I was tearing up with the first song. I'm super jealous you played with William Joseph!! His violinist was also phenomenal! I was reminded how much I love music and how much I wish I would have continued practicing these last 10 years, so maybe I could even think to try out for an orchestra like that :) I'm curious what was your favorite piece you got to play? I LOVED them all. Your little Penguin was adorable. I watched her soldier in and sing her little heart out :) Congrats and thanks for telling me about it."
After I performed in CA with our sister group, the OCMCO, one member of the audience started talking to me outside of the concert hall. He shared with me how impressed he was by the concert, how he was considering driving all the way to Salt Lake City (from Orange County, CA) to see the concert performed again, and he even compared us to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Hope to see you next Saturday, May 21 at one of our performances ... 5:00 or 8:00. Tickets can be purchased online HERE.
I know ... I know ... I've totally been MIA ... but I have lots of good excuses. While I was in CA having a good time with my sister and performing with the OCMCO, I got a phone call letting me know that we have to move-out of our rental house. It's a long, boring story, but it is what it is, so as soon as I got back, we started house hunting like mad people ... like 12+ hours a day between looking online and actually going out to tour homes. If we can find something in the next few days, we have time to close and move-in instead of going to another rental. We've also been tossing around the idea of renting again & building a custom home, but finding a lot to build on and the number of unknowns are somewhat daunting. We'll see.
In other news, the EVMCO/OCMCO Salt Lake City concert sold-out around 4000 seats in less than 30 minutes!! That was very exciting but at the same time very frustrating for all the people who got zero tickets. And the word on the street is that the box office over-sold because they expect a certain number of no-shows but with all the people traveling from out-of-state and even some from out-of-country, we don't anticipate a lot of no-shows. The directors of our organizations are now working on additional concerts in the Salt Lake City area.
Here is a preview of our upcoming May21st concert in Mesa, Arizona with country super-star Collin Raye ... tickets are on-sale now!! You can not afford to miss this event!!
I've done zip-nada-zero-zilch baking the last few weeks ... and not much cooking either. We usually stop for tacos or something around 8:30 at night after we are fried from house hunting. I'm going to have lots of catching-up to do with my foodie groups.
Hope you are all enjoying a more calm & normal weekend than me!! Happy Mother's Day!!
This past weekend, we checked-out one more home. Another no. The exterior/style of the home was beautiful, but the house was a dump! The owner is a realtor ... they should know better than to show a home in that condition!!! But it's obvious they haven't cared for their home and as a result it needs new flooring, new paint everywhere, etc, etc, etc. This afternoon we are going to see another home. It already has an offer, but there's something in the contract that allows the owner and bank to consider and accept better offers. Weird, but that's the market here. And ... we'll see if we even like the home. *sigh*
This coming weekend, I should be having a little more fun! (And some extreme pain from holding my violin up for long stretches of time, but mostly totally enjoying myself!) I was invited to travel to Orange County, California to perform with the OCMCO Symphony. I'm way excited!! I will be attending their dress rehearsal Friday night and then performing two concerts with them on Saturday. SO ... if you live in or close to Orange County, come see me play!! We will be performing Brett Stewart's oratorio, Messiah in America, with four top-notch soloists from around the country. The children will be singing their songs and parts of the program and pianist Brandon Stewart & the symphony will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (3rd movement). I'm SUPER excited to play a classical piece!! I worked on it for 3 hours yesterday & I still have a ways to go ... you better come see me! I recently performed Messiah in America in Mesa, Arizona and it has received amazing reviews. I will also be performing this same oratorio in Salt Lake City, UT in about a month. If you live in CA, please get your tickets HERE or HERE for THIS WEEKEND's performance!! It would be tons of fun to have some friends & followers in the audience!!
CALLING ALL HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOL GRADS!! We are in need of your musical talents. A benefit concert is being put together and Mr Bitter will be conducting a symphony made up of HHS grads, but we need your help to fill the seats of the symphony!! Parts we need to fill: Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello, Cello OD, Bass, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn in F 1-4. The Symphony will be accompanying Jordan Bluth while he sings Time to Say Goodbye ... see video below (poor quality, sorry!). Even if you are a little rusty, the 2nd violin part stays in 1st position and if you are familiar with the song, the counting won't be bad. If you want music, please email me, leave me a comment with your email, text me or find me one way or another. I can email the music to you.
Rehearsal for the symphony will be at Highland High School on Friday, Feb 25th 2:45-3:30 . Horrible time for those of us with kids, but see what you can work-out cause we'd love to have you! Concert is Saturday, Feb 26 at 7pm.
To read more about the benefit concert for Heather (Kuzdas) Sutton, go HERE or HERE.
If you live in Arizona, this concert will be performed two times on Saturday, March 5th ... 5:00 & 8:00. Tickets can be purchased at any local Deseret Book location as well as through the Mesa Arts Center. If you have interest in attending this show, please do not wait to buy tickets. Seats are becoming limited.
If you are in Utah, you will be able to see Messiah in America performed the first weekend of June in Salt Lake City. More details to come.
The East Valley Mormon Choral Organization is preparing for our next concert. We will be performing a new 34-movement oratorio titled, Messiah in America, which was composed by Brett Stewart. With text taken from the Book of Mormon, Messiah in America musically depicts the story of Christ's visit to the people on the American continent after His death & resurrection. Guest soloists are four preeminent and professional LDS artisits in the USA: Jennifer Welch-Babidge (soprano), Francessa Forsyth (alto), George Dyer (tenor), and John Huntington (bass).
Today, I will introduce you to two of our soloists.
Whew! What a weekend!! I feel like I've been running for weeks and now today ... there is nothing that I have to do. I'll probably start working on returning several phone calls, go through 100+ new emails, finally finish some of those blog posts that I started but never finished, and begin thinking about Christmas festivities and traditions.
Saturday was a very fulfilling day. After months of hard work and practicing and rehearsals, the EVMCO performed our Christmas show for two sold-out audiences ... probably about 3,000 people. The first show went well, but the second show was indescribable ... at least from my perspective. We were in our groove. :) My two favorite pieces to perform were I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Carol of the Bells. Very powerful and Brett Stewart's arrangements of those pieces are like no other arrangements I've ever heard. I don't know if my head and back have ever hurt so bad after a concert, but I was too happy to care. A special thanks to those of you who came to see us perform (it's always fun to see familiar faces in the audience), who helped me with the kids, and who give feedback after the shows.
On Sunday, I did something a bit crazy ... well, crazy for me. :) The Chandler Symphony was in need of a couple first violinists for their Christmas benefit concerts, so I volunteered. I showed-up to the concert without rehearsing with the group and played two concerts with them. The first concert went well, but I was sight-reading. By the time the second concert came around, I was able to relax and really enjoy myself.
Today I'm paying the price of playing four 90+ minute concerts this weekend, but I wouldn't trade it. I feel rejuvenated.
A funny thing happens after our EVMCO concerts. I wake up the next morning to photos in my inbox ... just don't know where they come from!! :)
Congrats to my Penguin, too! Her choir sang on Saturday night and they did a beautiful job!! She sang When Christmas Comes to Town and The Polar Express ... both from the Polar Express movie.... and Christmas Bells are Ringing. The children's voices were like bells and their harmonies were amazing!!
**UPDATE: Just checked available seats for the concert ... I may be heading down BEFORE Saturday ... maybe Thurs or Fri cause the best seats are selling-out quickly.
Folks ... It's that time of the year! Time to purchase your tickets for the upcoming East Valley Mormon Chorale Organization's annual Christmas concert. The *SPECTACULAR* symphony had it's first rehearsal with the adult choir last week. I always start to get really excited for the concert when we have combined rehearsal and I get to hear how everything sounds together. It is going to be an amazing evening complete with cute little kiddies singing their hearts out, hand bells, and a wonderful program of music. We are performing everything from traditional carols to songs from the movie Polar Express to calypso style tunes.
The symphony will be performing this song:
Tickets are very reasonably priced, especially considering how much we spend at the movie theatre for something that far less uplifting and inspiring.
We will be performing on Saturday, December 4th at 5:00 & 7:30pm at the Mesa Arts Center.
For anyone who is interested in saving some money by eliminating extra fees, I will try to make a trip down to the box office sometime Saturday (11/13) afternoon. If you want me to get some tickets for you as well, let me know and we can work out the details.
*Children ages 5 and older are welcome & encouraged to come!! What a great evening for a special family outing!!
Tickets went on sale October 1, 2010 for the East Valley Mormon Chorale Organization's upcoming Christmas concert. I know it may seem a little early to start thinking about buying your tickets, but if you are looking to stay within a certain price point, now is the time to buy. The less expensive seats will sell the fastest!
We will be performing two shows on Saturday, December 4th: 5:00 & 7:30pm
If you were able to attend one of the Lamb of God performances on Friday or Saturday night (or one of our other past concerts) & you liked what you heard, please mark your calendars for the 2010-2011 Season EVMCO concerts! If you haven't been to see an EVMCO concert yet, you are truly missing out!! *Note: there will be two performances each night for our next three concerts.
All the Bells on Earth Shall Ring
Saturday, December 4th
5:00 & 7:30 pm
*Featuring Christmas classics for choir, symphony, and bell choir.
We will be doing this arrangement of I Saw Three Ships:
Bring the World His Truth
Saturday, March 5th
4:30 & 7:30 pm
*Featuring Messiah in America: an oratorio composed by Brett Stewart, depicting the story of Christ's visit to the people on the American continent. Showcases preeminent and professional LDS soloists from across the USA.
I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to be a member of the EVMCO Orchestra. Performing The Lamb of God was an amazing experience. Two sold-out shows (I had friends trying to get tickets a week before the Saturday concert and they were told it was already sold-out), awesome soloists, lots of support in the audience from family & friends, countless comments afterwards, & my testimony of Christ has been strengthened in a way I never imagined possible. For three weeks, I submerged myself in music concerning the Atonement & Resurrection of Christ. The best compliment we got was early Saturday morning ... an email sent to the entire orchestra saying that our Friday night performance was just as good and sometimes better than the London Symphony recording. WOWSERS!!!
I'm making a last-minute run to the Gammage Box Office sometime Wed (9/1/10) morning. If you are interested in a ticket without all the Ticketmaster fees, please contact me asap. Let me know what you want & if you promise to pay me back, I get you some tickets. For more details, check-out my previous posts about the upcoming world premiere of Lamb of God ... here & here.
