I can't talk steps today... because I'm hyper-ventilating!
Below I've attached the wonderful article from www.app.com today about Scott's All-Shore All-Star Chorus Concert tomorrow night. Scott never ordered our tickets in advance and he (and everyone else...) said I could get them at the door. But!!! With all the Asbury Park Press & radio advertising, they SOLD OUT yesterday for the first time in 47 years!!
Can someone lend me their third born or find me a janitor's outfit? Perhaps I can arrange an Irish Festival for the conductor's favorite charity?!! I have to get tickets to this event for me and the Aunt Mary's and Aunt Maggie and my neighbors who all made plans to attend!!! Ohhhh - we even planned an early bird dinner.
Holy cow - Harry went to Las Vegas to be with his mom and entire Ferguson family for our beautiful niece's wedding and I'm here because our little 6 foot tall boy has this special CONCERT!! Aunt Mary Gunsiorowski - I can hear you over there on Oak Terrace defending him already!! But really - pick up the envelope on the kitchen table and buy your mom her tickets so she can cheer you on isn't being too demanding or harsh, is it??!!!
Oh wow - this is my all-time favorite annual concert! No kidding - The event absolutely took my breath away last year. These kids produced a show that was as good as any performance I've seen anywhere on the planet! I have to get in there! Does anyone have a black ski mask?? Maybe the snow storm will keep people away and I'll get in anyway... Maybe the event will have to be moved to the Sunday snow date -Arrggghhh!!
When Scott called me at work yesterday and told me I couldn't get tickets - I scared my colleagues in Jersey City because I let out a loud scream!! If this doesn't work out, I'm making him call the 3 Mary's (Aunt Mary G & B and Mary Pell!) and my Maggie!
Okay, I admit it! I'm one of the people in New Jersey praying for snow today.
And PS - Don't worry about "your boy" Aunt Mary because everyone blames the mom in these circumstances anyway. Do you know how I know this? Because the last two years while Scott was going through his growth spurts, he was standing on the risers during the May concerts in black FLOOD PANTS! And "I" leaned over to the strangers next to me and asked, "Who's his mother?!!" We're ahead of the pant and shirt management curve for this concert, so at least I won't get blamed for that this time!
A note to Mary Sharkey: Yes, I know - this blog entry gets filed under "Planning."
All-star chorus concert at Red Bank Regional to be in tune with times
By MICHELLE GLADDEN • STAFF WRITER • February 4, 2010
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LITTLE SILVER — "It's amazing, I don't even conduct when you listen to each other," Joseph Cantaffa told the 135 students who make up this year's All-Shore Chorus.
That accolade and many others were interspersed with some grueling moments Wednesday night during one of the last three-hour rehearsals the group would have before Saturday's annual concert.
"You have to sing the contrast of dynamics here," he told them later on in the evening. "You are still too cautious. You want the room to be full of energy. Use the part of your sound palette that is already in your vocabulary."
But none of these students seemed to mind Cantaffa's lecturing. In fact, they were raising their hands asking questions on how to better approach a note or keep tempo.
"These kids are the best of the best," Cantaffa said. "There is so much talent in this group, I only wish I had more time to bring them to their full potential."
But what Cantaffa and the students from 36 area high schools had was one month to prepare for the regional competition turned team effort.
"So often these kids are in competition with each other to get into the choir but once they are here they are not," said accompanist Beth Moore of Central Regional High School. "Getting them to come together as one unit, one voice, is the biggest challenge."
Created in 1963, the All-Shore Chorus brings high school students and professionals from across Monmouth and Ocean counties together for an annual all-star performance.
The fact that Cantaffa, a Howell High School alumnus, performed three years with the nonprofit group and has now returned, more than 20 years later, as its guest conductor is a story of coming full circle.
"The whole thing is kind of surreal to me," the 39-year-old Howell resident said. "Never in my wildest dream did I ever think I would get this opportunity. It genuinely means the world to me."
And just as he has done as a Howell High School music and production teacher, where he created the a capella group Rebel Yell and the '50s and '60s all-girl track act The Rebelettes, Cantaffa is adding his signature rock 'n roll flair to the 47th annual production.
"We've always done traditional choral pieces," said ASC president Peter Isherwood, a choral director at Middletown North High School.
"I can't tell you how happy I am that this is happening," Isherwood said of the repertoire and performance changes.
Among them will be contemporary pieces such as Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen numbers fitted specifically for the choral group, and the multimedia video feature "A Making of the All-Shore Chorus," Isherwood said.
The annual performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, with a 3 p.m. Sunday snow date, at Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver. The school's choral director, Kristopher Zook, is wearing the production manager hat.
By Friday afternoon, the show was sold out for only the second time in its 47-year-long history, the last time was in 2001, when Zook was the guest conductor, event officials said.
"The students enjoy doing this so much," said Zook, who has participated in the annual event for the past 12 years. "Really, we are getting them to use their whole brain — their logical side as well as their creativity.
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Michelle Gladden: 732-643-4095; mgladden@app.com; twitter.com/mgladdenAPP
Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: Who can think about a score at a time like this?!
NO QUOTE TODAY: For once - I'm speechless!
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God has a reason for everything and we must follow His lead. Get a cd of the performance and we can have a Night at the Chorus at your house in the near future.
ReplyDeleteOnce again I'm proud to say I'm a member of this family. Good Grief!
ReplyDeleteTish,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for Katie to come in June to keep your guys organized! I like Aunt Mary's idea for a a cd party in the future. Who knows with the snow they may add a second night?
Kathleen m. Sharkey