Hi all,

We had our (ir)regular planning meeting this afternoon - thanks very much to Brian Cano for hosting again, and for the great burgers!

We've selected music for St. Margaret Mary's and St. Pat's Home through to the end of Ordinary Time in late November. We've added a few new pieces to our repertoire. You can find the music lists by going to http://www.cornerstone-music.com, and clicking on "Music Lists" in the Database menu on the left.

I'll be providing a "supplementary music pack" to everyone for the few things that aren't in our books (a couple psalms, etc.), similar to what we've done in the past for Christmas and Easter. More in this next week.

The calendar for the upcoming activities in the next few months is below. You can also find this on the web site.

Cheers,
--D

August
Masses at SMM  Aug 23, 30  at 10:30am

September
NO MASS Sept 6. Enjoy the weekend!
Regular 11:30 Sunday masses resume September 13.
September 13 -  St. Pat's Home @ 10 am,   Rehearsal for new fall pieces at St. Pat's Home (pending confirmation) after lunch (abt 2pm).
September 27 - Lunch. Location to be determined.

October
October 11 -  St. Pat's Home @ 10 am
October 25 - Lunch. Location to be determined.

November
November 8 -  St. Pat's Home @ 10 am
November 15 - Rehearsal for Advent pieces after lunch (abt 2pm).  Location to be determined.
November 29 - Rehearsal #1 for Christmas after lunch (abt 2pm).  Location to be determined.

Hi all,

As mentioned at mass today, we'll be covering the 9:30 am mass on Feb 15, not Feb 22 as previously announced.  I've updated the dates below.

Also, I've finalized the Triduum Rehearsal dates - see the list below as well.  
- Note there's a rehearsal this coming SATURDAY afternoon. We'll focus mostly on Vigil Psalms for this one.
- I've tried to alternate between Saturdays and Sundays, in case people are busy.
- Generally rehearsals will be 1pm-3pm  (except Feb 22, at 1:30, due to the pancake breakfast)

For Triduum rehearsals,  I'm not going to enforce a mandatory minimum number of practices or try to impose anything specific.  We're not rehearsing together  to learn the pieces, we know those already; we're rehearsing as a group to learn how to play and sing together, and to polish the pieces - you can't do that on your own, so attendance at the rehearsals is expected. But we're all adults; I would expect everyone understand what we're committing to, and determine when each of us can and cannot attend.

PLEASE EMAIL ME and let me know if you intend to sing/play with us at any part of the Triduum, so I know who to expect and can begin work on planning for soloists, etc.

Thanks!
--D


=== FEBRUARY ===

Sat Feb 7  -  1:00- 3:00 - Triduum Rehearsal
Sun Feb 8  - 10:00-11:00 - Mass STP
Sun Feb 8  - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Sun Feb 15 -  9:30-10:30 - Mass SMM
Sun Feb 15 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Sun Feb 22 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM (Pancake breakfast follows)
Sun Feb 22 -  1:30- 3:30 - Triduum Rehearsal

Wed Feb 25 -  7:00 pm - Ash Wednesday Mass SMM

=== MARCH ===

Sun Mar 1  - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM - 1st Sunday of Lent

Sun Mar 8  - 10:00-11:00 - Mass STP
Sun Mar 8  - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Sat Mar 14 -  1:00- 3:00 - Triduum Rehearsal
Sun Mar 15 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

(March break Mar 16-20)

Sun Mar 22 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM
Sun Mar 22 -  1:00- 3:00 - Backup Triduum Rehearsal - Only if others are cancelled for weather.

Sun Mar 29 -  1:00- 3:00 - Triduum Rehearsal

=== APRIL ===

Wed Apr 1  -  7:00 pm - Reconciliation Service SMM

Sat Apr 4  -  1:00- 3:00 - Triduum Rehearsal
Sun Apr 5  - 10:00-11:00 - Mass STP - Palm Sunday
Sun Apr 5  - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Thu Apr 9  - TRIDUUM BEGINS
Sun Apr 12 - EASTER SUNDAY

Hi all,

We heard back from the 9:30 group about swapping for this past weekend; they'll be taking off the weekend of February 22, so we'll be doing both masses that day.

I'm still working on the schedule for Triduum rehearsals, so please consider those dates as tentative for now.

Cheers,
--D


Sun Feb 1  - 11:30-12:30  - Mass SMM

Sat Feb 7  -  2:00- 4:00 - Triduum Rehearsal
Sun Feb 8  - 10:00-11:00 - Mass STP
Sun Feb 8  - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Sun Feb 15 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM
Sun Feb 15 -  2:00- 4:00 - Triduum Rehearsal

Sun Feb 22 -  9:30-10:30 - Mass SMM
Sun Feb 22 - 11:30-12:30 - Mass SMM

Wed Feb 25 -  7:00 pm - Ash Wednesday Mass SMM

The music lists for Ordinary Time and Lent, for both St. Margaret Mary's and St. Patrick's Home are up.

       http://www.cornerstone-music.com  >  Click on "Music Lists" under "Database" on the left menu.

I'm going to start posting all messages to the website, as well as emailing them out, so you can always refer back to the site for info.  I've also started updating the calendar with all the dates. I'm hoping this helps everyone keep track of upcoming events.

I'll be sending out more info about Triduum shortly. Stay tuned.

Hi all,

Just a few reminders...

• 11:30 mass is cancelled next week, due to the Bazaar. Most of us will be going to mass at St. Pat's Home at 10 am; this is a good opportunity to meet some of the other musicians who sing there. :)

• Next Sunday afternoon, November 30, from 1pm - 4pm we will hold a Christmas rehearsal. We will be rehearsing at St. Patrick's Home Chapel, since the Bazaar is going to be blocking off the street at SMM and thus making parking a headache.
  

• Also next Sunday, between mass and the rehearsal, we'll be heading to the Mooney's Bay Bistro (on Ridgewood, around the corner from St. Pat's Home) for lunch.
  

• We will be making reservations for our Christmas lunch at Colonnade Pizza, 1520 Bank Street (at the Blue Heron Mall).  Please RSVP as soon as possible with Janet to let her know how many people you expect to come, and any particular dietary requirements.
  

• The community event "Come Sing Messiah" is coming up on the evening of Friday Dec 5. If you've never come to this before, I highly encourage you to come - singing the Hallelujah Chorus with a choir of 750 is serious fun. You'll need tickets if you don't already have them, available at locations listed here: http://www.cammac.ca/english/TabRegions/OttawaGatineau/Activities.shtml#messiah  (Get them early, they go fast!)
  

Cheers,
--D

Sent Nov 2, 2008

Upcoming events and dates for the next couple of months.  Note that there's a couple of errors on the music list (missing nov 16!); I'll reprint them next week.


Music Planning - Advent & Christmas

I'm going to suggest that because Advent and Christmas are pretty much pre-picked, that we forego our planning meeting. I'll make whatever minor adjustments are needed based on last year's selections.  Please let me know if you disagree with this, or if you have any suggestions or desires with respect to the Sundays in December and early January.

Brian - can you take a look at your calendar for early January, and see if there's an afternoon or evening where we could meet to plan ordinary time and lent?

Sunday Mornings

I want to apologize for being a little snippy this morning; I didn't sleep well and didn't have enough time for breakfast.

However, I do want to emphasize the message I was trying to get across.  What we agreed to in September was that rehearsals would start at 10:45.  I'm aware that various circumstances may cause any of us - including me - to be late occasionally, and I'm also well aware of the fact that if something happens at the morning mass, parking can be hard to find, but these occurence should be just that, occasional.  We're a choir, not a bunch of individuals - it's disrespectful and frustrating to everyone when we regularly have to wait for people to arrive, especially those of us who put in time to rehearse and prepare on our own.

Think of it this way: there are only about 10 members in our group. If each of us is late only once every 2.5 months, that means we're ALWAYS starting late.  Like it or not, none of us is really expendible; if somene is missing, we either need to wait for them, or practice pieces twice.  (If you want to help mitigate this, please feel free to go out and start recruiting more singers and instruments!)

Rehearsal begins at 10:45. That doesn't mean you should be arriving at that time - please be here, books ready, instruments set up, voice prepared, by 10:45. If you need time to find parking spots, unpack, set up, mark up books - please plan your time accordingly and arrive ahead of time.

I know I'm been harping on this, but we have yet to start any rehersal on time in almost two months using this schedule. We haven't been able to rehearse any future pieces, or even get to the coming week's psalms.  I still think this time should work, but we all need to make the effort to make it work.  If this continues to be an issue when we review again after christmas, I think we'll need to re-examine the strategy again.

Thanks for your consideration.


Calendar - November

Sun Nov 9 - Dedication of St. John Lateran
   - 10:30 am St. Pat's - Mass. Researsal 9:45. Dan will play, Mary will cantor.
   - 11:30 am St. MM  - Mass. Rehearsal 10:45  Francis will play, Sarah will cantor.
   - Brian Cano is unavailable

Sat Nov 15
   - 1pm  - 4pm  -- Advent Seasonal  & Christmas Researsal

Sun Nov 16 - 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
   - 11:30 am St MM - Mass.

Sun Nov 23 - Christ the King
   - 11:30 am St. MM - Mass.
   - 2:00 pm Parish AGM (FYI only, no requirement to attend this.)

Sun Nov 30  - 1st Sunday of Advent, Year B
   - (only one mass at SMM at 10 am due to the Bazaar; the other group will play)
   - 10:00 am - St. Pat's - Mass  (we're not playing)
   - 1pm - 4pm - STP - Christmas Rehearsal

Calendar - December

Sun Dec 7 - 2nd Sunday of Advent
   - 11:30 am St. MM  - Mass

Sun Dec 14 - 3rd Sunday of Advent
   - 10:00 am St. Pat's - Mass
   - 11:30 am St. MM  - Mass
   - 1:00 pm - Cornerstone Christmas Party - Colonnade Pizza

Sun Dec 21 - 4th Sunday of Advent
   - 11:30 am St. MM  - Mass
   - 1pm - 4pm - SMM - Christmas Rehearsal

Wed Dec 24 - Nativity of the Lord
   - 10:00 pm (TBD) - St. MM  - Mass

Thu Dec 25 - Nativity of the Lord
   - 10:00 am St. Pat's - Mass

Sun Dec 28 - Feast of the Holy Family
   - 11:30 am St. MM  - Mass

Wed Dec 31 - Mary, Mother of God
   - 7:00 pm (TBD)  St. MM  - Mass

Hello everyone,

A survey was done asking residents, community, family, volunteers, and
staff members of course, and they've decided to put Mass back to 10am.
 This will NOT start until November 16, so this Sunday when
Cornerstone is leading the music, we will still be at 10:30.  Just
take a look at the schedule that was sent out and change the 10:30 to
10:00.

Also, thanks very much for volunteering to sing on Christmas morning.
I know that we all have some Christmas traditions, but please try to
make singing on Christmas morning one of yours.  Everyone appreciates
it so much.  AND SO DO I.

Mary