Rehearsal Objectives

• Choral singing demands concentration by each member to maintain awareness of the music itself, the conductor, and the total sound of the section and the chorus.
• The role of the Director/Conductor is to blend the individual voices into a whole sound, mood, and tempo.
• Rehearsals are oriented toward working the music into the mind, the ears, the voices, and the tongues so that producing the tones and words no longer impose technical barriers. We then are able to go beyond the surface and express the inner life and soul of the music.

Rehearsal Discipline

1. Watch the Conductor. Hold your music up so you can see both the Conductor and your music without moving your head and with minimal eye movement. Entrances, cut-offs, words, dynamics, tempo, and mood may all be signaled by any part of the Conductor's body.
2. Do Not Talk. Talking during rehearsal is simply disruptive to music-making. If your section is not singing at the moment, talking (even whispers) makes it hard for others to concentrate and makes it impossible for the Conductor to hear the proper sounds.
3. Listen. The essence of choral singing lies in careful listening to the rest of the section and chorus to achieve the proper intonation, phrasing, articulation, and dynamics.
4. Do Not Waste Rehearsal Time. Pay attention even when the Conductor is working with another section. Personal opinions expressed during rehearsal are not a beneficial use of our limited rehearsal time.
5. Maintain Good Posture. Your entire body is your instrument. You must sit or stand tall with your back straight. Breathing is from your lungs and abdomen.
6. Memorize the Music as Much as Possible. Become familiar with the music so that a mere glance will recall a substantial phrase.
7. Mark Your Music. A pencil is essential at all rehearsals. Use whatever method you find useful to remind you how the Conductor wants the music sung.
8. Count. Precise articulation of musical ideas cannot take place without clear organization of time.
9. Express What You Are Singing. Understand and communicate the meaning of the text as well as the music.
10. Sing with Precise Diction. Words are the main factor that distinguishes a chorus from other musical instruments. Vowels are the sustaining devices on which sound is carried. Consonants are short and articulate and distinguish the words from one another.
11. Ask the Conductor for clarification related to your own voice part. Pertinent questions regarding phrasing, dynamics, pitches, pronunciation, etc., are welcome.

Rehearsals Attendance Policy

The attendance policy for members' eligibility to sing in concert is as follows:

Spring Season: The 22 scheduled rehearsals consist of 20 Monday-night rehearsals and 2 Saturday (sectional) rehearsals. Singers may miss no more than 5 of out the 22 total.

Holiday Season: The 15 scheduled rehearsals consist of 13 Monday-night rehearsals and 2 Saturday (sectional) rehearsals. Singers may miss no more than 4 of out the 15 total.

Certain rehearsals are mandatory. They are:

1. the technical rehearsal(s) prior to the concert
2. the dress rehearsal

Ad hoc "sectionals" organized by a Section Leader are encouraged, but do not count as make-ups for missed regular rehearsals.

Attendance at a Towne Singers retreat (if scheduled) is optional, but attendance can be used to offset a missed rehearsal.

If a choir member is unable or ineligible to perform in a concert, he/she may still participate in rehearsals. However, for the final month of rehearsals prior to the concert, the Conductor may exercise the option of excluding those that are not going to perform in the concert.

The attendance policy may be waived on a case-by-case basis by the Conductor to accommodate exceptional circumstances, but only if the waiver provides an overall benefit to the choir and the concert. In such cases, the Conductor shall confirm the readiness of the choir member to sing in concert by performing a "readiness test".

Tardiness: It is disruptive to the entire choir for singers to be late. Towne Singers expects all members to be on time (considered to be the downbeat). For those occasions when work or family duties cause members to be tardy, the singer is asked to inform (telephone or email) his/her section leader. If a singer is consistently tardy with no notice to the section leader, a fourth unnotified tardy will be considered a missed rehearsal.

[This Rehearsals Attendance Policy was Approved by the Board of Directors in August 2008]