Midland-Odessa Community Chorus
Core-Choir for the 2023 Messiah Sing-along
4805 Gateway St.
Midland, Texas
Choral Director: Alice Beckstrom
Please join us as we perform Handel's Messiah for our 7th 'Annual' Messiah Sing-along on Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 5:30 PM with Alice Valantine Beckstrom as MOCC Choral Director, Missy Snow as MOCC Co-Director, Dr. Juan Hernandez as guest conductor, Organist LuAnn Lane, and Pianist Laura Burgess.
Rehearsals for the MOCC core-choir will begin on Thursday, Oct 5 from 7-8:30 PM and will continue every Thursday, hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4805 Gateway St, Midland, TX 79707.
Online PDFs for the 2023 Messiah Sing-along Choruses.
Please contact us for more information on singing with the Midland-Odessa Community Chorus in the future.
MOCC Rehearsal Schedule:
Nov 3, 2022, REHEARSAL SCHEDULE:
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7-7:10 Welcome & warmup in Chapel
7-7:10 Welcome & warmup in Chapel •7:15-8:25- #26, 46, 44, 4, 7, 9
7:15-8:25- #26, 46, 44, 4, 7, 9 •Benediction, cookies/mingle
Benediction, cookies/mingle*************************************************
Oct 13, 2022:
•7-7:10 Welcome & warmup in Chapel
7-7:10 Welcome & warmup in Chapel • 7:15-7:30 Sing through #4, #9, and #17
7:15-7:30 Sing through #4, #9, and #17•7:30-8:05 Men’s and women’s sectionals on #4, #9, and #17 (women stay in Chapel, men in Rehearsal Room)
7:30-8:05 Men’s and women’s sectionals on #4, #9, and #17 (women stay in Chapel, men in Rehearsal Room)•8:10-8:25 Women join men in Rehearsal Room, sing through #4, #9, and #17 and if time #12.
8:10-8:25 Women join men in Rehearsal Room, sing through #4, #9, and #17 and if time #12. •Benediction, cookies/mingle
Benediction, cookies/mingle
2022 Members of the Midland-Odessa Community Chorus:
Kim Allen, Alice Beckstrom, Mark Beckstrom, Alexandria Belk, Amy Blackshear, Cathy Bonifay, Stazie Church, Mary Dawson, Melody Drinkard, Jody Forbush, Drew Hausen, Joe Hausen, Carlos Hinojos, Lauryl Hoose, Vera Howell, Sandra Huston, Cynthia Jarrett, Oksana Kondratyuk, ManDee Laing, Rachel Langston, Kati Lewis, Peter Maughan, Elizabeth Anne McDonald, Mark McDonald, Mary Lou McDonald, Joseph Meyer, Jesse Miller, Peg Miller, Veronica Miller, Eric Nielson, Renée Pocsik, Bryan Poe, Matt Scott, Missy Snow, Jeffrey Tew, Sheldon Walton, Ted Ward, Rachelle Woolston
MOCC Rehearsal Notes:
Oct 28, 2022
MUSIC NOTES, #4
Proper pronunciation of the text: “And the glory of the Lord”. Pronounce “And the” together = pronounce “a” (as in apple), add the “nd” to “the” (a-ndthuh). “Highest”= slight separation between “high” and “est” (HAH-ehst). “Glory”= “GLOH-rih. Pronounce “of the” together (AH-fthuh). “Lord”, don’t pronounce the R.
MUSIC NOTES, #7
Pronounce “And he” together = pronounce “a” (as in apple), add the “nd” to “he” (a-ndhih).
Melismas on: “puri-fy”, stay on “ah” (as in “awe”)
Lastly, Sopranos: bar 53, circle your 4th note and be sure to come in right on that 4th beat!
MUSIC NOTES, #9
Remember not to stress the second syllable on “Zion” (ZAH-uhn)
Bar 132 (7 bars before L): change the 2nd note to an eighth-rest. Bar 133, Sop/Ten/Bass: change note to a dotted-quarter tied to an eighth-note, add two eighth-note rests.
MUSIC NOTES, #12
Text: “For unto us a child is born”; “for” has no R (FOH), “us”= hold the uh and add a soft “s” at the end, (also, have a slight separation between “unto” and “us”) “born” has on R (BOHn). Don’t stress the 2nd syllables on: “given” (GIH-vihn), “Father” (FAH-thuh)
Melisma on: “born”, stay on “oh”, add the “n” to the end of melisma (note: do not add an “r”).
Bar 90: change the 6th note to an eighth-note, add eighth-rest.
MUSIC NOTES, #17- Pronunciation of Text
Pronunciation tips: “Glory”= “GLOH-rih. “God” has a vowel sound of “awe” (GAWE/d). “Highest”= slight separation between “high” and “est” (HAH-ehst). Pronounce “and peace” together = pronounce the “a” (as in apple), add the “nd” to “peace” (use the sing-vowel “IH” and end with a very soft and short “S”) = (a-ndpih/s).
“Earth”: sing with a very open “UH”-schwa and no “R”. “Good will”, separate the two words with a strong D on “good”, “will”= use H with a soft W and hold the singing-vowel IH, at the end of the word, don’t vocalize through the “LL” (HWIH-ll)
MUSIC NOTES: #26 part a, All we like sheep; Eliminating Diphthongs in the Text Pronunciation of text: Be sure to use these vowel-sounds and always add consonants at the last moment. Please make note on your score: “all” (sing ah, then add a soft “L” into the next word); we, and, sheep (ih not ē); also, any time you sing “we” high: use more “h” than “w” (hwih); way, and, as-tray (eh not ā), turn-ed (no “R” sound, just the schwas for: uh, and, eh); Lord (no “R”, open “O” like “doh!”).
Melismas on: “astray”, stay on EH and don’t add a diphthong. “Turned”, stay on "UH" and at the very end of the melismas, more softly sing, “nehd”.
*********************************************
Oct 7, 2022
Sopranos and Tenors: if you are not singing from Novello edition or my website’s PDFs, please look at bars 60 & 65 on my PDF of #12 For unto us a Child is born and mark your scores to match the notes and text. Thank you!
Auditions for Soloists
On Oct 20 & Oct 27 we will be auditioning for solos during the sectional rehearsals. If you are interested in auditioning and didn’t tell me last night, please contact me and I will send you the audition cuts as well as MP3s to help you prepare.
MUSIC NOTES: #26, All we like sheep; Eliminating Diphthongs in the Text
These are the vowel-sounds we should be singing, so please make note on your score: all (sing ah, then add a soft “L” into the next word); we, and, sheep (ih not ē); also, any time you sing “we” high: use more “h” than “w” (hwih); way, and, as-tray (eh not ā), turn-ed (no “R” sound, just the schwas for: uh, and, eh); Lord (no “R”, open “O” like “doh!”).
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