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We sang the National Anthem for the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 9th!!
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Visit WWW.LastNoteSingers.ORG more complete information.
Our Winter performance season was a great success! Thanks, everyone, for your contributions.
Our SPRING Rehearsal Season will begin FEBRUARY 3rd.
7:00 New Member Orientation. 7:30 Rehearsal.
If you sing, please consider JOINING US!!
We rehearse in the basement of the Washington Park United Church of Christ on the Southeast corner of Dakota and Williams (1 block south of Alameda, about 7 blocks west of University) Enter from the alley side to the basement where we rent space. Come join us, and see if this choir is for you! We have seasonal dues of $40 to cover our costs.
If you have an event or a venue you'd like to have the Last Note Singers perform for this December, contact our concert coordinataor, Peg Carstens: 303-753-8978, email: carstates@gmail.com
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General Information
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About Us:
The Last Note Singers is a grass-roots community choir that's been in existence for over 25 years in Denver, Colorado.
The choir started through a network of people who enjoyed singing and gathered in living rooms to do just that. Before long, they felt the need to perform their music in public, and started seeking venues for this outlet. Purely grassroots!testestset
Today, the Last Note Singers have two performance seasons: Christmas (Holiday Season) and Spring. Except for a month's break in January and August, the choir is either in Tuesday night rehearsals or performance season. The Christmas performance season is the month of December (sometimes adding the last week of November). The Spring season is typically more spread out, sometimes starting around May 10th, and going through July. A typical performance season is 8 to 12 concerts. Christmas is much easier to find outlets! Singers commit to the concerts their schedules allow.
We do not hold auditions. We realize that people are usually quite aware of whether they can sing or not! Our singers range from perfectly adequate to outstanding, and in over 25 years we have only had a two instances when a problem arose.
Our rehearsals are Tuesdays 7:30-9:30p.m. with a 15 minute break at around 8:30 for refreshments and socializing. Practice CDs and Sectional rehearsals have been a real help in learning music (as we memorize everything--no holding sheet music), and sometimes start at 7:00p.m. We currently rehearse at the Washington Park United Church of Christ at Dakota and Williams near Alameda and University. We rent space there for rehearsals, and have one performance each season in their lovely sanctuary (great acoustics).
This choir is rare in that we allow for missed rehearsals. We understand that people have busy lives and may miss rehearsals for various reasons. We only ask that members learn their music, and attend enough rehearsals to understand logistics, direction and dynamics of the choir. The musical director may ask for a private audition if a member has missed more than 1/3 of rehearsals that season.
The choir has performed a wide variety of music from madrigals and classical pieces to show tunes, gospel and jazz arrangements. We enjoy a wide variety in each performance. Our pieces range from three-part to eight-part harmony. We frequently have songs with significant solos, or obligato duets to quartets.
We typically sing 10-12 songs in a performance, and will feature "small groups" who form and practice on their own, then audition for the director to perform throughout the season. Our practice has been to add four new songs each season, keeping 6-8 songs of the previous year (or pulling from the previous two years). This keeps our learning curve manageable. Of course new members always have the hardest road their first season, and we're good about supporting them through (that's when those practice CDs and recording rehearsals really help).
Here are some samples of the Spring tunes we've done: Georgia, Yesterday (the Beatles), The Longest Time (Billy Joel), Hernando's Hideaway (Pajama Game), Mas Que Nada (in Portuguese), On The Sunny Side of the Street, Come What May (Moulin Rouge), If I Have My Ticket (gospel), Shenendoah, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Good Old Acappella (doo wop), The Gift To Be Simple and of course, many more.
Some Christmas/Holiday tunes have included: Alleluia, Good King Kong (PDQ Bach), When Was My Jesus Born (bluegrass), The 12 Days After Christmas, Hark! Harold The Angel Sings, My Dancing Day (madrigal), White Christmas, Silent Night and many other traditional carols, as well as Light One Candle and Freedom's Flame (Hanukkah). We sometimes include winter holidays beyond Christmas, although Christmas remains prevalent.
Some of our music has been accompanied by percussion instruments, and snapping. We manage to sway together on occasion, and have done minor choreography from time to time. But for the most part, we are simply singers.
Some venues we've performed at include: The Denver Zoo & Botanic Gardens, Georgetown's Winter Festival, Salida's Steam Plant Theater, Cherry Creek Mall, Southglen Mall, DIA, Rockies Baseball (national anthems), People's Fair, various assisted living centers and hospitals, Four Mile House, Littleton's Town Lighting, DCPA's courtyard, and various local events.
The social aspect of the choir is integral to what makes the Last Note Singers unique. Everyone's invited out for a drink or snack after rehearsals, to our current favorite hangout, Choppers Sports Grill. This is not everyone's habit--some folks are regulars, and some just from time-to-time. Some folks never come out for a variety of reasons, but no one is more or less a Last Note Singer because of it! Each year we have a talent show--usually in the Spring, where all current and past members and their significant others are invited to perform whatever talent they'd like to share in this friendly, fun environment, or just sit back and enjoy. It's an adult event we get decked out for---some in tuxedos and sequined dresses! We like to socialize after concerts as well. We'll usually pick a spot close to our performance to grab a drink and a bite, and sometimes break into song. We've had mixed reactions to this activity, but the reaction is usually delight. We have a wonderful mix of people, and it seems there's always interesting conversation to be found.
If you think you'd like to join us, please contact us via e-mail for specific information:
jillian.d@mindspring.com
nltaylor@earthlink.com
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