Videos from Paulann Petersen performance

Hello all,
Many of us are working with Ethan Rose now to get "Between Rooms and Voices" together for the performance on Dec. 4+5 at City Hall. When I know more about tickets, I'll put information up.
Meanwhile, here are some videos of the choir at the Library on October 24th.
Thanks to Chuck and Lois for the a/v support.
The Youtube links are right here:

Replenish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo4Gs1qIwRA

Thirst:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaHSGMKEPyo

Fall Rehearsals/new music

Dear choir members old and new,

Please join us to rehearse new music to honor Paulann Petersen. The show is on October 24th at the main branch library downtown in the afternoon.
The rehearsals are as follows; all 7-9pm, at Pink Martini Studio, 720 SW First Ave.

Weds Sept 22—no Pat
Weds Sept 29
Weds Oct 6
Weds Oct 13
Weds Oct 20

If you could, please let us know if you will be joining us for this.
Also, the rehearsals on Sept 22 and 29 will include some Strangers Together, in anticipation of our show on October 2nd.

Again, just shoot me a quick email (sarahdougher@gmail.com) to let me know if you will be joining in.

Thanks!

Hello September

Wow! The Flash Choir is three years old this month!

We have been having a very laid-back summer, but fall is just around the corner.


We did do this fun and amazing show:
http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/08/metro_holds_concert_in_honor_o.html

Our work this fall will be with the composer and sound installation artist, Ethan Rose. You can read all about him here: www.ethanrosemusic.com.

We have been working with Ethan through the summer to get his piece together, and our performances for this will be in December; more info to follow on that. The Ethan Rose piece is closed to new participants. We do have a couple other performances coming up that you could participate in, however, if you are so inclined.

October 2nd we will be doing "Strangers Together" at the Narcotics Anonymous convention from 5-6pm.

October 24 we will be doing two new pieces in honor of the new Oregon poet laureate, Paulann Petersen. I am writing them right now! Rehearsals for this piece will begin the week of September 20th. Since the Ethan Rose project will be working on Monday nights at our regular rehearsal space, I'm working on a place to rehearse this new piece, and for getting Strangers Together rehearsed for the 2nd of October. I will be sending info out on the google groups list so if you are interested, please make sure you email picasing@gmail.com to get on that list.

Keep in touch!
Sarah Dougher

Summer Rehearsals -- Come join us!

Hello,
The choir is going to be rehearsing the following days this summer on Mondays at 728 SW First Ave, from 7-9pm.
Please join us if you'd like!


May
3 NO REHEARSAL
10 Strangers Together
17 Strangers Together
24 Strangers Together
? (not yet confirmed) Strangers Together at Milwaukie High School
31 Strangers Together
June
7 Strangers Together
9 Strangers Together at the Lake Oswego Library
14 Susan Lead/ Pat key
28 Susan Lead/ Pat key
July
12 Susan Lead/Sarah key
26 Strangers Together (no Pat)
August
2 Strangers Together
7 Strangers Together at Deep Creek (near the Boring Grange)

Tip of the Hat and City Hall

The choir has been having some very exciting performances recently.

The first was at Sojourner Learning Community in Milwaukie, where we were helped out by awesome, poetry-memorizing students and even singers! We even received the NEA's Read Across America Certificate for Seussational Achievement!
I wish we had a video of this because it was also "dress like a rockstar" day so the outfits were amazing.

The second was our part of the City's State of the Art address in front of the Mayor and the city council on March 17. Together with folks from RACC and CAN, Kim Stafford, a really great teacher from Rigler Elementary and the dancer Kiera Brinkley.

Performances in Council - March 17 from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

Also, here's the poem Kim wrote for the day and read:

City of Art & Culture

for the Portland City Council, 17 March 2010

Beside the OMSI submarine, docked for good, the beaver
whittles a willow stick, while at Brooklyn School, a girl shapes
her poem, gnawing the pencil to think the words just right.

On Ross Island, the heron shouts a guttural cry
while outside City Hall, with his mandolin, Alonzo,
fingers cold, brimming with song, plucks his life tune for tips.

Mother coyote hops on the Red Line, sits tall, gazes far, leaps off
at the next stop, while a dancer at Jefferson seeks in his bones
the coyote gesture that turns pain to grace.

In the way water moves along the restless hem of Johnson Creek,
the painter finds a line thattransforms confusion into a map
of the possible. Without the poet's right word, the musician's

aching song, the dancer's feral reach, the painter's sure line, we lose
resilience at the downturn, we lack verve at the decision point,
we falter when our children beg for joy in spite of all.

It is for these reasons, friends-the way the creative heart
and mind can find a dancer's path through tough times-
that we are practical about our work in the City of Art.

- Kim Stafford

Here's an article

about the choir:
http://www.neighborhoodnotes.com/news/2010/01/flash_choiryoure_already_a_member

This article describes "Strangers Together" and some of the basic values of the choir.

The latest, Valentines Day, 2010

I've had a long rest from the world of blogging, sorry about that. Too busy singing. The photo is us singing at the First Unitarian Church for William Stafford's birthday on January 22.

The Flash Choir is starting our spring-summer 2010 season on March 8th. We are still working out the details of what we will be singing, but we will be incorporating some workshops of different kinds, as well as some other stuff that we don't know about yet. But rest assured, it will be fun. We are going to rehearse on Mondays, or maybe every other Monday. Again, check back here if you need more info about dates, or email me directly: picasing@gmail.com. We use a google group site to keep in touch, so we could add you to that if you'd like.

We have just gotten done with a bunch of performances of "Strangers Together", a 10-song cycle with music by me, Sarah Dougher, and words by William Stafford. We will continue to sing some of these songs around town and hopefully do another round of performances next January, but that's a while from now.

If you would like the choir to come to your institution or place of business to sing songs about nature and humanity, or something else, please contact us. We're looking for new and unusual places to sing. Bonus points for places with people under 10 or over 70. We are also interested in doing collaborations in unusual situations.

UPCOMING shows include:
March 5 at 8am at Sojourner School. It's Celebrate Reading week!
March 5 at 7:30 pm at Terwilliger Plaza, which is a retirement community. This will be the whole "Strangers Together" cycle, so it would be a good one to come to if you want to hear that.
March 17 at 9:30 for three minutes in front of the City Council to support public arts funding

If you'd like to join this free, community choir, just show up on March 8 at 7pm, at 728 SW First Ave. We'd love to meet you.