Jonah Blog March 21

Breathing Deep, Breathing Together

It seems as if we have just begun rehearsals and yet we have now blocked five of our scenes. Have you noticed how dependent we are upon one another as we sing or speak the chorus lyrics? One character—God—appearing as a storm, or a voice in the head, or a dream, or the narrator of events—thirty people must speak as one. This becomes somewhat complicated when some of us are in the balcony and some in the chancel, or when we are separated by an aisle or two.

We can remain connected as a character by observing our breath: we can breathe together in anger in scene one when God addresses Jonah as a parent would a lazy child: “Jonah………. Jonah, get up!” (Have you said something like this to a teenage child?) Or in empathy as the chorus sings the words “Out of the depths I cry to Thee Oh God” as Jonah laments his fate stuck in the belly of the whale. Each time the chorus sings, they present a unified idea, and this idea is always formed on the unified breath of the chorus. Part of our job as chorus members is to breathe together, to sense when the person beside us and the person across the aisle are ready to breathe and to do so as one cohesive entity.

Every time we rehearse we will be working towards the goal of a unified group breath. Every time we breathe, we inhale as if we are yawning, we always feel the breath low in the body, then exhale sound and emotion as we sing or chant our words. There is great satisfaction in breathing this way. It is a chance for body, mind, and spirit to connect in meaningful expression. Once you are able to do this I predict that you will never want to breathe any other way when you sing.

Spirituality and the Breath

Last year I read a book by Canadian educator Brent Davis (2004) called Inventions of teaching. In the book, Davis said, “matters of the spirit are, literally, matters of the breath” (p. 159). When considered in this way, a fundamental element of spirituality and singing is shared in the breath. The observation of deep, intentional breathing is the foundation for all good singing.

Deep, intentional breathing is also the foundation for any meditative practice. In an article called Plumbing the depths of being alive, (Irwin, 2007) a researcher said, “the breath of life is common to all human beings, and when we breathe deeply we feel intensely alive” (p. 1401). When we breathe together as a group we can feel the power of a unified group breath. A group breath can show compassion, empathy, annoyance, fear—any emotion that we wish to express. When thirty people breathe with the same emotional feeling, the group can have a powerful impact. As we learn to breathe together, we will assume that power, becoming the force that Jonah must reckon with as he tries to run from God. How much fun is that?

It is exciting for me to facilitate this choral technique in Jonah. I hope that you enjoy the process as we let the breath bring us together as the “Voice of God”. The unified breath will be our communication with our audience, our connection to each other, and our personal expression in telling the Jonah story.

All together now…breathe in…breathe out.

Marie

TICKETS ONLINE VIA GRAND THEATRE
http://www.kingstongrand.ca/events/detail/236 This is a link to the Grand Theatre's page about the Jonah production, and you can use it to purchase tickets online through the Grand Theatre Box Office.

MONDAY from Marie:
I am pleased to observe the character that is emerging from the chorus as our rehearsals progress. Last Saturday (March 13) while rehearsing scene one, Sarah said that the chorus is “the head of Jonah”. I love this analogy: that, God plants a dream into Jonah’s head while he is sleeping. The chorus enacts the nightmare that God knows will finally move Jonah to action. On Sunday (March 14) we had a chance to play with the storm: using sound and movement to create the disaster that shipwrecks our hero Jonah, dumping him into the ocean. As the rehearsals progress it will be fun to watch the interaction between Jonah and the chorus. The final Voice of God in Scene seven, when Jonah finally understands God’s message is delivered from a children’s choir that sings “respect me”. The innocent voices of the children are eventually joined in this message by the adults singing SATB.

In the two weekends of rehearsing our chorus is already taking on a distinctive personality. On Saturday we worked to embody our sound, feeling grounded in the sanctuary space and connected to each other, projecting our sound over the vast space from the balcony to the front of the sanctuary. We will continue to work this way throughout rehearsals. Yesterday (Sunday, March 13) we got a sense of how the storm scene will work with movement and sound.

Next Saturday,March 20, we will rehearse upstairs because of the Fred Penner concert in the sanctuary. On Sunday, March 21 we will use the sanctuary to try out the storm and then the scene of Jonah in the whale. Be ready with lots of under water sounds! See you next week.

Marie

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE: We are well underway with our rehearsals for Jonah. We have made every attempt to organize rehearsals so that your time is well spent. Blocking will happen every Saturday morning from 10 am till 1 pm. We will always break at 11:20 and resume rehearsal at 11:35, ending at 1 pm. You may want to bring a snack to this rehearsal. Music rehearsal will be on Sunday afternoon from 1:30 till 2:30 pm.

Next Saturday will be the rehearsal of the storm. If you know of anyone who may be interested in being in this scene, please let them know. They can be audience members at the beginning of the show and then move into the aisles for the storm and go back to their seats at the end of the storm to watch the rest of the show. Those of you who were at rehearsal today now understand that this is a soundscape and it doesn't matter how beautiful your voice is or whether you read notes. All are welcome.

The following is a break down of scene rehearsal:

Saturday, March 20: Scene Three (The Storm) All Chorus, please plan to be at rehearsal until 1 pm.

10 am: everyone, 11:20:break, 11:35 till noon, review scene one, two, three

noon till 1pm: Scene Four (Jonah In The Whale), chorus, Jonah, organ

Sunday, March 21: Scene Five and Scene Six, Chorus, clarinet, percussion, the King, The Jester, Women’s trio

Saturday, March 27: Scene Five

10 am: Jonah, the Whale, Sailors, 11:20: break, 11:35 till noon: run scenes one to five

Sunday, March 28: All chorus members and sailors

10 am: The King, the Jester, the Children, the Sailors

Saturday, April 3: Scene Six

10 am: Jonah, the King, The Jester, Chorus,

Sunday, April 4: Easter Sunday—no rehearsal



Saturday, April 10: Scene 7 & Scene 8

10 am: The Shady Tree, Jonah, flute, clarinet, percussion

10:45: Children’s Chorus, Jonah, Chorus, organ, flute

Sunday, April 11: clean-up, 1:30 to 2:30

Friday, April 16, dress rehearsal, 7 pm call

Saturday morning, April 17: clean-up

10 am till 1 pm.

Saturday, April 17: Showtime!

welcome to Jonah!

This is Marie Anderson. I am the musical director of Jonah, a musical-dramatic work by R. Murray Schafer. I have been part of a number of Murray Schafer productions and have found each work has been a transformative experience for me personally. As a musician you are challenged to read notation that looks more like a graphic image than a traditional musical score. Lines and images swirl across the page punctuated with words. Without any verbal explanation, the reader somehow understands that the music begins at the top of the page and moves downward, gathering momentum as it goes. Page 9 in the score is an example of Schafer's unusual score.It is shown on this blog right next to our poster. We began rehearsing this page last week in rehearsal. It is amazing how quickly these images come to life on the page.

The Chorus Is The Main Character!

Something that I love about this telling of the Jonah story is that the role of God is played by everyone—men, women, children—everyone is part of the Voice of God. The chorus is sometimes in traditional soprano, alto, tenor, bass formation: singing four-part harmony reminiscent of a hymn that you would sing in a church service. In one scene, the chorus is the voice of a child. Sometimes the chorus is chanting speech in rhythm. Acting like a Greek chorus, they move the plot forward, telling the story as we watch it unfold on stage. There is a scene where the chorus sings psalm verses in Gregorian chant style. The chorus expresses a range of emotion from rage to mercy. Jonah is motivated, supported and cajoled by the chorus. This is wonderful for someone who has always wanted a major role in a play. We are so fortunate at Sydenham Street United Church to have the sanctuary space with its balconies, aisles and incredible acoustics. In this beginning rehearsal period, our director, Sarah Gibson Bray is exploring creative ways to use the chorus and the space.

An Opportunity To Perform

There are two scenes where we need many voices and bodies. One of these scenes is the storm scene represented at the top of the page. If you would like to be involved in Jonah but can't commit to a full rehearsal schedule, come and join us for this scene. For more information, call Marie Anderson at or email m.annendale@gmail.com. Enthusiasm and openness to creative sound and movement are more important than musical experience. This is an intergenerational play and so there are parts for children and

Hello!

This blogspot has been set up to provide quickly updated information for people involved in the production of Jonah, by R. Murray Schafer, at Sydenham Street United Church, Kingston, Ontario, on April 17, 2010.

Marie Anderson and Sarah Gibson Bray will be posting updates and news here.