Spring Preview: Successful POHC Song Selection

POHC Members Convene the Spring 2013 Song Selection on July 15, 2012.

New York City is in the dog days of summer, but POHC is already thinking about Spring 2013! On July 15, POHC members gathered for the semiannual Song Selection meeting. A full season in advance, members nominate and vote on songs that will not only be performed during an upcoming season, but will also become part of the ever-growing general POHC repertoire. 

Charts are used to keep track of votes for the many excellent song nominations.

In accordance with the Song Selection Guidelines, members choose six songs from the existing repertoire, six new songs not previously performed by POHC, and two sing-along songs that can be old or new to the group. Another twist to the proposal and selection process is ensuring that the upcoming repertoire includes songs in English, Spanish and additional foreign languages (all according to the Guidelines--a document created and ratified by POHC members). 

Members use various media tools to present music and lyrics when nominating a song. 

This season, we had a great turnout--approximately 15 members gathered around a conference table in Midtown Manhattan to share their proposed lyrics and music, via all forms of media. We even sang a few songs to see how we liked them. The decision making was difficult because all of the choices were so good! Votes were cast and the POHC Spring 2013 repertoire is ready to be announced:  

Returning Songs: 

59th Street Bridge Song  
Aquarius 
de Colores (Spanish) 
Everyday People 
Stand By Me (Spanish/English) 
The Lion Sleeps Tonight

New Songs: 

Die Gedanken (German) 
el Beso (Spanish)
Madrigal Fire

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

This is My Song

Tumbalalaika (Yiddish) 

Sing-along Songs:

New York, New York 
Turn! Turn! Turn!

The decisions, recorded by hand and announced at the Song Selection meeting.

Why does POHC conduct song selection a full season ahead? Simple: Our Musical Facilitator, Robert René Galván, uses the time to research and prepare SATB choral arrangements for each of the new songs, and sometimes makes updates on returning arrangements so they will be ready for the specific blend of voices and talents to be participating. 

Now that we have a sneak peak at Spring 2013, we can focus on Fall 2012 with our upcoming auditions starting August 9. We hope to see you at our fundraising concert in December, but for now, we encourage you to enjoy your summer!

Warm Up Your Voice: POHC Auditions

Peace of Heart Choir is preparing for the Fall 2012 Season by holding auditions for new volunteer singers. Call or email to schedule an appointment and come prepared to sing 60 seconds or so of your favorite song, in any language, in any style or genre, as long as it's a capella (without instruments or CD/tape). You will sing for a small group consisting of three or four members of the choir and our Musical Director.

We need someone like you!

We accept talented amateurs and professionals alike. You'll need to be able to:

• blend with other voices
• sing a cappella (without instruments or accompaniment)
• harmonize
• sing arrangements for multiple voice parts
• commit to the choir's mission
• be sufficiently available to rehearse and sing on short notice for at least some engagements.

Ability to read music is helpful but not as important. Instrumental, dance, or other performers are also welcome. People of all races, ages, ethnicities, genders, gender expressions, sexual orientations, income levels, religions, beliefs, political affiliations, national origins, immigration statuses, and abilities/disabilities are welcome. 


We are looking for all voice parts, especially tenors and basses, who believe in our mission and are interested in singing diverse and popular music a cappella as well as with accompaniment. 

Audition Schedule

• Thursday, August 9
• Friday, August 10
• Saturday, August 11

All auditions will take place in midtown Manhattan. To schedule an audition, please email peaceofheartchoir@yahoo.com or call (212) 252-3191.

Seniors Sing Out! POHC at Kittay House, June 23

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn't take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you'll join us at a future concert. 

Members of POHC and Kittay House Choir join voices on June 23, 2012.

We had a large audience in the Bronx, at Kittay House Senior Apartment Living, on Saturday June 23--as big as the one at the church in Queens when we sang with the children’s choir. They were patiently waiting for us to begin when we were asked to hold off so they could clean up a spill in the back of the performance area. In true POHC fashion, we used the time to mingle with members of the audience. René was chatting with a man in the audience when, all of a sudden, the two of them burst into an operatic aria that could be heard throughout the room.  It turned out that Kittay has its own choir, of which this man is a member. 

In that same pre-concert mingling, I met a man in the front row who was from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn.  We discovered that we had both gone to the same junior high school. He and his wife, who was sitting with him, were Brooklyn College graduates, class of 1944.  I told them that my mother and I were also graduates of Brooklyn College, class of 1936 and 1964 respectively. 

By then, the mess was cleaned up, and we were on. This was a hard hall to sing in because of the acoustics–we could hardly hear ourselves–but the audience loved everything we performed. They sang along with This Land Is Your Land, and also with Hungarian Dance, Let There Be Peace on Earth and a few other songs. 

At the end of our performance, the Kittay recreation coordinator spoke about what joy we brought to everyone and how our spirit was contagious.  (She told us earlier that she is a cantor and had looked at our website thinking she might like to join, but she couldn’t make the time commitment right now). Then she asked whether she could invite all the Kittay choir members to stand with us so she could take a picture of the two choirs together.  They made their way up front with their walkers and smiles. I asked one woman whether she sang soprano or alto, and she said, “Anything they need.”  After our photos were snapped, our two choirs did a sing-along together, with René at the piano and the audience joining in heartily.  

At this, our final concert of the season, a good time was had by all. Have a great summer 2012 and we'll be back for our Fall season, with rehearsals starting in September. 

-POHC Alto

POHC Performs at NYPL St. Agnes Branch, June 21

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn't take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you'll join us at a future concert.

NYPL, St. Agnes Branch, where POHC performed on June 21, 2012.

There was a heat wave outside on Thursday, June 21, but it was blissfully cool on the third floor of the recently renovated St. Agnes library on Manhattan's Upper West Side. We warmed up and performed in the same space. A man and woman arrived when we did and sat in the audience during the warmups. The man did all the exercises with us while moving his hands like a conductor.  The only part of the routine that seemed to stump him was our tongue-twister of an exercise "the-tip-of-the-tongue-the-teeth-the-lips." And when we sang Quizás as part of the warmups, the woman sang with us, contributing an extra (and extra loud) "quizás” during the rests at the beginning. 

Five minutes before showtime, the house was still almost empty, but, miraculously, at 6PM people trooped in all at once and more than half the seats were filled.  (Now that I think about it, it maybe that the librarian-in-charge was holding the people outside until she thought we were ready.)

This was different from most of our community concerts in that it was open to the general public, whereas we often perform for small groups at shelters or hospitals where the audience members are residents or patients. At St. Agnes Library, some of our audience were friends and family of choir members. Two of our audience members were current choir members who, for various reasons, sat out this performance.  Also, there was former soprano Lily, beaming from her seat and joining us on stage at the end for our theme song Let There Be Peace on Earth.

There is nothing to report about this concert that was out of the ordinary.  That is a good
thing.  It is ordinary for audiences to thoroughly enjoy our concerts, to be attentive to the introductions, to participate in the sing-along, and to applaud enthusiastically after each song.
 
We certainly brought out a lot of smiles, and when we mingled with the audience afterward, we received positive comments including "Joyful," "I love the harmonies and the arrangements," and "Come back!"

-POHC Alto