Announcements(Updated 1/10/02) Many thanks to Gloria Barello for opening her house to the masses! Come along with any photos, stories, feedback from people, etc, to share. Here's the info:
Saturday, January 26 Bring hors d'oeuvres, munchies, beverages. IMPORTANT: The agreement with Tomislav requires the musical scores to be collected. This helps to maintain control of his composition so that other groups won't perform the piece without his permission. Please bring your scores to turn in at the party. Each score was numbered and I kept an inventory of which copy you used. If we end up doing Narodil again you will be able to use the same score. If you cannot attend the party, please mail or deliver your score in a manilla envelope (DO NOT FOLD IT PLEASE) to me at: 2716 - 4th Avenue W. Seattle, WA 98119 I can hardly wait to see you at the party! Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 Subject: Parteeeeee! Hi all - It looks like Saturday night, January 26 is available for our get together party. I'll pass out packets of the newspaper articles for everyone. We will watch the KIRO TV clip (and maybe even their entire video if they make it available to us). Look at photos. Listen to recordings of the concerts that have been cleaned up to take off some of the ambient noise. Listen to CD compilations of other pieces composed by Tomislav. Most important, it's a reunion and a chance to share our experiences!!! I need my Narodil hit! These withdrawals are something to deal with! Does anyone want to offer their house or have any ideas for a location for the party? It would be good if there is a tv/video player in a location so that we can all see it. Please let me know. At any rate, mark your calendars for Saturday night, January 26, and I'll send out location information when it is confirmed. m Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 Subject: Happy new year Hi everybody - Just wanted to wish you and yours a wonderful happy new year. Here's my wish for 2002 - that we take Narodil se Mladi Kralj to the National Cathedral in Washington DC. Anyone interested? I love you all and want to take each and every one home with me ; ) xoxoxo m p.s. Take a look at our web site (www.marysherhart.com/narodil) at the sound samples. You'll see some fun movie clips from around my kitchen table. Here's to more toasts to Goran and Tomislav in the future! Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 Subject: tv and stuff HI everybody - I wanted to try to get this out before all you who do nothing but read emails at work leave for the holidays.
TV STARDOM
LOST AND FOUND Does anyone have, or did you see on the bus, the box of Blue Horizon Hotel & Bar brochures? Greta gave them to us to insert into the St. James' programs, but they seem to have disappeared. If they don't turn up we're going to have to pay for the cost of copying them again so that they can be distributed at a number of events in Seattle. It was part of the deal to get the terrific low room rates.
RETURNING THE MUSIC
BOTTOM LINE
PARTY
HIT BY LIGHTENING SPEECH xoxoxox m Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 Subject: Unsung hero Good morning everyone - There is one person who deserves acknowledgment and our heartfelt thanks for making our production possible. Alma Plancich's support, advice and hard work have been pivotal from the very beginning. Alma put me in touch with Judy de Baros, the grant consultant who helped to create an effective application. As Executive Director of Ethnic Heritage Council, Alma offered her organization as fiscal agent for the production and Alma continues to interface with King County Arts Commission on that grant award. Alma arranged for EHC Board Member Julie Valencia to donate her time to complete the very complicated visa applications. Alma, personally, took the paperwork to the Fed Ex office to be sent to Goran and Tomislav in order to make it by the tight deadline which we were up against. Alma has consulted many times all along the way on myriad aspects of the production. She offered advice about technical details as well as soothed lots of nerves. In other words, she was always there with concrete assistance. Alma recently had to undergo back surgery so was unable to attend any of the concerts, be with us on the bus or sing her planned duet with Binki in the concerts. Had she been there she would have received lots of hugs and kisses for all she's done. We would have toasted her at the parties and given her the acknowledgment she deserves. This email is less demonstrative, but no less heartfelt. (Alma's address is: ethnic.heritage@ci.seattle.wa.us in case anyone in the cast wants to add anything.) Alma, on behalf of everyone in the ensemble, please accept our sincere thanks for making this production possible! Mary & company Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 Subject: [Fwd: Hi all!] Hi all you tuckered out little Narodilians - Congratulations to everyone! What a ride we have been on! Last night was just amazing. The feeling in the room! The number of people! The excellence with which you all performed! The visual impression of St. James' soaring arches, the golden luster and your costumes! I was so very proud of you and all that we have accomplished musically and otherwise. As I write this note, the beautiful violinist sculpture that you gave me keeps me company. I could not possibly conjure an image more poignant or fitting. She will be an enduring reminder of our glorious production. Thank you all so very much. It means so much to me. Speaking of glorious, here is the message that Goran sent yesterday. So poetic. Goran uses the email of a neighbor, but I'm sure he'd love to hear from you at that address if you care to write. Tomislav boarded the plane this morning and should be back home in Zagreb around midnight our time. I want to thank each and every one of you for making his stay so memorable. He told me frequently how kind you all were. If you'd ever like to send him a note, his address is: tomislav.uhlik@zg.hinet.hr So.....happy holidays everybody! You can expect the emails to taper off as I go cold Narodil turkey here, but it may take a while before I break the habit. With love and affection, m
From: "Drazˇen" Drazen.Reljic@public.srce.hr Dear Mary! Love is the only key that opens the Heaven's door! In Your smile, in every right word of yours, in every attention that you pay, is a piece of Heaven! It is in your heart, too - your heart becomes a shelter for helpless, and in your home, always full of bread, vine and human warmth. It is in every oasis where love blossoms and where man becomes a man and people are brothers and sisters. God put his love in your hands in a form of keys to the Heaven! Thank you for everything you did! Dear friends, the fact is that life permanently surprises us by giving us new pleasures in happenings and people! Since I came back in Zagreb, I can't stop thinking of you all and all those days we lived together in a truly joy of creating ( may I say?) our project! Wishing you a great success in today's concert, which rhytms and melodies are still echoing in my heart, I believe that there will be soon some new chance and some new musical challenge gathering so special and beautful people. If not, I'm happy anyway, because you exist and because you gave me one special present - your warm friendship, which overcomes physical distance between us! Those memories are now in the beautiful box and when the time comes, it will be under the Christmas tree as my favourite Christmas gift! I wish you and all the members of the ensemble and your families Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I lit a candle in Zagreb's Cathedral today, prayed for you and now I wait for tambura to ring and for song to thunder! Love you all, Goran P.S. Many thanks to Tomislav Uhlik! I wish him successful concert and happy arrival in Zagreb! Draga Mary! Ljubav je jedini kljucˇ koji odgovara vratima raja. U tvom smjesˇku, svakoj dobroj rijecˇi, svakoj pazˇnji koju poklanjasˇ, komadic´ je raja. Komadic´ je raja i u tvom srcu, koje za unesrec´enog postaje luka spasa, u tvom domu gdje ima kruha vina i ljudske topline. Komadic´ je raja u svakoj oazi gdje cvate ljubav i gdje cˇovjek postaje cˇovjek, gdje su ljudi jedni drugima brac´a i sestre. Bog je svoju ljubav stavio u tvoje ruke kao kljucˇeve raja. Hvala ti na svemu. Dragi prijatelji, potvrdilo se da nas zˇivot stalno iznenadjuje darujuc´i nam nova zadovoljstva u doga?ajima i ljudima. Nakon povratka iz Amerike ne prestajem misliti na vas i one prozˇivljene dane istinske radosti zajednicˇkog glazbenog stvaranja. Zˇelec´i vam uspjeh na danasˇnjem koncertu cˇije ritmove i melodije stalno oslusˇkujem u svom srcu, vjerujem da c´e neka nova prilika i neki novi glazbeni izazov okupiti tako divne i posebne ljude. Ako se to ne bi dogodilo sretan sam sˇto postojite i sˇto ste me obdarili jednim prostorno mozˇda dalekim, ali ljudski posebno bliskim prijateljstvom. Sjec´anje na vas vec´ sam zapakirao i kad dodje vrijeme stavit c´u taj paket ispod bora kao meni najdrazˇi poklon za Bozˇic´. Svim cˇlanovima orkestra, solisticama i pjevacˇkom zboru i vasˇim obiteljima sretan Bozˇic´ i Novu godinu. Danas san zapalio svijec´u u katedrali, pomolio se za vas i sad oslusˇkujem da tambura zazvoni i da pjesma zagrmi. Puno vas voli Goran! PS. sve to zahvaljujem Tomislavu Uhliku, kojem zˇelim uspjesˇan koncert i sretan povratak! Take a look at this! What an honor!
From: I mailto:lado.lusic@zg.hinet.hr Dear Mrs. Mary, We are pleased and honoured that you chose Lado's play "Narodi name se mladi kralj" to be performed for Christmas and we wish you a successful concert that you will perform on Dec. 16, 2001. We highly appreciate that you chose Croatian songs and all your efforts you put that people in America will have a chance to enjoy in Croatian Christmas songs. Further on, we would like to thank you on your hospitality provided to Lado's member Mr. Goran Kacˇurov, who had a duty and a pleasure at the same time to work with you. Goran said all the best about you and we strongly bealive that the concert will be much more than only successful. We are excited to hear you after the concert. Please send our regards to Mr. Tomislav Uhlik. On behalf of Ensemble Lado to you, your family and everybody performing the concert, we wish Merry Christmas and happy New Year! Best regards, Josip Guberina DATE: November 7 Every day there is something new and exciting. I hope you don't mind me sharing the news with you! This afternoon I picked up the posters. I'll bring them to rehearsal tomorrow night. After rehearsal you can pick some up. If you have a place to post some, go ahead and take what you need. If they are for your own personal use on your bathroom wall, the cost if $2 to ensemble members. They will also be sold at the concerts to the general public for $5. Make checks payable to Mary Sherhart. I will take the posters to Keep Posted tomorrow. They will begin to post 300 all over the area. A supply will also go to Anacortes and Vancouver. Also new today, Dave Beck of KUOW has invited Goran and Tomislav on his afternoon show, "The Beat," Wednesday, Dec 5, 2:30pm. He suggested we could do a live performance, but I don't see how we can have a good showing without the classical instruments and, being during the day, many of our ensemble members won't be available. We'll talk about this, though. We'll have an on-air ad on KING-FM during "By George" the two weeks preceding the concert. They are also throwing in day spots for free. Yay! Our account executive is checking into having us on By George to perform live, as well as the possibility of broadcasting the St. James concert live. WOW! We'll have an ad on the two Fridays preceding the St. James concert in the Seattle Times' ticket section. A reporter from CBC radio called and is planning to cover the concert in B.C. The postcards go to the printer probably tomorrow, so we should have them in about a week. They will be mailed to about 5100 people locally, 1,500 around Anacortes, will be inserted in the Ethnic Heritage Council's Dec newsletter, and Greta will distribute a ton up in BC. We will have about 1,500 available to our ensemble to distribute. We are starting to organize the accommodations for Goran and Tomislav. Several members of the community have offered their homes very generously, but we will probably still need a few others to offer. We'll keep you posted. Also, we want to take them around to see the sights, so will be asking for volunteers to play tour guide during the day. Well, I'm breathless. How about you? You will probably notice that you're receiving more announcements about our production. It's inevitable as the date approaches. I hope that you can receive them with excitement and enjoy them. Just think, come December 17, you'll never hear from me again ; ) .....not.... DATE: November 7 Something for the orchestra from the ever-fabulous David Jackson. Please respond directly to David if you have questions or comments. His address is: djackson@fidalgo.net
---------- Mary, our fearless leader once suggested a sectional rehearsal just for us. In response I am offering the front room in our house in Anacortes on November 18 at 3:30 prior to the 5:30 rehearsal at St Marys. We are within earshot of St. Mary. The bells are beautiful. Please email me so we can get a count for chairs. Directions to Jackson's 1318 Haddon Lane, Anacortes, 360-293-3929 home # for questions, or 360-202-0767 cell Come into Anacortes on Highway 20 to Commercial Avenue, turn left up the hill. At the top of the hill take a right (St Marys is to the left). The road turns sharply to the left and heads south past 41st Street, up three small rises and at the end a fence, a quick right turn onto Haddon Lane. Haddon Lane is only a 16' right of way and has a sharp obstructed bend to the right almost as soon as you arr on it, please be careful. By tradition outbound traffic has the right of way and incoming pulls over where appropriate. At the end of the Lane take a right down the driveway and find a place to park. Best to all David Jackson DATE: November 7 Just a reminder that we have rehearsal tomorrow night, Thursday, Nov 8, from 8-10pm, at St. Andrews. Their church choir will also be rehearsing in a separate room tomorrow on the far end of the main floor. That's true for next Thursday, too. They begin at 7:30pm, so parking may already be filled. Please plan to arrive a little early to give yourself time to park and whatever else you need to do, and be quiet when you enter the church so we don't disturb them. We will start right at 8:00, so please be ready! Three of the five classical instrumentalists will be at rehearsal tomorrow. I hope you will all make a special point to welcome them into our community. They are: Dajana Akrapovic (violin I), Bev Setzer (clarinet I), and Kim Fay (clarinet II). Unfortunately, our percussionist Denali Williams and second violinist Becky Soukup have prior commitments. The orchestra and choir will work together all evening, so, orchestra, feel free to go downstairs to tune up, but join us at 8:10pm after vocal warm ups are completed. The orchestra will perform seated in front of the choir at the concerts, so let's start getting used to that. Can you please bring a chair up for yourself and our guests when you come to the sanctuary? If you need a stand and have one, bring it. Thanks! See you tomorrow everyone! Please review your music tonight so that you can get your heads out of your books as much as possible. If you haven't already let me know that you will be absent, please do. Hvala! m DATE: November 5 Good morning everyone - The pr/marketing effort is really cranking up this week. Posters are at the printer and will go to the Keep Posted folks later this week to display all over the Puget Sound area. Jody is laying out the postcards this week and creating several advertisements for various newspapers. Both posters and postcards will be available to ensemble members for distribution. Posters will also be for sale. Don't forget to drop Jody (jody@troutdream.com) and Steve (steveborzilleri@hotmail.com) a line with kudos for their great work. We are extremely lucky to have Laura McLeod, former pr/marketing director of Northwest Folklife, who came on board last week to assist us. I met with Laura last week and she's one sharp, creative, fun loving, great addition to our Shiroka Dusha ensemble. We need your help! Neighborhood newspapers and associations love to do stories about members of their community. I know that John Morovich has already contacted the West Seattle Herald and I plan to contact the Queen Anne Magnolia news. Some of you work in academic settings that have weekly newspapers/letters. Some of you are members of clubs. Think about all your connections and how you can help get the word out about our wonderful production. The information we provide to the media has to be consistent and to that end I've attached the press release which features the St. James concert. Please use the information in it as you make these invaluable media and community contacts. Also, please let Laura McLeod know when and where you've made a contact, or if you have any questions. She is coordinating the media contacts and wants to know what we all doing out there. Her address is lkmcleod@qwest.net. One very important fact! Do not use the word "tickets." St. James has asked us to use the "reserved pass" instead. Here are a few other suggestions to help get the word out. Memorize our web site address and start writing it in bathroom stalls. Just joking! What I meant to say was, write it onto the sides of dusty cars. Uh...no....write it on a sandwich board and walk around the Pike Place Market on the weekends. Dang! Can't seem to get this right. Well, you get the idea. Your fan, DATE: October 30 Hi all - Here is an important message about the costume distribution and photo shoot this Saturday. If you have questions or comments, please sent them to MARIJA GRGUREVICH (not me!): marijagrgurevic@hotmail.com Thanks! m
From: marija grgurevic hello everyone, ok, sorry it took so long - here are the details for saturday: -everyone that HAS A COSTUME already please show up dressed and ready at MOUNT SAINT VINCENT'S hospital/nursery at 11:55 (directions below). our photographer is only available until 12:45 so please be there on time. (FROM CATHRYN MOROVICH: "Yes, Mt St Vincent is a Nursing Facility, but has a beautiful and large chapel. The address is 4831 - 35th S. W. Seattle. The Chapel is on the second floor and we need to ask for Sister Judy when we check in at the front desk. There is limited parking, so we should arrange to car pool. ") -everyone that NEEDS A COSTUME please meet at joanne abdo's house (directions below) at 10am sharp. we will need to iron costumes and make sure that everyone gets one that fits. it might take a while. there are some cool headpieces that might need some starching and fiddling with. -ladies please have your hair in a bun or braided (one or two braids, lose down the back). for people with short hair, please part it and slick it down as much as possible. we will try to put head covers on people with short hair, but it still needs to be slicked down. please bring bobby pins and hair spray. -you will need your own shoes and white tights. black character shoes would be ideal ( closed toe dance shoes with a short heel and a strap). men will also need their own black shoes or boots. i am not sure what that needs to look like. maybe you have your dance shoes? anything but tennis shoes i guess. i think no opanci either, since we can't all have them. for ladies make up, we thought red lips and just a bit of contour and color on cheeks and eyes would be enough. street makeup, rather than stage make up, i would say. just be beautiful :) also, for everyone, please wear deodorant and bring dress shields and snug t-shirts to wear under the costume. posavina is the hardest costume to clean, so we really need to be respectful. please bring a garment bag with hangers as well, to take your costume home in. joanne needs to leave for another event shortly after the shoot, so we will need to take our stuff with us when we get dressed. (vela luka people, we might have to back to joanne's very quickly because kristen needs to take the costumes back.)
DIRECTIONS TO BOTH JOANNE'S and MSV:
for those going to JOANNE'S - keep going straight for a few more blocks to
graham street (there is a car wash there on the right). JOANNE'S # 937 9438. OK, I HOPE I COVERED EVERYTHING. THANKS SO MUCH FOR PUTTING UP WITH ALL THIS COMPLICATED DETAIL. IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE FILL IN, ASK QUESTIONS, WHATEVER WILL MAKE THIS WORK AS SMOOTHLY AS POSSIBLE. IT WILL BE WORTH IT, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME AWESOME SHOTS TO FLOOD THE WORLD WITH. SEE YOU ALL THERE. Marija DATE: October 25 Here is a message sent to me by Narodil singer Fred Stahl. It will be helpful for those of you who need to get documentation for crossing the border. By the way, our next rehearsal is this Sunday, October 28, 6:30-8:45pm, St. Andrews. Thank you, altos, for the very valuable sectional last night. Thank you, D&D and Tom Deering, for the men's rehearsal. Sounds like great progress was made by all. I appreciate that you took valuable time from your busy lives. It really shows your dedication and commitment to our project. Best, m -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Hi Mary, Just a quick note to forward some information that may be useful to others that might be in need of getting a copy of their birth certificate. I found a website called www.vitalchek.com which can obtain a copy of your birth certificate relatively inexpensively and quickly. I called the Montana Bureau of Records in Helena to verify that this was a reliable resource to obtain my personal records and they told me that it is one of a few companies that they contract with for just that purpose. Realistically I should have a copy of my birth certificate from Montana within a week to 10 days. They have an online form that requests specific information to look up your records and charges with a visa/american expresss/etc for about $15 in my case. I was told by the Montana Bureau of Records that I would be getting an official copy with a raised seal that would be necessary for going through customs, etc. The www.vitalchek.com website has a map showing all fifty states, costs may vary depending on state. Hope this helps should anyone else need this resource... Thanks for your efforts and time in keeping this project moving forward.... Fred Stahl DATE: October 22 Hi everyone - Fantastic rehearsal last night! Thanks to each and every one of you for putting the time in to practice between rehearsals. We are making good progress and your work really shows. It's so wonderful to watch you all sing and play your hearts out. BRAVO! Oh yes, men, don't forget! I owe you ALL a beer! As promised, attached you'll find the concert order. It's going to be a dynamite production! You'll see that we're going to be doing other songs beyond Narodil. Don't worry! They are all very simple arrangements of Christmas carols which you'll be able to learn very quickly. I will pass out music for you and we will sing/play through them within the next two weeks. For those who missed rehearsal, please mark your calendars for costume pick up and photo shoot, Saturday, November 3. Pick up costumes and get dressed at 10am at John Morovich's house (5027 - 40th S.W.) in West Seattle. Photo shoot at a nearby church at Noon. Bring a costume bag to carry your costume home in. Marija Grgurevich, our fabulous wardrobe coordinator, will provide details in a later message. In the meantime, if you have questions regarding costuming, please contact Marija directly at: marijagrgurevic@hotmail.com. Based on popular reaction last night, we are going to charter two buses (47 seats/bus) with Hesselgrave International to take us from a central location in Seattle to Anacortes to Vancouver on December 8, and bring us back to Seattle on December 9 after the Vancouver concert. Be sure you have either a passport or a CERTIFIED birth certificate to bring along or you'll be left at the border. You need to act now if you have to get that documentation! Is there anyone out there who would volunteer to coordinate the passenger list and make sure everyone has proper documentation? I will be the contact with Hesselgrave. There will be an alto sectional at my house this Wednesday, October 24, 7-8:30pm (2716 - 4th Avenue W., between Newell and Armour). Please warm up in your car. I want to start right in on your alto part to use the time efficiently. Thanks! Next rehearsal is on Sunday, October 28, 6:30-9pm, at St. Andrews. Please let me know if you are unable to attend. I'd recommend you double check the full schedule on the web site with what you've written on your calendars to make sure you've got those changes I sent out a couple of weeks ago. Again, thanks for a great rehearsal! It was just super! m DATE: October 17 Hi all - Just a reminder that we have rehearsal this Sunday, October 21, from 6:30-9:00pm at St. Andrews. Exciting news flash! We may have some very special guests in attendance: Dr. Ivan Grdesic, Ambassador to the United States from Croatia and his wife Elena; and Dr. Miso Munivrana, Croatian Consul General, Los Angeles. They should be at rehearsal unless they have early flights from Seattle. Keep your fingers and toes crossed! Marija Grgurevich is going to use a few minutes of rehearsal to discuss costuming all of you which she has generously offered to coordinate, so I have extended rehearsal to 9pm to accommodate that and any words from our guests. If the later dismissal time is a problem for anyone, just go ahead and sneak out at 8:45pm. We are aiming for a photo shoot in costume at rehearsal on November 4. This is a very tight time frame to get the costumes distributed to everyone who needs one, so please help Marija in any way you can. The effort will be well worth it when we get that feature article in the Seattle Times! The photos which Steve Borzilleri took at our last rehearsal came out fantastically. I'll bring them along on Sunday for you to look at. Steve did a photo shoot on Monday over here at my house of Marija Grgurevich in an incredible beaded Bratina costume loaned to us from Greta Kos. There were so many great photos that it was difficult to select one. We should have the finished image for our pr material within a week or so. I think it's going to blow your minds! I just about dropped dead when I saw Marija come down the stairs in that costume. So gorgeous! Please pay tribute to Steve B in any creative way that comes to mind. Maria Kesovija, John Morovich, Rick Horne and I are getting together tomorrow to flesh out the full concert. I'm wondering whether we should cancel the planned dog act ; ) Many thanks to Margaret McKibben and Jill Ann Johnson who have organized a lecture to be given by Tomislav Uhlik in the UW Music Building followed by a reception on the evening of December 15. This event is sponsored jointly by the UW Slavic and Music Departments. Mr. Uhlik will lecture on the general topic of regional variation in Croatian folk music, with perhaps some discussion of how he and other modern composers incorporate same into their music. Info will follow. So, dear friends, you can see that things are cranking up a bit on the Narodil front. Please, please, please practice and come to rehearsal prepared. I want to have the music fairly well mastered by the time Goran Kacurov arrives on November 15 so that he can fine tune us to perfection. That's only a month away! I'm going to start warm ups right at 6:30pm so please arrive before that. The pressure's on, but know I love you! Your hyperventilating leader, m All men are invited over to Dave and the Dalmatians rehearsal on Tuesday, October 23rd, for a work-through of Narodil at the Posick/Clelland abode in West Seattle. Rehearsal starts at 7:30pm and will end at 10pm. You are welcome to come for all or part of rehearsal depending on your individual schedule, but we will start promptly at 7:30. I will have directions and a map from north and south to our place in West Seattle at rehearsal on Sunday. We will also be offering a second night of open rehearsal on November 6th (also a Tuesday). Rehearsal will be pretty much working problem spots, going over parts if needed, and singing both with and without the CD for blend work. We hope to have a native speaker in attendance to coach us on pronunciation. Dave Clelland zhivo@hotmail.com DATE: October 10 Hello everyone, Hope you are all doing well. you sounded beautiful on sunday. Having a cold has its benefits, I actually got to hear everyone else sing :) I still don't know a lot of your names and I hope this costuming process will change that. to start, I would like to know how many of you ladies have your own Posavina costumes. If you have one, is it geometric or floral, and what color? If you don't have one, can get one for yourself? If you can, that would be very helpful, but if not we will find you one. Vela Luka and tammies are generously letting us use their collections. A question for the Vela Luka girls - would you mind taking on the responsibility for getting your own costume from teta mari? that would really help me. Women will also wear red ribbons, corral beads and perhaps coin necklaces which will be coordinated from the participating ensembles. we will not wear flowers in the hair as it isn't traditional in Posavina. men will wear the white posavina pajamas with vest and red kerchief, also to be coordinated from the various groups. Mary would like us to do a rehearsal in costume on November 4th, so that Steve can take pictures of us for the press releases. Hopefully we can get this all organized by then. So, in short... could you please let me know by the end of the week if I need to get a costume for you? My email is marijagrgurevic@hotmail.com. Thanks so much for your help, I have no idea what this is going to take, but I have a feeling it could get a bit crazy. I hope together we can make it go smoothly.
Take care! DATE: October 3 HI all - Just a reminder that there is rehearsal this Sunday, October 7pm, at St. Andrews from 6:30-8:45pm. Please take a look at the rehearsal schedule on line as there were some discrepancies that have been corrected. Steve Borzilleri, photographer extraordinaire, will be at rehearsal to take some action shots for press and memory book purposes. No need to wear anything special. Save those tiaras for another occasion ; ) m DATE: September 27 HI all - Here is the revised rehearsal schedule. A nicely formatted version will be on the web site soon. Basically, the changes made were:
NARODIL SE MALDI KRALJ REHEARSAL SCHEDULE (revised 9-27-01)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15 GORAN KACUROV ARRIVES!!!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30 ? TOMISLAV UHLIK ARRIVES!!!
SUNDAY, DEC 10 ? GORAN KACUROV DEPARTS
MONDAY, DEC 17 ? TOMISLAV UHLIK DEPARTS & NARODIL ENSEMBLE CONTEMPLATES THEIR NAVELS EN MASSE DATE: September 24 Last Monday I was going to send out a trumpet-blaring announcement about "Joyous Nativity, A Croatian Cantata," an exciting musical production this December that links the Pacific Northwest and Croatia, Croatians and non-Croatians, old and young. Then Tuesday happened and everything changed. Music has always played a central role in bringing people together during troubled times to provide comfort and hope. Emotions, when words fail, can find expression in music and song. Now it is even more critical to embrace cultural diversity and present the art of different cultural communities in an effort to bring greater awareness to the larger whole. In that light, we would like to announce three concerts this December that will feature the North American premiere of a sacred work by Zagreb composer Tomislav Uhlik. Over ten Northwest ensembles are represented in the 50-voice choir and 20-piece orchestra comprised of people from Seattle, Anacortes and Vancouver, B.C. Mr. Uhlik and Ensemble Lado's Orchestra Director Goran Kacurov will come to the Northwest from Zagreb to train and inspire the performers. You can learn about the production and hear music samples at our web site. At our last rehearsal we tried to make sense of the senseless by sharing our thoughts and feelings. The overarching sentiment was to continue to raise our voices in song to promote understanding through music. We here in the Northwest are grateful to be together doing this music at this time. We are also grateful to you, our extended family, and send our best wishes for healing and peace. Mary Sherhart DATE: September 5 HI all you fabulous singers and musicians - The next rehearsal of Joyous Nativity aka Narodil is this coming Sunday, September 9, 6:30-8:30pm, at St. Andrews Church, 1st & 80th N.E. This rehearsal is for tamburica orchestra and singers only, no violins or clarinets. Please let me know if you won't be there. See you then! DATE: August 19 Rehearsal, Sunday, August 19, 6:30-8:30pm at St. Andrews Episcopal Church 111 - 80th Avenue N. E., Seattle Many thanks to Kevin O'Connor and Julia Paulsen for their help in finding us a permanent home for rehearsals at St. Andrews Episcopal Church. It is a fantastic location just west of the freeway at the corner of 1st and 80th N. E., on Metro bus route 16. There are a couple of small parking lots in the rear of the church to hold about 20 cars, as well as street parking. Please plan to arrive early enough to find parking and be ready to start at 6:30pm sharp. The choir will rehearse in St. Andrew's sanctuary and the orchestra in the social hall. I will distribute a complete rehearsal schedule on the 19th. Father Stan Fowler is excited about having us there and is very supportive of our project. Ruby McLaughlin, the church secretary, is Maria Kesovija's aunt! Thank you Kevin and Julia! Congratulations to us all and many thanks to Ethnic Heritage Council for receiving full funding for our grant from the King County Arts Commission to support the performance at St. James Cathedral. When we receive the official letter we will send out a press release, until then we'll just clink our glasses internally. Here are a few exciting updates! The choir is completely recruited! The orchestra is about 80% recruited thanks to the charming John Morovich. Jody Levinson (of Balkanarama fame) has done a fantastic job getting our web site designed. It should be up and running within the next couple of weeks. Goran Kacurov, Orchestra Director of Ensemble Lado, is definitely coming to work with us! I am waiting to hear from him to learn how long he can stay. I have got so much faith that we will get another grant that I'm going to extend the official invitation to the two vocal soloists from Lado, as well. (If another grant doesn't come through, I could be selling all my worldly goods at a big garage sale at in January.) Huge thanks to Maria Kesovija for working on their visas!!! Greta Kos' niece, Vesna, who is in Croatia currently, is contacting the famous Croatian naive artist Ivan Lackovic to ask whether we can use one of his prints for our poster and other promotional materials. If so, Greta will investigate the possibility of having the posters designed and printed in Croatia. It will be fantastic to involve the vibrant world of graphic arts in Zagreb. Dr. Savage and Clint Kraus at St. James are wonderfully enthusiastic and made some spine-tingling suggestions for the concert when I met with them this week. Remind me to tell you all about the concert opener! Goosebumps! Well, the rest will have to wait until next Sunday at St. Andrews. See you at 6:30pm at St. Andrews next week. Please remember to bring your $5 to reimburse the cost of the CD dub as we agreed at the last rehearsal. If you know you're not going to be there, please let me know. Thanks! Your obsessed friend, Mary DATE: July 24 HI everyone - I'm back from Bulgaria happy and bleary eyed. So many wonderful memories of friends, the countryside, my husband's first time reaction to Bulgaria and some truly unforgettable experiences. Being interviewed on radio and television with excepts of Sedyanka and Pacifica choir concerts aired. Serenaded at a private party on my birthday by the incredible BanskI Starcheta ensemble in Bansko (some of you remember Atanas Janchovichin!). Singing via playback in a concert at a seaside restaurant in Varna with some huge names in Bulgarian music including Sonya Kuncheva and Vasil Naidenov! That concert was all the more memorable for the electric storm that slowly rolled in from the Black Sea and dumped record breaking rain so that the concert started 90 minutes late! There were countless comments of disbelief over the Sedyanka and Pacifica pieces. They were so impressed not only by the fact that Americans were performing Bulgarian music, but that the quality was so high. I was bursting with pride over our accomplishments and came home even more fueled for our Narodil production. I've decided to cancel this Sunday's rehearsal for a number of reasons. There are quite a few people who have told me that they will miss it. I started a 2-week conducting class on Monday and in two days have already learned so much that it's clear I'll be much better prepared to lead you after this training. Having been out of town I haven't had the time to really get into the score, but will have time to dive in over the next month. By August, the orchestra will be fully formed, the web site and logo designed and poster under development, the artists in residence confirmed, we should have heard about a couple of grants, etc. etc. The first choral reading went better than I had expected, so I'm not worried about waiting until August to meet again. Please keep working on your scores independently. Write or call me if you have any questions. We'll meet on Sunday, August 19, 6:00pm, at a location to be determined. I'll keep you posted. m DATE: June 22 HI all you fabulous singers and players and generally good lookin' folk - Seattle Pacific University is not available for our next rehearsal on Sunday, July 29, 6:00-8:30pm. Does anyone have a connection with a Seattle church or hall who would be willing to check into using it? Ideally, two rooms are best to be able to have choir in one room and orchestra in the other or have male/female sectionals. Thanks! I'm leaving on Monday for a month (2-1/2 weeks in Bulgaria including celebrating my birthday in Bansko, the center of the universe!!!!) and am trying to get all my duckies in a row before departure. You all did a terrific job on Monday night! Can you just imagine how this ensemble will sound by December, together with the orchestra, in the cathedrals!?! You're going to knock the audiences' socks off and maybe your own, too! Have a great month everybody. I'll be back in touch when we return on July 19th. m DATE: June 13 IT'S SHOW TIME! The first rehearsal of NARODIL SE MLADI KRALJ!DATE: Monday, June 18 TIME: 7:00pm to 9:00-ish LOCATION: Room 211 in Crawford Music Building at Seattle Pacific University, 3224 Third Avenue W. There are directions to SPU at: http://www.spu.edu/info/maps/directions.html There is a map of the campus at: http://www.spu.edu/info/maps/index.html Many thanks to Dr. Ramona Holmes for sponsoring our first rehearsal in such a wonderful facility! REHEARSAL PLAN: Give background into the production Distribute CD's and scores Listen to the recording and follow score Choir and orchestra read through the score PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND!!! BRING YOUR CALENDARS! Return to Performers Entrance. |