Concert Day!

The day began early, and with rain. We figured out that we'd have to leave by 8:20 to get to Chiba and find our way by 10:00. And so, the two of us, with bass, music stand, clothing bag and 2 umbrellas set out to spend the day with the Chiba Singers. I was really pleased that on the way there, I only poked 2 people; one with my umbrella and another one with my music stand. Each poke was followed on my part by a surprised and apologetic, "Oh! Sumimasen!" But I still got some stink eye. We figured out a route that would involve the least walking (or in Robin's case, dragging the bass and hefting it in and out, up and down) but still had to negotiate some escalators and stairs along the way. One wrong turn and a phone call to Yoko later, we finally found our way to the concert hall.

This was the Chiba Bank Culture Center. It looks like any other large office building from the outside, but has a fabulous, state-of-the-art music hall that seats 450 on the 3rd floor. We were greeted enthusiastically by all when we arrived, and were shown to (get this) our dressing room. I have never before been in a position to actually have my own dressing room for a concert. It was fantastic. I highly recommend it to all you musicians and conductors out there. It was equipped with private bathroom- and truly- you could take a bath in it. There was a large deep tub with hand held shower in there. We had a little time to wait before we could get into the hall to rehearse, for the piano tuner was finishing up. We knew when he was done, because we could hear every sound from the hall and watch the stage on the TV in our room.

Marcel, Yoko and I all tried for a good run-through of our pieces, a few last minute tweaks, moving the instrumentalists around, working on balance in the new and wondrously live space, announcements, and then lunch. We were dressed and back on stage by 1:20 for photographs, and then waited for the 2:00 concert start. In Japan, concerts always start on time. They have a 5 minute warning bell, and then a bell at the hour to start the program. An announcer from back stage welcomes the audience and introduces the group and other players, and the lights come up and off they go. I have attended some concerts here where there is an illuminated digital clock in the front of the hall that lets people know how many minutes until start time, and until intermission is over. The concert was so carefully planned by Yoko that she made out a schedule of exact times for each piece, who comes on and when...all very detailed and mapped out.

The singers looked fabulous! For the first half of the program, the women wore a lacy sea foam green jacket top over a flowing full long skirt. For the second half, they wore pink velvet dresses with matching necklaces and earrings. The men wore white dinner jackets and coordinated bow ties over black pants. All very elegant and swanky looking.

I was completely pleased with their performance of the Birthday Madrigals. Their hard work and dedication paid off. Their diction was really darned good. Marcel said it was perfect! I was mostly pleased with their dynamic contrasts, their sensitivity to balance and their intonation of some very tricky chromatic close harmony, dissonance and exposed places. I would say they peaked at just the right moment. At the after party, there was a great passing of the microphone, where all members of the chorus thanked each other and their directors, spoke about why they loved the group and other things.

At the party, which was on the 7th floor of the same building, there were little papers on the tables that had the following information:

Party Program (5PM-7PM)
MC "Jin" and "Kate" (These are their American nicknames)

1. Opening speech
The Manager "Goro"

2. Eating and Drinking

announcement from MC(1)
number of today's audience

3. Reviews from the conductors and accompanists

announcement from MC(2)
received gifts and contributions

4. Comments of each member

5. Chorus time
Shenandoah
Harukana Tomoni

6. Ending

It was a very interesting party. Obviously well planned, and lots of fun! The food was great and the celebration well earned. I had the chance to meet some of the members to actually talk with them, and find out about some others. There are several married couples in the group, several scientists, a Shinto priest, English teachers, music teachers, and everyone speaks at least a little English.
They were very kind to me in their comments of appreciation. We ended with a couple of songs. And at 7:00 on the nose-we were all out of there.

It was a monumental P.I.T.A. to haul our stuff on the train yesterday morning, and we joked about finding a convenient store to buy some... convenience. On the way home, however, we added the djembe to our load so the P.I.T.A. factor grew by a bit. (And I poked more folks on the way home than I did in the morning) I wouldn't want to haul the bass, music stand, djembe and our clothes through Tokyo every weekend, but yesterday it was worth it.