Germantown Chorus
Everyday people creating beautiful music since 1986!
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Spring 2022

1/28/2022

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Dear Choristers

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays with family and friends. I am looking forward to getting back to rehearsing some great music with you all. I really hope that you will join us either in person or via our new hybrid option. I would like to note that the more people present physically at rehearsals, the better experience those who need to do hybrid will have. Plus, we'll have lots of fun!

I think you'll love the music I have chosen for the Imagining Seasons concert. We have a couple of challenging pieces and a surprise or two! There should be something for all tastes.

This concert will also be a fundraiser with season-themed art and crafted items. Some of you may have newly acquired pandemic skills that you can put to use, or know someone that may be willing to donate an item. We will let you know when we are ready to begin collecting those.

See you soon, and bring friends!

 
- Ryan Lakanen, Artistic Director
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Fall 2021

8/19/2021

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Dear Choristers,

Welcome back! This has been a trying 17+ months as singers and musicians. I hope you found some way to stay connected to music during our time apart, whether it was through our virtual concerts last year or some other outlet.

Just as we find ourselves coming back together, the world seems to be falling apart again. Thank you so much for allowing us to implement our vaccination rule for this season in order to keep each other as safe as possible. We have said that masks are strongly encouraged but not required, but it looks as if our "strongly encouraged" is needing to turn to "strongly encouraged" based on current CDC and industry guidance. There are masks designed for singers. Consider bringing a mask with you to wear at least part of the time. Try to stay distanced from your neighbor during rehearsal.

Plans have been fluctuating a lot during all of this, and we have had to learn to be flexible. The Music at Twilight fundraiser has been pushed to the spring this season. That left us with no plans for the fall. This past Monday, at our first rehearsal, I offered you several suggestions. You chose to learn and record four songs about the joy of singing, how music brings us together, and keeping your imagination alive to release online for our friends and families. We will record one song each week as we gradually transition into our holiday repertoire.

If you know anyone who has missed singing as much as you have, please invite them to join us. We could especially use more tenors and basses. (*fingers crossed!*)


- Ryan Lakanen, Artistic Director
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Fall 2020

8/15/2020

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​Dear Choristers,

The year 2020 has not gone according to anyone's plans. But we need to remember that, while trying to make it through the year, we can't forget to LIVE. During this pandemic, I hope that you have not only stayed physically safe, but also mentally. It is easy to forget to nurture your soul in addition to your body, especially with all of the distractions in the world today.

Congratulations to you on choosing to face the challenges and joys that will come from our virtual rehearsals in these next few months. Give yourself a pat on the back or a hug, because you are choosing life, music, and community.

To the members of the Chorus who have not signed up for virtual rehearsals, I have included you in this message in case you want to drop by to listen or to socialize every once in a while. You are part of the family, and you are missed! Plus, there may be a way for you to be involved without singing for this concert cycle.

And it's not too late to join in! If you know someone who will enjoy this journey, please invite them along. They don't have to be local - we have multiple people who will be signing in from across the country.

I'll see you soon!

- Ryan Lakanen, Artistic Director
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Spring 2020

3/2/2020

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Hello choristers!

Welcome to the final stretch of our season! If you know of anyone who would like to sing on our final concert on May 9th, bring them on in. The more the merrier!

Our final concert will be performed at GPAC with Memphis ChoralArts and the Germantown Symphony Orchestra. We may have an additional guest as well.

This Spring also features the Carnegie Hall residency as some of our members join Dr. Fisher and ChoralArts in NYC. We may also sing at Collierville’s Fair on the Square on May 3rd.

For fundraisers this Spring, we still have discount cards available for purchase. There will be a restaurant fundraiser at Jason’s Deli on Ridgeway Rd. on March 24th from 4:00 ‘til 9:00 – enjoy some yummy food and they’ll donate back 20%. And on May 2nd is our second annual Rummage and Bake Sale!

Here’s to finishing our season with a bang!

​Sincerely,
     Ryan Lakanen
     President/Interim Artistic Director
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Winter 2020

1/6/2020

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Hello choristers!

Welcome to the second half of the season!! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are ready to get back to singing! We have eight rehearsals to prepare for our next concert, which will be an event that is sure to be fun for all ages! The theme is Amusing Music and More Family Fun, and it will consist of a short concert and several “fun stations”. We plan to have a photobooth station and a face painting station. If you have an connections for a third “fun station”, let us know. We’d love to have 3! The event will be hosted by Holy Spirit Catholic Church in their Batson Center.

We also have discount cards available for sale this year as a new fundraiser. There are a bunch of great deals on there for merchants who have pledged to support our chorus, and they’re worth well over the $10 purchase price. They’re good all year!

Sincerely,
Ryan Lakanen
President/Interim Artistic Director

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Holiday 2019

10/20/2019

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Hello choristers!

We made it through our Music at Twilight fundraiser, and now we get to work on our traditional Holiday Concert with the Germantown Symphony Orchestra. This concert is always a sellout, and this year we once again welcome Memphis ChoralArts and Houston High School to sing alongside us on the GPAC stage.

In addition to the Holiday Concert, we have two community outreach performances scheduled this season. The first is the annual Germantown Tree Lighting ceremony. We sing both before and after the tree is lit, and you can see all the children singing along and dancing by candlelight. Then, on December 3rd, we will
sing for Methodist Germantown Hospital. These performances are free to all in attendance.

​Lastly, we have a couple of final fundraisers scheduled for 2019. If you would like a poinsettia from Bayless Greenhouse for the Holidays, we will be taking orders for a couple of weeks. They will be used as decoration at the Holiday Concert, and you may take them home afterward. Also, 3 Guys Pizza in Collierville will donate a portion of sales on Tuesday, November 12th – yummy!
​
Sincerely,
Ryan Lakanen
President/Interim Artistic Director
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Fall 2019

8/12/2019

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​Hello singers!

Welcome to the 2019-2020 season. Our Fall is always busy, and this season is no exception. We start off with just 4 rehearsals until our annual performance at the Germantown Festival, and then our fundraiser, Music at Twilight, is 6 weeks after that.

Speaking of MAT, be thinking about if you would like to dress appropriately for our theme: The Golden Age of Hollywood. We will be performing music from classic movies through 1964. MAT will also feature something new this year – a raffle! All the details on that are in your tickets FAQ on the website.

Have you ever wanted to sing in Carnegie Hall? April 25th is your chance! Dr. Fisher, director of Memphis ChoralArts, has been invited to direct Ola Gjielo’s Sunrise Mass. We are invited to join! The piece will also be performed here at GPAC on May 9th. You’ll need to decide by September 23rd if you can go. Info packets will be emailed out.

I am so looking forward to this season, and I hope that you are, too!

​Sincerely,
Ryan Lakanen
President/Interim Artistic Director
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Spring 2019

3/4/2019

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Hello everyone!

I am very excited as we embark on the preparation of our Spring Concert which will be held Friday, April 26th at the church I call home, St. Brigid Catholic Church. I know that you will enjoy singing in this beautiful, resonant sanctuary that several of us get to sing at weekly!


Dr. Scott Elsholz, the director of music at the church will be joining us as our special guest and will be accompanying several of our songs on the beautiful pipe organ. He and John will be treating us to a piano/organ duet as well! I know you'll all be 'inspired' in some way as we present a program of “Songs That Inspire” that will employ a broader range of repertoire, including opera duets, sacred songs, choral classics and, even a little 'Sesame Street' – by our men's chorus!!


We only have eight rehearsals to prepare this great program, so be sure to be faithful in your attendance and dedicated to looking over the music at home!


And... bring a friend to sing with us as well!!


​Sincerely,
Tommy Gaines, Artistic Director/Conductor

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Winter 2019

1/3/2019

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Happy New Year to one and all!!

I'm so happy to welcome you to the 2nd half of our 2018-2019 season of Germantown Chorus. Our holiday concert was a HUGE success. Our group is sounding better and better this year and I know that we will be
doing beautiful concerts in the months ahead. We will have 2 concerts this 'semester' and I urge you to be present at each and every rehearsal. Our goal is to have an enrollment of 50 singers by our March 3rd
program, so be sure and invite others to come and join our ranks. If we all work together our quality of performance will be the best ever!

My plan for the next couple of months includes working more in depth to achieve the ultimate choral sound as well as giving each of you a great experience working within a group. I have chosen music that you're going to love and enjoy learning and be challenged to perfect, so be faithful, be energetic, be ready to work AND have a great time!!!

Sincerely,
Tommy Gaines, Artistic Director/Conductor
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Holiday 2018

11/5/2018

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Greetings Choristers!

It’s hard to believe that Fall is here already! We have had a busy few months preparing our Germantown Festival program and our Music At Twilight evening. I am so grateful to all of you for your fine work thus far and want to take this opportunity to urge you to continue to be faithful in your rehearsal attendance and in your at-home practicing. Our next two events are our performance for the Holiday Tree Lighting for the city of Germantown, which will take place Friday, November 23th at 5:00 at Germantown Municipal Park, and our Holiday Homecoming Concert with the Germantown Symphony Orchestra at the beautiful Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC) on Saturday, December 8th at 7:00. Please make your plans to attend all rehearsals and the wonderful, exciting performances as we “sing in the Holidays” together!!

Sincerely,
​Tommy Gaines, Artistic Director/Conductor

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    A note from the director is put in every newsletter that goes out to members throughout the season.

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