Finding our Voices, Finding our Friends

by guest blogger, Lianne Bremer

And…. We’re Back!

The Long Beach Camerata Singers are back. Last night was our first rehearsal of the new season, and there was an air of excitement, joy, and relief that we were all back together again.

For all of us who spent the last year and a half missing our choral experience, our anticipation and excitement grew with every new email we received announcing what was coming up this year. As September loomed, we scrambled to start using our voices again (well, most of us) and to excavate our closets to find our concert wear that had migrated to the very back, about three feet from Narnia.

We’ve made many changes to accommodate our primary concern which is the health and safety of all members of the choir. The Camerata Board, led by Jan Hower, with important input from James Bass, Tammi Alderman, and the Long Beach Board of Health, came up with some genius ways to enable us to keep singing.

We are rehearsing in a new, much larger facility where we can spread our chairs father apart. This facility is gorgeous, and we are so grateful to have it. I have to say I think I broke Google Maps trying to find the location, but a good scenic drive is always fun. The ginormous speed bumps are also exciting, so singers will be well jostled as a warm-up. The new rehearsal space is worth any speed bump or wrong turn, because it allows us to be together.

There were many, “Is that YOU under there?” questions as we attempted to recognize our long-lost singers under their masks. It was also tricky because so many are sporting long luxurious COVID locks, and between new hairstyles and masks, it was like meeting a whole new set of people.

Speaking of new people, we have so many new singers joining us this season! Congratulations to all our new members. We know you will come for the music but stay for the great community.

James Bass took to the podium to welcome us back. He reviewed the safety rules: masks on all the time, unless singing, and even then, it is a choir member’s choice to sing with or with their mask. Everyone in the room is required to be fully vaccinated and encouraged to get a flu shot. We have done away with rehearsal break food and water and reduced the length of the break. All these measures are in place to keep COVID out of the choir, and we all recognize that we are still vulnerable to a break-through case. Dr. Bass was very clear that our safety measures against the virus need to happen when we’re at rehearsal and every hour between rehearsals. We are all committed to staying vigilant.

First night rehearsals for a new concert are always fun. First, you pick up all the new music. It is always so exciting to see what James and Tammi have programmed for us. However, some of these pieces were double sided loose printed pages. Let’s just say the staff was entertained watching me attempt to pick up a bunch of loose papers. It’s not my greatest strength.

Unbeknownst to most of the choir, there is an alto who ALWAYS remembers to bring a stapler to these first rehearsals. The first time she pulled it out of her purse I was convinced she was some kind of Choir Witch. When she told me she had TWO in there, I asked if she were a second-grade teacher, and she said, “No, I’m an engineer.” Then I understood why she had two staplers in her purse. I fully intend to learn her ways because I had papers flying everywhere last night. Never mind singing the right notes, I had no idea which side of which paper we were singing! 99% of Camerata members are far more coordinated with their music than I.

Unbeknownst to most of the choir, there is an alto who ALWAYS remembers to bring a stapler to these first rehearsals

Once we were settled in our separated seats, the magic happened. Taking out that first piece of music and singing together for the first time since March 2020 was an incredibly moving experience for me. It was the sound of community, of joy, and of our hearts. It was the sound of “we survived this, and we honor those who did not.” It was the sound of “we are back, and we are going to sing our hearts out.”

Camerata, it is good to be home.

You Want to be on the Lawn where it happens!

The year 2020 has been a wild ride, and it’s not over yet. As we watched the cascade of announcements from most major professional music groups that they were cancelling their entire 2020-21 seasons, our hearts broke. We saw not just the financial ramifications which will affect these organizations for years to come, but our heavy hearts wondered, “Is live music dead?”

However, instead of giving up, closing the shutters, and refiling the Verdi Requiem scores while weeping, Jan Hower and the Board of Directors, with a whole lot of support from Artistic Director, James Bass and Associate Director, Tammy Alderman, thought outside the box, and in fact, moved the box outside. “Rise up!” they all said, “All is not lost, especially live music! Now we have: Camerata Front Porch Concerts.

I’ll give you a hint as to how great these Front Porch Concerts are: it’s like the Hollywood Bowl, but without the drive, parking, or noisy neighbors! How great is that! Bring your picnic! Bring your champagne and crudities and sit back and listen to some of the best voices Long Beach has to offer. Of course, social distancing and masks are de rigueur, but these luxurious front yards offer plenty of room to be safe and enjoy the company of your friends.

If you didn’t make it to our previous Front Port Concerts, you have missed some great singing. With the assistance of our staff singers, and sometimes joined by Artistic Director, James Bass’ incredible baritone, there have been some wonderful performances featuring everything from the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes to “Loathing”, from Wicked. What a gift to hear each of these fabulous singers together, but also as they give us solo performances! A huge thank you and tons of respect to our loyal accompanist, Stephen Karr.

We started off with one ensemble, which featured Elizabeth Queen, Soprano; Mayuri Vasan, Alto; Sam A Capella, Tenor; and Michael Valentokovic (replacing James Bass), Bass.  The program has proved so popular that we have added a second ensemble, under the direction of our Associate Conductor, Tammi Alderman.  This ensemble will make its debut on Sunday, September 13 and includes Emily Scott, Soprano; Tiffany Santiago, Alto, Patrick Tsoi-A-Sue, Tenor; and Yasu Ichikawa, Bass.  Put them all together, and WOW, you have got yourself some fine live singing!

But wait… there’s more! We are excited to announce THREE more Front Porch Concerts. Sunday, September 13^th at 5:30 we’ll be in Los Alamitos will all new repertoire. Sunday, September 20^th at 4:30, in Park Estates. And finally, on Saturday, September 26^th at 4:30 in Cal Heights. To RSVP and receive the address, please click this link and you will receive an email with the address. As always, please bring your own chairs, wear a mask, and practice social distancing. Feel free to bring snacks, beverages, and mosquito repellant.

Each of these Front Porch Concerts are free, however we will willingly and excitedly accept donations, which will go to the singers and accompanist. The concerts are helping to take care of all of our paid staff and will ensure the future of The Camerata Singers.

The members of the Long Beach Camerata singers are excited and hopeful that we will all be together again soon. We do have a project in the works that we will share more information about as we get closer to October and November. Suffice it to say, we will not allow live music to go the way of the dinosaurs.

We are so grateful for your patronage, your financial and emotional support, and we hope to see you and your friends outside, by the Front Porch, enjoying great live music. You know you want to be on the lawn where it happens…

Camerata Behind the Scenes: In the Green Room

For anyone who has attended a Camerata concert, you know that the choir members don’t just loiter around the lobby and concert hall waiting for Dr. Bass to beckon them to their places. Nary a tuxedo nor black dress should be seen anywhere before the concert begins. So, where are those invisible singers lurking as you look for your seat?

There is a very secret, special and (usually) deep underground space, not unlike a bunker of sorts, known as “The Green Room” where the performers are allowed to loiter before the concert begins. Allow me to give you a behind the scenes look at the glamor of the Green Room.

What you think a Green Room is…

The term “Green Room” conjures up images of lushly decorated salons with great lighting, perhaps a reproduction of some Raphaelite painter with a cupid playing a lute, a redundancy of mirrors, comfy overstuffed couches, and the ever important “facilities” being not only functional, but elegant and in great number.

Let me burst your bubble of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Each concert hall has a different style of Green Room, some of which are actually painted red and are not rooms at all but hallways.  Green Rooms are rarely accommodations that would be featured in the semi-annual publication of this totally fake magazine “The Great Concert Halls: A Performer’s View”. Yes, the term “room” gets tossed around a little too glibly for me, but every Green Room has the same purpose: corralling the performers in a safe place where they can rest or pace before the concert.

The Reality of Green Rooms

The Tangled Origin Stories for the Term ‘Green Room’, an article which begs many questions about how tangled and dramatic Green Room history really is, states:

“Two historic London theatres, Blackfriars Theatre and the Cockpit-at-Court, are said to have had the first “green” rooms backstage. The stage itself, in 19th century Cockney rhyming slang, was referred to as the “greengage,” which would have meant the room just off the stage was the “greengage room,” or the “Green Room.”

Well, that’s boring. Where’s the drama and tangeldness of this tale?

But wait! There’s more! “Many of the theories about the origins of the term “Green Room” have to do with actors, and there is a story that specifically has to do with their interactions with the walls (Author’s emphasis and note: Singers don’t have a great deal of interactions with walls, so this obviously refers to theater folk.) Sometimes they (the actors, not singers) would get fake blood on the walls, and the fake blood didn’t show up as much on green painted walls as it did on white painted walls.” Well, that just seems like a great reason to call it a Green Room.

The All Too Familiar “Blank Slate” Green Room without fake blood on walls.

Mercifully most of the time the Camerata Singers are not involved with fake blood and rarely get anything more exciting that a Starbucks on the walls. We are also very good about cleaning up after ourselves.

All “history” aside, being in the Green Room all together right before the concert begins is one of our favorite times. We’re all excited and anticipating our performance, with the added luxury of time to get to talk to one another. We get to have long conversations, share stories about past performances, concert faux pas, and inevitably, we end up talking about concert dress. And that topic, my friends, deserves its own post.

Our Green Room in the O’Neill Theater is PINK! Lookin’ sharp, Tenors!

Whatever our next season ends up looking like, we hope you will continue to support Long Beach’s premier choral organization. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to return to our concert halls and Green Rooms very soon. Our hearts and voices all need to be together.

Pre-Concert silliness. Altos are weird. And wonderful. Thanks to Sarah Len for ALWAYS capturing a part of backstage.