As soon as the Thanksgiving table is cleared, I feel liberated to start singing along to Handel’s epic oratorio, “The Messiah,” and to practice for the annual sing-alongs in Great Barrington, Mass., and Kent, Conn.
It seems unlikely that this year’s public sing-alongs will be held. To fill the void, there will be an online “sing-along Messiah” hosted by the Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m.
It features excerpts from the 2019 performance of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva. Lyrics will be streamed on the screen.
I’m not sure how all this will work, and I don’t know which sections of “The Messiah” will be included. It should be fun, however, and it’s free so there’s nothing to lose.
Sing-along essentials
Even though I will not actually be inflicting my voice on other people for this sing-along, this is the year I decided to reach out to several area singing pros to ask for tips. If you want to sound great (at least to yourself) try these out.
My first and favorite tip came from my friend Mary Sullivan, who has suffered through several sing-alongs with my friend Jody and I. Mary is an experienced and lovely choral singer and an active participant in the region’s extraordinary Crescendo program.
At a Messiah sing-along a year or two ago, Mary politely but firmly suggested that Jody and I cleanly break off our syllables instead of letting them trail along and deflate like pricked balloons. It’s a wonderful tip and definitely made us sound better.
These kinds of simple but essential tips, such as the ones that follow, should make your sing-along experience more fun — for yourself, and for anyone else in the room while you sing (and of course these tips can be applied when you’re singing by yourself in the kitchen while you cook).
Alice Maggio is a board member with the Berkshire Children’s Chorus. Her beginner-to-pro suggestions:
First, she said, “Find a comfortable room in your house where you don’t feel self conscious making a lot of noise.
“Set up your computer so that the screen is at a comfortable height for you to look at while standing.
“Wear shoes, not slippers — and make sure you don’t lock your knees when you’re singing.”
Following the score
Randy Orzano (who lives in Sharon, Conn., and bakes wonderful pastries at Sweet William’s in Salisbury, Conn.) is also a sometime singer with Crescendo. When asked for sing-along advice, he said, “I find that the prepared I am, the more fun choral singing can be.”
There are three steps to preparation that he recommends. First, get a copy of the score (which is the lyrics and the music). He suggested this one: scores.ccarh.org/handel/messiah/messiah-fullscore.pdf.
For those of us who can’t read music (and Handel’s music is very layered and complicated), there is a midi file you can download that will help you learn how to put the music and the words together.
“This website that has Midi files for all the choral parts: www.cyberbass.com/Major_Works/Handel_GF/Handel_Messiah.htm,” Orzano said.
Listen to it first, if you like, but, “Before you start singing, warm up your voice. Here’s a warm up I found on YouTube that I liked with a conductor named Katherine FitzGibbon: youtu.be/Narti8eO7Ho.
“Once your voice is warmed up, go to the CyberBass website and choose your vocal part for one of the Messiah movements.”
The CyberBass website is the one with the midi files.
“Sing along while reading the score. If the midi file is too fast, the website allows you to slow it down.
“Once your part is learned, try singing your part against a different part. For instance, if you’re a soprano, play the midi file for, say, the bass part and try singing your soprano line.
“You’ll find that there are sections that need more practice. Mark these sections and go back to practicing while listening to the soprano part.
“If you have a keyboard, go over your part, especially the challenging sections.
“If you want another challenge, find a YouTube video of a performance conducted by John Elliot Gardner (one of Christine’s favorites). Practice your part with their tempos and always check your intonation, phrasing, pronunciation (English is challenging).”
Above all, enjoy yourself
The Christine of whom Randy speaks is Christine Gevert, founder and artistic director of Crescendo, which makes its home at Trinity Church in Lime Rock, Conn. She had some tips of her own to share, although she modestly said she felt that Randy hit the high notes, so to speak.
She agreed that, “Listening to recordings beforehand is really important.”
For those of us who have sung along before but are flummoxed by trying to follow the sheet music, Christine suggests that, “A big part of being able to follow the score is highlighting your lines! It seems so obvious, but a big part of ‘reading’ the score is knowing where to read!
“If you are not a trained musician,” she added, “even looking at notes going up or down, and following with your voice is a big part of being able to sing.”
Here’s a pro tip: “A very helpful general rule: The more black you see, the faster the music goes (note heads and beams). White notes generally are slower.”
Above all, she counseled, have fun.
“Most of all: Go with your heart, your feelings! It is just wonderful to be part of a Messiah performance, and the music will lead you to a happy place — and your voice will follow that.”
The free live stream sing-along Messiah performed by Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Cappella Festiva (and you!) will be on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m. For more information on this and other Bardavon Opera House streamed performances, go to www.bardavon.org.
CANAAN — Robert G. Grandell, 81, of Canaan, passed away peacefully on Jan. 29, 2025.
Robert was born in Waterbury, on Aug. 29, 1943, the son of Isabella (Brickett) and Art Perkins. He married Janet (Van Deusen) on June 27, 1964.
Bob worked at various factories throughout his career, retiring from Electric Motion Co., Winsted, in 2005. He enjoyed coaching Little League baseball and junior bowling. He also liked to watch the UConn Women’s Basketball team and the Green Bay Packers.
He and Janet liked to go on bus trips and vacation in Lake George, New York.
Bob is survived by two sons; Gary and his wife Laurie of Canaan, Dennis and his wife Carolyn of New Hartford, one sister; Anna Mae MacNeil of Arizona, one brother; Bill Perkins and his wife Candace of Torrington, and six grandchildren.
Bob is predeceased by his parents and two sisters, Joan Parsons and Eleanor Gurney.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, Feb. 2 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at The Kenny Funeral Home, Sharon. All other services are private.
Memorial contributions may be made to the North Canaan Ambulance, 15 East Main St., Canaan, CT 06018 or to the North Canaan Volunteer Fire Department, 4 East Main St., Canaan, CT 06018.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
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The Millerton News
Hot-tub style approach with a sledge-hammer assist at the lake.
While the chill of recent weeks has driven many Northwest Corner residents inside and their energy bills up, others have taken advantage of the extended cold by practicing some of our region’s most treasured — and increasingly rare — pastimes: ice sports.
I am one of those who goes out rather than in when the mercury drops: a one-time Peewee and Bantam league hockey player turned pond hockey enthusiast turned general ice lover. In the winter, my 12 year-old hockey skates never leave my trunk, on the chance I’ll pass some gleaming stretch of black ice on a roadside pond.
Last winter, when ice was hard to come by, was a massive disappointment for me, as it was for the other ice-obsessed among us. I was delighted, then, when I arrived at Lake Wononscopomuc on a comparatively balmy (26°F) Saturday afternoon to find recreators strolling, skating, fishing and fat-biking across the frozen expanse of its surface.
Grabbing my camera and stepping out onto the ice with the intention of chatting with some of the merry-makers, I gauged the uneven — but passable — surface below my feet and decided to run to the car and switch my boots with skates.
The going was rough at times, contending with intermittent snow layers and slush crusts, but even so the skates were vastly more efficient than my boots as I made my way from group to group.
I stopped to chat with David Bain, who was just starting to set up his fishing station after getting a late start. I asked him the depth under the hole he had just drilled, and he said it was about five feet, despite being 200 yards from shore on the deepest natural lake in Connecticut.
He explained that he had situated himself over a weed bed, and was hoping to catch some brown trout lurking off its shelf. A Norfolk resident, he said he was glad the ice was back after a season or two without it. He said the last time he had fished out on Wononscopomuc’s ice – 2023, he reckoned — he had caught two sizeable brown trout (about 10 and 8 pounds) within 15 minutes of each other at a spot just yards away from this one. I wished him luck for a similar outcome, and skated off to some distant figures hunkered over their ice drills.
I found Kyle Carso of Glastonbury and Andy Sabetta of Berlin, who are long time fishing friends, huddling over their holes as they hoped for a bite. They had been moving around the lake since 7 a.m., and had only pulled up a couple of perch so far, Carso said. Echoing Bain, Carso told me that Wononscopomuc is known for big brown trout though, and the duo had proof: Sabetta had caught a 14-pounder in June.
Carso said he was grateful for the ice conditions this season, which have been difficult to come by in several recent years. He said the ice was generally solid, about eight inches in most places, but encouraged caution as they had found some variability in the holes they drilled, with some spots thinner than others.
Brothers Eamon and John McNiff, who I found with beers in hand just offshore of Eamon’s lakefront property, similarly urged caution for those looking to explore the ice. He said that the frozen lake provides a valuable wealth of recreation, made more special by its seasonal transience – “as long as you’re being smart about it.” With the right caution, though, he said time spent on the ice is “magical.”
The kids get to skate around the lake – close to shore, he specified – and for the adults? “There’s nothing better than an ice beer.”
His brother John had just fat biked — essentially a mountain bike with huge, deeply treaded tires for traction on snow and ice — across the lake from his own property on the other side. Upon arriving at Eamon’s house, he slipped out and sprawled on the ice, pulling a muscle in the process. He said he was better now, though, enjoying a “recuperation beer” provided by his brother.
My final stop of the afternoon found a different type of cold-weather health practice — hanging out hot-tub style in a sledge-hammered hole in the ice. Danny Tieger and Tyler Spofford, both local to the area, are avid cold water swimmers they explained, and try to submerge themselves a few times a week during the winter months.
Tieger said that taking regular cold dips has been transformational after starting about five years ago: “It changed my relationship with my health and brain.”
The two stayed in the water, with apparent calm, for a remarkably long time. Spofford said that once you get over the shock, the water can actually feel a bit warmer than the air, because it actually is at about 34°F compared to the air temperature in the mid 20s.
As they finally climbed out and did some post-dip exercises, I looked out over the lake, dim silhouettes of anglers and fat bikers speckling the white expanse in the soft blue light of the late afternoon. Pulling off my skates for the day with numb and fumbling fingers, I felt grateful for the ice and the unique joy it brings to an oft-maligned season.
With cold weather growing less consistent with each passing winter, days like these can feel a little melancholic and fragile, as if those of us who take to the ice are salvaging for something already almost in the past. Perhaps we are, but it comforted me to be in good company as I scanned the lake’s surface for the last few hold-outs as the clock neared five. If it freezes, we will come.
Any lake ice recreation is inherently dangerous as the ice can be inconsistent. Anyone venturing out onto the ice must consult experts before doing so and follow town guidance.
Emma Brockett, Josalyn Cipkas and Tiffany Oltjenbruns in rehearsal for “From All Angles.”
Garet Wierdsma and her northern Connecticut-based dance company, Garet&Co, will return to Norfolk for their third annual appearance with Dance Workshops on the next three Sundays, followed by two performances of “From All Angles” in Battelle Chapel on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m.
In “From All Angles,” audience members will witness Garet&Co translate three of the works presented at their fall show, “Can’t Keep Friends,” danced in the round, where viewers can witness each piece from a new angle.
Additionally, Garet&Co will be premiering two new works, including a site-specific work made for the beautiful Battelle Chapel performance space. Notably, Garet&Co will be reprising an excerpt of their preeminent piece, “and sometimes I wish” for this show.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, audience members will enjoy a post-show reception followed by a Q & A session.
On Sunday, Feb. 23, audience members will enjoy a pre-show performance with dancers performing installation work.
Garet&Co offers several classes in the performance space at Battell Chapel during their residence, including:
Intermediate/Advanced Technique: this Sunday, Feb. 2, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Intermediate/Advanced Contemporary Phrase Work: Sunday, Feb. 16, 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Beginners’ Contemporary: Saturday, Feb. 23, 1 to 2 p.m. (please join this class prior to the Sunday show for a special discounted package of class + show tickets)
Intermediate/Advanced Contemporary: Saturday, Feb. 23, 2 to 3 p.m. (please join this class prior to the Sunday show for a special discounted package of class + show tickets)
Garet Wierdsma expressed her excitement: “This year, we are bringing more dancers and more pieces than ever before, plus we are adding special elements that will keep audiences on their toes. We can’t wait to share this show with everyone!”
Evie Sondag, Jessica Winter, and Kyleigh Olivier in rehearsal for “From All Angles.”Elias Olsen
