Welcome to the OK Chorale, Pardner!

Welcome to the OK Chorale, a filk/folk chorus for the Boston area, loosely associated with M.A.S.S.F.I.L.C.. We sing in unison and in parts, and welcome beginners. We're trying to model it somewhat on the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, minus the coffeehouse (there are plenty of those in the Boston area!).

Our conductrix, Rachel Silverman, is a beginner at this chorus-leading thing (well she's learned a lot in the last 10 months, particularly from our semi-conductor, Joe Kesselman), though not to being a singer, musician or chorus member, so if you're a beginner at part-singing, we can learn together.

We need all parts!

Current members:

• Soprano: Paula Lieberman, Nyani-Iisha Martin
• Alto: Rachel Silverman
• Tenor: Paul Ciszek, Mabel Liang
• Bass: Joe Kesselman, Jacob Sommer

Projects:

• We're currently on hiatus. Auditions will be held soon, and rehearsals will begin shortly thereafter. E-mail the Conductrix if you're interested; please list chorus experience and explain how you heard of filk music.

Our most recent performances were:

• A half-hour concert at Boskone 38, February 16-18, 2001, in Framingham MA.
• A "one-shot" at FilKONtario 11, March 30-April 1, 2001, in Mississauga ON (Canada). Eloise Beltz-Decker has pictures of us in her con report.
• A singalong set while hanging around in the halls af the New England Folk Festival, April 20-22, 2001, in Natick MA.

Rehearsals:

To try and become more comfortable singing together, and particularly in singing parts, we try to rehearse every other Thursday, usually at Joe Kesselman's house. If you'd like to join us, please send mail to Rachel and ask to be added to the mailing list. Alternatively, you can join the list by going directly to our gracious host, FilkNet.

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Songs:

Note that MIDI files, MP3 files, and lyrics are stored in a password-protected directory. If you are a member of the Chorale and have forgotten your password, e-mail Rachel. Non-members will NOT be given a password. Many Kathy Mar MP3s can be found on her CD My Favorite Sings.

Active List:

• Rounds: "The Star Wars Canon" (MIDI) and "The Green Lantern Canon"
• "Witch of the West" by Rennie Levine
• "The Alley Cat" by Virginia Taylor
• "Hope Eyrie" by Leslie Fish (MP3 on the Virtual Filksing); also a version by The Black Book Band.
• "Old Time Religion" (lyrics -- all 863 known verses, on Joe Bethancourt's site.)
• "Outward Bound" by Cat Faber (MP3)
• "Men of Harlequin Romances" by Mike McAfee
• "The Green Hills of Earth" by Robert Heinlein, tune by Mark Bernstein, arrangement by Ed Stauff ((MIDI files for All, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
• "The Cat Boys Song" by Jacob Sommer (MIDI)
• "Dies Ille, Dies Lunae" from Winnie Ille Pu, put to 4-part harmony by Ed Stauff (MIDI files for All, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
• "Threes Rev 1.1" by Duane Elms

Songs We'd like to Do:

• "The Battle Beast and Barbie" by Tom(?) Chapin
• "Drink Up the River" by Kathy Mar
• "Give Yourself to Love" by Kate Wolf
• "How Can I Keep From Filking?"
• "The History of Filking" (MIDI file)
• "James James Morrison Morrison" by A.A. Milne
• "The Lightsailor" by Barry Childs-Helton
• Joe Kesselman's re-written "Long Wing Feathers" round
• "Lullabye for a Weary World" by T.J. Burnside-Clapp
• "Mary O'Meara" by Poul Anderson & Anne Passavoy
• "Merlin" by Doug MacArthur
• "Murderous Little Toy" by Mike Richards
• "Obloids" by Robert A. Cook
• "Some Kind of Hero" by Mercedes Lackey & Leslie Fish
• "Soul of the Steel" by B. J. Willinger
• "Starsisters"
• "Stole of the Seal" by Joe Kesselman
• Another good round is Tom Chapin's "This Pretty Planet"
• "To Live Hand in Hand" by Joyce Zemeck (suggested by Laurie Brunner)
• "Worms of the Earth" by Bob Esty
• "Velveteen" by Kathy Mar
• "When Giants Walked" by Kathy Mar
• Ed Stauff's other arrangements of Winnie Ille Pu poetry
• Other suggestions?

Past Songs:

• "Web of Love" by Cat Faber
• "Acts of Creation" by Cat Faber, arranged by Ed Stauff
• "Od Yishama" -- traditional Jewish wedding song, melodies by Shlomo Carlebach
• Songs by Debbie Friedman: Dodi Tzach, Rise Up My Love.