Marilu & I were invited by Julie to sing with a small group of like-minded women shortly after the original (7). We joined the group before we had a name or an accompanist and Don was still singing with us. At one point the name, “The Queen Bees and One Drone” was a suggested name. We chose “Mountain Melody”. Some of our first gigs included marching in parades in Moke Hill, walking directly behind the fire trucks which we learned was not a good place for us. We continued singing wherever we could and slowly have progressed over the years to where we are now. I have seen members come & go and yet, there are still some of us who have continued year after year. I have nothing but praise for Julie whose LIGHT, talent, and dedication has carried us through and made us what we are today. Mostly, I love music which is to be shared with everybody!
 
Gay H-M., Member since 2005

I was not one of the ‘originals’, but as soon as I heard there was a chorus forming I signed up. At the time I joined we were doing parades, singing as we marched, which was challenging for some of us. We had no accompaniment except for Julie’s pitch pipe to give us our starting note and hadn’t really decided on the name Mountain Melody yet. I remember some hilarious sessions in which names were brainstormed. I particularly liked The Perfect Pitches, but we discarded that one because we didn’t have perfect pitch and one could so easily change the last p to b. I’ve really enjoyed the companionship and musical stretching I’ve had in my years with Mountain Melody.
 
Lee D., Member since 2005

I grew up in a large musical family (six kids). We sang when we were driving in the car, when we did chores, when we sailed to and from Catalina (we were also a sailing family). Dad and Mom had season tickets to the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera , and as soon as we reached our early teens, we got to come along. I sang in the church choir growing up, sang in a choral group at Fluor (an engineering and construction company), and participated for one season with a mixed choir in Ojai before moving to Mountain Ranch. A member of Mountain Melody, Gay Hakola-Maloney, encouraged me to consider joining, and after much prodding by her, I auditioned in the spring of 2014. Although it is a challenge, I love that we perform off book—it definitely enhances the experience for singers and audience!
Sue W., Member since 2014

I began singing with Mt Melody when I learned that a women’s choir was singing in my daughter’s classroom after hours. She and I had sung together in choir while she was growing up, which probably influenced her career in music in the first place. As her mom, I enjoyed reconnecting with her after her college years, especially since she was pregnant with her first child. The extra time she puts in as a music and drama teacher along with a young family doesn’t allow her to continue, but I’ve met so many wonderful women that I’ve continued on. When all else fails, music lifts my spirits.
Lesley D., Member since 2010

Maggi and Susan and Marta were singing some patriotic songs at a back yard 4th of July party in 2004. They were talking about how fun it is to sing, and talked about doing more of it. When I heard about it, I thought we were going to just have some ladies sit around and drink wine and sing. I don’t think of myself as a singer, but a piano player, but thought casual singing sounded fun! Meanwhile Marta met Julie, and at our first meeting, we had Marta, Maggi, Susan, me, Don (Marta brought him, our first and only male in our Women’s Chorus,) Linda, Joyce, and Carol. We were small and not very trained, and Julie had big ambitions to start a group. I wasn’t even thinking performing would be fun. Well, look at us now, I guess I CAN sing, performing IS fun, and we have certainly enriched the group over the 10 years by adding many talented and experienced singers than our original group started off with. I know Marta is the only person (and Julie of course) who has been in the chorus every season since it started. The rest of us have taken at least a season break, and of course Linda and Joyce have moved out of state. (Its not exactly a secret, but we are thrilled to say that the original group is going to perform 2 songs at the intermission   on 5/2 and 5/3. This is pretty exciting for us, plus we get to see Linda and Joyce again!!)

Emily J., Member since 2005

 

This year, Mountain Melody Celebrates 10 Glorious Years of Song!
In honor of this occasion, members of the group have written their “stories” of how they came to be a part of the group.
Mountain Melody is more than just a bunch of women who like to sing–it goes deeper than that–it is truly a community that comes together to share their love of music and the joy of performing it.
So sit down with your cup of java (jive) and read our stories!
Be sure to make it to one of our spring performances too, we are revising many old favorites and adding new favorites too.
Our music is fun and family-friendly, and brought to you with love!
🙂

Another fabulous season of song has just wrapped up as the old year is coming to a close.

Sunday night December 14th was another wonderful show, a great venue and a super audience!
Oh, and again, a standing ovation!
🙂
It was so lovely seeing all the bright happy faces in the audience smiling back at us.
So thank you everyone who came out to Outer Aisle.

Some highlights:

I just loved singing the carol “O Holy Night” with Russ and the audience.
It is truly magical to be surrounded by the music.
And what a beautiful song—love those high notes!

Also, when Yebuny’s little girl, Cordelia came in she looked over at all of us and her face just lit up!
She is a little bright spot at our rehearsals and it’s clear she loves all her Aunties!

And then Yebuny brought her over while we sang “Silent Night” at the perfect moment when we got to ” ’round yon virgin, mother and child.”
I admit I got a little choked up.

Last year at this time we learned Yebuny was expecting, so it’s like Cordelia has been with the choir since then!

And many thanks to Julie, our fearless leader, who guides us through each song with her expert hand, and always gets us through those tricky sticky passages to the goal of beautiful music.

And thanks also to Marge for her dedication and talent at the keyboard!
You always make us sound good!

All of us are looking forward to another musical year (it will be the 10th anniversary of Mountain Melody) full of camaraderie and song!

Happy New Year and here’s to a fabulous 2015!

Our concerts were a great success, many folks saying that they were completely entertained and caught up in the music.

Not too many boo-boos, an interesting entrance on Saturday, and on Sunday, the piano dropped out completely during the song, “My Favorite Things.”

There was a moment when we floundered a tiny bit, as we all sensed something going wrong, but then we came back in and finished the song.

Marge, our accompanist kept a cool head, and was pleased we added another “a capella” song into the mix!

I especially loved hearing us all, singers, our announcer Russ, and all of the audience singing “O Holy Night” together.

But the fun isn’t over yet—one more night on December 13th at Outer Aisle in Murphys!

Hope to see lots of folks come out!
Happy Holidays!
🙂

The Week From………

Oh yes it is here!
The week we’ve waited for
And practiced for
And maybe even anticipated with a tiny smidgen of dread…….

What if I forget the words?
What if I can’t hit the note?
What if I come in at the wrong time—loudly?
What if I look out at the audience and just freeze up?

These are the fears we must face down and conquer this week!!!

But we will rise to the occasion, we will overcome every last bit of trepidation, we will triumph—-over all of our seventeen songs—-and we will bring you MUSIC!!

Music made from our countless rehearsals, hours of practice and study, from our hearts and our minds, our gift to you for the beautiful Holiday season.

It’s all about the music!

I have always loved music. I love singing, listening to music, dancing to music, and playing it on my ukulele.

I think of myself as a musical “idiot savant,” as my musical training is a bit spotty, but I was given (thanks Mom!) a great vocal instrument, and also a pretty good ear.
Due to a social disease (extreme shyness) in my youth, I missed out on the experience of choral singing in high school.

But, I am doing it now, and loving it.

Music really is a language unto itself. I feel that by being a part of Mountain Melody, my music reading ability has improved so much.
Half notes, quarter notes, dotted quarter notes—bring it on!
There is so much to learn from every piece of music I study.

And the experience of performing is wonderful.
It’s such a privilege to share the music with the audience and hear the applause when they enjoy it.
It makes it all worthwhile to be inside the songs, blending with the beautiful voices in the chorus, becoming one with the music.