Director's Chat. December 2020
Daniel Burnham (of Lakefront planning in Chicago fame) once said "Make no small plans."Just
drive down Lake Shore Drive around downtown and you will see what he meant, and what he
accomplished with some support from Montgomery Ward himself. It is Beautiful, well laid
out, and when you walk through it all absolutely huge! I bring this up because it is apropos
of where we are with Normennenes at this time.
Needless to say, the Pandemic has posed unique if not somewhat terrifying circumstances for
literally everyone in Illinois and throughout the world. Some think that we will never be
the same again after this passes. Myself, I think this is the time to plan big to expand
and enliven who Normennenes is and to set the stage for strategic forward motion at the first
sign of the Pandemic's end. And while we are in some stasis (at least from the perspective
of being in person rehearsing and performing) we have launched the Soundtrap set up for at
least two or more songs. Mike Benshish has been at the helm of this project and working hard.
I've even recorded parts for the songs to help too. So
if you haven't recorded into
Soundtrap, or aren't happy with your track
please hop on board and record into the
two songs we have available. This will allow Mike to mix it down to our best possible sound,
sync it all together, and let us go public with the sound we have at the moment on Facebook
and our Website.
I know that if I were looking for a group to sing with once things are a little better, I'd
want to hear a bit of what they sound like, some info and history of the group, about the
Director and Accompanist, and other important things. The Website and Facebook can help with
this. To that end Bill Johnson is doing yeoman's work putting stuff into the site that will
help the cause.
I have a few requests of you, both choral and social members. Here goes
- Send in pics of Normennenes you might have directly to Bill here at the website.
New pics, old pics, pics of our clubhouse on Kedzie, some pics of SACS, rehearsals
formal pics, or anything involving Normennenes. Lots of Pics. Bill is a great editor
and will cull the best to show us off.
- Take some time and look for them but don't wait!
- If you don't know how to send them ask our webmaster (Bill of course) how to do it and
then get it done.
- People LOVE pics, and it gives the potential singer a little insight into who we are
and what we've done.
Other plans. I am engaging the Grieg Ladies about working more closely with us. They are
enthused. So watch for details about that. Suffice it to say each group will retain its
own identity but will come together often enough to make even more sounds and musical
repertoire available to us. We did this especially at the last Christmas Concert at
Minnekirken
and we even included the Children's Choir from St. Bart's for good
measure. It was a wonderful sound!
Next thing
. Tell everyone you know about the website and encourage them to 'hit us'
That is to say…go to the site to visit. The more hits the better the exposure, the better
the exposure the more potential new members we will get!
Do the same with Facebook. You can add stuff there yourself. Perhaps, a little about how
much you enjoy Normennenes, or a funny story about us, albeit a short funny story. We
certainly have quite a few of them!
Don't forget, this is the 2nd time Normennenes has been through a Pandemic and not folded!
Rest assured my brothers, that everything possible I can think of is being approached.
More details as I galvanize them.
More soon. Hope your thanksgiving was good. It is a blessing that we are all here at this time.
Keep Singing! All the time. As kid I knew I was practicing enough when my mom would yell up
from the front stairs. ARE YOU DONE YET???? Every 5 minutes or so. Bless my mom.
More Soon
Tusen Tak!
Lev Sangen!
Chuck Kessell
(Oh BTW
: Once in a while I'll throw in some Norwegian phrases just for fun)