Fall Begins

Our Fall session, "Christmastime" is well underway. We have enjoyed rehearsing in our new location at the Charter Colony "Village" clubhouse. Here is a little more info. as to what we do each week at YMS!

Each rehearsal includes both physical warm-ups and vocal warm-ups. Singing actually uses a lot of muscles and needs strengthening and loosening up like a lot of other physical activities.

A quick physical warm-up after the stresses of a long day!

A GENTLE massage often ends in laughing!

Every week we have a lesson on a vocal technique or skill that we use throughout our rehearsals and in performances. We hope these lessons will benefit each child's singing but also their public speaking and any other performance opportunity.

Can you see all our "lions"? Just wait 'till you see the "lemons".

We obviously do a lot of singing every week but we also require the singers to exhibit confidence, poise, learn staging, and memorize choreography.
 

A little dramatic? But, of course.

Phew! No wonder we all sleep so well on Thursday nights!

Patriot Day

We were thrilled to be asked to sing at the Virginia War Memorial for Patriot Day on September 11th. It was a beautiful day to share with other Richmond residents and state dignitaries as we remembered such a tragic and meaningful day.

The Singers did a fantastic job. They were respectful and poised and sang beautifully. They received many compliments from those in attendance and have now been invited back to other events at the War Memorial.

It was a pleasure and privilege to sing for many who serve in our country's military. We watched a beautiful color guard ceremony and a flag retiring ceremony (which I'd never seen before) as they retired an old American Flag.

DAYS 2 and 3

We are cruising' right along at breakneck speed. 

The past two days here are some of the things we've been doing!!

YMS Presents

DAY ONE:
What a success!! We had a fun day filled with staging and games, dancing and singing, painting and memorizing. The capers were well prepared and so excited to get started on our adventure this week!
17 kids, 8 musical numbers, 100s of lines, over 30 costumes in 4 days of rehearsal...Why not?!?

VA Hospital

By far, the greatest part of singing is sharing words and music with those who can use an extra boost. We love performing at the VA Hospital for men and women who have given so much to our country.








It was inspiring to be among them and the Singers did a great job showing love and respect as well as a beautiful musical program!

I may or may not have shed a tear as we closed with God Bless the USA.! I couldn't help it as these awesome kids sang with all their hearts words that describe the very brave men and women we were singing to.

American Road Trip

What a wonderful end to a fun session! For the first time we were able to perform at a new, bigger venue. There were plenty of seats for all family and friends. YEAH!!
We were impressed with how quickly the singers learned all their music and choreography AND adapted to a new location (in just one quick rehearsal)!

See you all at YMS Presents "The Magical Land of Oz" or in the fall for our Fall session of YMS!!

Spring Flies

 Spring Session with the Young Midlothian Singers is like being on a high speed roller coaster! One of those roller coasters that starts on a straightaway and rockets forward from 0 - 75mph in seconds. Where your face feels like its being plastered to the seat behind you...anyone know what I'm talking about?
Well, learning 10 songs and 10 different stage formations and 4 different harmony parts and 4 dances AND performing in a brand new location in 6 rehearsals feels just like that roller coaster. It is fast and exciting and gives you a jolt of adrenaline and you are so proud that you actually did it!!

We hope that's how our Singers feel this session. They have had to learn quickly and be independent in their practicing at home.
We are excited about all the new things we're getting to do with YMS! Hope to see you for our musical theatre camp "YMS Presents" and in the fall with the Young Midlothian Singers and our audition-only middle school girls group, "Encore".

Fools for Art

We had a wonderful time performing at "Fool for Art" at John Tyler Community College. 

It was a beautiful day with lots of fun festivities. The Singers impressed us with their poise and preparation despite just 2 rehearsals under their belts! We received comments throughout the day about how much people enjoyed the energy and quality of the performance.

A great kick-off to a great event!

Last Rehearsal

We had a great rehearsal this week. We were able to run through the whole show in anticipation of our 3 performances this week!! The session has absolutely flown by. The Singers have worked so hard and seem to feel confident and pleased with how their work has paid off. We look forward to singing at the Spring Arbor and Southerland Place assisted living centers this weekend and for all our friends and family on the 27th!

Practice makes perfect, right?! 

We are working hard each rehearsal to perfect our singing, choreography and stage blocking. It is a fun process to watch the Singers improve, light bulbs go off and excitement grow as their hard work pays off!

We LOVE Basketball!

Getting ready to SING!!

Our first performance of this session was an exciting opportunity to sing the National Anthem for the Richmond Spiders' basketball game. The Singers have had the chance to sing the anthem before for different sporting events but for some reason (perhaps being inside) this seemed extra exciting.

Meeting the "Spider"

A lot to take in!

I loved watching the kids faces as we walked out onto the court, through the giant, inflatable spider and fog machine, to find our spot in front of the microphones. The lights were bright, music was jamming through the speakers, players were running all around us with balls flying. I think every head was spinning to take it all in and I definitely saw some mouths gaping open!
The kids did a great job with the anthem and I'm sure they also appreciated the roar of applause as they finished. It was quite a thrill for all of us!

One of the best parts was the Spiders went on to win the game in the last few seconds! Maybe we brought them some good luck.

We Go Together

This past week we were anxious to start our new session of Singers, "We Go Together". It was fun to see the kids excited to see each other and to sing through our new songs -- perfect considering our theme which centers around friendship and fun.

Along with our sing-through, we were able to fit in some choreography! The song "Friendship" from the musical "Anything Goes", was a quick hit with the kids.