Update from Dr. Holcomb (04.09.2026)

Greetings, Voces Pacis Singers!

First of all, to those of you who were able to participate in our last concert weekend, CONGRATULATIONS on a very beautiful concert. Heather Sorenson wanted me to convey her appreciation for such a wonderful performance of SOLAS. The concert was a meaningful and spiritual experience for all of us. I am looking forward to SEASON 5. If you have not signed up yet for the season, it certainly is not too late and I would encourage you to join us for a great upcoming season.

We have North Texas Gives to the Arts days April 16-30 coming up soon!  For more information, visit https://mtyc.co/1nyvaf.  Feel free to share with your friends and family!

I am looking forward to our next weekend, June 26 and 27, and a concert of fun selections from some Broadway Classics. Here is some general information as well as instructions for those who may wish to be considered for a solo as a part of the medlies.

June 26 we will be rehearsing again at the Park Cities Baptist Church Choral Hall. We are thankful to be in this space; it is so convenient for us as we are  again performing at the Museum of Biblical Arts close to the church.

The program content may seem a little "out of place" but when I had my meeting with the MBA staff after our concert last year, they shared that our concert repertoire was not restricted to sacred literature only and suggested that we do a Broadway review-style concert. I had also had requests from some of our members to include some Broadway rep on one of the next season concerts, so it made sense to embrace the idea and move forward with planning.

Here are the program selections in concert order:

MARY POPPINS: The Musical Choral Highlights

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

CAROUSEL in Concert

THE SOUND OF MUSIC 

Music can be ordered from Penders in the usual manner. HOWEVER, we are unclear as to exactly when the medlies from Carousel and The Sound of Music will become available because they are being "printed on request" from archival files. The sooner you order the sooner we will know exactly the number of copies needed and can get these done. Should there be an issue, we will develop a plan to get the music into your hands temporarily by digital means for learning purposes only until actual copies become available.

SOLO INFORMATION:

There are a number of short solo passages within three of the medlies. If you are interested in securing one of these, I will need for you to record a demo of the solo for which you wish to audition and get it to me in a video format by May 16, 2026 emailed to me at this email address: stephen.holcomb@vocespacis.org  Don't make a big deal about it - just do it on your phone and send it. I want to make  selections and notify singers before May 28. Patty and I will be out of the country from May 28-June 12, and waiting until we return would be too late to let singers know and prepare before our rehearsal on June 26. If you are selected for a solo, I will ask you to memorize your solo for best audience communication. If there is more than one solo for a "character," it may be that a different singer may be assigned so more singers can have a "role."

I am providing a guide for each medley below so you can mark the solo passages and full choral passages as indicated in the scores.

First of all, before you start, NUMBER YOUR MEASURES, it saves us time in rehearsal. 

MARY POPPINS

    Section I

        m. 42-78    SOLO (Character of Bert)

        m. 83          All women

        m. 140-148 SOLO (Character of Mary Poppins)

        m. 149        All women

        m. 165-168 SOLO RETURNS

        m. 169        ALL

        m. 182        (Note swing rhythm begins)

        m. 184        All men

        m. 214        SOLO (Character Mary Poppins)

        m. 222        SOLO (Character of Bert)  -  Add all women on the "ah"s

    Section II

        m. 9-24       SOLO (Character of Mary Poppins)

        m. 24          Choir begins and sings through the end of the section (m. 110)

    Section III

        m. 5             SOLO (Character of Mary Poppins)

        m. 21           Full choir

        m. 65           SOLO returns through m. 67

        m. 71           SOLO (Character of a chimney sweep - male) beats 1 & 2 Choir sings beat 3

        m. 73           SOLO (Character of a chimney sweep - male) beats 1 & 2 Choir sings beat 3

        m. 75-76      SOLO (Character of chimney sweep - male) 

        m. 77           ALL

        m. 184         SOLO (spoken) (Character of Mary Poppins)

        m. 192-223  SOLO (sung) (Character of Mary Poppins)

        m. 260         ALTOS there is a rhythmic mistake here, change the quarter note on beat 3 to a half-note

        m. 291         TEMPO begins slowly and then gets continually faster.

        m. 309         SOLO (Spoken)

        m. 324         ALL SOLOIST sing in appropriate octave

        m. 326         FULL CHOIR

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

        m. 38           Sopranos and Tenors only

        m. 46           ADD Altos and Basses

        m. 83           Calls for a whistle - I would love to have a harmonica - anyone capable?

        m. 126         SOLO    (Character of Pharaoh - aka ELVIS)

        m. 131         Sopranos, Altos, and TENORS (!) sing the "Bop-shu-wa")

        m. 150         ALL BASSES sing the "hum-uh-hum" then out again

        m. 154         ALL as written

        m. 221         SOLO (Character one of Joseph's brothers) in Calypso style with Jamaican accent

        m. 228         ALL women enter beat 4

        m. 229         ALL men enter beat 2

        m. 237         SOLO (Character one of Joseph's brothers) in Calypso style with Jamaican accent

        m. 244         ALL women enter beat 4

        m. 245         ALL men enter beat 2

CAROUSEL - No Solos

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

        m. 243          CHANGE TO A SOLO (already assigned), Put a repeat sign here: solo first time, on repeat the choir enters with the solo and sing as written to the end

        m. 260          ADD a repeat back to m. 243       

I hope you enjoy working  and performing this music. Let's have FUN!

Love you all,

Dr. Holcomb