September Newsletter
September 30, 2024
Hello and welcome to the Pine State Pitches’ monthly newsletter! We’ll post updates about what the group is working on, upcoming shows, and bits of insight into what it’s like to be part of our a cappella group. Whether you have been to every performance or are just discovering us, we hope you’ll get to know us and sign up for our mailing list!
Before we get going, I’d like to introduce myself, the writer. My name is Bailey, I have been part of the Pine State Pitches (PSP) since the group began in fall 2021. Since then, I’ve enjoyed being part of the Social Media Team, working with several other members of the group to keep our fans informed about our gigs and anything else we are up to. Outside of the group, I’m involved with local community theater, I love to read fantasy books, and I am absolutely obsessed with my dog, Fred. You can often find us taking very slow walks around South Portland, thanks to his stubby little dachshund legs.
September is always an exciting month for PSP as we return from a summer apart. While we have regular get-togethers in the sunnier months, we hit pause on rehearsals. As our Mainer friends know, summer is a busy time in the Pine Tree State, and this summer was no exception! In July, some group members got together to enjoy lounging in the Saco River. August brought Lake Street Dive to Thompson’s Point, where a few of us enthusiastically sang along to Bad Self Portraits, which you may have heard us sing in-person at one of our shows.
Our group members have so many talents – here are just a few more highlights of the many amazing things our groups members did over the last few months:
Went on trips, including a honeymoon!
Performed with other music groups, including Lavendar Choir and Rosewood Avenue
Performed in and directed local community theater productions, including Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Went camping
Completed a triathlon
Started a theater company
Grew luscious gardens
Began a new chorus teaching job
Taught theater and dance classes
Enjoyed festivals of every kind
Made some gorgeous dresses
Spent a LOT of time snuggling their new precious baby
I am in awe of the incredible people in our group, aren’t you??
On Sunday this week, we held our annual PSP Fall Retreat to regroup after the summer. Typically a full day of singing, chatting, and bonding, this year we opted for a shorter karaoke party. We sang Chappell Roan, Billy Joel, Panic! At the Disco, Kacey Musgraves, lots of show tunes, and everything in between. Maybe we'll share a few videos with you on our Instagram this week!
As we settle into autumn, we are excitedly planning for the months ahead. One performance we are especially excited for is a collaboration with Women in Harmony, another local women’s singing group. Their group vision, “A world where every voice is equal and valued,” is something PSP closely relates to, and we are thrilled to join our voices together at one of their shows this winter. Watch out social media channels for more information about that performance in the coming weeks!
At the moment, we are working hard to solidify the songs we will work on and eventually perform for you this year. As you can imagine, having fifteen group members brings a lot of different musical preferences and abilities to the table. We love performing a diverse repertoire, but it can be hard to narrow down our song selection each year. We are constantly searching for songs that represent us as a group, that will challenge us musically and be fun for you, our audience, to hear. So how do we choose which songs we’ll sing each year? Here’s how we’re doing it this year:
The first step is to collect songs. Our group directors, Lauren and Rachel, sent out a spreadsheet for the group to add songs to. In this first range, group members added any songs they thought would be a good fit for our group.
Next, the group met for an evening of listening and searching for sheet music. We heard a little of every song on the list together and if most of the group liked it, we looked to see if there was already an arrangement of the song in our range. Our group sings in the Treble range, so we have two Soprano and two Alto sections (SSAA). If we found an arrangement we liked, we added it to the spreadsheet; if no arrangement was available, we put that song on the back burner to come back to. If we find an arrangement in the future, or if one of our talented group members wants to try doing their own arrangement, then we will add it back to the list.
The final list had close to 100 songs, and it was time for the last step – voting! Lauren carefully organized the list into genres and sent it to the group to vote on each song. Once everyone has voted, we will figure out which songs we want to sing this year, and which we’ll save to consider next year. Rachel, our music director, considers our song choices from a setlist perspective, looking for themes, styles, and a good mix of upbeat and slower tempo songs. It is quite a process, but all worth it when we see your smiling faces as you listen to us sing!
We have one more treat coming soon – this fall, we want you to weigh in on our song choices! We will post a few songs for you to vote on in our Instagram story next week, so keep an eye out for that and let us know what you want to hear us sing!
Thank you all for reading our very first monthly newsletter! I hope you’ll come back next month, and let me know if there is anything you want me to write about in future posts in the comments!
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