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When I sang with the group in 1966-7 I was Judy Murray......big name change, eh? I was in the Concert that was televised in 1966 as an alternative Christmas. It was the Pres. church, I think, and also there was a concert with the Mothers of Invention, at the DOM, on St. Mark's (remember the DOM?), when it was the Andy Warhohl Plastic Fantastic Exploding Circus, or something like that. We rehearsed for endless days with the Mothers (one of their girlfriends watched my youngest daughter) which was a HOOT. I just found the original program I have kept all these years, through all of my many cross country moves. The RCNY was so meaningful to me I kept everything I had, the music, the program. This is from the Christmas Eve 1966 Concert at Washington Square Methodist Church, an "intercultural" Xmas as I recall (my then mother in law recoiled at the idea!). The RCNY, with Joel, sang Puer Natus, Resonet in Laudibus, Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (with the church chorus) and Love Came down at Christmas (Gustav Holst). WERE you there? Do you remember Joel changing the order of resonet at the last minute? Do you remeber his telling us to say GRISTMAS, not CHRISTMAS? I remember going to the deli on 2nd Ave after...I lived on 3rd St and Ave. A, and someone from the chorus walked me home...I can not remember who...and it was snowing, just magical.... I don't remember much about individuals, or names, but there was one young man who was very helpful to me when I smoked some potent dope at Joel's prior to the Mothers of Invention concert and got very, very frightened....I was never much of a doper. Were you there for that? Were you there for the Church concert in 1966? Do you remember the competition between Joel and the choir director of the church? It was pretty intense! Before it was the Electric Circus it was the Plastic Fantastic exploding light show but I don't actually remember what exactly it was when we went to sing with the Mothers. As I recall, they didn't let us sing so we went out on St. Mark's and sang in the street. Was that the first time we sang in the street? I sing with the Victoria Choral Society here, and we sing a lot with the Victoria symphony. Our director is also an assistant director at the Victoria Opera (it aint the MET!) and is great and very musical....however, Renaissance music in Victoria generally means lots of English madrigals and anthems....not my favorite. The Victoria Choral Society does the big choral works, which are great, too, but I so miss Renaissance music and the RSS! All these memories of the Renaissance Chorus are so sweet for me!!! Memories of youth, and optimism, and possibility, and FUN. The Mothers of Invention gave us all copies of their LP, the name of which I don't recall--I wore it out between my playing it then my youngest daughter who insisted I play it over and over and over and over. She had fond memories of them for years because she was at the rehearsals. Of course now she has NO recollection of that time. Tsiporah Gottlieb
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