We are starting a new extra-curricular Pop A Cappella group, in the style of Pentatonix, Pitch Perfect, and the Sing-Off. To audition, they will create a video in Screencastify, which will be them singing a verse and chorus of a pop song, similar to what you see in the first round of American Idol auditions. After reviewing those videos, I'll choose 20-30 students to meet together for second round audition where I'll determine how well students voices blend. 
Students interested in audition can join the Google Classroom at jbe5t35 and complete the three assignments there. Everything is due by Sunday night! I'll start reviewing and applications and deciding on the callback list on Monday. 
I anticipate that this new group will perform at the Gala! For more on what this might look like, here are a few videos I recorded last year with my group at Oswego East. ​

Music Scholarships to Aurora University 
Seniors! I got this nice email about scholarships from Lisa Fredenburgh, the Director of Choral Activities at Aurora University. For those of you in Varsity, she's the professor who came out to work with us in October. 

"I hope your semester is off to a good start. I had so much fun with your students last semester. It was nice to see such engaged students. They are lucky to have you at Batavia for sure! 

For us at AU, it is that time of year again! I am writing to let you know of a great scholarship opportunity for pianists and singers! The deadline for The Musical Excellence Competition Scholarship is quickly approaching (February 19th). You can find all the information about the music scholarships with the links below. Our Musical Excellence Scholarship Competition is open to Vocalists and Pianists. Scholarship winners in each area will be awarded $5000 per year renewable yearly up to $20,000.00. The deadline for application is Feb. 19 and the competition will be held on Saturday February 27, 2016 in Crimi Auditorium at Aurora University. I hope that you will suggest that some of your students apply for this scholarship opportunity or forward this email to them directly. Just a note, if they are not the winner of the competition, you will also be considered for other levels of funding."

Take a look at AU, and see if this is right for you!

Seniors! I got this nice email about scholarships from Lisa Fredenburgh, the Director of Choral Activities at Aurora University. For those of you in Varsity, she's the professor who came out to work with us in October. 

"I hope your semester is off to a good start. I had so much fun with your students last semester. It was nice to see such engaged students. They are lucky to have you at Batavia for sure!

For us at AU, it is that time of year again! I am writing to let you know of a great scholarship opportunity for pianists and singers! The deadline for The Musical Excellence Competition Scholarship is quickly approaching (February 19th). You can find all the information about the music scholarships with the links below. Our Musical Excellence Scholarship Competition is open to Vocalists and Pianists. Scholarship winners in each area will be awarded $5000 per year renewable yearly up to $20,000.00. The deadline for application is Feb. 19 and the competition will be held on Saturday February 27, 2016 in Crimi Auditorium at Aurora University. I hope that you will suggest that some of your students apply for this scholarship opportunity or forward this email to them directly. Just a note, if they are not the winner of the competition, you will also be considered for other levels of funding."

Take a look at AU, and see if this is right for you!

Choir parents and families,

• Here's this week's newsletter. Key points and new information are in bold type. 
  ​
  A link to each post will be sent through the choir Twitter and Facebook accounts, to whatever parent emails I have on file, and to the students through Google Classroom. 
  
  The beginning section will always be about curricular choir and the following information will pertain to the extracurricular activities, so you only need to read what applies to your student.  The most updated and comprehensive calendar is always on bataviamusic.org. ​
• ​Curricular Choir:
  • The BHS Open House is scheduled for next Thursday, January 21 from 6:30-8 pm. I'll be here, but as choir is a year-long class I don't anticipate any new parents. As such, I will not be conducting a presentation about the class. I will be here of course, but there won't necessarily be any new information passed out at that time. All of the music teachers will be meeting in the Band Room if you want to say Hi.  
  • Assignments: Students in all choirs can be working on the MusicTheory.net due Tuesday and the Sight Reading Factory due next Thursday. Any past due assignments from January only are fair game as well.
  • Delays in grading: This week has been especially full for me, so I'm behind on the grading. If your child's Powerschool grade doesn't match what they expect, be patient and I should be caught up by Tuesday. 
  • Difficulty level progress in SRF: Students are able to choose their difficulty level on their SIghtReadingFactory.com assignments. I've encouraged them to move up to the next level as they improve, just as they would "level up" to harder challenges in a video game. I had a chance to crunch the numbers over break, and I'm please to see many students and classes taking on the challenge. The average level for all 125 students moved from 1.26 in the first week up to 2.6 on yesterday's assignment. Very few students are at level 1 (though, I'm happy they are if it is the appropriate challenge for them!), and many students are regularly working at level 4 or even 5. SRF has 6 possible levels, so there's plenty of room to grow, even for our most advanced singers. Here are some breakdowns: All 9th graders are averaging 2.26, Varsity is 2.06, Treble is 2.36, and Chamber is 3.73.
  • The list for Illinois State Scholars has been announced, and Adi Alley, Maren Flessen, Xander Heine, Amanda Maher, and Ben Zinser were all named, as was the "friend of the program" Mikkel Knutson (Mikkel has been in choir, and was one of the serving peasants at the Festival of Carols this year). We have some smart cookies in choir!
  • Our focus for this concert cycle will be on vowel shape and tone quality. While we always want to get the notes right, we'll be paying special attention to our blend and healthy tone production. Wish us luck!

We are starting a new extra-curricular Pop A Cappella group, in the style of Pentatonix, Pitch Perfect, and the Sing-Off. To audition, they will create a video in Screencastify, which will be them singing a verse and chorus of a pop song, similar to what you see in the first round of American Idol auditions. After reviewing those videos, I'll choose 20-30 students to meet together for second round audition where I'll determine how well students voices blend. Full details will be up in a Google Classroom with instructions on how to audition. I'll send the link to the new Classroom to the students once the audition information is ready. I anticipate that this new group will perform at the Gala! For more on what this might look like, here are a few videos I recorded last year with my group at Oswego East.