The Batavia Music Buffs offers a scholarship program to promote continuing music education to students and to recognize individual student achievement in the field of music.

Scholarships are awarded based on the scholarship policies and eligibility requirements set forth by the Batavia Music Buffs Executive Board and the District Music Directors.

Batavia Music Buffs proudly offers:

• a Gertrude Petit Memorial Scholarship for a graduating senior in the pursuit of higher education in the area of Music Education or Music Performance at any accredited college 
• multiple Summer Music Camp scholarships to BHS music students (Fr., Soph., Jr.) AND RMS music students (6th, 7th, & 8th).

Learn more and apply online at http://bataviamusicbuffs.org/fundraising/scholarships/

All scholarships must be submitted online by April 20, 2018.

Learn more about how you can support music in Batavia my becoming a member of the Buffs.  http://bataviamusicbuffs.org/product-category/membership/
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On Tuesday, May 1, 2018 Geneva High School will be hosting an evening of choral music presented by UNUM, a newly formed Chicago based professional chamber vocal ensemble dedicated to bringing high quality vocal music to 21st century audiences. 
I am cordially inviting students to attend this concert free of charge. The concert will be performed in the Geneva High School Auditorium from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM.  The program is entitled "Hard Times Come Again No More"- Reflections on love, pain, joy and hope. 
Program notes, ticket information and directions to the High School can be found on the groups website at UNUM TICKETS.  Tickets for the general public are $15.00 and can either be purchased online through the link or at the door.
Students ages 18 and under will be admitted without charge. 

I sincerely hope you and your students will be able to join us for this delightful evening of music by Gjeilo, Taverner, Purcell, Byrd, Whitacre, Chilcott, Paul Simon and more!

Peace and Music!

Roxanne M. Curtis
Geneva High School

Showchoir auditions are coming up soon! 
Here are a few details:

1. All auditioning students will come to the BHS Choir room from 6-8 pm on April 23. Please enter the school through door N6, which is on the Wilson Street side. We'll post videos of the choreography as well to help kids practice. 
2. At some point before 4/27, each auditioner will sing a song of their choice for me.
   • Here are a few song options, but they are welcome to sing something else they have prepared. Pop, music theater, country, jazz are appropriate. Please note that you will only be able to access the folder if you are signed in to your BPS101 account.
   • If they are bringing their own song, please bring a piano part for me to play.  If you are using one of the options I gave, you won't need to print anything out: I'll have it ready. 
   • I will video record the audition, and Miss O'Neill and I will review the videos. Go ahead and click this link & sign up for one of the time slots. Notice that the Thursday slots are at RMS, and the others are at BHS. Please also note that your calendar settings need to have correct set the time zone. I have had students come at the wrong time because their personal calendar didn't have the time zone set correctly. Please note the time and location of  your appointment carefully.
3. On Friday, April 27 at 4:30, all auditioners will come to the BHS choir room to demonstrate the dance. We will practice it together a few times, then they will go in groups of 4 or 5 until we've seen everyone. Often, students are able to get done before 6:30. 
4. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!

​Let me know if you have questions!

Here is this week's BHS Music Newsletter. 

Please see the following instructions from the BFAC staff about ticketing for the 4pm or 7 pm Showtime performances
Information regarding admission process for the 7 pm BHS/RMS Showtime
Have tickets for the 7:00 pm performances of the BHS and RMS show choirs?

• Doors will open at 6:00 pm to begin lining up in the loop around the high school (Enter the BFAC main entrance on Wilson Street.)
• Upon entrance have your entire party together BEFORE entering the line and have your tickets out.
• House staff will walk the line with the door list checking parties in and verifying quantities of tickets match the BFAC door list.
• During the above process, your purchased ticket will be exchanged for an admission ticket to the theatre.  This new admission ticket will be the only ticket to get you into the actual theatre.

Need a ticket to the 7:00 pm "BHS/RMS Showtime" performance?:

• Continue to check the website for tickets, as tickets are released more tickets may become available online.
• There will be a will-call line between the Black Box and the Main stage North doors.  As tickets become available we will admit patrons from that line.

Have tickets for the 7:00 pm performance that you don't need?:

• EMAIL - bfac@bps101.net to let the box office know the quantity of tickets you are able to release.

ADDED 4 pm "BHS Showtime" performance
We have added a 4:00 pm performance which will feature only the High School groups.  Tickets are now available on the BFAC website.  Should you want to switch your tickets from the 7:00 pm to the 4:00 pm performance please contact the box office at bfac@bps101.net to release your tickets to the 7:00 pm performance.  We are certain there will be patrons happy to accept those released tickets.

I want to consider as much information as possible when determining next year's choirs. Since this decision will determine a student's placement for a whole year, I don't want to leave it up to one 5-minute audition. Hence the audition process is a bit more convoluted. It's more work for me now, but I think it leads to a fairer result. 

Side note: Mixed Chorale and Women's Chorale classes will be equivalent. I am not going to rank one as the more advanced. I will try to split one of them to make an SSA choir and one to be a mixed choir, but neither should be considered to be the top one. 
  
I will consider these factors when determining placements for 10-12 grade students:

Sight-reading Factory assignments
    Is the student improving in their sight-reading? Are they challenging themselves to keep growing, or are they content to stay where they are? I will look both at the accuracy and difficulty levels of their last several SightReadingFactory assignments. If we are better at sight-reading, we can do more music, harder music, and dig deeper in exploring the music we sing. 
    
Video Selfies
    Is the student demonstrating mastery of the songs they are currently performing? The Video Selfies we record in class will show this. Students will record a video of themselves singing a section of a song their choir has been working on. This is preferable to a traditional one at a time audition, since the student will be singing with the entire class, just as they always do. I will get a better idea of how they really sound than if I pull them aside one at a time. I will listen to these video selfies for Pitch & Rhythm Accuracy, Intonation, Tone Quality, and Expressiveness. 

Choir Climate
    This is more subjective than the previous two elements, but just as important. Do I get the sense that this student wants to work hard, or is choir someplace where they would rather just blow of some steam and sing with friends more casually? While I always expect students to improve and I have high expectations for every choir, students have varying degrees of how much they want to push themselves. Some students who are excellent sight-readers and have fine Video Selfies will request Varsity simply because they prefer a more casual climate. Other students have shown through their behavior in rehearsal that they want to push harder and reach for more music and more challenging music. 

Student Schedule
    While we try to accommodate every student, and while I feel strongly that every kid in the high school is welcome in choir (not just the good singers!), sometimes we are limited by scheduling factors. Sometimes a student needs a certain class at a certain block, but we don't have a choir that fits their abilities or temperment. I will do my best to find a fit that is fair, good for each kid, and good for the overall program. Remember, that this isn't just about whether any one student is improving. Eventually I need to make classes of sizes that fit the over scope of the program and that fit the other staffing needs of the building. For example, if I were to have 150 students in Chamber, that would be a lot of PE teachers needed on the opposite day! 

Transparency: 
    It's important to me that the students understand what the challenges are, and have say in the audition process. We have talked about it in class a good deal, and students have many opportunities to give input. They may not be happy with the result of this process, but my hope is that students will at least think that they were treated fairly and with respect through the process. I have taken many pieces of student advice in order to come up with this process. I will also be happy to go over the audition with each student. 

One area where I will not be transparent: I will never speak about how one student did except to that student or her/his parents. Just as I will not talk to you (student or parent) about why another student was placed into their choir, I will not talk to anyone else about why you were placed into your choir. 

If you have questions or concerns about the process, I'm happy to hear your thoughts. Once the assignments are made, it's necessary to give a few days to let the news settle in, and then I'd be happy to sit down and go over your (or your child's) audition materials. 

Peter Barsch
BHS Choir

PS: I would love to have TA's next year. There is always plenty to do, and if I have experienced choir kids as TA's they can help with peer tutoring, running sectionals, or simple office work. If you have an empty slot in your schedule, please consider helping out!

Here is the list of Choir Placements for 2018-19.

Choir students and parents, 
Here is our BHS Music Newsletter for 1/31/2018. 

We are in desperate need of volunteers (student and adult) and food donations for the Band Festival on 2/10. ALL proceeds from this event go to all the BPS101 Music Programs. Please consider donating your time or some food/drink. Information is in the newsletter near the top!