Choir Newsletter; October 14, 2016

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 are listed in PowerSchool, 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. ​​

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Curricular Choir

• Our first concert of the year is coming up on October 19. Make sure your student is here! Please also check the dress code. 
• Several classes have starting MusicTheory.net assignments. These online assignments are not timed, allowing students to move at their own pace. Choir students have very wide range of prior knowledge, so by using an online trainer we are able to get support for the kids who need it while providing a review opportunity for students who are more experienced in music theory. MusicTheory.net assignments are accepted late without penalty. Also, students can always try multiple times to get a better score! 
• A key point about MTN assignments came up during the P/T conferences this week. It's important to think of the MTN assignments as a Pre-test. If a student receives a bad score on on of those assignments, it doesn't mean that we've covered it and they still don't understand; it lets me know that this is an area that needs my attention. Most of the material assessed by MTN has been covered in previous choir classes in middle school and elsewhere. MTN gives me an opportunity to see where a gap in students' training exists. Once an area of difficulty is identified, we can work on it one-on-one or as a class, depending on how many students are struggling with that concept. Once we find the trouble spot, students can do the drill again )as many times as it takes) to improve the grade. 
• Assignments: Our first assignment was simply to read the syllabus and show it to parents. In case that didn't happen, here is the syllabus!
• Check marks in the Gradebook: If your student has a check mark in place of a number for any given assignment, that means that the assignment HAS been turned in. Check marks do not affect the grade in any direction. If the assignment is missing, there will be a zero there. Zeros do affect the grade, quite strongly. Once I have had a chance to update the grades, I will move them from a check mark to whatever number is merited. I try to update MTN assignments every weekday. SRF assignments can go longer between updates. I also indicate (a little red L) if an assignments is late. SRF assignments are docked two points (about 6%) for being late. MTN assignments are not affected by being late. MTN's can always be attempted multiple times as necessary (See above).
• Difficulty level progress in SightReadingFactory.com (Updated 10/18): The average difficulty level for all 140 students is up to 2.58 after starting the year at 2.17! 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: The average for 9th graders are now at 1.68 (started at 1.14), Varsity is now at 2.17 (up from 1.83), Treble is now at 2.96 (up from 2.66), and Chamber is now at 4.41 (up from 4.10). Accuracy has been pretty flat at around 95%. This tells me that students are moving onto harder lines without sacrificing accuracy. Great work everyone!

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Volunteers needed for next week's concert! 

Usher: We need at least 4 by law! 

Photographer/videographer

• We never have enough pictures or video of our performances! I'd love to be able to share more pics & video on our website, social media, or YouTube.
• I could use one person who would help me collect & organize pics & vids from other people. Please contact me if you're able to help in this way. 

Here are our dates this year:

• Wed, October 19 (Fall Concert)   Please click here for the Usher Sign-up Genius page. 
• Wed, November 30 (Kaleidoscope)
• Feb 21, 22, & 23 (BHS Music Week)
• Tues, Feb 28: Showtime (Show choirs and Chromatics)
• Wed, May 10: Final Choir Concert

If any of these roles sound like areas you'd be willing to contribute, please let me know! We'll use Sign-up Genius when the role calls for it. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions! 

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Tri-M Music Honor Society
 
If your son or daughter is a Junior or Senior and is interested in joining the Tri-M Music Honor Society at Batavia HS, please have them look at this webpage and fill out the application. Applications should be turned in to Mr. Owen by Friday, October 21st.
 
http://www.bataviamusic.org/uploads/2/4/1/1/24118805/tri-m_information___application_16-17.pdf

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Show Choir refreshers
Getting rusty on the show choir songs we learned in August? Come to the choir room after school on Tuesdays to practice!

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Calendar
​All BHS choir after-school rehearsals, events, and performances will be posted and updated on the Batavia High School Music Department website, found at: www.bataviamusic.org.  This is the best resource for staying updated on concerts, rehearsals, and other events for the music program.

2016-2017 Choir Events and Performances 
(Attendance at performances/events are REQUIRED for all BHS choir students unless otherwise specified):
Wednesday, October 19            Fall Choir Concert
Tuesday, November 29              Kaleidoscope Concert Dress Rehearsal – During school day
Wednesday, November 30        Music Department Kaleidoscope Concert
Thursday, Dec 8                            Festival of Carols Dress Rehearsal (TBA)
Fri-Sat. Dec 9-10                            Festival of Carols (Chamber & Treble)
Tuesday, February 21                 BHS Music Festival- Concert 1 (Chorale)
Wednesday, February 22           BHS Music Festival- Concert 2 (Treble & Varsity)
Thursday, February 23               BHS Music Festival- Concert 3 (Chamber)
Wednesday, May 10                    Spring Choir Concert

2016-2017 Other Important Dates:
Tuesday, October 4                     ILMEA Auditions (Chamber strongly encouraged to audition)
Tuesday, February 28                 Showtime! (BFAC performance for show choirs and Chromatics)
March 28-April 2                          Choir tour to Disneyworld
Tuesday, May 2                            BHS Senior Music Honors Night

Concert Uniforms
All Choirs: Black dress pants or skirt, black dress shirt, black socks and dress shoes, which each student must provide. Some performances will include robes, which BHS will provide.

Did you notice that we need ushers for Wednesday's concert? Thanks for considering it!