Choir Newsletter; September 9, 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. ​

Curricular Choir:

• We're growing! I'm happy to report that there are now 140 students in choir! That's in increase over the 123 last year. I love having more students to know and make music with!
• 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!
• We have also just started the new set of SightReadingFactory (SRF) assignments. These are online assignments that let the students practice sightreading at a difficulty level of their choice. Ask about it!
• SRF makes a great deal of data available. I'll post some here from time to time, so you can see how our students are progressing! 
• Difficulty level progress in SRF (Updated 9/8): I've just graded the first set of SRF assignments. The average level for all 140 students is 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 started at 1.14, Varsity at 1.83, Treble at 2.66, and Chamber at 4.10.
• Google Classroom has also added a feature where it will send an update to parents/guardians about what is going on in class. I have made them available, so look for an email inviting you to view. 

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We're going to Disneyworld! 

Next Spring Break (March 28-April 2) we will visit the Happiest Place on Earth, Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

• The deposit is due on September 29.
• The info needed can be found on the Registration website, and on the Tour Flyer.
• We'll have a chance to perform in "Festival Disney", where we can perform for tremendous clinicians and compete against the best choirs in the country!
• We'll take part in the "Disney Sings" performing arts workshop, where students will get to perform a song from a Disney musical and learn audition skills, vocal techniques and more under the guidance of a professional Disney vocalist.
• We'll visit the Disney World parks and Universal Studios, home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! 
• This trip will be available to any student enrolled in BHS choir classes during the 2016-17 school year. Tell your friends!
• As of Friday, 9/9 at 8:30 am, there were 37 students registered (with deposits paid). We can take 11 more students before needing to open another bus. We still need chaperones! Please think about joining us! 

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ILMEA Audition Workshop: 

• On Saturday, October 1, BHS will host the professional chamber choir Cor Cantiamo as they run their annual ILMEA audition workshop. Members of Chamber Singers are encouraged to attend, and students from many area schools will also be attending.
• Tickets are required to participate. Here's the sign-up page. 
• I have sung and recorded with Cor Cantiamo for years. You can hear our work HERE
• Since we are hosting this event this year, I will likely need a couple volunteers to help make everything go smoothly.  

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Volunteers needed for 2016-17! 
I could use some help with some of our big plans for this upcoming school year! I can't do all of this by myself! 

Festival of Carols: (December 8-10)

• Food prep:
  • We will need a few additional people per night to help set up our food. No special cooking skills are required, we just need helpful hands! These people may be asked to help run a few errands in the week leading up to the performances. 
• Tailoring/alterations:
  • We will need a few additional people to help with fittings, alterations, as well as check-out and check-in of our costumes.
• Decorations:
  • We'll need people to decorate the hall, and help make it magical! While most of this group's work will involve set-up and tear-down for the performance itself, a few people will need to help plan the decorations, and prep everything so it is ready to go.
  • Team leader needed!
• Tickets
  • It became clear last year that we'll need to change our ticketing procedure. We'll need one person to focus on this issue. 

Photography/Videography:
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.

• Historian: a parent willing to take photo & video recordings of our concerts, performances, and competitions (on-stage and backstage), but also willing to help collect photos and videos taken by other people.

Show Choir:
Ms. O'Neill and I are off to a great start on the plans for the 16-17 season. One of the changes that we'd like to implement is to have more parent help in a few specific areas:

• Tailoring/alterations: 
  • We have a parent will to help coordinate in this area, but we'd like to have a few more parents willing to help with alterations, check-out and check-in for our costumes. 
• Chaperones:
  • We will need 3-5 chaperones per competition. These chaperones will need to ride the bus with us out to each competition, and will help us as "go-fers" throughout the day. Ideally, one of the chaperones will have a medical background, but it is not required. 
• Transportation
  • There's a chance we will need to pull a trailer. We have access to a trailer, but we may need someone who is skilled at driving with one!
• Meals: There will be a few times that I'd like to feed the kids during a rehearsal or special event. You don't have to provide the food, but it we could use the help of people willing to set up our food orders, or coordinate a pot-luck. 

Ushers:
Once again, we'll need ushers at all of our concerts. Please help with at least one of them!
Here are our dates:

• Wed, October 19 (Fall Concert)
• 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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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 the Disney bus is filling up fast? Good! Come with us!