Mrs. Abel

Dear Choir Family, 

It is my most unpleasant duty to inform each of you that Mrs. Abel has had to resign as our pianist. While I am deeply saddened for the loss our department will experience, I am so very happy for her that the circumstances requiring this resignation present her a positive career advancement for her and her family. She was recently offered the job as Music Teacher at Holiman Elementary, here, in San Angelo and she accepted.

While we won’t get to enjoy her presence on a daily basis this school year, there is still the possibility that you’ll see her around the choir hall occasionally for certain events, and who knows what the future holds?! We are so happy and fortunate that she has graciously agreed to help us through to the start of school with Convocation Rehearsals and the Region Choir Boot Camp this next week.

The following is a brief statement from Mrs. Abel to all of you, the Central Choir family:

To all the students of the Central Choirs,

First, thank you. Thank you for your wonderful spirit, your passion for music, your desire to do what's right, your funny jokes, your care for one another, and your ability to bring a smile to my face every time I see you.

It has been a hard decision to make, but I have accepted a full-time music teaching position at Holiman Elementary. My family and I feel that this is what is best for us at this time. While I am excited to be with the young ones again, I will miss all of you greatly and the music we shared together.

You may not know, but last summer I dealt with a bit of cancer. It was a challenging time, followed by challenging months. I am blessed to have health now, and am grateful Mr. Gilmore and Mrs. Vaught extended the opportunity to accompany this great program when they did. I share this with you to thank you for being part of the recovery, and so you realize how special you will always be to me. I appreciate each of you and the wonderful people who teach you and support you. Thank you for being ginormous, spectacular bright spots!

I am going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes. Please keep the wonderful things about you a constant. Continue to grow and share your talents and passion with others.

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy: they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust

Thank you always,
Joni Abel

You will be able to see Mrs. Abel [anybody catch that?] at our Convocation Rehearsals this coming Monday and Tuesday. On behalf of all of us, please share your thanks and well-wishes with her then or via any of the communication methods you have available to you (text message, Facebook, email, etc.) as she starts her new, full-time position in SAISD.

Sincerely,
Landon L. Gilmore, Director of Choirs
San Angelo Central High School

Welcome Back, 2016-2017 Bobcat Choir Family!

Dear Choir Family, have you "caught 'em all" yet? 

While all of you have probably been tracking down those elusive Pokémon over the last several weeks, Mrs. Vaught and myself have been hard at work gearing up for what is going to be a truly phenomenal year for Central Choirs!

Okay, I'll confess. I've been looking for Pokémon, too. :)

Here are just a few, quick highlights of the year to come: mass choir performance at a home football game, new Military Salute format and location (possibly with live instrumentalists and guest performers), a spring performance tour to Glenn and Lee Middle Schools as well as a couple of local elementary schools, all the stuff we normally do, and, oh yeah...our spring trip to NEW YORK CITY(!!!) - where we will present a joint concert with the choirs from Coppell High School, see Wicked and Aladdin on Broadway, visit the Statute of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, ice skate in Central Park, go to the "Top of the Rock" (30 Rockefeller Plaza), and much, much more! It's going to be a great year and we want all of you to be a part of it!

There is so much to share and do, but I need to get a quick reminder out to all of you right now:

Please join us for Convocation Rehearsals this coming week, Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 8-9) from 5 to 6:30 in the CHS Choir Hall. I am attaching the letter I sent home with everyone and posted on the website before school released in May that contains the entire convocation schedule and details. Please remember, that is an expectation of every member of Chorale and Bella Voce to be present and participate, but all choir members (incoming 9th graders and recent alumni, too) are welcome and highly encouraged to participate. It is always a struggle to balance all of the band kids from Central and Lake View (probably close to 450 kids) with only 50-80 choir kids. We want everyone to join us!!! This year we're also working on including a choir-only performance of our Military Salute tradition "God Bless the U.S.A." for all of our SAISD administrators, faculty, and staff at convocation.

Also, after convocation practice each night, we'll get a jump start on the All-Region Choir Audition music. Stick around and learn about that process, the music, and all the benefits that come from going through that experience. We'll have Glenn and Lee choir directors here to help as well as former Lee choir director, Patti Wetzel, and current ASU choral director, Dr. Pam Lee. All those folks (and your current choir directors) will be working to get you a running start on the All-Region Choir music. We'll also share important tips and strategies for being competitive in the process so that you hopefully advance all the way to be a TMEA All-State Choir member! 

This "SAISD All-Region Boot Camp" will be open to all incoming 9-12th grade choir students. It is free of charge to attend, but if you decide to continue with the process, you will need to purchase a personal copy of the music (~$12-15) for your continued study and practice.

Lastly, if you know of anyone that is interested joining our awesome choral program this year, please bring them to Convocation Rehearsal, let us meet them and do a quick audition. It is not too late to add choir to anyone's schedule.

If any of you have any questions or concerns about any of the events next week or about choir in general, please do not hesitate to contact me. Email is always best for me. I receive a high volume of communication and email is the easiest thing for me to sort, track, and answer reliably. I will be able to answer email just as quickly (if not quicker) than a text, phone call, or Facebook message.

Also, you can join our new, MASS text message class in Remind that we'll use to send out message to parents and students alike. Simply text @choirhall to the number 81010. You should receive a welcome text from Remind if you are successful. If anyone has trouble with 81010, you can try texting @choirhall to (325) 200-0719. Some carriers strip the @ symbol from text messages to short code numbers. If you get an error about sending a message to the teacher, try texting 'join choirhall' to 81010 (or 325-200-0719). Lastly, if already have a Remind account you can use this link to attach your account to this new group: https://www.remind.com/join/choirhall

Looking forward to seeing you all in a few short days!

BlesSINGs!
Mr. Gilmore

2016-2017 CHS Choir Placements

Choir placements will be linked here when they are finished: 2016-2017 CHS Choir Placement Results

End of Year Stuff, Part Two

It is hard to believe that we have reached the end of this school year. It has gone so quickly! I am so proud of the successes of the year and the growth and development of each student in the program…not just the musical development, but also with the way that each student has become a better, more mature human being. I hope this summer will be a time of rest, relaxation, and fun for all of you. We have an exciting year of choir lined up for next year and many exciting plans for the year are being finalized as we speak.

Please read the linked letter for FULL details about convocation practice.

SAN ANGELO ISD CONVOCATION

As is the custom every year, the combined high school choirs, bands, and orchestras of the San Angelo ISD have been asked to perform for a convocation ceremony of all the SAISD faculty and staff at the Foster Communications Coliseum on Wednesday morning, August 17. All of the members of the SAISD Board of Education and Executive Administration will be in attendance as well, so we want to make an excellent impression on all of them. It is vitally important that amidst the backdrop of the combined bands and orchestras from CHS and Lake View, we make the statement that excellent choral singing at CHS is alive and well! To accomplish this, we are going to be having rehearsals to prepare the music for the ceremony. Please see the schedule below for exact dates/times. All rehearsals will be held at the CHS Choir Room both nights. For new families, the choir rooms are located right behind Tucker (Tucker is the new, main copper-roofed building just off of Houston Harte).

It is an expectation that all members of Chorale and Bella Voce participate in this event, but everyone receiving this letter is invited to participate - that includes new students and incoming freshmen at CFC - you are especially welcome! Also, if you know of anyone who likes to sing and might consider joining choir this next year, invite them to this camp and let them see what all the fun is about! Also, it's okay if you can't make it every night, we want you to come to as much as you can. We would really prefer that you come both nights, but we don't want anyone to not come at all because they can't make both nights. We think you'll have a lot of fun seeing all of your choir friends again after summer break!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Again, I hope you all have a great summer and I look forward to seeing all of you again in what promises to be a truly AWESOME year in choir! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. Keep checking our website (www.CentralHighChoir.org) and like our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/CentralHighChoir) for future communications and updates to schedule that may occur over the summer.

End of Year Stuff, Part One

Thank you for a wonderful banquet experience. We are so proud of all the students' accomplishments this year. It has truly been the best year yet in many ways yet we are looking forward to next year and having faith that it will be even better!

I've got a couple of quick things that we all need to look at to end the year:

1. The information and schedule for those competing this weekend at the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition is linked here. Please read that and then contact me with ANY questions you may have. NO LAST MINUTE QUESTIONS or SURPRISES. :)
2. If your student ordered an All-State music packet for next year. Those are here! They are $20 each. The first 25 students who pay for and pick-up their packets will receive a gift certificate to Logan's Roadhouse. Now that we are on summer schedule, you will have to coordinate with the directors to pick those up. The next opportunity to do so will be on Thursday, June 2 at 5 PM.
3. Students who earned a letter jacket, you MUST come next week (Thursday, June 2, at 5:00 PM) to place your order and get sized. If you don't show up, we (the school) won't order one for you and you'll have to wait until next year. We will not be holding up the order for anyone who misses. If you cannot make the scheduled time, YOU need to schedule a time with Tejas Manufacturing (located locally, Google them for contact information) and go see them BEFORE Thursday next week. They are closed Fridays. Because of how our school budget works, I have to be able to turn the complete order in on Friday next week, so all of the orders must be in after you see Mr. Ramos from Tejas on Thursday. I will add some more information here about ordering options.
4. If you ordered CDs from Mr. Faught, we are still working on getting those done. More accurately, he is still waiting on me. I haven't had time to sit down and master the audio yet so he can make the CDs, but we'll get on that and hopefully have those for you to pickup sometime next week.
5. New officers and those needing last minute service hours for this year's varsity letter points: we will have a work day this Thursday, June 2, from 4-6 PM in the Choir Hall. Please bring your calendars...we will be discussing a summer officer orientation meeting and schedule several of the fall socials.
6. We are hoping to post Chorale audition results by the end of this weekend, and complete 2016-2017 Choir Placements by the end of next week.
7. I need Gavin Fields to come pick up his letter jacket patches on Thursday afternoon (during the letter jacket fittings - see above).

2015-2016 HarmoniCats Audition Results

Congratulations to everyone who tried out. We were so impressed with the talent level of all of you.

Please keep in mind, that the directors reserve the right to change this list as students move in/out of the district or as other positions open up. If you do not see your name, don't be too discouraged. There is still a chance that a spot will open up.

The HarmoniCats is a group that meets separately and in addition to a student’s regular choir class. It is a requirement for participation that each student be enrolled in a primary choir class (Men’s Choir, Concert Ladies, Bella Voce, Chorale).

2015-2016 Show Choir Members

SOPRANOS

Current Members
Kynison Loika (11)
Taylor Powell (10)
Kyla Grey (10)
Analisa Rios (10) 

New Members
Adreanna Zapata (10)
Leilani Herrera (9)
Drew Eisenbach (8)
Rhiannon Moss (8)

ALTOS

Current Members
Macye Kirkland (11)
Cheyenne Quintela (11)

New Members
Tina Anderson (11)
Bethany Wheeler (9)
Makayla Haire (8)

TENORS

Current Members
Cristian Esquivel (11)
Kaden Wright (9)

New Members
Alex Fernandez (9)

BASSES

Current Members
Jesse Rios (11)
Zac Feuge (10)
Bryant Cobb (9)

New Members
Alfredo Antu (10)

2016 Regional UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest Results

Congratulations to the 70 singers from Central High School who performed a solo in today’s UIL Region 6 Solo and Ensemble Competition at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. 56 soloists were awarded a 1st Division (or Superior) Rating, and 14 were awarded a 2nd Division (or Excellent) Rating.

40 singers from Central High School have earned the opportunity to represent San Angelo and perform at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Competition at the University of Texas at Austin in May.

The Central High School Choirs are directed by Mr. Landon Gilmore and Mrs. Sunday Vaught. Thanks to Janet Faulkner, Joni Abel, and Sariah McCracken who accompanied these students on piano.

Results by the Numbers

Numbers in parenthesis are the percentage increase/decrease from last year.

Number of Performers: 70 (+13%)
Solo Completion Rate: 93% (+9 percentage points)
Number of State Qualifying Solos: 38 (+40%)
Solo Entries by Difficulty
Class 1 (Hardest): 48 entries, 64% of total
Class 2: 23 entries, 31% of total
Class 3: 4 entries, 5% of total

Ensemble Results

1st Division and Advances to State: "Tanzen und Springen" (Joseph Cortese, Nolan Faught, Macye Kirkland, Kynison Loika, Deja Martinez, Michael Oriano, Cheyenne Quintela, Analisa Rios, Morgan Stafford, Nathan Trinidad)

Individual Results

First Division (Superior) Ratings (56)
BOLD Advances to State (38)

Alfredo Antu

CJ Banda

Chloe Bannerman

Sarah Bridges

Skylar Canion

Shaylee Caudle

Bryant Cobb

Rebekah Coffman

Joseph Cortese

Camryn Cruz

Jordan Douglas

Jessica Edwards

Jessica Espinosa

Cristian Esquivel

Nolan Faught

Miche Ferrell

Bella Figueroa

Lileanna Flores

Zoe Flores

Micah Floyd

Arielle Gaither

Leiliani Herrera

Alexia Hinojos

Anna Knoff

Yesenia Ledesma

Jacqueline Leek

Sarah Lewis

Kynison Loika

Ingrid Macias

Zaynah Marsh

Deja Martinez

Caesar Martinez

Cameron May

Addison McLaughlin

Mariapia Medina

Pete Mireles

Jena Nelson

Tyana Nixon

Delaney O'Neal

Michael Oriano

Mary Grace Pidgeon

Taylor Powell

Alec Richey

Kaila Rickard

Analisa Rios

Jesse Rios

Sage Skidmore

Carly Snead

Morgan Stafford

Nathan Trinidad

Andre Tuggles

Lindy Vaught

Vincent Ward

Bethany Wheeler

Esther Whited

Justin Yoes

2016 All-State Choir Camp Information

We highly encourage your student to attend an All-State Choir Camp. These camps greatly improve their competitiveness and preparation toward the All-Region & All-State Choir audition process. They will have a blast and be months ahead of the competition. The workshops that we host locally are NOT a substitute for the time and intensive training that happens at one of these camps. If your student is serious about competing in the all-state choir auditions next year, then they cannot afford not to go to one of these camps.

The camps for this summer (which will be over next year's music) are already taking registrations. We have taken the time to compile a list of the camps that we are aware of, so that you can make an informed decision as to which camp best suits your family's summer schedule and budget. The spreadsheet containing all of the pertinent information can be found via this link.

Please be aware that even though most camps have a registration deadline the first or second week in June (most by 6/15), some of the camps are full by mid-February. Baylor, for example, opens registration on 2/1 at 1 PM and is usually full within the first few HOURS of registration. So, find a camp that sounds good and register ASAP. 

Keep in mind, our booster club offers a couple of scholarships each year to students who excel in the all-state process and demonstrate dedication to advancing their skills. You will need to go ahead and register and put down the deposit on your own.