Picnic

Make plans to attend our student picnic on Sunday, September 7. Students signed-up in classes this week for what they would be responsible to bring. If they missed the sign-up sheet, please bring a couple bucks to contribute toward the cost of the food. The picnic will be at Kid's Kingdom Park. We have the pavilion reserved for our group from 5-8 PM. We will begin setup no earlier than 4:30. Hope to see you there!

First Day of School 2014

Good morning, CHS Choir!

It’s a new school year! Where did summer go?! We are looking forward to an amazing year in choir and we are so excited that you are with us.

We are sending the following items home with students today. They have been instructed to share it with you, but just in case that might not happen we are sharing that with you here.

Students should be coming home with:

1. Back-to-school letter on CHS Choir letterhead (neon orange cardstock) - please read this TODAY!
2. Course Syllabus - please sign and return bottom portion this week

Thank you! Please let us know if we can help in any way. Looking forward to a great year!

TMEA Region Choir Audition Repertoire

High School All-Region Choir auditions will be held on Saturday, September 27 at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. The auditions are an all-day process, but there are options for early morning or mid-afternoon audition times if you have a school-related conflict and still wish to audition.

The repertoire to be auditioned on this round consists of:

1. Hallelujah (from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach 
   • Sop/Altos - m. 288 beat 3 - till m. 332 beat 1
   • Tenors - m. 289 beat 3 - till m. 332 beat 1
   • Bass - m.292 beat 2 - till m. 332 beat 1
2. Justorum animae (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
3. Coelos ascendit (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
4. In the Night We Shall Go In – Raminsh
5. Chariots – Peter van Dijk

Please remember that 9th grade students have a choice of competing in the high school all-state process, the middle school region choir audition, or both.

Complete TMEA All-State Choir Audition Repertoire

Please see this webpage for all amendments, corrections and errata. You will be responsible for all notes and corrections listed on that page as they come directly from TMEA and the all-state choir clinicians.

A link to the practice recordings can be found in our Facebook group. Students and parents may also message me directly to obtain the link.

High School Region Audition - ALL STUDENTS

1. Hallelujah (from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach
   • Sop/Altos - m. 288 beat 3 - till m. 332 beat 1
   • Tenors - m. 289 beat 3 - till m. 332 beat 1
   • Bass - m.292 beat 2 - till m. 332 beat 1
2. Justorum animae (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
3. Coelos ascendit (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
4. In the Night We Shall Go In – Raminsh
5. Chariots – Peter van Dijk

Region Clinic & Concert - ALL STUDENTS

1. Hallelujah (Beat 2 of Ms. 255-367 from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach (ALL OF HALLELUJAH)
2. Justorum animae (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
3. Coelos ascendit (from 3 Motets) – Stanford
4. In the Night We Shall Go In – Raminsh
5. Chariots – Peter van Dijk

Pre-Area Audition

1. Singet dem Herrn (Ms. 1-151 from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach
2. Hallelujah (Beat 2 of Ms. 255-367 from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach
3. Men – Gloria – Butler           
4. Men – #5 Majko, majko selena (from Jara se otvira (Spring is Coming)) – Lukas                          
5. Women – Northern Lights – Esenvalds  
6. Women – Suffer No Grief – Betinis

Large School Area Auditions

1. Singet dem Herrn (Ms. 1-151 from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach          
2. Hallelujah (Beat 2 of Ms. 255-367 from "Singet dem Herrn", BWV 225) – Bach
3. Women – Jubilate Deo – Gyongyosi  
4. Men – Go, Lovely Rose – Stroope

Update on SAISD Convocation 2014

Here are a couple of updates and reminders concerning this week's convocation-related activities: 

1. Tuesday, August 19 - Convocation Rehearsal at the Foster Communications Coliseum. Meet at the coliseum. Dress comfortably, but school appropriate (superintendents will be around, watching). Bring your music! TIME CHANGE: call time for rehearsal on Tuesday is now 10:30 AM. Students should be done rehearsing by 12:00 PM, lunch will be provided immediately following rehearsal. Have your ride plan to pick you up by 12:30 PM at the coliseum.
2. Wednesday, August 20 - Convocation Performance at the Foster Communications Coliseum. Call time is 8:00 AM.
   • Students need to arrive dressed for performance (minus the men's neck ties - we will distribute those starting at 8:00 AM). Please do not show up half-dressed (tuck in your shirt, button your vest, etc.)...it just looks tacky otherwise. Get dressed and then walk in to the coliseum.
   • Warm-ups will being shortly after 8:15 AM. Pre-service music begins at 8:30. We begin our performance block with the national anthem at 9:00 AM.
   • To simplify the following information: have your ride pick you up at the CHS Choir Hall at noon, and don't forget your change of clothes (non-uniform) when you arrive in the morning at the coliseum. More detailed explanation:
     • Following the performance, we will sit and stay to hear the invited guest speaker's message. I anticipate that he will be done by 11 AM, but it could go as late as 11:30 AM.
     • Following the ceremony, all students will be required to return their uniform. To that end, please bring a change of clothes with you that morning. For everyone's convenience, a SAISD bus will be available to take students back to CHS to hang-up and return their uniform following the ceremony. This option is highly encouraged so that the directors and parent volunteers are not trying to carry 60+ uniforms back to school in addition to three carloads-full of sound equipment.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. Thank you!

Welcome Back to 2014-2015!

Hello again! It is hard to believe that it is already August and that we are only weeks away from the start of school again. I hope this summer has been a time of rest, relaxation, and fun for all of you. We have an exciting year of choir lined up and many exciting plans for the year are being finalized as we speak. Please read through to the bottom of this message, I apologize for its length, but we have a lot of information to get out.

Table of Contents
1. SAISD Convocation Performance
2. Parent Help Needed!
3. SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp
4. Complete Convocation & Mini-Camp Schedule
5. How to Contact Us 

1. SAISD CONVOCATION

As is the custom every year, the combined choirs, bands, and orchestras of the San Angelo ISD high schools 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 20. 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 main new copper-roofed building just off of the loop).

Everyone receiving this email 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 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 because they can't make both nights. We think you'll have a lot of fun seeing all of your choir friends again!

2. PARENTS

We will need several parents (or even former students) to help with uniform assignment during the rehearsal process next week. You don't have to have ANY special skills - just a heart to help! If you can help with this, please let me know ASAP! Our program is only as successful as our AWESOME parent volunteers and booster club members! 

3. SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp

In addition to rehearsing the convocation music next week, we also hold a Region Choir Mini-Camp to start learning the region choir audition music for this fall. That will go from about 6:30 to 8:30 both nights. This is completely optional, and students not wishing to participate in the region choir auditions are welcome to leave after the first hour of rehearsal on the convocation ceremony music. We really want to encourage as many people as possible to stay and give the region music a try. You may be wondering, “What is region choir?” The students learn several pieces of music and then go to auditions in September in hopes to earn the privilege of performing with the All-Region Choir in November. If they earn one of the top spots, they qualify to advance toward the All-State Choir - one of the top honors for high school musicians in our nation. If you've never done it before, it's A LOT of fun and it really makes you a better musician, and you get to sing some really COOL music with some of the best singers in the state (and the nation). If you know that you want to do this and go through the auditions later this fall, we'll have the sheet music and audition CD available for you to buy there at the camp. The complete set of REGION music and practice CD only costs $12 this year and it will be yours to keep. There are limited quantities available, but more can be ordered if we run out.

4. Here's the complete Mini-Camp Schedule:

5. Contact Information

Again, I hope you all had a great summer and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you and 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 last minute communication and updates.

2014-2015 Choir Placements & Audition Results

Choir placement results are available here: 2014-2015 CHS Choir Placement Results

Urgent Information About Choir Yearbook Pictures

Well, what's the quote from the Robert Burns poem? "The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray..."

Pictures have once again had to be rescheduled. [Insert laughter and/or eye rolls here]. Those of you that know me will know that this change in plans absolutely drives me up the wall, but it is what it is. :)

The new date is Wednesday, February 26 during classes. That is a week from this Wednesday. Due to a late change in plans for the CHS Preview event tomorrow, principals from both campuses have asked that we reschedule to accommodate this event and its activities. Working late in the day today with administration from both campuses, we tried to find a way to make it still work this week, but it was just not to be. You'll remember that we had already rescheduled to this week after the Bad Weather Day on Tuesday of last week.

I apologize for any confusion or inconvenience. Students may still continue to bring their uniform to school tomorrow to store in the choir room regardless of this change in date.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.