Last Round of Sectionals for HS Region Choir Audition Music (Week of September 22)

This is the last week before auditions on Saturday, Sept. 28. Now is the time to really knuckle down and put the finishing touches on all of your preparation. You should no longer be singing with the track that has the person singing your part. Your goal for this week should be to practice without the voice, practice putting the track on in random places and jumping in as quickly as possible (like a surprise cut), and doing all musical markings and nuances which have shown to you but are not on the CD (dynamics, articulations, phrasing, phrase shaping, word stress, meaning of text, etc.).

Everyone will be required to sing for Mr. Gilmore or Mrs. Bullock at some point this week before we allow you to go to the competition on Saturday. We will work to do these hearings during class. Please make sure you've paid your $10 entry fee.

Remember that all sectionals are held during the last 30 minutes of the tutorial/lunch block and immediately after school in the CHS Choir Room. Musical rehearsals start Monday at 4:30, so I will not be able to work past 4:30 each day, but Mrs. Bullock may be available. On Thursday and Friday, I have asked all participants in "All Shook Up" to be excused so that they practice their cuts then vocally rest.

Monday: Sopranos (Bullock) / Basses (Gilmore)
Tuesday: Altos (Bullock) / Tenors (Gilmore)
Wednesday: Anyone
Thursday: CUTS RELEASED AT 4 PM - come to the choir room to practice and get a cut CD
Friday: EVERYONE - come the choir room and sing through the cuts one last time (or a million last times)

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL! We are proud of all your hard work!

Reminders and Approaching Deadlines

Greetings CHS Choir Family

I'm going to start making it a practice to post any important news items like this on our website in addition to sending them out via email using our Charms Office database. If, for any reason, your email stops working or your address changes you will always be able to consult our website to find out the latest news and reminders.

Progress Reports

Just a note about progress reports going out this week. All of our choir students are doing great. If there is any cause for concern this early in the year, you will receive a message from a choir director. That being said, however, some students are looking at a less than favorable class average at this moment for failing to turn-in the necessary school supplies or to communicate in a timely manner about why they can't meet that obligation. Do not fear! As the supplies or communication is received that grade will shoot way up. All matters for that first assignment are now over a week past due, so there will be a necessary deduction in credit for tardiness, but its effects will become negligible as other homework assignments are completed and returned on-time. As is always the case, please be proactive, timely, and friendly in communicating about any issues and we will be happy to work with you.

Return of Required Forms & Fee

A reminder that all required forms and the $25 activity/uniform fee are due Tuesday, September 17. If you have misplaced those forms, they can be downloaded and printed out from our website download section here. Please make sure to peruse the departmental handbook before signing the acknowledgment form. The current version of the handbook is also located in our downloads section here.

We also get several questions each year about our activity fee. What is it for? Who pays it? Why do we have it? Certainly, this may be new to many of our families coming from the middle schools or other programs. I put together a very brief and informative cartoon that should answer most questions about the fee. Please give it a watch here. [I believe it uses Adobe Flash, so it may not play on iOS devices.]

Region Choir Auditions

We have had 50 students sign-up for the High School All-Region Choir Auditions. This is a new record! These auditions take place at Permian HS in Odessa on Saturday, September 28. More information for those participating will be sent home at a later date, but please be aware of the following items if your student is participating:

1. They need to be practicing regularly (preferably daily) on the music for the audition. There are digital files as well as physical compact discs to aid the students in learning their parts on their own. If they are missing this crucial tool, please have them ask us for it. We've been talking about it in class for a while now, but we continue to be surprised when, on an almost daily basis, a student tells us that they never picked up a CD.
2. They need to be coming in for help outside of class time. We have been and will continue making ourselves available, both during lunch and after school, to students for individual and group help on the music on a daily basis. The sectional schedule will be posted on our website at the beginning of each week. This week's schedule is posted here.
3. There are some fees associated with this competition. First, the students are required to own their own copy of the music being auditioned. Many purchased a complete all-state packet at the camp before school started and others purchased just the 4 region-auditioned pieces over the last several weeks of school. The complete all-state set was $16 and the region-only set was $10. Second, since this is an individual competition not through the UIL, the district does not pay the entry fees associated with this contest. Each student is responsible for paying their own $10 entry fee to the choir department. At this point, every student on our list as of the entry deadline on Friday, September 13, has had their entry fee paid regardless of whether or not they have paid us yet. We will require that each student on that entry list pay or make arrangements to pay their entry fee before we will allow them to audition on Saturday, September 28. Because the deadline has now passed for us to make drops without incurring a fee, any student who does not follow through with the audition for any reason will still be required to reimburse the school for the entry fee.

Parent Help Needed

We are in imminent need of parent volunteers to help with several items. I will detail them below. Please ensure that you have completed the required VIPS application before volunteering (the district's VIPS application information can be found here). If you can help us with any of these items, please send me an email as soon as possible.

1. In-Class Uniform Fittings: We need help in getting all of our choir students fitted in uniforms and we need to do it soon. So that we don't have to schedule a mandatory uniform fitting day, we ask for parent helpers to come up during classes and help fit students in uniforms, mark needed hems, and record the uniform numbers on a spreadsheet. If this is something you can help us do, please contact us ASAP.
2. Region Choir Audition Chaperones: The region requires us to bring at least 3 adult chaperones to the region choir auditions. Even if your student is not auditioning, you are welcome to come with us and help out. It is most appreciated and it is always a very educational experience seeing the process that our students go through at these competitions. This involves an all-day Saturday trip to Odessa. You are welcome (and encouraged) to ride the district charter bus with us and we will provide for your mails that day. The date is Saturday, September 28. Please contact me for further information and to volunteer.

Thanks

Thank you all for a great start of the year! We are excited about what the year holds in store for our students and choral program at CHS. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Sectionals for HS Region Choir Audition Music (Week of September 16)

All sectionals are held during the last 30 minutes of lunch and immediately after school in the CHS Choir Room.

Monday: Altos
Tuesday: Basses
Wednesday LUNCH ONLY (Faculty meeting after school): Sopranos
Thursday: Tenors
Friday: Anyone

Questions About the Activity Fee?

Sectionals for HS Region Choir Audition Music (Week of September 9)

All sectionals are held during the last 30 minutes of lunch and immediately after school in the CHS Choir Room.

Monday: Basses
Tuesday: Tenors
Wednesday: Altos
Thursday: Sopranos
Friday: Anyone 

Welcome Back!

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 URGENTLY Needed!
3. SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp
4. Service Hour Workdays
5. Complete Convocation & Mini-Camp Schedule
6. 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 Thursday morning, August 22. 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 two nights of rehearsals to prepare the music for the ceremony. We are also preparing and presenting a piece of music written specially for our groups! This coming Monday and Tuesday evenings, August 12 & 13, from 5:30 to 6:30 we are going to meet and learn the music along with the participating singers from the Lake View HS Choir. This 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 the loop).

Everyone receiving this message 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 both nights, 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 and we'll have some great snacks, too! It is completely free.

2. Parents

We will need several parents (or even former students) to help with uniform assignment during the rehearsal process on both nights. 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! Men are needed too! Our program is only as successful as our AWESOME parent volunteers and booster club members!

3. SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp

After the first hour of camp each night, we'll take a short snack break then come back together for the 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. If you've never done it before, it's A LOT of fun and it really makes you a better singer and musician, and you get to sing some really COOL music with some of the best singers in the state. If you know 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. If you're not sure, and you just want to give it a try, we'll have some copies available for you to borrow that night and return. The complete set of REGION music and practice CD only costs $10 this year and it will be yours to keep. The complete set of All-State music is $16. There are limited quantities available, but more can be ordered.

4. Service Hour Workdays

One of the many benefits of membership in an organization like choir is that not only do the students receive a required academic credit, get to compete in UIL & TMEA competitive events, and have a blast building life-long friends, but they work toward earning the coveted CHS Varsity Letter Jacket! The choir department has a point system in place that we feel is very flexible in allowing the students to earn the required points in many different ways. The system encourages program loyalty, musical achievement, responsibility, character development, and service. One of the ways the students can earn points toward their jacket is by working "service hours". These count as a one hour worked = one point earned toward their letter jacket (the full details regarding the point system can be found in the choir handbook on our website and will be discussed with students at the beginning of school). The students have their first opportunity to earn points this week as we get ready for the start of the new school year. I will be in the choir office from 1 PM to at least 5 PM each day this week (August 5 - 9) to work on various things, so this will provide students the opportunity to come up and work on various mini-projects that will help get our program going for the year. We have several very important things that we need help with so please come up if you can. It is important to remember regarding service hours that these are only awarded on director-announced events and projects (correct documentation and proof of time worked is required to receive the points).

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

Monday, August 12	5:30 - 6:30 PM	Central High School Choir Room	Rehearsal on convocation ceremony music.
	6:30 - 8:30 PM		SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp: rehearsal on region choir audition music.
Tuesday, August 13	5:30 - 6:30 PM	Central High School Choir Room	Rehearsal on convocation ceremony music.
	6:30 - 8:30 PM		SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp: rehearsal on region choir audition music.
Wednesday, August 21	11 AM to 1 PM	Foster Communications Coliseum	Combined CHS, CFC, and Lake View HS Choirs, Bands, and Orchestras rehearsal at the coliseum. LUNCH PROVIDED!
Thursday, August 22	8:30 AM	Foster Communications Coliseum	Performance for SAISD Convocation! We should be done by 10 AM.

6. 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 and like our Facebook Page for last minute communication and updates.

TMEA All-State Choir Audition Sequence

The following information is only applicable to schools in TMEA Area B, Region 6.

Region Audition/Concert

Insanae et Vanae curae – Haydn
Kyrie – Mendelssohn
Great God Almighty – Arr. Gibbs

Women Only: Song to the Moon – Stroope
Men Only: The Music of Living – Forrest

Region Concert Only

The following two pieces will never be auditioned but students making the region choir must learn the following music for the region choir performance.

Chimes: Soul Rejoicing – Gavrilin
Chimes: Ti-ri-ri – Gavrilin

Pre-Area Audition

O Lux Beata Trinitas – Matsushita
O Heiland, Reiss Die Himmel – Brahms 

Men Only: Salve Regina – Takach
Men Only: A Jubilant Song – Dello Joio

Women Only: El Vito – Jensen
Women Only: Sicut Erat – Porpora

Area Audition

Insanae et Vanae curae – Haydn
O Heiland, Reiss Die Himmel – Brahms

Women Only: Sicut Erat – Porpora
Men Only: A Jubilant Song – Dello Joio

Region Choir Audition Pieces Announced

All:
Insanae et Vanae curae (Haydn)
Kyrie (Mendelssohn)
Great God Almighty (arr. Gibbs)

Women Only:
Song to the Moon (Stroope)

Men Only:
The Music of Living (Forrest)

Practice CDs will be available for purchase and pick-up the week of August 5-9 or at the SAISD Region Choir Mini-Camp on August 12 & 13. More details to follow.