Parent Meeting for Dec. 12th

Dec. 12th from 2:50-3:30 pm, we'll meet in the PS Library to discuss our upcoming plans for the NYC Carnegie Hall trip in Nov. 2012.  We're excited that Tim Sharpe, director of the combined choirs will actually be joining us for this informative meeting.  Also, representative Sara Bong from MidAmerica Productions will be available to tell us about some pricing options for us. 
Just to clarify.....ALL MS Honor Choir students are invited to sing at this special event.  This is not an AUDITIONED opportunity.  We were invited to sing as the "treble choir" for this concert.
Please make an effort to be there if you can.  
 

Forty-Five and Going Strong!

Thanks to MSHC 4th grader Margaret Hughes for the doughnuts for our early rehearsal!  They choir is sounding terrific and wow, look at the size of this incredible group!

Congratulations!

Mrs. LeDoux and I are so proud of our extremely talented students that auditioned for the Southwest ACDA honor choir this fall!  Twenty-four musicians in 5th-7th grade spent time making a recording after school with Mrs. LeDoux or I in the hopes that the judges hearing their MP3 file would like what they heard.  Emotions run extremely high for these types of experiences and we recently were informed of their fate:  20 students were accepted!  It's unheard of, and we're thrilled!
Congratulations on this great honor and let's gear up for our next challenge...learning all of the music for this concert to be held in Dallas on Mar. 3, 2012.

Upcoming performances

Approved dates for our performances the next two months:


Dec. 8         7:55-8:10      US Morning Meeting (2-3 songs)
Dec. 12       2:20-2:40      PS Community Meeting (2-3 songs)
Jan. 13        1:30-1:50     Primary Council Meeting (Alumni Cntr) (4 songs)
Jan. 20        8:00-8:10     4/5th Chapel (2-3 songs)
Jan. 26       8:30-11:00    Performance Tour to Inverness & Montereau (full concerts - 8 songs - invitation  for parents and special friends to attend too)

Seriously? How Many?

Okay, no joke!  We have 45 on the roll sheet and 43 students were there on last Thursday!  That is tremendous!   Yes, it's the quality, not the quantity (you're thinking) and I agree.  That's why I can't WAIT for you to hear them!  We're working hard learning 7 new pieces...we should have at least three learned by the end of November.
They will receive a practice CD this coming Thursday (10/20).    You will hear a teacher (not Mrs. LeDoux or myself luckily) pronouncing the songs with foreign languages, then singing their part, followed by a performance of all singing parts together.  This will be a helpful tool in their learning!  If they listen once or twice a week in addition to coming to practice, they will soar through these songs brilliantly.

Bless the Lord

I don't have a proper recording of these two pieces, but I thought you may find this information interesting.  Some of the animals are obvious, others are not so much.  Test at the end...scroll down :)

Badgers- burrowing carnivorous mammal; 2 ft. long with gray fur and black and white stripes on the head 
Hedgehogs- nocturnal insectivorous mammal, hair is mixed with prickles and spines; it can roll up in a ball
Squirrels- bushy-tailed rodent
Ferrets- semi-domesticated variety of polecat used for hunting rodents or rabbits
Foxes- wild carnivorous mammal of the dog family, smaller than wolves, having a pointed muzzle, erect ears, and a long, bushy tail.
Parakeets- a small parrot, with a tapering tail, native to Australia and Asia, and capable of mimicking
human speech, popular cage bird
Pelicans- large, fish-eating, web-footed, water bird, having a long flat bill with a
distensible pouch beneath, used for storing food
Porcupines- a rodent covered with sharp spines or quills, which the animal can use at will for his defense 
Penguins- flightless marine birds, confined mostly to the Antarctic and sub Antarctic, that have flipper like wings well-suited for swimming, and webbed feet on short legs that act as rudders.
Guillemots- any of the various birds of the auk family (narrow bill)
Guinea Pigs- short- eared, short-tailed rodent
Gallinules- moorhen, an aquatic bird, its head shield is similar to the coot’s
Godwits- wading birds related to snipes (long bill with slight upward curve)
Weasels- related to minks- carnivorous- reddish brown coat
Warthogs- African wild swine
Wallabies- small kangaroos
Wombats- Australian marsupials resembling small bears

TEST:  Is this animal a Guillemot, Godwit, Porcupine, or a Wombat?

 Find out the answer on Thursday morning!  HA HA :)

Aweigh, Santy Ano

This song comes from the days of the Gold Rush.  In those days, it was necessary to sail around South America (no Panama Canal).  Thus the trip from Boston to San Fransisco was quite lengthy by way of Cape Horn.  This tune was a pumping shanty.  Pumps were located on the bilge (the very bottom section of a ship) in order to drain the water that had collected there.  A shanty helped the sailors to complete this very arduous task.  Listen to this version of the song...it just may have sounded like this.

Sleep, Kentucky Babe

Yet another choir singing this sweet lullaby...it's an All-State girls choir, but they're singing the same arrangement as ours.  It's not too interesting to watch, but the singing is nice to listen to.

Little David, Play on Your Harp

New song:  here, you're viewing another choir singing this great Traditional Spiritual!  This is arranged by our friend Rollo Dillworth!  It's a great song!

Gerakina

Here's a great recording of the Indianapolis Children's Choir singing "Gerakina", the Greek piece that we're learning.  On a side note:  the conductor, Henry Leck, was the same conductor that many of our students had in Chicago for the ACDA National Children's Choir in March 2011.

Something Told the Wild Geese

Here's a wonderful You Tube video that I found of a treble choir singing this beautiful song.  I thought you'd enjoy it too.

Help for the Audition

Hello 5th/6th Friends,
I hope this helps you prepare for the auditions.  I'm so happy that it's YOU auditioning and not me, since you're a thousand time better at singing than me ;-

Really - how many?

Over 40 students joined together in song at 7:20 in morning.  It's amazing.  Here's some pics from the morning...

5th/6th sign up for auditions!

Calling all talented and motivated 5th and 6th grade singers!!!!
It's time to audition for the SWACDA Honor Choir.  Sign up on the MS music room door.  Be prepared to sing "Jubilate Deo", ascending and descending 5-note scales, and "The Little Birch Tree".   Mrs. LeDoux or myself will record your voice and send it to judges via the internet.
Come, and give it your best shot!

here's a bit more information

Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7:20 a.m. will be our first MS Honor choir rehearsal.  Mrs. LeDoux and I will be preparing our kids for two things - CTSWS (Circle the State with Song) and Southwest ACDA auditions.

First, CTSWS is non-auditioned, Tulsa area concert of 4th-8th graders to sing at Jenks performing arts center on Sat. Jan. 28.  The cost is $30 to participate (plus $15 for music) and the deadline to participate is Sept. 30.

Second, the Southwest ACDA auditions are for 5th-7th graders who would like to be a part of a concert in Dallas Feb. 29-Mar. 3.  $35 audition fee and if accepted, other commitments and obligations to follow.

Mrs. LeDoux and I would love for ALL Holland Hall middle school students to be a part of the Honor choir if they love to sing, perform, and learn fun challenging music.  We meet weekly in the MS music room on Thursdays at 7:20 a.m.  Please join and be a part of a great musical experience!

something to think about

Clarity - the quality of being clear.
I want to talk about a few things that the MS Honor Choir may be visiting about:

CTSWS - Circle the State with Song is a regional concert involving talented Middle School singers in the Tulsa area. 

SouthwestACDA  Choir - (American Choral Directors Association) will be selecting students in the fall for their concert in Dallas in Spring 2012.  We will be making audition recordings in September.

More info to come...